Most people where I work have a 2nd job

nobody could survive with just working the one job. Imagine my relief when I got the other job yesterday afternoon! I'm back working 6 days again but the other job is a bit off the beaten track as it takes a little longer to get to. It's going to be a bit of a struggle to manage both jobs but it was my boss that suggested I get another job. My 2nd job breaks in February and again in the Summer.

After my interview I decided to treat myself for a Wendy's baconator and I got the #2 Clareview bus from Corona station. It was a beautiful mild Sunny afternoon. I walked home in the mild afternoon air (for now) I was home by 4pm and didn't get to my email right away as I thought about having a nap. I should at least check my call history to see if any calls came in. It shows up on the TV screen. Sure enough I got one from my 1st employer. I called the Super and she said I got an extra day but I couldn't do this Thursday. I've got Monday and Tuesday are my normal 3-7pm but I go from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at the new job. Hopefully I can get the 6 hours out of the 8 and work 1-3. That would work until mid January where I can go from 11-3 and then 4:30-8:30pm. It's 7.5 hours/day. The 2nd job pays $3 more an hour!

I missed the first period of Fridays Oiler/Columbus game. It was 1-0 in the 2nd and I thought ok, lets see what happens. Then it was 2-0 and the Oiler's were playing sloppy. I checked back to the game and then it was 4-0 in the 3rd! Ok, that's it. See you guys Sunday in Dallas. The Oiler's made it interesting late in the 3rd getting their 1st and their 2nd goal but it was too little to late for these guys. It wasn't like they played badly but CBJ played better. 

Speaking of sports and all, the Esks hired their 20th head coach in franchise history with the hiring of Chris Jones. I think he was their defensive coordinator. The Oiler's might win 20 games this year but I'm already looking forward to the Eskimo's next season.

Anne got home about 10:40pm last night as I was watching what was left of wrestling and made me burrito platter and mixi fries, one of my favorites. I watched wrestling and here I am having a "long weekend" of sorts. Anyway, that's all for now.

My wife called me on her break last night

as she usually does shortly before 8pm. She provided me over the phone the direct email contact of the person who hires and fires where she works. After she called I went to my email to email this person my resume` when I noticed a email response from another resume` I sent out earlier during the week. I was asked to come in Friday afternoon for a interview. I replied back in the affirmative. So, lets see what happens tomorrow, if I even need to send out a 3rd resume` I'll know tomorrow afternoon.

I didn't sleep very well about 7am. When I get a soar lower back that tells me I've overslept. I used to always sleep with a board under my mattress because of my back operation in 1967. When I had my back operation as a teenager, it was suggested I keep a slab of plywood under my mattress all the time. I'm suspecting not having this is what interrupts my sleep.

I'm home this evening watching the Oiler's lose in Nashville.  The big hockey news which happened earlier this week with that massive Rogers broadcast deal. It basically means that Canadian teams are once again subsidizing the NHL's American teams. Though it could open the door for more Canadian NHL teams within the 12 year deal going forward. I'd like to see Quebec get a team again and it's be great to have Hamilton get a franchise or even Regina.The puck is dropped in Nashville at 6pm tonight.

The weather looks like it's holding over the weekend  Temperatures are supposed to drop for next week. At the moment it's -7 but because of the wind chill it feels like -14. Last night waiting for my #183 bus at Clareview about 8:40pm there was frost in the air coming down almost like rain. It was weird. The weekend weather forecast looks good but its Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday that's supposed to be cold but I have keys to the Lodge building to get inside so even though when it's -18 out there, I'll be inside. For now and the weekend, the weather looks ok. Anyway, that's about all for now.

So I delivered the bad news to my wife that my hours

are reduced but I have options and resources, that's the good news. I still want to keep this job but get some pick up hours in the meantime until things pick up mid January. Thursday I'm heading down to Alberta Works to get some career counseling, resume` building and a job search. Since most employers want email resume` submissions only, that makes it easy to get my resume` into the hands of potential employers. I can always follow up from there. I've got great qualifications, good resources and a strong labor market going for me. Ok, enough of that.

This from i09:Turn your home into the Death Star with these amazing wall tiles. Turn any surface of your home into the cavernous surface of the Death Star thanks to these custom-made Star Wars tiles. This is really cool.

It looks like phase 1 of the Millwoods/Lewis Farms LRT project "Valley Line" will get under way in 2016 and completed by 2020. The preliminary design is done and the City is just waiting until the New Year to apply to the Feds and the Province for P3 funding. We want more from the Province (over $350 million) and just $150 from the Feds. the City has $800 million for the project. We should have the funding in place by 2015. It's about a 6 year project.

One of the really cool projects out of rocket company Ad Astra is their VASIMR plasma rocket or Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket. Basically unlike conventional chemical rockets that uses chemical fuel VASIMR uses plasma. The engine works and has been tested. It's hoped that the engine could be charged using the International Space Station. More of VASIMR can be found here.

One of my favorite shows growing up in the 1960's is a show called The Avengers and I don't mean the Marvel Superhero group. The Avengers became one of the first British series to be aired on prime time U.S. television. It had a budge of about $60,000 per episode. YouTube it! Great stuff. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Not much was accomplished today but I did get a

resume` emailed and confirmed. This option has positions available. Alberta Works is not a option right now getting up at 7am so I can get there by 8. "First come first serve" maybe ok if I want welfare but I don't want that. I also went to where my wife works to follow up on a resume` I sent out a few days ago. Today, I'm not going to do anything. Lets see if any of these places will call me first. Give them a chance to look over my resume` etc.

After a bit of looking (I love YouTube) I found a Windows non third party password bypass hack. I'm going to try it out when I get home tonight, see if it works. 

Last night the Oiler's dropped a 5-1 decision at Rexall place that cost them their chance to have a 4 game winning streak come to a end even before it began. The way these guys are plying, they'll be lucky if they win 20 games this season. The Oiler's are 7-16-2 out of 25 games played I think it's time to move some of these high paying dead-weight players down to the minors and call up some of the players that are playing good hockey there, like Omar and Lander and send RNH and Gordon to replace them. 

The other NHL new is that Forbes magazine put the value of the Toronto Maple Leafs at $1.150 Billion. The average NHL team now has an enterprise value (equity plus net debt) of $413 million, 46% more than a year ago. By comparison, the lowly Edmonton Oiler's are now worth $400 million! Keep in mind the Forbes numbers are frequently refuted, and essentially are made up out of thin air. They are just impossible to disprove. I take them with a block of salt.

Also this morning I learner that TSN will no longer as of the end of this season broadcast any more NHL games and Rogers will take over. It's a 5.5+Billion dollar deal. Most likely NHL fans will be offered a ton of pay per view. Is this the finale year we'll be seeing Don Cherry and Ron McLane? its the end of a era.

Next Thursday is my big night at the Lodge where I take the "Big chair." I'm up to the task so it should be looking ok. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Making phone calls are on my agenda this morning after I get

about 7 hours of sleep. I got to get some business done.

I'm making a phone call to follow up on one option and then Alberta Works to see how I can get some career counseling and then leaving early to follow up on a résumé I submitted a few days ago. If I can get something full time or if my first option pans out I'd rather work for what time they have left for the winter project and resume in their Spring project. 

I'm trying to get off of this diet cola habit I have. I'm just drinking water. This is a record for me not having any diet cola for almost 3 hours! I'm only drinking it with my meals. I'm not trying to lose weight or anything.Anyway, that's about all for now.

My wife is all stressed out that she has to work

today because it's Grey Cup Sunday. Sundays are her usual day off. That and New Years are big days for her company. I've got a job option Monday Morning calling them to see if they have any openings and where to send a resume but its midway through their project. If they ask me in for a interview Tuesday or Wednesday, I'll take a leave of absence from my current job until mid January. Before work Monday I'm also  checking out another place on my way to the office to do a follow up on a resume I sent out Friday night to see about getting some extra hours there. 

Today it's the 101st Grey Cup CFL game Hamilton Tiger Cats@Saskatchewan Rough Riders. This is Canada's Superbowl. I'm probably not going to watch most of the game but I'll be tracking the games progress. I got a feeling it's going to be Hamilton's win.

Alberta PC (Liberal)Premier Alison Redford yesterday at the PC leadership passed her leadership review. Seventy seven % voted in favour to keep her on. The Provincial election could not come fast enough. This time it's Wild Rose all the way in 2016.

On my way home about 5pm just out here by the set of lights, my Clareview/Northgate bus etc crosses the T intersection. I press the button about by Sleep Country and stand near the back door to get out when it stops at the bus stop on the other side of the light change It's supposed to let passengers at the back door out. This is the 2nd night now in 2 days I've had to yell, "back door!" And as soon as I get out the light changes and I have to wait. The light is always against me. I'm sure they do that deliberately. So next time, I'm leaving out the front way. That'll piss them off. 

Today I'm sleeping in late Anne's going to place a pizza/curly fries/chicken bite meal for me. Its my evening meal basically but it's also for the football game party pack. A cold beer to go along with that would be great. I hope I get some good news for a change. Anyway, that's all for now.

I had a bit of trouble falling asleep this morning

as I think I got maybe 4 hours in or so, maybe 4.5.

Weather wise it's not to bad out there. It's about -8. We could be in for a nice couple of days.

Just when I think things on the job were going to be ok covering the basics, the revised schedule is posted. Because the numbers are dropping (survey completions) they reduced the hours. It looks like I'm only getting 3 part time days losing 3. This is going to go like this until the middle of January? They got  us down Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Sorry but that doesn't pay the rent. The worst of this is, I don't have a Plan B. My wife will get the bad news Wednesday night. I have a good cheque to cover December rent wise and my lodge dues are covered. There's no room for extra's. I sent a resume off to where my wife works. She said they went through there hiring binge in the Summer. I'm going to stop into their office Monday afternoon and see what's available. I know 2 people that work there, my wife and their training person. I'm going to try for 3 days/week, Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays. It pays minimum wage. I have a few other options. The other option is a work from home thing. I can do that after work and Thursday/Friday. I'm short $150 for my bottom line every 2 weeks. The only trouble with working from home is I need a computer that can keep up without crashing and a 2nd telephone. It can't be a cell phone and I'll need a head set. I can get the other line in through another service provider besides the one I have now is slightly compromised. The reason for the 2nd land line is so they can call in saying the calls are slow it's time to log off or that sort of thing. I've got a couple of other options before it gets to that though. One thing is certain, I'm going to have another part time job or a better full time one before the end of the year. 

So this weekend is the Alberta PC leadership convention. Now it's no secret that I raise the PC flag but I personally am not confident in our current leader. She has a track record of not keeping her campaign promises and the last budget hurt sectors of our Province like education cuts (which were not necessary) She cuts back $65 million, and then a few months later she says, after various institutions like the University of Alberta and Calgary, scramble to meet those cuts, oh look I've got this ahem unexpected amount of $14 million with more to follow." She's playing both sides against the middle. Most likely she'll retain her mandate as Premier which will take her until the next provincial election. I especially didn't like the way she is dealing with BC's liberal leader Christy Clark over the Gateway pipeline. She's doing ok for the Keystone pipeline. Her leadership review is done and votes are cast by the end of the day.

Today I'm out for my last Saturday for the year at least at this place. Although I could be working weekends somewhere else this time next weekend. At this point nothing is set up. Like I said I have a few options. One of them is cashing in on my unemployment insurance if I can do that while working part time. I was going to do this as a last resort but it's not like it take 6-8 weeks to get a claim processed anymore. It's usually done within a month. Anyway, that's all for now.

I've been doing research on

a computer system I want to build using my mATX case. I've got several motherboards I'm looking at matching the mATX 9x6" form factor. Future shop has the case I want and it's  online. I just need to know if I can buy one of their gift cards in the store, use it online and pick up in store the next day. That's probably how it works. I'm going to be needing about 8-10 pieces but the good new is I don't have to buy them all at once.

As I write this twelve hours from now would have been the moment of the assassination of JFK, which took place at 12:30pm in Dallas Friday November 22nd 1963. On this day (Friday) 50 years ago. Many of the witnesses or people that were a back drop to the event are dying off. I went to the Dealy plaza web cam and the whole plaza is blocked off with tents and equipment for the 50th anniversary of the death of JFK. Almost a year after the event there have been annual observances and ceremonies in Dealy plaza going on every year. Since day one of the event various conspiracy theories of all kinds have popped up One theory that I subscribe to is the sewer shot theory because the trajectory of the entrance head shot wound is at an upward angle. It's consistent with witnesses saying they smelled gunpowder at street level. Also behind the picket fence up from the manhole cover is a storm drain cover that leads out to the Trinity river. There's a Youtube video, for demonstration purposes showing a man up to his chest inside the manhole cover. Downtown Dallas has hundreds of tunnels under ground. Up to about 75 workers go under the sewer system every day in Dallas.

Anne was saying last night she was at City Centre Mall and tried out a place called "Fat Burger." She said they are huge and provide lots of fries and non stop pop. She said watch out for the lettuce as they load up on that. her meal came to about $14. By the same token a Wendy's baconator combo is about $11. I was thinking about going in after work today and trying one before the mall closes at 9 or tomorrow after work. We'll see.  

I had a slow night last night on the job but I got 2 completions. After working at this job since February, over 9 months now, here are my initial thoughts: A disclaimer: I'm not sounding like a disgruntled employee because I like my job, don't get me wrong. If I didn't I would have left in the Summer. First, I was told after the first 500 or so hours I'd be up for a wage review. I'm well over a 1,000 hours and it's not just me but some of my colleagues I've talked with haven't received a wage review either. I was also told when I started there are medical benefits. That hasn't happened either. Earlier this week I sent my resume out but I heard things about this job I didn't like. It's subjected to rotating shifts at odd hours and it is a bit out of the way. I was also going to go to Alberta Works this week for some career counseling but that's going to be next week. The weather is kind of nudging me away from going outside if I don't have to. One thing is for certain, I will at least have another full time job or a second part time job by the end of the year.

Today is just a typical Friday going in for my 4 hours and Saturday for 5.5 and Sunday. For Sunday I'm in for a full day from10-6pm. That's 7.5 hours. It's Grey Cup Sunday but that starts at 6pm. Anyway, that's about all for now.

The Big event that has my interest

is the JFK assassination. It being the 50th anniversary of the assassination weekend. I was 10 years old when that went down. I recall how, while I was at "Miller park" school just 11 years old when the Principle made the announcement. I didn't know who the President was. For me it was a chance to get off school early. When I got home my mom had it on television I remember how preoccupied she was. I remember "watching" bits of the funeral procession. I was just 11 years old, I didn't know anything. Hard to believe that was 50 years ago. 

So some of the Greenpeace "activists" known as "The Arctic 30," have been released from detainment in Russia lately. "The 30" in case you missed it invaded a Russian artic oil rig jeopardizing the safety of its workers. The others "activists" are being held and about to meat their fate today. I hope Russian Law throws the book at them. Then yesterday there were 2 other Greenpeace activists scaling the Biosphere in Montreal. They face mischief charges for placing a banner saying "Free the arctic 30." It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't environmentalists that were behind the recent train derailments Alberta out to make a point.

Renowned psychic Sylvia Browne passed away yesterday at the age of 77. She was a regular guest on Coast. Anyway, that's all for now.

I'm beginning to figure out how

this YouTube Google+ comment thing works: When I open my gmail there is a bell icon in the top right hand corner of my computer screen. When it shows numbers on the bell that means that there are you tube comments. I click on this bell and a drop down box shows me icons or pictures of YouTube posters. I click on the highlighted box and up comes the comment under the video I left a comment on. It's slick

Now I really wanted to go to Lodge last night but it was hard to justify to my wife why I should be attending last night. My wife is jealous and insecure of me having a "social life" while she doesn't. She hasn't actually come out and said this but I know this is how she feels. Just attending my monthly lodge meeting is challenging enough as it is, and Anne barely tolerates me going to this. Lately she's been warming up to me visiting other lodges but that took years of her realizing that me going to my lodge is benign and not a threat to her. We're a small lodge and some of us were at the practice Sunday 2 days ago and some of us do not have supportive spouses in Masonry. Apparently nobody was represented at this memorial lodge meeting from our lodge last night. To be fair the lodge last night at Freemason Hall was out of our district. Even though the brother that got killed over the weekend was a steady visitor of our Lodge, yes someone should have been there representing our lodge last night. I received an admonishing email directed to all of us that our lodge was not even represented at last nights lodge. I don't remember what the guy looked like. If I attended last night I would not have been able to make any phone calls, conducting lodge business to get our installation invitations out. I caught bits and pieces of the Oiler hockey game but most of my time was making phone calls. I'm still not done yet. I am however going to go to lodge next Wednesday for an installation put on by another lodge. I certainly can not find fault with the contents of the admonished email I received our senior brother put fourth. The sender and the other guy from this Lodge was representing other lodges other then our own. I had other duties that were lodge business that kept me away. 

Oxford Dictionaries has released its 2013 word of the year, and, like last year, it has gone with a tech-savvy term: "selfie." It basically means people who take pictures of themselves with a camera phone. Yeesh.

Well, the Edmonton Oiler's finally won a game at Rexall but it took a struggling Columbus Blue Jacket team on the road to do it. It was a convincing 7-0 win. Lets see the Oiler's do that with a team like LA or Vancouver. Last nights win was a fluke but it was a badly needed shot in the arm for the copper and blue. Anyway, that's all for now.

One of my completions last night

said she works for the Ontario equivalent as a case worker for "Alberta Works." I asked if they do any career counseling and they have a program for that. So I'm calling Alberta Works to so about this week.

I'm trying to see what I can get away with as far as a motherboard upgrade that still uses usb 2.0 and has at least 4 Ram slots. I'd like to upgrade my desktop but (for now) I don't want to spend more then $400

The job last night was good. I had 7 completions and I hadn't had that many in a long time. That felt good.
The ground conditions were pretty good as well, so I can't complain there. All in all for a Monday I had a good day, although wrestling was kind of lame.

I was considering Lodge tonight but I'm going to be exhausted, so today other then a few phone calls not much else is going on. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Sleeping in past the usual 8 hours my body needs is something I rarely do unless I have a seeling aid of some kind

so today I slept in past noon.

Last night at our practice, at least we had enough for a quorum. It was an installation practice. Four of my officers, couldn't make it. There was a weather advisory warning saying that if at all possible stay off the roads. We worked with the "tools" we had and still pulled off a good practice. A bunch of us went over to our DDGM elect's place as we had a bit of a "mini festive board" I was home by 9pm and Anne had the Christmas tree up and I just rounded out the rest of the evening.

If I get this other job I'll try it out part time. If it's too stressful then I can always say I gave it a good shot. I still have my current job and I won't give that up. Unless the new job pans out I'm a good fit for them and they 're a good fit for me. It was my wife that told me about the job Friday night. Apparently one of her colleagues mentioned it to her. It pays almost twice as much as what I'm getting now! I think she got the job because she's a visible minority from another country. My wife says her English isn't very good as it is. When I asked about the job, all the girl on the phone just gave me the email address I sent a email with a cover letter and a 1 page resume of my skills, work history and education.

Today I'm leaving out of here at my usual time for my 4 hour shift. I like this 3-pm shift. It gives me the opportunity to catch more Oiler losses on home ice. If I hustle I can get home by 7:45pm to catch whats left of the games. Next Oiler game is on Tuesday. Anyway, that's all for now.

It took me a while but I got together a crude

looking resume and sent it to the "slush pile" but we'll see what happens. I'll do a follow up on Wednesday, if they don't call me first that is. I'm thinking they might have all the staff they need but if they don't call me, I won't lose any sleep over it. It's a high end paying job that pays double then what I'm getting know. I'm going to try and keep my current job and if I get this one, work it part time but we'll see how it goes. It's slightly off the beaten track and not connected to a LRT. I can take the #2 bus there and after a block or two catch any bus across the street to the LRT. I wouldn't mind say working the new job (if I get it) 11am to 4pm and hustle to my current evening job a block South from Corona. I'd have my weekends off of course. Lodge meetings pending and all of that. 

This Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Most likely Coast will have the anniversary of the event as their #1 topic.


Pure Speculation is just winding down. A bit of a call out here to the small annual sci-fi convention just wrapping up at the Ramada over there on Kingsway Ave. I would have liked to have gone but the weather and work kept me away. Now if it was in say September, at the same venue this time next year I could ride the Nait line and take a shuttle bus there, easy. I don't know what the attendance was like last year. This current edition of Pure Spec is nostalgic for me because it is the same location as the first SF con I ever attended my first year here in Edmonton. It was called "Non-con" and it was in 1979. I was living in the Riverside Towers working at the Army and Navy warehouse (behind the Grand Hotel) as mentioned in another post. The last time Non Con was there I think was in 1989. I remember going by on the bus (they had it during the Summer back then) seeing the marquee sign James P. Hogan. I was broke but I would have loved to have been there. The 1979 Non-Con was when I was in love with Ellen and we had a "thing" going on. Those years from October 1978 until March 1980 were great. After that Richard came in on the scene and that's when it more or less ended. Hard to believe that was 34 years ago.   

I'm shaking my head over this one: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's recent add on TV syas he wants an economy that helps all Canadians and not just a few. In other words he's slamming the oil sands. What Justin doesn't want the public to know is that the oil sands is already benefiting all Canadians coast-to-coast. About 20,000 people a year are migrating to Edmonton because this is where the jobs are. Translation: Anyone from Canada can come to Edmonton look for work and get a job here. Justin likes the oil sands because he can tax it taking dollars out of Alberta to shore up the heavy tax burdened areas like Ontario and Quebec. There is a caveat though for anyone looking for work here: Edmonton and Alberta is a boom-to-bust type economy. Some years, we're strong others like around 2007-08 for example are bad. More than 470,000 new jobs were created between 2002 and 2012 here in Alberta. Alberta’s average unemployment rate in 2012 was the third lowest in Canada at 4.6%. We're slightly above that now. Sure the energy sector represents 36.1% of our economy and there seems to be no immediate signs it's slowing down. Yes Justin has his sights on Alberta because he knows this is where the money is. It's his meal ticket. Remember this is the same guy that bought into Theresa Spence's fake hunger strike from the on-off idol no more "movement."

At the moment its -12 out there but with the wind chill it feels like -18 but its supposed to warm  up to about -3 by Friday. It's very treacherous going just outside our place from across the street at the light standard there. Anne said she wiped out a couple of times yesterday. One of my colleagues yesterday wore a pair of winter boots with built in cleats. I'd love to know where he got them. I've got a pair of strap on cleats that more or less do the job but I forgot to bring them along with me yesterday. I only need them a couple of times a year. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Its great having 2 computers and a steady

internet connection.

We're getting a lot of snow and its going to be pretty cold out there during my morning commute. It's a major snow storm and we're supposed to get snow over the next few days. Winter is here.

The Oiler's finally scored a goal last night but they lost their last 6 now and play in Calgary later tonight. Great, they take their losing streak on the road!

I'm shaking my head over our National "NDP leader" who wants to abolish the Senate. Does he not realize that no bill can be passed unless the Senate gives approval? Yes there have been a few Omnibus bills passed here in Canada recently but they still need Royal ascent. The senate also represents groups like seniors and children and areas of Canada that have little or no voice. Wait now do Communist countries even have a Senate? NDP "Senate reform" isn't about saving Canadians money. If it was they should start by MP pension reform on all sides of the house.

I'm leaving out of here about an hour for a 5.5 hour day, then I've got to go to Audrey's for my book and Rexall drugs for another gift card, then over to Tim's get some of their lasagna, eat it there and come home. Anyway that's all for now.

I'm having trouble with some people

namely my wife accessing my email from my iPad she takes to work with her. I know there are folder lock apps that password protect folders and that's what I need. However with the recent iOS 7.0.4 update I can't jailbreak my iPad to get into the Cydia store where I can get this free app. At the moment however there is no jailbreak for 7.0.4. Most likely there will be one by the end of the year.

It looks like I have most of my officers for my year in the East. I'm missing the 2 Stewards and the SD, that I can't (so it seems) depend on but I can get someone to fill in those spots if I need them. Things are getting interesting.

I didn't get a chance to get out to Freemason's Hall for that drink after work like I wanted but there's always next time.

My only big activity is going to be Sunday night at our Lodge practice. Our Secretary is printing the invitations and it looks like I get top billing. Fingers crossed.

I feel so bad for those people that got hit by Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines last weekend. Especially the aid workers driving past starving people lining the streets because the aid workers had to get relief to the hardest hit areas. Sure Katrina and Sandy were bad but nothing like this. I thank God every day I live here in Edmonton. This the worst natural disaster to hit in our times. And the least of my problems is, do I have my Lodge officers for the year and my slow computer.

I've got 4 hours today and I'm going over to Audrey's after work to see if there are any new "Space Marine Battle's" or Horus Heresy books available in my formats. Then home to watch the Oiler's lose to San Jose sharks. Anyway that's all for now.

This is unbelievavle with 3

first round #1 draft picks within 5 years the Edmonton Oiler's are currently 4-14-2. If that's not enough, their last 5 games on home ice at Rexall place have been losses and they have been shut out in their last 3 games out of those 5 earning a franchise record. Sure they met a hot goal tender but DD kept Dallas within 1 goal for 99% of the game. Our goal tending was for the most part ok. The 3-0 score was due to 2 open net goals. The Oiler's were booed off the ice, again. I see a coaching change coming. 

I went into work no problem and I got a Visa gift card at the Baker Centre pharmacy for someone for providing me with a service. I couldn't get the gift card converted into euro's and I checked before hand on the Canada Post website that I could at 2.8% exchange rate I even said to the counter girl that it's part of the gift card service but the woman behind the counter had no clue as to what she was doing and I said pretty much let her know that as I left.

Other then that work went well so my night was not a total loss. The train was packed with Oiler jersey's up to Rexall. I had to walk home from Clareview because there were no buses there, and at 7:40pm I'd miss my wife's call but it was +3. Not to bad night to walk home. It was almost a Spring-like today. This weekend we're supposed to get a lot colder weather but it's not staying. I got home shortly before game time. What a waste of time that was. Next game is San Jose` at the Rex.

In case you missed it the big Nasa scary moment "announcement" had come and gone. Just about every conspiracy theory in the book was out there regarding what this big moment could be. I even heard that Nasa found copies of the "Ten commandments" on Mars! Yeesh. Then there were the asteroid colliding with earth speculations, and the massive solar flares heading towards the earth. Oh and then there was how Nasa had discovered a wormhole and a city on the moon. The other one was that a massive fissure underneath the earth was opening up letting out gasses that would wipe out all life on earth, and on and on it went. Finally it was over. The most surprising thing about all of this was Coast 2 Coast, never said anything about it. Usually this sort of thing would be right up their alley. In other words folks it was a ll a hoax (like what else is new?)

I think tomorrow night after work, I'm going to head out to Freemason Hall as there is a lodge happening. I'm not going to get dressed for it or attend or anything. Which means the bar is open. I just might stop in for a beer and see the bartender have a beer and head home. Anyway, that's about all for now.

The inspector came into our suite

and looked around and checked a few places and his prognoses was, "We're ok." 

About 6pm I left out of here to Lodge and when I came in there were a bunch of guys at a festive board. The bar was opened and the guy recognized me from Commercial. He said the Lodge I wanted to visit was having their festive board early. Now I don't know if that's their custom but the Worshipful Master elect invited me in. I forgot to take my boots off but they were dry. The double doors were opened. I figured that I didn't have much time so I left my boots on as I discreetly came in. Festive board is free for visitors of other lodges. There was a recognition section of a long standing secretary of their Lodge. Some toasting of scotch. I had a shooter. Since I've never tried scotch before, it wasn't bad. I've tried Drambuie a couple of times but that's a scotch liquor. Since their Lodge fell on the day after Remembrance day Monday they did their Remembrance day observance last night. Very nice. I got out of there about 9:30pm and went to the bar. I could have stayed around a bit longer and I should have. I called Anne and she said for me to come home. I caught the train at Bay Station and home by 10pm as the Northgate bus was just pulling out at Clareview but it waited for LRT passengers, which was nice.

I'm trying to get some euro's over to someone in Turkey that provided me with a nice service yesterday and I want to make sure he gets that but the guy doesn' have a bank account. more later .

Sometime this morning

we're having management inspectors knocking on our door to come in to check our "suite for repairs" and see what has to be done. Its a little more then that but at this point that's all I'm going to say. It's mostly preventative. I don't think they'll be here at exactly 9am sharp. 

If it holds according to the forecasts for the next 10 days we're supposed to have temperatures like +0's and +1's, some 2's etc are in there as well. We could be in for a unusual mild November. 

Canada sent a response team to the recent typhoon disaster in the Philippines. It was sent to the hardest hit areas. The US and Nations around the world are responding with relief aid. I feel bad for the Filipino people there but also here as well.

Tomorrow Nasa is supposed to make this huge announcement about a earth shaking discovery. They're probably going to announce that they're bankrupt and need more money. Most likely it's a big hoax, which is why Nasa isn't responding. The armageddon nut casses are having a field day with this one. We'll know tomorrow sometime I guess. If at all.

A couple of days ago I've been fooling around with Cam Studio. It's a free open video/audio screen capturing device. I'm still tinkering around with the settings. The video works ok but I'm not getting audio. It's got to do with my computer's sound card as I need "Realtek HD audio manager." From some of the "YouTube fixes" for this I need the above HD item for my laptop. Otherwise I can't use Cam Studio. Microsoft's movie magic maker isn't too bad either. Anyway, that's all for now.

November is a special month for me

because it being Remembrance day for one, and a long weekend. Also it is the month in which US President John Kennedy was assassinated. Its also step up night in the Lodge. The Oiler's are on a long road trip because of the CFR rodeo and it's the CFL Grey Cup playoffs winding down to the Grey Cup November 23rd. November 23rd is chalk full of all kinds of things going on.

This November is especially interesting because it's the 50th anniversary of the assassination of US President John Kennedy, often referred to as JFK. I'm no expert but I've done a fair bit of reading on the topic. Just the back story alone leading up to that tragic day in Dallas is amazing. It almost rivals the event of the assassination itself! We can start with Oswald's defection to Russia in 1953, then the General Walker murder attempt of April 10th 1963. Then on August 9 1963 Oswald gets arrested in New Orleans in a fight by anti-Castro Cubans as he was handing out pamphlets as secretary of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Then there's Oswald's exit out of the Texas Schoolbook depository building (often refered to as TSBD) after the assassination. Then the murder of Police officer JD Tippit shortly after Kennedy is shot, and the flight after that which led up to Oswald's arrest in the Texas theater. If that's not enough there's the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby as Oswald was being transferred to the Dallas Jail. There were subplots as well, like the Payne's that looked after Oswald's estranged wife Maria and the stuff going on at the TSBD. Even the rifle alegedly used by Oswald has it's own fascinating story. There's the Secret Service controversy in the operating room at Parkland hospital. That in itself is mind boggling. Then there's the Warren Commission on the Assassination of JFK a year later, and the Church committee's limited report on the assassination and then in 1978 The House Select Committee on JFK not to mention the movie JFK by Oliver Stone and the Assassination Records Review Board of the Clinton administration. Plus the many theories and books about the topic. The JFK assassination is a big story with so many twists and turns and side plots. Its the murder mystery of the ages. Which all of the above leads up to a documentary Anne and I were watching released this year "The Smoking gun." The premise of the documentary puts forward that Service Service Agent George Hickey in the follow up car behind the limousine accidentally let off a round by a assault rifle he held in the followup car. There's photographic evidence of Hickey holding the assault rifle prior to the fatal shot. The accidental "Hickey shot" was the shot in Kennedy's back that caused all those wounds called "The magic bullet." The fatal shot. The exit wound is always larger then the entrance wound. The exit wound was up and behind the right ear. The fatal shot then would have had to come above the left ear to cause a exit wound on the back right side. Meaning to say the shot came from the other side of the limousine. Or a frontal shot above the hairline above the right eye to blow out the area of the head up and behind the right ear. Some witnesses said they smelled gun smoke at street level. First shot misses and hits the curb where James Tague was standing. Second shot was an accident in reaction to the first shot by Secret Service agent Hickey from behind in the follow up car. The fatal shot had to be from behind or in that area of the picket fence that hit Kennedy above the eye by the hairline causing the blow out exit wound in the back. I believe that one shot came from the TSBD but it missed and hit the curb. 

I'm enjoying my day off and we're going to have our Sunday brunch today. A home made burger and fries are on the menu for tonight.

I'm off tomorrow and after we get this thing with the repairs/inspection done, I'm changing into my suit and tie and heading out to Lodge.

The rest of this week is just a regular work week. My only out is tomorrow night. I've got some memory work coming up for our next meeting. Other then that I'm working Wednesday-Saturday. Sunday we have a Lodge practice. Anyway, that's all for now.

It took me awhile but

I finally figured out how to send photos out of my camera via email but its not letting me save the receiver's email (me) and I have to type that in every time. I can send movie sharing type file sizes via email as well. My camera and iTouch (iT) device work very well over wifi. Now I just got to figure out how I can play back movies on my iT without a third party app but it seems I might just have to upload to iTunes and download it onto my iT device, which seems like over complicating things. Here's a I took  last night from my Samsung camera:

 I'm up early because in an hour I'm going to be on the road and into work for another 8 hours. It's a solid 10-6pm shift. I'll get off at Bay station get my Tim's breakfast upstairs and head for the office from there. I get a half hour lunch and I think 2 ten's and I'm done for 2 days. Well 1 day because of the repairs.

Tuesday night I'm going to make every effort to get out to Lodge. I tried contacting their WM but I guess he was out and doesn't know I'm working today. They're holding 5 Master Mason degrees. I'd like to get out to see this while I have a night off. 

I'm trying to figure out how to do a video capture from my laptop and there are a lot of "free" versions out there. A YouTube visitor to my channel has been asking me about a guitar tone I'm using and I've got the tone ready, I just need to get the video up and running but there's no time to do that this morning. Anyway, that's about all for now. 

The past few days have been busy on several

fronts. 

Thursday I got a lot of the guys saying "Nice job." It doesn't mean the position is mine. I think my foot is in the door though, almost.

We also got a notice in the door Thursday saying that maintenance is coming in to do repairs Tuesday and we're needing to vacate the premises for 8 hours. They wanted us to take our cats and birds out of here during that time. We had no place to go. Anne called around and got our local vet to be able to take the pets in but that was a $60 fee. Then she called got us a room at the Grande Hotel. Its a old Hotel going back to the 1930's. When I was working in the Cobogo lofts building in the 1980's directly behind the Grande Hotel, we used to eat in the Hotel's restaurant all the time. For $70 bucks, that's a good deal for the day. $130. Here's a Google maps photo of the Grande. It's going to be a block away from the downtown arena. 

Anne said she stayed here in the 1980's a couple of times. Notice the building to the left and behind? That's where I worked in the 1980's. It was a warehouse for the Army & Navy Department store. Today it's called Cobogo lofts. Fast forward to today the parking lot has a big yellow construction crane where the Ultima 2 condo highrise is going up. The Greyhound bus depot is eventually going to be bought up.

As I was ready to leave for work the caretakers came up to our door and said they have a solution for us and our pets. We can stay in the security guards suite. Great news. More later. Time for bed. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Wednesday was pretty good.

It felt almost Spring like out there.

Today's my big day at the Lodge. There's a lot of stuff going on this evening. I'm the main attraction. I'm under pressure but its good pressure.

An interesting story out of the Middle East involving Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A team of experts, including from Lausanne University Hospital's Institute of Radiation Physics, opened Arafat's grave in the West Bank city of Ramallah last November, and took samples from his body to seek evidence of alleged poisoning.'A tiny amount of polonium the size of a flake of dandruff would be enough to kill 50 people if it was dissolved in water and they drank it.' Arafat's wife Suha believes it was a political assassination. Hmm, isn't poison the weapon of choice for female assassinatior's? Just saying. More of the story here:

Yeesh, with Alberta Premier's leadership convention only a few weeks away, suddenly she has money available for post secondary education! The U of A is going to get something like $14 million. Com'on, like nobody could see this coming? It's the old bait and switch all over again. And suddenly her Liberal counter part BC Premier Christy Clark have found common ground over the Gateway pipeline. What timing! Not.

My wife was talking about chipping in half of the money to buy me the Ntendo 3Ds as a Christmas present. The money I can save will buy me a game and I'm thinking about Zelda or Angry birds. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Finally after having that program

Reallpc guitar for about 6 months now, I finally figured out how to get a distortion effect, without having to stress out my laptop's cpu. I opened Maschine, in stand-a-lone mode, and Reallpc and opened a distortion effect and activate the program in chord mode. Then in Maschine at the hardware end hit the shift/pad mode! It works. I used to be able to have my midi controller work in Maschine in stand-a-lone mode but for some reason can't activate it any more. But this is close enough. Sounds pretty realistic. I can track it out later in Cubase. 

Not much going on today. I'm going over my Lodge stuff. I'm going it over my head every chance I can get. I want this right the first time.
  
Boots went into the vet yesterday and they gave him some penicillin and a bunch of antibiotics to squirt in his mouth. Just the shot was $150! It's making him very drowsy. Poor little guy. Anyway, that's about all for now.  .

For the first snow the commute yesterday afternoon was not that bad

despite the wind it was still a cold day. It felt Spring like, early April-ish. 

I had a good start to the shift but screwed up a bit on the first completion by not getting enough information about the job title. I hope I did better with the other 4. There was also a bit of misunderstanding after the boss had left when the supervisor insisted Remembrance was not a stat holiday. When I got home I checked it out and it is. The supervisor isn't from Alberta and in the Province where the supervisor is from doesn't recognize Remembrance day as a stat holiday.
 
Anne had made us an earlier then normal dinner because she's off today and I'm home earlier then usual. I watched the last half hour of of Monday night Raw. Going home was a bit icy along one part behind the Matrix Hotel there by the Starbucks. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Monday just before noon and I have a coffee here

I'm working on before I get ready, and head out the door for another 4 hour shift.

This week I'm at Lodge Thursday and I'm under some pressure. There's also a budget meeting with the 3 main officers before that. It's going to make for a interesting night. That's the main event for me for this week.  

After doing a bit of research it looks like I'm going to buy the Yamaha Mx49 it acts as a co processor for my old laptop and has a audio interface built in. The guitar tones are VCM (Virtual Circuitry Modeling) not DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Nothing wrong with DSP but VCM is better. Also, with the Mx49 I don't need to take out an account. I can pay for it earning some Scotia scene points. It's going to be a nice Christmas present for me. In December I can work on paying my Lodge dues and getting my wife something for Christmas. The only difference between the MX61 and the MX49 is the number of keys and the price. The 49 fits nicely into my budget. I'll upgrade the PC in the Spring.

It's a nice looking sunny day out there and according to my iTouch, its -7 and most likely a wind chill in the air for my afternoon commute. After work I'm visiting Audrey's books to place a order and then home as it's Monday night Raw for the 10pm show. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Canceling shifts at my job is

not recommended practice but I'd be working from Wednesday last week to Wednesday this week with no breaks in between. Anne suggested because of the nasty first snow, and the above Wednesday to Wednesday I'd be too worn out. So I called in and left a message on the answering machine. I'm not 35 years old anymore where I can work 8 days straight through. It's not like the old days. If I was single and 15 years younger maybe but I have a wife that needs to be with her husband once in awhile. I'm still taking Thursday off of course. 

At the moment I don't have enough room for new gear here in my office/studio. I'm thinking about various desks from Kijiji or even just get a counter top and set it down between two night stands or something like that. I can get a good desk for about $100 but then its getting it here safely and inside without damaging walls etc. If I can get a counter top for about $50 and some brackets, this might be an options. Or a couple of night stands for a counter top. I'm looking at a 6 foot 30 inches counter top.Getting it into my office might be a problem.

This morning is daylight savings where we turn our clocks back an hour and we lose about a minute each day until December 21st where we gain a minute of light. This the aftermath of our overnight snowfall. This should be the snow that supports more snow coming this winter:

I have a dilemma here. I can spend $1,000 or so and get the parts to build a new desktop pc and that means saving. Or I can invest in about $500 and get the Yamaha MX 49 keyboard. This makes more sense. I can get the sounds I need from the MX without breaking the bank. I'm not taking out a account for something like this. If it was for say the MOX6 or something like that, maybe. At least this lets me have a short term solution, and I'm still not out yet on the MoX6.

After work tomorrow it's visit Audrey's books as I'm looking at getting the Stuart Woods Stone Barrington series in Omnibus format. I think he has 6 Omnibus books. Woods is a author of the mystery genre. Other then my Warhammer 40K books I'm giving sf a break for awhile. Robert J Sawyer and anthology books are always on my radar. 

In the New Year, I'm reactivating my website for another couple of years. The first year just to keep it active then the yearly domain fee going. It's a Geeklog website and its pretty cool. Anyway, that's about all for now.

The job thing has got me busy over then

next 8 days but I think I'm going to take next Monday off but its a stat holiday anyway.

Anne befriended Boots about the same time we had to put Pledges down. Lately Boots has been having difficulty with his teeth. Bad teeth on a cat is a death sentence, pretty much. I cant tell if Boots is in pain but it's been on my mind all day because last night we talked about putting him down because he's suffering. Or at least we think he's suffering but he doesn't give off sudden yelps. When Pledges had bad teeth before we had to put him down he made noises of discomfort. Boots isn't there yet but Anne's the cat expert around here and she thinks Boots is at the point where he's in some discomfort. There is no antibiotics for him. He eats a bit. Kind of like when I'm in dental pain. This cat lives for Anne. He doesn't "think" much of me but it's amazing Boots sleeps by my wife's pillow. We alternate nights when its his "turn" and when it's Silkies an Sporty's turn. They don't come in with us much but we keep Boots in my office when it's their turn. I think this is Boot's last week with us. We did what we could for him and I like to think we improved his quality of life. The other thing about a week ago Boots was favoring his left paw as he got into a fight with another outdoor cat. When the weather's good he  jumps onto the grass below. It's a good 10 foot drop that he does every night we keep him in my office so he can get out onto the balcony but because Anne usually gets into bed about 5am Boots wont jump when it's light or dawns first light. If Anne decides to put him him down, I'll be very sad. More so then with Pledges because Boots is still a relatively young cat. He's not even 10 years old. Pledges was 18  when we had to put him down but that's a long life for a cat. Personally I'd rather we put Boots down because he is in pain. The pain he'd feel of a slight prick that's put him down would be significantly greater then the ordeal he's currently going through. But this is Anne's decision. It's the smarter one for him. This is about him, not about us.  


After work Friday night I was out in the mild air. Probably the last mild night like this until next April. I went over to Audrey's and I got my 5 disc "Horus Heresy" cd:These are the only Warhammer 40K cd's I have. I try to get the cd's that are not or independent of a series.

 I'm up at 7am to wake up and get some things done. Then its in for a 5 hour shift. Off a t 4pm. If I feel  up to it, I might go over to Wendy's for a bite to eat. Then watch what's left over of the Wings/Oiler's game. Sunday it's another 5.5 hour day. The only real day I get off is Thursday but that's a critical night for me. Anyway, that's all for now.