A quick glance at this mornings

  # Twitter feed, the casual observer will go, wtf? +25 at 12:30am? Here in Edmonton? Yes, it's true. Surprisingly if with temps like this and yesterday, I slept very well with the fan on last night. Our AC crashed on us but we're coping ok with just the fan on.

I'm going to start saving for my iMac when my other job resumes from its "summer break." Next weekend however, I'm going to be getting the the Yamaha MX49 midi keyboard and the Samson Go mic for my Maschine. What I like about this keyboard is it can act as a controller surface and has a built in audio interface and has 1000 Roland motif sounds. The Go mic can be scanned wight into Maschine After I get this account paid up, I'm getting either the m-audio trigger finger pro or Maschine studio.

My daily journal began back in may 1980 and I'll blog until I cant. But the hard copies of my diary remain and I'm wondering what to do with them and my books. Then it dawned on me; if I bought a nice glass case maybe the lodge will let me put them in the library. At the moment I'm scanning my diary as it's a ongoing process. The hard copies of my diary stopped September 2005 as I moved everything onto my computer. I'm thinking about uploading them as jpeg files to Google pw. Unfortunately even the hard copies wont last forever even in specially treated acid free comic bags. My original diary from 1980 is still in good shape. So if I put them in mylar bags, they might last beyond 75 years, maybe. but it's something to think about. 

Update: For the benefit of fam and friends about 5am this morning I started getting the shakes.Its what happens when my diabetes blood sugars get way to low. I tested my blood sugar after I took some some chocolate paste and even then it was 5.6. Anne made me a fried egg sandwich and that helped a lot. A reading of 5.5 is steady and normal for non diabetics. Fast Forward 5.5 hours later my sugars are 13.5. I'd rather they be around 6-9 in that area. When I get on metformin   

So will the NFL Buffalo Bills ever come to Canada? It's hard to say but it's an interesting story and the top runner buyers have Bon Jovi in their court. If it's going to happen, I think it's going to be 2-3 years away. Speaking about football, I managed to get my cfl picks yesterday morning. If all three come in I get about $17 and some change. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Its going to be a hot one today

with temperatures about +29-+32. I forget what the forecast was.

Today I'm heading down to Clareview station to get my proline CFL picks. Then its a bus to Northgate and the #137 into work. I'm getting away from that LRT to Campus situation. I don't mind being early. At least I got free coffee and a bathroom. 

Other then that not much going on. I'm just working out the week, waiting for the weekend. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Computer hackers

have forced the feds to shut down the National Research Council. Ottawa says no other department's systems have been compromised. The thing is, every capable country is doing it (spying) but wont admit it. Ottawa had to take the NRC system offline until NRC's IT people can work out a  more secure infrastructure. They say this could take up to a year.

We're getting some nice weather this summer, despite last Friday's storm. Though, we could use another one to cool things off here for a bit. I love the warm weather. The cats are hot though and they're putting up with it the best they can. The not so good thing about Summer is all the Magpies out here. Anne calls them 'pies. About an hour ago one of them was wailing in my ear (probably on the railing of the balcony) waking me up. I just put my earplugs in and I fell back to sleep.

Work on the downtown arena is picking up and moving forward at an accelerated rate due to the warm weather. Concrete is being poured, framing is being done. The site is busy. By this time next year the project could almost be completed. Could the Oiler's be playing at Rogers place arena for the 2015-16 season? Hard to say but from reports around the web the Oiler's will be playing in the new building 2016-17. Just keep watching the web cam. The link to the cam is top left in my left sidebar. 

This morning I'm out of here in about an hour to head for downtown (Corona station) I need to go into the office at my other job and sign for some documents to be released for our upcoming project. I can't say anything about it of course. Then after that or before that since I'll be on street level I may as well get one of my Warhammer 40k books, all before I head into work. Anyway, that's all for now.

Comic con is well underway

this weekend in San Diego. There was no casting information available in a upcoming Dr. Strange movie. That's understandable, sure but what in the name of the Hoary Hands of Hogarth is up with that?

On my way home yesterday at Corona station, I ran into a colleague of mine from the old Xentel days. It was nice to see little James again. We rode with each other all the way to Stadium and he filled me in on other colleagues we worked with.

I had a relaxing night following my cfl picks but BC lost. So much for week 5. I should have played the favorites. Next weekend I'm going to do just that. 

The World of Warcraft movie has wrapped up its filming a couple of months ago. According to i09 the WOW movie (out 2016) is supposed to be loaded with action and imagery. They want to turn this into a origins movie how the world of world of Azeroth falls into conflict between orcs and humans, or Lord of the Rings meets Avatar. This leaves me to wonder if the wait has more to do with damage control or getting the marketing machine in full gear.

This upcoming week I have only 4 days but they are all within this pay period. It's a short week this week and next week. I still get my 63 hours in for this week and on the long weekend, Anne wants to go Saturday out for Pizza. Sounds like a good idea. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Often people will ask me

why do I blog? Since I don't have any children to remember me by or any major achievement history will remember me by I feel a need to tell my story. Blogging lets me do this. I may be dead 10-20 years from now but I'm pretty confident Google and Blogger will still be around after that time. "But Jim, your blog will be like a needle in a haystack." Sure but its my needle in a haystack. Will this blog be around 25 years from now? I don't know. I hope so but in all honesty, I can't say. I hope it is, not just for me but for all those like me out there that have taken the time to post to blogger. 

Yesterday just before I left out of here it began raining and then as I was getting ready for my commute, it began to rain pretty heavily. Uh-oh. Then I realized, wait now I have that blue honcho rain gear in my bag. I packed everything, locked up and wearing my blue honcho, I braved the elements. My bag got wet and so did my feet but for the most part I was dry. When I got into the building my feet were soaked. I took my shoes off in the bathroom and and my drenched socks. I left my socks draped over my cubical and even before close out at 9pm they were still wet. See how they are when I pull into the office later. Note to self, always bring a dry pair of socks in a plastic bag next time it rains like this. The rain didn't let up until my commute home. Next week the weather forecast is calling for +25 + days as we close out of July. 

Today I'm about ready to clean up and in a hour I'll be on the road and out of here in 45 minutes. We'll get our breakfast at McDonald's and start at 9:30 and after a 15 minute break (not this 10 minute break shit) After work I'm getting the bus to wem and the #100 Express bus to the lrt downtown and then home to Clareview to meet Anne. Then I got to go into Superstore to get some pop and then home for my weeknd. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Other then my primary

job, I got no work this weekend, other then the 4 hours at my primary job Saturday. Something is coming up though ffor my part time job, soon.

It's a gloomy overcast day out there but at least at -14 its a bit more comfortable then the +27's we're going to be getting next week.

Game 1 on my proline yesterday was Calgary/Edmonton and I had it for a tie game. The outcome was 26-22. I was 1 point away. There's 3 games left on the weekend however. The big story was the 50/50 draw sitting at about $350,000. I think fans caught the loto max $50 mill jackpot fever after a local couple claimed the jackpot yesterday. The rush was on for 50/50 game tickets. It kind of took over what was happening on the field. Anyway, that's all for now.

The condo king otherwise

known as Brad Lamb, in a Edmonton Journal front page story talked about Jasper House. This is a planned 36 story condo in downtown Edmonton. If it's built (depends on how pre sales go) is going to be taller then The Pearl. Jasper House might be built between Jasper Ave and 102nd Ave on the same side of the street as Boston Pizza. I say "might" because anything could happen in this economy. Also, a  block North on 106th & 103rd Lamb is planning a 40 story tower almost after Jasper House is built. Jasper House has been designed by Toronto architecture studio Architects Alliance. Also, developer Stantec wants to build a office tower its a very exciting time right now for Edmonton.

I got my train to Corona and my Eagles book at Audrey's and then to yes I know, Campus. The #4 bus this time instead of it being packed had about 10 riders. This was at 1pm and might be a better way to go after all. I'm going to try for this again later this afternoon.

I got my cfl picks; Calgary/Edmonton to tie, Winnipeg/BC tie, and Ottawa/Hamilton tie. If all 3 come in as tie games, I could win $88! Not bad on a $2 bet but its a long shot. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Everybody has seen them and lots of

people have them. I'm talking about tattoos. Tattoos have been around since Neolithic times. I don't have a problem with tattoos on men. Women with tattoos look ugly and there's nothing that turns me off more then a pretty woman and she has a tattoo, uggh. Women wearing tattoos is a feminist thing, I get that but sorry ladies. It doesn't do anything for me. I find tattoos gross on women. During the 70's, 80's possibly as late as the 1990's even,not many women wore tattoos. It was only recently did women begin to wear them. Now children even wear them and I think they wear them as a symbol of "I have a tattoo, look how tough I am. You want to bully me?" Type thing. I wouldn't wear a tattoo because I'm diabetic. Tattoos, don't like them.

I'm not much into video games but when I get my iMac this year, I'm going to get Diablo 3. I like games like this I bought the "original" Diablo Spawn, I think 1998, something like that. I "lost" my little DS I bought last April but that's another story. When i get my iMac, Diablo 3 is going to be one of the first video games I'm buying. 

Normally the 1st weekend in August is a stat holiday but it's either in lieu of something. Its mostly a holiday for civic and bank employees. Imagine my surprise when I learned that we're taking this stat holiday off I get Saturday August 2nd, 3rd & 4th off but not with pay.     

My usual commute goes something like this: Catch a bus to Clareview, the lrt to Campus station. From there take the #4 to wem and from there the #137 after about a 40 minute wait between Campus and wem. That's 4 buses and trains. I asked the driver of the #137 if he just goes between wem and Northgate. That's all. So I thought maybe if I get a bus to Northgate and the #137, I avoid a crowded lrt to Campus and cut out 2 buses to work. So, today, its a bus to Clareview and I'm stopping off at Clareview (just for today) to get my proline cfl picks. Then a Northgate bus to get the #137 and into work. Sweet. Anyway, that's all for now.

Summer weekends go by so fast dont

they? Mine begins Saturday afternoon at 1:30pm. What I like about where I work is I'm one bus ride to wem. The only tough part about getting to the job is catching that #4. It's the only bus out of there from anywhere in Campus terminal that's loaded all day. Its connected to the University.

I decided to try out Instagram last night and I opened an account. I haven't used it yet. I'm sure there's a lot about it on YouTube and I'll be looking at that to see if this is something I want to use.

On local news last night there was another condo fire. This one in the West end. The fire caused extensive damage to the upper portion of the building. Investigators were quick to determine the cause: Careless use of a cigarette. This fire displaced about 400 people, killed some family pets and sent some people to the hospital with burn injuries. An incident like this could happen anywhere. Credit fire fighters that were quick on the scene to do their job. If it was a busy night what with K-days going on, the results could have been worse. The worst injury was to one individual that is in serious condition now in the hospital shortly before I began the job. Most likely the one that is responsible. The lady that drives me home every night was displaced by a fire in her building. She just lives over here by the police station on the other side of Manning. She took me to her building on the way home last Thursday night showing me the fire damage to her apartment building as we drove by. The smoke damage was quite visible. I'm going to ask her what the cause of the fire was. The most common apartment/condo fires are unintended use of something on a stove or cigarettes. I hope the idiot smoker gets criminal chargers and is held accountable. The incident on the news was disturbing because, what if something like that happens here to our building? We had a fire to the building across from us several years ago on the upper floor. The whole roof had to be repaired. I'm not going to go on a rant about smokers. That's for another time but the apartment fire that happened over the weekend hit close to Home. other then here, I'm going to keep my comments to myself.  

Just finished browsing the Star Wars.com website and Hasbro is going to release a huge Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back. This thing is about 2 feet long and is going to be out around November at Walmart of this year for about $60, cool. Not that I have the space for for something like this. Anyway, that's all for now. 

For the most part

the header above is looking good. I could have centered my name over a bit to the right, other wise I like the look of the header. The photo of me was taken December 2013 from our iPad pulling into Belvedere station.

On Coast tonight, the topic is past lives, which is an intriguing topic bordering on reincarnation. I'm not sure if I believe in past life regression or not but it is compelling stuff. I wrote a bunch of junk earlier on this post about it so I'm rephrasing this post. Sorry about that. According to Wikipedia:Scientific consensus is that the memories are the result of cryptomnesia, narratives created by the subconscious mind using imagination, forgotten information and suggestions from the therapist. 

On a sad not actor James Garner passed away at the age of 83. I always liked him in "Maverick" and  "The Rockford files." Garner was also a huge L.A. Raiders NFL supporter. He was also an avid golfer. I miss TV from the 60's and 70's. The TV landscape of today is littered with reality based TV shows like Survivor, and stuff like Amazing Race, and America's got talent. The only good thing about CSI was their theme song. Now if there was ever a new Star Trek TV show, I'd be tuning in. We used to watch Doctor Who but we never know when it's on. That's why other then news and sports, I don't watch TV anymore. The other thing I don't like about TV are the many car commercials. With the millions of vehicle recalls I wouldn't buy a car today. It's sad to see great actors like Garner leaving us but he looked like he had a good long life. Mr. Garner died of natural causes yesterday. R.I.P. James.  

About MA flight 17 as tragic enough as it was this is my statement on the tragedy: Somebody needs to be held accountable. I wont name any names but that's my 2 cents I'll Put in. Anyway, that's about all for now. 

My colleague and I hustled out of the

the premises at work for the #126 to Westmount and about half way we see the bus turn the corner at the stop. We were going to miss it. About 15 minutes later the #126 came by the other way heading to the mall. My colleague came along with me to wem and suggested since I'm in a hurry to get downtown, why not catch the #100 express? That was a great idea. I got downtown in 20 minutes and into the building about 2:45pm. My boss was ready to leave as he said they tried to call me and email me saying there was no work because of a cell tower in the North West Territories was down. Ok. 

I decided to go over to Audrey's and order some Warhammer 40k audio books. I can't recall the names but I ordered 3 and got the next 2 Horus Heresy books on order. Feeling good about that, I got caught in a sun shower on the corner on my way to Corona lrt station. Then the train home. I got in about 4pm and had the whole night to myself. I watched a bit of CFL football and Anne called and then my boss saying  no shifts fo Sunday but I asked if I could come in Monday night. I doubt that will be open but they'll contact me if it is. Note to self: Start the shift from 3-6 on Saturdays. 

In my email I discovered a pretty cool plug in from Sugarbytes called "Egoist." it's a glichy type of a vst. At $99 bucks the price is right. Anyway, that's all for now.

July 20 1969 was when

Nasa landed a man on the moon. Apollo 11 was a historic moment and I remember watching it Live on TV. I was 17 at the time and that's when the sci-fi bug hit me.

I'm not feeling very well this morning. I don't mind going in but it's going to be tight leaving at 1:30pm what with the  hand signing in and out. I'm having a few problems with my gimped up right hand. And I got to hustle t o make that #126 connection to Westmount, so I hope logging out well be trouble free so my colleague and I can run for that connection. Then if all goes well I can get to Westmount and Corona station hopefully by 2:20pm. That way I can hustle to my other job. I think I cut it too short. I should have said for 3pm. I'll ask today if that'd be all right for next Saturday, if there is one. It would probably make more sense to work the whole day Saturday but then I lose $1/hour. They might have to write me up today at the mr job being late and all but I'm going to re think this 2:30pm start. It's the travel time that kills me.

Ok consider the source and all but on Coast last night much of the topic was of flight MH17 and I listened in for a bit. Investigators were saying that looters were sifting through crash bodies. Despicable. Anyway, I got a busy day so that's all for now.

Amazing

Esks are 4-0! They beat the Bombers in Winnipeg. My $14 proline ticket I spent $2 on is still alive! I got two games today and no way to check. I wish I had the night off. This is where a cell phone would come in handy.

I'm still stunned by the rocket attack on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 yesterday that killed 289 people. What's really odd is that this is the 2nd incident that happened with the same airline in less then 6 months. I was listening to Coast earlier this morning and someone had mentioned to that he plane looked like it was MA 370 because it was touched up etc. They were not suggesting any kind of time travel nonsense but that the airplane might have been re routed. MA 370 is still an unsolved mystery. The black box of MA 17 had been recovered.   

I'm in 3-9 all day home about 9:45pm for a few hours and then in bed  by 1am. Saturday I'm in the office 9:30-1:30pm, then I've got to hustle to my bus and get the #126 to Westmount and then the #5 for 3.5 hours at my mr job. I should be home by 6:45pm for a few hours, and hopefully I can watch some football. Sunday, I'm in the downtown office mr job from noon-8pm. I have Monday off but I have a 11:30am Doctors appointment, with a bit of running around to do.

The taste of Edmonton (ToE) is running at Churchill square all week and on Monday I might go check it out after my Doctors appointment. Sample a few items, have a beer take some photos enjoy some Sun. I've been to ToE once when the City combined it with the Jazz festival. It's a great local event/exhibit. I haven't been to ToE since Churchill square had the new makeover. Before it used to be just a grassy park, now it's all filled in with steps and concrete. It's still a nice facility. Anyway, that's about all for now.

On my commute in yesterday

I got to Campus and to wem ok. My bus hadn't left yet at wem. There's usually the #100, and my #137 at the North end of the yellow V where the bus you see there is sticking out:

Id normally take a b-line for the back bus and no problem. So once the bus was moving out of the mall and into the West lane. I asked what was going on:  I was on the wrong bus headed to Lewis Farms. I was back again in15  minutes and on the right bus this time. You really have to watch it.

This weekend I'm working Friday night and Saturday morning from 9:30am-1:30pm. Then I got to catch the 1:40pm bus to Westmount and the #5 to Corona station to be at the other job from 2:30pm-6pm and noon-8pm Sunday. The boss said that shouldn't be a problem. It's not Edmonton's project so he said I should watch my email first. I  hope there's no problems

As for today I'm I'm out of here a bit early. As long as I'm on time and no delays, I'll get my full rate. It's 3-9pm today and Friday. I'm keeping my eye on the Eskimo/Winnipeg game tonight. Should be a good one. Saturday I'm out in the West end and then downtown and work all day Sunday. Good stuff. 

We're finally getting a bit of rain today. It means I can wear my poncho. Anyway, that's all for now.

Beating the heat here in Clareview

Edmonton but at least it's not like +40 like in some parts of BC

I'm cleaned up, I just need a bite to eat get dressed and pack up for my afternoon commute it's going to be a hot one this afternoon. It looks breezy out there, so it doesn't look that bad. We could use some rain. 

It's just the commute from Campus to wem that's annoying. It's not a long shift today only 5.5 hours and I get a half hour break and a 15. Plus my pay goes in for next week and hopefully I'll get a ride to Belvedere station.

Like my last Tweet said, not much is going on this week. My blogging could be weak. Anyway, that's about all for today.

My plan was to go to

Long and McQuade this afternoon but I'm not that ambitious and it's my last day off. I'll go on a Saturday afternoon, maybe on the 26th. I really want to open a account and get the Juno Di or the Yamaha mx. Not sure which one yet. 

Last night Anne went to Walmart East of us here on 137 and picked me up a new glucometer. The battery died on my last one. However the old test strips wont work with the new reader. We just picked 2 boxes. Each box is $100 but Alberta Monitoring covers my test strips, up to a point. That point is almost over, which is why we need to get the rest of the paper work my health benefits. These benefits will cover everything.

We're in for another heat wave. At the moment it's 2:30am as I write this and it's +19 out there. It's supposed to get up to +30 today and pretty much the same all week. K-days begins next weekend. The summer is just flying by. Anyway, that's all for now.

Looks like we are in for another

warm day here today and it's supposed to be warm like this all week. I like the warm weather, I just don't like all the noise from magpie birds out here to contractors working on a Sunday and screaming kids that go along with it. I miss the quietness of the West end.

Yesterday while waiting for my bus home at Clareview I had to take this shot of these two cherry trees or whatever they're called next to the green one. This was taken about 3pm yesterday. They're' all over the City this time of year:

Last night as I was about ready to settle in for the news I heard the name Tommy Ramone mentioned by the news anchor just before the broadcast. Uh-oh. Stuff like this is usually near the end of the news as filler and I didn't want to wait half an hour to confirm what I already had a hint of. I went to my iPad and learned the news the fast way: Tommy Ramone dead at 65. Talk a about a shock to the system. This brought back a flood of memories. Tommy Ramone was last of the original members of the punk rock band "The Ramones" that passed away Friday. First it was Joey Ramone that passed away of lymphatic cancer at the age of 49 in 2001. Dee-Dee Ramone died of a drug over dose in 2002 at the age of 50. Then Johnny Ramone, died of prostrate cancer at the age of 55 in 2004. While the band never gained commercial success and I never had a chance to see any of their shows or buy any of their albums, I was always aware of them. Their first self titled album only recently after 38 years went gold. They came here in Edmonton June 1983. Hearing about the death of Tommy Ramone last night was sad to say the least. I always knew he was getting up there in age. He was struggling with Bile Duct cancer and in the end he lost that battle. While I was vaguely aware of the emerging punk rock scene in the mid 1970's it was off my consciousness for the most part until while living in Calgary in January 1976-77. I recall looking for new music in a Calgary record store in the Spring of 1977. I think I was on my way out of the "Under the stairs basement suite" situation  in this Calgary home I was renting from my boss. I was doing telemarketing at that time. I recall getting my last pay cheque and shortly after that I was about to move into this transit hotel situation not far from the Cecile hotel. I stayed there before after I lost my job with Best Cleaners. I didn't have a plan after I lost the telemarketing job but I recall how I needed to get some new music. I found myself looking around in the record bins at a record store in downtown Calgary. I found The Clash and The Sex Pistols records. I saw the Ramones album and knew nothing about them at the time nor did I knew anything about The Clash or Sex Pistols. I had enough cash for 2 albums and I bought these two as a trial and the Ramones didn't look like a punk band. I remember buying the records "Lets hear what punk rock sounds like" type thing. I got home as there was nobody in the house at the time and I played the music on a low volume setting and was immediately impressed. Both albums were keepers. I wasn't into music like I am now in the 80's and 90's. When the Internet came along with Napster I renewed my interest with punk rock because it was so accessible and free. I tried Napster before it went under then Audio Galaxy and they went the way of Napster, then YouTube. I remember sometime in maybe 2003 getting off the train at Clareview after work seeing this woman with a Ramones jacket and paying it no attention at the time. Because of the Internet, I rekindled my interest in punk rock. It was unsettling to say the least to hear the death of Tommy Ramone's passing. These guys were about the same age as me and most of them died of cancer. It makes me even more aware of my struggle with diabetes having all these people die around me and last night hearing Tommy Ramone.

Ok, switching gears here Anne's out at the truck getting a few things and then we'll have our Sunday brunch. After that Anne is going to Walmart and she's going to pick me up a replacement gluclometer for my blood sugar tests then she's on the iPad face time her sister, while I'm struggling with this old laptop trying to make a beat. 

Tomorrow on my day off I'm going to cancel my Doctor's appointment as he's concerned about my blood pressure. It's been a little high as of late. I haven't been taking these blood pressure pills he gave me because my wife is on the same ones and she said they are causing her problems. So I'm reluctant to take them. I'm going to call and cancel the appointment and rebook for after my pcn next week. Tomorrow I want to go and get my go mic at LM. I'm going to call first to see if they're open first. Anyway, that's all for now.  

My ride is going to call

me in about an hour to say she is on her way for a 8:30am pick up. Then we go to Westmount to pick up somebody else and then the McDonald's drive through and into the office and I'll have my breakfast before I start and it's a fast 4 hour shift. I'm done at 1:30pm, sweet. 

This afternoon I'm catching a bus to wem then to Campus and then to Audrey's books. I probably wont be able to pick anything up today. That wont happen until the 23rd. That's another 2 weeks away yet. I haven't had a pay cheque in almost 3 weeks. If it wasn't for my proline winnings last week, I'd be broke and even now, I'm living off of that. I'll be able to afford breakfast and another $2 proline ticket because my first pick yesterday ended up in a tie game. The RB's/Esks (much to the delight of we the fans) was a Eskimo win. I still have 2 cfl games left for today and if I can get to a booth before 3:3pm I can still make a pick. Its a parley of 3 games minimum but there World Cup is on Sunday and I can include that as a proline tie or Argentina win, since it's kind of like a Home game for them. So it's Calgary/Argo's Argo's to win and BC/Riders,I don't know about this. I'm going to go for a tie game here.W, T, T. It's only $2.

Then after that, I'm going to head for home and enjoy my weekend. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Actve weather was

not the obstacle on my commute home last night to drop off our other ride to Westmount. The rain even tapered off there a bit.Coming on the Yellowhead by 50th street we were met by heavy rain again. My ride had to go to the old Clareview shopping mall area where I was doing security guard work in 1999. My hand written diary talks about that. I got home about 9:30pm. It's nice getting that ride home.

Speaking about my hand copy diary, it's composed of about 280 lose leaf binder format "binders." It was supposed to be a "occult" diary but never really developed into that. Here's what 2 of them look like from the mid 1990's. Each one has about 2-35 pages. They are pretty much what I talk about here but they get more personal.The writing is about as banal as this.

The problem I have is what to do with them after I'm gone? It's a record of my life from 1980-2005. One of my other projects is to scan all of these page by page. I'm looking at about 7-8,000 pages over the years. I talk about my struggles surviving, the jobs I had and lost, the women I had encounters with my budgets, my cats. All kinds of things before and even during my lodge years. I was thinking about dumping them off onto my sister or even the OTO (not that I'm apart of it anymore) Both parties, wouldn't know what to do with it. Or I could scan them into ebooks but that's a huge project. I wish I could do bulk scanning. That'd be better. One page is about 500kb. It's not the space, it's just time consuming. The other problem is I can't really keep it in the family because I have no kids that I know of. I think my best option though is to scan the originals. I'd be looking at about 24-30 volumes. I'm doing a bit every now and then, but as I'm closing in on 65 I'm kind of worried as to what I'm going to do with the hard copies. I should look into an organization that collects diaries here in Canada. I did a brief search but couldn't find anything. The other thing I could do is to make hard copies of my diary and store all 24 volumes in our lodge library. Nobody ever goes up there anyway. or put the hard copies in a fireproof trunk. Army and Navy department store used to carry them years ago.

Anyway, I got a full day today and half a day tomorrow. I'm going to try and give Anne the bus pass and I'm going to get my Eagles book at Audrey's (the same book I've been trying to pick up for the last couple of weeks now.) I also want to take a photo of the old Sandy lane fire location Saturday before Audrey's. Anyway, that's all for now.

When I'm at Campus

station on my afternoon commute waiting for that #4, I need to be there ready to board because there's about half a doz people ready to board ahead of me and behind me. That bus at 1:45pm to wem is loaded. From wem to the job is ok and from Clareview to Campus is ok. It's just that link from Campus to wem that's crowded. I get a ride home, so I avoid that headache.

I didn't sleep very well over night and I think having that 7pm coffee last night had something to do with it. 

This afternoon I'm trying to figure out my CFL weekend picks. There's 2 games Friday and Saturday. It's a stupid schedule because there's no Sunday games. I'm only picking 3 games. First up Friday night is Winnipeg at winless Montreal. That's a tough call. The Al's need to show up especially at home. Winnipeg is strong. The RB's are coming to town facing the Esks and they're a strong team. I can see 2 tie games there and the Saturday game is Calgary/Argo's. That's a "sure" Argo win. Nothing is "sure" in sports betting.

We don't have voice mail so we enjoy the call history feature on our TV. As soon as the phone rings we see the # flash on the upper left hand corner of our TV. I was away from my phone just now when composing this and a call came in from New York. I don't know anyone in New York. I get these email junk notices from some weird name saying something like, "I tried to call you, I hope your ok.." type thing. Scamers. I answer the phone and its silent on the other end. Or we get these weird numbers from India saying we have problems our internet connection or computer. My response is. I don't have a computer. They hang up right away. I'm almost at the point where I don't want a home computer other then to do music production. I don't need to be online for that. I can get everything done from a smartphone. 

In about an hour I'll be making my CFL weekend picks at the Redi mart. I have about a 15 minute wait for my #4 at 
Campus to read more of my Horus Heresy book and in at the job from 3-9. Anyway, that's about all for now.

My bus to Clareview was right on time and I got a

bottle of pop at the Redi mart and my train to Campus station was long. It was very warm and breezy. I had a bit of a wait for my #4 to wem but what did I care? I was comfortable, I was ready my Horus Heresy book, good times. I caught my #4 and made it to wem by 1:50pm. My #137 just pulled in. I was actually on site by 2:20pm and read for 10 minutes outside. Then inside I reported in and had another 20 minutes to myself. Great. 

Work wise it was slow going and the lady that usually gives us a ride showed up saying she wasn't feeling well and made arrangements to go home, so we were left to make our own way home. I didn't mind. Our lunch break is at 5:30pm and our 15 minute break is at 6:45pm. Work kind of dragged a bit after that. I flet my blood sugar dropping a bit but fortunately we've got a soda and a snack vending machine and I got a candy bar to munch on waiting for my #126 bus on the corner. The last Google street view probably taken about 2012 hadn't shown the new ETS bus shelter and the extra stops but my was 9:20pm but I had some entertainment ;-) and a place to sit down:

I got to wem and my #4 to Campus showed up but I couldn't believe it that it took almost 40 minutes off peak hour to get to Campus. I kind of squeezed in between  a lot of people waiting before me to get a nice seat. I didn't care. I got my Clareview train at 10:07pm and home just before 11pm. It took me 2 hours from the time I got off work. The only casualty on the day was an arm on my nice sun glasses broke at Clareview on the #11 home.  

There's a good chance Anne and I are going to go to K-days this year after all and that's going to be nice. Anyway that's about all for now.

Half an hour

past midnight and it's still very warm in here so the AC goes on tonight. Especially if I want any sleep over night.

Earlier I copied a bunch of files from the white pen drive to the 1Tb drive. Here's a photo of the memory devices I have at the moment. I'd like to get a 4Tb drive for my 10 year old every day computer as shown here eventually. It came with a whopping 68Gb, which was pretty good for 2004.

Earlier Anne went to Walmart and got a print out history of the meds I'm taking for my diabetes. For now its just insulin and test strips but I'm hoping I can get metformin as well as planning for my dental.

Monday night Raw was pretty good especially when the wrestler known as "Bolieve" clipped over the little bull. Anne and I got a laugh over that. I've got a few things to do before bed. On my way to work I'm getting the last of the Eagles book on special order. Then I'm getting the next 5 after that. Anyway, that's all for now.

Monday is my new

favorite day of the week:

This morning I got up and out of here to go down to Clareview station. I cashed in my cfl proline winnings from over the weekend. $28 bucks off a $2 ticket can get me a Warhammer 40K book and a case of beer. I went into Northgate on the #137 and was there like in 10 minutes. I wish the #137 would run like that all day long. I was thinking about heading down to LM to get that mic but I didn't have the energy. I just came home from there and had a nap. My boss from my other job called saying he had 3 shifts for me and I'm glad he called because I was going to call him. I said best I could do would be Sunday's. He said he'd get back to me. I need to work that day somewhere. It's 15 hours every 2 weeks. 

I took this morning shortly after 9am today of city crews. They were doing this all last week. Nice work if you can get it:

 
Apparently the Oiler's are supposed to make another announcement at noon tomorrow. Probably more announcements about broadcasting rights or they are going to hire another middle manager admin or whatever. 

Anne's got some baby back ribs in the oven cooking and I'm getting ready to watch Raw tonight. That's my evening, then I'm out of here at 1pm to get the Clareview train to Campus and the #4 to wem then the #126 to the job. That's pretty much the way the week ahead is going to go. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Having trouble with

Google today as its behaving kind of wonky, so I  had to delete my last blog effort. Hopefully this will stick.

Reason for the laps in posting recently is because I began a new job. I got hired on for 4-9 but then I realized only get 4.5 hours. Anyone working at least 5 hours here in Alberta has to have a half hour break. I took the 4-9 shift because of the bus from Clareview out to the West end is just 1 bus and I get there about 3:40pm. The max hours at this job in a 2 week pay period is 52 hours. I work Tuesday-Friday and Saturday from 9:30-1:30pm. It's for a bit more money then my last job but not by much. Last week from Wednesday to Friday I was able to get a ride back to Belvedere station and home at my usual time. I'm at the beginning of a pay period so I won't get paid for another 3 weeks yet. It's the same system as before "direct bank deposit." Getting there last week has been via the #137 bus which is a peek hour only service. it gets me on the corner of 178th and 108th street just before 4pm. My boss mad arrangements to have one of thesenior staff for $10/week drive me home. She also drives one of my colleagues home first to Westmount, then we take the Yellowhead and she drops me off at Belvedere station. I go home from there. Saturday my ride picked me up at 8:30am. then we went to Westmount to pick the other lady up and then to the McDonald's drive through for breakfast. Saturday's we work from 9:30am to 1:30pm. I didn't know until after quitting time my Westmount passenger and another employee had to make our own way home because my ride was working on another project 9-5. That was ok because it was just me and the other guy waiting for the bus there across the street of John Deer for the bus to Westmount. I caught a #4 to South Campus and the lrt to Clareview and home. Tuesday I'm taking the train to South Campus and the #4 to wem to catch the #126. After work I get the ride back.

Tomorrow I'm up early because I have a 10:30am PCN appointment. I'll get a coffee and take care of that business. I also need some more insulin. After that I can go home and get on with the day.

Sigh that was my summer

break. I wish it was my 5 day summer break. I hope I keep this job and let go of market research for awhile.

Today I’m up around 10:30am. I’ve got to rebook an appointment I scheduled for Friday with my pharmacist. I need to book that for next Monday, my day off. I’m catching the 2:45pm #137. It’s a long ride. My commute into work is a long ride on the 137 and as I’m in from 4-9. It’s a short 4 day week but Saturday is more or less mandatory. It’s enough for my bottom line and a bit of bonus money. I’m trying to save enough for a 21” iMac, hopefully as a birthday present for myself. Saturday is a 4 hour shift but I’m in the West Edmonton Mall area and it’s a short bus ride to the mall and I can go from there. It’s especially going to be good because I can get a bite to eat at the WEM food court get my Warhammer 40K book, and a beer on my way out on payday weekends.

In my email today I received news of the new Star Wars website. Why is this note worthy? In the climate of the Lucas/Disney era the new website reflects this relationship. It means Star Wars fans (that includes me) will be in on important developments of upcoming related events. I had to update the link to reflect this.

It‘s going to be an I interesting week starting with a new job and all. If I get a call from my other job, I’ll ask if I can work just Monday nights but I doubt that‘s going to fly. Anyway, that‘s all for now.

Just one more day off of my 5 day weekend

but there will be others. What I like about this job is that it's steady. Sure I could have booked as much time off as I need at my last job. However, because it's project based if I lose a day and if the project ends during that time, I really feel the loss. Especially weekends are felt the most because they are full days. The other nice thing about the new job (if I work out) and plan it right, I might be able to take off a full summer. Lots of options.

It being July first, Canada's new Canadian Anti Spam Law takes place, other wise known as CASL.This piece of legislation is supposed to put a big dent in email spam. It allows someone to "opt out" of unsolicited emails. I've been getting emails from businesses I have actually subscribed to but the Government says they must give me the option to "opt out." It's actually called "Unsubscribe." How CASL works is a email that I have subscribed to asks me if I want to further continue receiving emails from them, to "opt in." They send me a link to which I'm supposed to click on to accept and continue, to give my consent to further send me their emails. It's kind of silly really but it's just another step for business I want email from to show they are CASL compliant. To read into it further here's a CASL link. 

There's been some discussion around the blogosphere of a strange cube discovered from a photo of a Mars rover. Just YouTube cube Mars as key words but its intriguing. I wonder if there is any connection to the white light that has also been noted recently on Mars. Mars no doubt about it has some strange anomalies. Like this one from Curiosity:

Monday night Raw last night was awesome. I actually thought Seth Rawlin's was going to cash in his "Money in the bank" briefcase. At the last minute Dean Ambrose comes in and foils that idea. Love it. 

Today COE is demolishing the 102 Avenue Groat Road Bridge which will be closed to traffic for 15 months as the City constructs a replacement bridge. 



The 102 Avenue over Groat Road Bridge serves as a major east/west corridor into and out of Edmonton's downtown. Constructed in 1910, the bridge has reached the end of its lifespan and will be demolished and replaced with a new bridge to better serve Edmontonians. There's even a webcam available here to watch the construction progress.  Happy Canada Day everyone. Anyway, that'.s all for now.