Still looking for some work over the summer

and something more stable, and beyond. Now I'm getting same day responses to my resume's. At least that's promising. The first response didn't get my resume. The contact emailed me right back. I sent it out to said contact. Ten minutes later in a email contact asked me to call cell. I had a over the phone interview. Contact said just has to set up the calendar and asked if Thursday is a good time for a interview? Sure. "I'll email you tonight or in the morning with a time, ok" Great. So far nothing has come in. When I had the interview with Cititel a few weeks ago, after the interview she said I was part of a selection process. Its nice these internet job banks like Kijiji let you know how many views the ad received. We'll see what happens.

I've been following with much interest the Jupiter Juno probe. Its been a five year journey just to get there. The next big space mission I'm looking forward to the James Webb space telescope (JWST) to be launched in 2018. There's even a JWST web cam located here but it doesn't look like a lot is going on.

Other then looking for work I'm reading, working on my music track. I'll be heading into the job to pick up my cheque Friday unless of course I have a job to go to Friday. O I can ask if I can start Monday? I can then go into the job pick up my cheque, and enjoy the weekend. I get call centre job alerts in my email every day. And I'm responding to them but I'm pretty sure there wont be any work from where I'm currently working until about the 19th. Anyway, that's all for now.

About 3am this morning I took a

malathion, add some "sleepy tea", Anne makes with a bit of ginger, that and a long day: I was out. That was a good 8 and a half hours of needed sleep. The last week was a long week and had its share of ups and downs. I forgot to go  into shoppers for my bp reading after work yesterday but I'll go in Monday after work when (if) Joyce gives me a ride home. 

A few days ago Nasa released an image of the mirror of the James Webb space telescope. The following excerpt is from the Nasa site: The telescope's mirrors are covered in a microscopically thin layer of gold, which optimizes them for reflecting infrared light, which is the primary wavelength of light this telescope will observe. To ensure the mirror is both strong and light, the team made the mirrors out of beryllium. Each mirror segment is about the size of a coffee table and weighs approximately 20 kilograms (46 pounds). A very fine film of vaporized gold coats each segment to improve the mirror's reflection of infrared light. The fully assembled mirror is larger than any rocket, so the two sides of it fold up. Behind each mirror are several motors so that the team can focus the telescope out in space. The James Webb telescope is scheduled to launch in 2018.
  
I'm just relaxing having my first coffee and getting ready to watch WWE Payback latter this afternoon. My evenings entertainment. As for the week ahead, I'm working at the other job Monday-Wednesday, then Lodge, then my market research job Friday and a full day Saturday. It never stops. I got 5 hours at my first job Saturday. I was too exhausted to continue past 3pm. I had circulation issues in my legs. Another 4 months and I can apply for pension, yea. Anyway, that's all for now. 

I'm up out of here at

about 7:45am to catch the 8:30 bus to Hermitage for my x-ray this morning. There's also an ultrasound in there as well. I don't care so much for all of that as I hope I'm out of there by 10 so I can get breakfast at MacDonald's on the same property before they stop serving breakfast. 

Coast to Coast has a great show underway what with my favorite topics; Current Events/ Space, Aliens, & Secret Societies. Speaking of space and the story that broke yesterday how Nasa gave a $100,000 research prize to have a solar sail the size of Texas to launch a small payload to Alpha Centauri. A 1 way trip could be done in as little as 15 years. The idea is to propel the solar sail by laser. I doubt this will occur during my life time but its really cool. Nasa has been focusing on solar sail technology recently and has plans for a lunar and asteroid mission within the next 5 years. 

What with hacking being a form of terrorism, auto hacking could be right up there. Any software system can be hacked so imagine if hackers got a hold of a auto software system and took control of vehicles still on the road in a major city? The results could be catastrophic. Hacking could not be just the geography of cars but even aircraft, oil tankers, anything. The Internet is a beautiful thing but is also a very dark place as well. The good news is that as frightening as these scenarios could be it forces software developers to be constantly on guard and try to develop systems that are 1 step a head of the those scumbags. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Anne made us a nice left over roast beef

sandwich with fries n gravy for dinner and a homemade yogurt fruit medley, yum. 

This is cool: Stephan Hawking and Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner are to work together with SETI to fund $100 million to search for not just radio waves but optical laser transmissions from other star systems. Its called Breakthrough Listen. They akin to a piano with just 88 keys now using billions of keys. Its a 10 year project and the first observations will begin early next year. Its the largest search for alien life ever. This will all be open to the public. Here's a link out of the Scientific American.

The Edmonton Oiler's finally announced today the last great act for Rexall place will be to hang Glen Sather's name up to the rafters alongside with that of Wayne Gretzky, announcer Rod Phillips, Mark Messier, Grant Fhur among others. That will be 10 banners now. Its about time for Slats. The Oiler's will be doing this in September. I hope to see Connor McDavid's name up there some day.

Since Anne is home,today is my best chance to go to the lab and get a couple of bank statements for our health benefits claim for the provincial government. Then home to check my messages to see if my place of employment called about the next upcoming project. If I don't hear from them by Wednesday, Thursday I'm activating my ei. Anyway, that's all for now.

Looks like things at work might be winding

down for a bit. I might be off as early as Monday or as late as the 27th, hard to say at this point. At least I have a back up so that's good. I actually wouldn't mind taking a week off. I can get some business done.

This is what Edmonton will look like within 5years from now.The building to the left is the 50 story Delta hotel. 

 


The other building is the Edmonton office tower and the one closer to the right of the illustration is the Stantec tower coming in at 62 floors. Close to the Edmonton Arena district is Fox tower 1 (already built) Fox 2 under construction, and Ultima tow er also under construction. And of course the downtown arena already under development..

The big news lately is space news. After nearly a 3-billion mile journey that spanned nearly 10 years, the New Horizons spacecraft "phoned home" to indicate it had reached its flyby destination of Pluto, a mere 7,700 miles away. Detailed images will be sent back in the hours to come including Pluto's 5 moons. What's even as interesting is that the probe can send data back to earth at that distance.

The new project isn't quite firmed up yet but I'm hoping I can start without much time off. I've got gear I want to get. I've got cash for myself to for my time off, so I can't complain and this weekend we've got wwe battleground. Anyway, that's about all for now.

About 5pm yesterday afternoon

I get a call from the super at work asking me to come in Thursday at 3pm. Apparently (although I can not confirm or deny) we're doing training for the new project, but I imagine its so. I said I'd be there.

This has been in the works for awhile now. Mars One is launching a private initiative to send 24 people to Mars. The catch is that it's a one way mission. Mars One has received 200,000 applicants and has released its short list to 100 and there are several Canadians on that short list. The final group will consist of 24 individuals who will be split into six groups of four. One mission is scheduled to launch every two years starting in 2025. That's in 10 years. With a projected $6 billion price tag for each of the six planned launches, Mars One will need all of the funding it can muster. The non-profit group plans to raise additional money through sponsorship and the finalists consist of 50 men and 50 women. They come from all over the world and range from 19 to 60 years old and most would speak English. Lots of people think this is a gimmick. For what its worth, I didn't make the short list.

Most of the schools I went to in the 1960's are still standing. Except 1, Austin Heights. I have a few memories of this school. Some good, some quasi traumatic. For the longest time, I always thought this school was on the corner of Austin and Schoolhouse Road. Thanks to the Facebook group I'm in I learned today the school was on Austin and Nelson. Apparently it was torn down and made way for a strip mall. The school's last year was either 1983 or '84. We're not sure yet. The strip mall is still there. Anyway, that's all for now.

Canada went into

the 1st world war Aug 5th 1914 100 years ago today. My Grandfather on my mother's side fought at Vimy Ridge. Canada lost 66,665 and the last soldier to die was 3 minutes before his unit learned the war was over. Its something we should never forget.

Despite the rough waters Saturday, the rest of the weekend was good. I learned Saturday before we headed out that I got Federal security clearance to work on a Federal sponsored job, when it starts and if they don't mind me working 2 days/week. We had a nice pizza dinner and I got a banner for my blog. On a scale from 1-5 I'd give it 3.5/5.

After a 10 year journey The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is about to make a scheduled to rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday (Aug. 6)  If all goes according to plan, Rosetta will on that day become the first probe ever to orbit a comet — and, in November, the first to drop a lander onto the surface of one of these icy wanderers. I wonder how its supposed to attach itself to the comet?

Today I've got to go into the office before my full time job and sign some forms. Then out to Campus station to get the bus to wem and then to work. Apparently there's a small risk of rain but I hope its not on my commute. The rest of the week looks uneventful. Anyway, that's all for now.

I had a decent night on the

job last night.

This was from last week but It's Official: Voyager 1 has Left the Solar System. Voyager 1 is about 102 astronomical units (AU) away from earth. Or 15.3 billion miles away. It's traveling at 57,600kph. So for something that's over 35 years old, Voyager 1 is holding it's own.

Wednesday on my day off I'm heading over to Service Canada to see what career counseling options I have available. I cant live on these hours. I'm not putting anything on notice or anything like that. I miss my other job where I was getting $100/week spending money and that was after I paid my bills. Right now I'm not getting anything but barely paying my bills, that's barely. I haven't been in this bad shape since before I got married 13 years ago and $10/hour jobs put me no further ahead. It's frustrating.

The other thing I've got on my plate tonight is a Lodge phone call I'm making at work latter on today. But I'm thinking about calling in the afternoon before work to leave a message on the answering machine, something like, "I'll be  calling from work about 7pm. Look for this name "----" its going to be me calling from work etc." Now if I can speak with my contact before I leave, even better. It's a crucial call. Anyway, that's about all for now. 

Nothing much is going

on at the moment. Monday I watched the Leafs lose in Boston blowing a 4-1 lead in the 3rd period. Tuesday Ottawa Senators were visiting the Pens. The pens won 4-1. I think the way they are playing Pens in 5.

Tuesday not much was going on. Just a typical day at work. I thought about going to Lodge but I’m looking at going o n Saturday, that’s the most important one for me.

Chris Hatfield returned from his 6th month stint as Commander of the space station Yesterday. He did a ton of science experiments during that time and even sang David Bowie's “Space Oddity” song and he‘s pretty good singer as well. So good he even got a call from Bowie himself congratulating him on the cover.

Here we go again. Mayor Mandel is keeping mum about another meeting today about another possible funding source for the proposed downtown arena but we won’t know until later today. Nobody knows anything but this will be the last word on the topic about funding sources for the downtown arena. I hope. Anyway, that’s about all for now.

heat wave now. We don't usually in the Summer climb to much above +25* but once a year we'll get a +30* temperatures or warmer but nothing like they do in the US. We'll have this heat wave for this week and most likely by the weekend we'll be back to our +22* for the rest of the summer. (I hope)

This morning my wife and I sat out on our balcony sipping these "Breeze" Rum/pineapple coolers. Very nice and I got a nice buzz going to bed about 3am. I had a nice sleep.

I have to give my head a shake here. All my CFL Proline picks came in for me (on paper) I could win about $50 bucks here. All Home teams to win. Winnipeg/Montreal 30-41 on that Friday night. Game 1, 1 down 3 games to go. The double header continued on my way home Friday night. Hamilton/BC. The Lions had possession of the ball with about 20 seconds on the clock. it was 36-39 Lions. It was something like 1st and 20. A field goal kick here would be all that was needed to give me another win on my ticket. So what do the Lion's do? The run out the clock and drop the knee. Second down. They run down the clock again. WTF? They run it down to a 3rd down and drop the knee to 0 time on the clock. A tie game in the CFL is a difference of a 3 point spread. So even though the Lion's won, I lost because Proline says this is a tie game. I still have my ticket here and I'm going to bring it in in case I'm wrong or if Proline has changed the rule I didn;t know about but I think that stands. Oh it gets even better: Saturdays game Calgary/Toronto same score 36-39 but the Argo's were in a similar situation to BC but at least they kicked for a field goal to get the 3 points. Yesterday the Esks against Riders 1-14 for Regina. Edmonton didn't even show up. On paper my picks came in but the actual Proline results, we're 2 wins and 2 ties. But that was week 2. Let the games begin. 

Last night on the news they had this story about Mars and the Mars rover Opportunity that's been tracking all over the planet for about 10 years now. It gave us some fantastic images of the planet and others as shown on the news last night. I'd like to see NASA launch another probe to Mars only this time have one of those hobby type aerial drones so it can float over target sites. That'd be cool. It's going to be decades before humans actually land on Mars and certainly not in my lifetime.

We're losing so many Hollywood celebrates from my generation. February we lost David Jones from the Monkees and Ray Bradbury and last week we lost Andy Griffith and this weekend we lost Earnest Borgnine. All of these actors and writers were special to me growing up in the 60's but David Jones especially because he was old but he wasn't as old as Andy, Ray or Earnest and David was more closer to my age group. What a loss and we still have another 5 months left on the year.

Anne was about to head out and she comes rushing back in and says the GST check is here and another envelope for me. My Government ID that I applied for last week is in. All I need now is my SIN card. I haven't had the actual card in decades but I always know my SIN number. I think my SIN number is on my card, I don't know but it only costs about $10 to have a replacement card. This is going to help me tomorrow when I'm applying for my Scene Visa card. Good news to start the week despite this heat wave. It's still +30* and I doubt we're going to get to +32* but we'll see. Anyway, that's about all I have for now.