Just because

its rent day tomorrow, and I have about enough funds for a monthly ETS bus pass to cover my obligations, I'm not going to hit the panic button, just yet. Its a dark and stormy night in this household, desperation is looming. We haven't hit rock bottom but we're bailing water from a boat full of leaks, a cable tow's length from shore. We haven't been in this position before. Anxiety has moved in, and taking occupancy in the pit of my stomach. We're in uncharted waters but I'm optimistic dawn is right around the corner. I'm looking for the life preservers even now. I need to stay calm.

Its Grey Cup weekend here in Canada. The Edmonton Eskimos (Esks) haven't been to a Grey Cup finale since 2005. This will be a first for the opposing team as well at Investor Group field in Winnipeg. There is expected to be close to 40,000 fans in attendance. Security will be tight. Its the Ottawa Red Blacks 2nd year in the league. I'd rather be at lodge practice tonight but Anne and I are going through some challenging times here. Anne's going to make our usual late afternoon brunch, and I'm going to settle in for the game. The coin toss is at 4:30pm.  

Tomorrow, I'm out of here about noon. I'm going to drop off a resume, then over to an employment agency to help tweak a resume for a security guard job I'm looking into. I'll drop that off and ask some questions. A lot has changed since I was a guard in 1999-2000, and so has the economy. I'd like to work weekends if I eventually get hired on, its all part of a process. After that its off to a job lead and drop off my resume there again, and ask about a work from home option I know they have. I hope to be on my way home about 5:30pm. Shits going to hit the fan when I bring home under $100 bucks. I just hope Anne's paid some on the rent before I give her the bad news. In the meantime, I'm waiting for my job to call me for work. I was told the new project could start Friday, they just need confirmation, yeesh. Again, how long until pension? Times like these would be no sweat if I had a 2nd income or pension. Anyway, that's all for now.

December is going to be

extremely tight around here for Anne and I. We might even need to make use of the food bank. Including December I have 20 months 21 days to go until pension and I'm literally counting down the months. With pension, I'll be able to work a few days a week, go to lodge, make music sleep in late stay up late. Also, I'll be able to get a annual bus pass. "Living the dream" eh?

The other day city council selected TransEd its P3 (Public, Private, Partnership) for Valley line. Other then that, the line is just getting prepped for the odd obstruction along its path from Millwoods town mall to City Centre mall. Valley will be low floor and will use independent signaling architecture then that of the Capital line. Individual cars will be contracted out by Bombardier using their Flexity tram format. Also it looks like we're in good position to get funding for the 2nd phase of Valley line out to Lewis farms by 2025. We'll know more about that in the New Year. In 9 years I'll be 71 if I get there. I hope I live long enough to see it and ride on it. I think the challenging parts to this project wont be laying down the track but the individual stations. Some of the track will be elevated and the tunnel on the North bank of the Saskatchewan River might be challenging as well as the new train/footbridge. Phase 2 is the longest portion of the Valley line but no elevated track. All track is at grade and so are the stations, and no tunneling. Most importantly no house clearing. In You Tube just type in Valley line LRT Edmonton and there's a cool video on the what the project will be like when its done.

The Oilers played much better last night in Detroit. They had tied the game at 3 going into OT. D played good until the OT period. Oilers playing in Pittsburgh tonight. Also, Rogers place arena added a "bowl cam" so we get to see the whole ice area put together. Anyway, that's all for now.

Sure I'm enjoying watching the Oiler games

on my time off, but to be honest hearing all this talk about job lay offs all over the place is beginning to scare me. I'm not so worried about my job, yet. Its what kind of work am I going to get if any.
  
Yesterday I received a notice from the Clareview EPL library branch saying Anne's inter branch book order was in. While she was there she was there she asked if there were any programs for low income (to which we sadly fall into) She got an application and I think we will be way under the threshold. It means we can access the pool and gym amenities with our pass, but that wont be until the New Year.

I'm out of here at noon to go to the company's Christmas party. Hopefully I'll learn about the upcoming project. We'll be meeting upper management. There will be pizza etc and maybe a small pay cheque. Its for that reason why I'm going. Anyway, that's all for now.

It took long enough but we

finally received our first real snow fall of the season. Its still sputtering like the last bits of paper out of a confetti machine. It's not terribly cold out there on a overcast Tuesday afternoon.

The plan was to head out today but in light of the snowstorm Anne said your not going anywhere. Going out on my rounds was the initial plan until she heard the word lodge in the conversation. I think this weather is keeping a lot of people off the roads tonight. So then after Anne used Face Time call her other sister she was wondering why she only gets thumbnail video image on a dark screen. We decided it would be a good idea to go to the Apple store at Southgate. Easy to get to, its just a bus down to Clareview station and a comfortable train ride to Southgate (no transferring) up the escalator at Southgate and over the overpass ramp and into the mall. Anne suggested I could get Chinese food after my business with Apple. Good idea. Then in light of her coming back from taking out the garbage she said "Your staying home today, its not an urgent situation that we can't just call them." That's something else I can do.

I'm just sitting here at home. I'll be looking on Kijiji for jobs. I was checking out how to get a SSIA (Security Services and Investigator's Act) license but its a $100 fee. I think the company I applied that has that as part of its basic training package. I'll probably get this in the new year. Latter on because I have time to waste, today I'm going to try and make a beat. Anyway, that's all for now.

Its not very often that I give up on a

book I'm reading but "Back to the moon" wasn't doing anything for me, sorry. After a couple of years of reading "Horus Heresy", what can I say? I was spoiled. I'll return to the book "Back to the moon", eventually. Its just not on my reading radar at the moment. For that matter, I'm a little burned out from reading Warhammer 40K. I'll still buy the books. So, I thought I'd try for something a little different: A John Scalzi book. I've got a few of his books on my shelf. I thought I'd try his first novel "Agent to the Stars." I'm reading along and its got a few good things going for it already; first person point of view. That's always a plus for me. Its got some comedy :) Moving forward it looks like a good yarn. It'll keep me going far into January. He's got a few more books in the first person point of view. "Old mans war" looks interesting as well. There's also a few Robert J. Sawyer books I need to get to for 2016. So, I can take a break for a few years from reading Warhammer 40K. Like I said, I'll still buy the books and all.

Switching gears here, I've watched a few episodes of "Ring of Honor" (RoH) wrestling lately. I was really impressed with what I saw in last weeks recorded to pvr show. I really liked the fast pace of the "Television championship" match. It was really good and fun to watch. I'll be watching RoH on a more regular basis. I like how the announcer table is right up against the ring. Very old school and reminds me of the old Stampede wrestling in the '80's. Anne's recording this for me every week so I can watch it Sunday nights. 

I sent out a resume last night. I'm not trying to replace my job. I just need something that will keep me going during times like this. I've been without a income for the 3rd week this month and its bugging me. I got one cheque last Friday. I don't want to be caught without any income for summer 2016. When I get something part time I'd like to go 3 days at the new job and 3 at my current job type of a situation. If there's a month without work at my current job I'd like to have the option of pick up hours at the other job. Most people in the market research industry, working in a call centre do this. 

Tonight its wrestling and Oilers road hockey. Tomorrow I'm out at lodge for the evening as our lodge and another lodge are holding a joint degree. Wednesday night is another Oiler game. To decide the CFL West yesterday, we hosted the Calgary Stampeders at Commonwealth stadium to a 31-45 decision. In other words we're going to meet Ottawa at Winnipeg for the Grey Cup. First time since 2005. 

One thing about this downturn in the economy is we're getting a lot more faces out to lodge. Brothers I haven't seen in awhile are showing up, which is good for us bad for them I'm sorry to say. Thursday (where I work) we're having a staff Christmas party early because the office is expected to get busy from here on in. I'm hoping at the Christmas party we're going to get news of the upcoming project. Other then that, not a lot going on. Anyway, that's all for now.

Having a nice weekend but the cost of

this weekend is too high a price to pay. I lost about $100 just on Saturday as it is. I'm keeping track of all the places I've been sending resumes too and getting contact names when I can. I'm allowing 3 days to follow up. 

Today its Calgary/Edmonton to decide which team is in the CFL West. Esks have had 3 weeks off and I'm afraid that could do them in. I got a feeling Calgary will win this one. Its very windy out there as well this afternoon and that could be a factor. Also, today is WWE's Survivor series. This is going to decide who will be the new WWE Champion. I'll get the results after. I got a feeling its going to be between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and Reigns is going to turn heel and join with the "authority." Also, tonight Anne and I are going to order the last Tom Cruise Mission Impossible Rouge Nation. Its only $6 on video on demand. I'm looking forward to this. 

Monday night Coast is having their annual JFK night. Hard to believe that the JFK assassination took place 52 years ago. I was 11 years old. The 3rd annual JFK conference is currently underway in Dallas. Even casual observers that know anything about the case have theories. Was it a conspiracy? Was the mob involved? Or did the Warren Commission get it right? I've added a link in the left sidebar to the Dealy plaza webcam. Every year people gather at the location on the grassy knoll in observance to that day. Anyway that's about all for now.

I've often wondered what would happen to this blog

after I pass on? Is it dependent on my isp account? No because its web based. It'll always be 'out there.' That means that as long as Google keeps Blogger going people will have the opportunity to read this blog for a long time after I'm gone. This blog is my legacy.

The Oilers finally snapped a 3 game losing streak beating the New Jersey Devils. Eberly, Pucell, and Draisaitl are scoring a goal/game. The Oilers won last nights contest Rexall 4-1. Now after the weekend the Oiler's go on a 5 game road trip. My expectations for this road trip will be 1 win out of 5 games. Monday the Oilers play in Washington DC. I'm still hopeful that the Oilers will finish 9th ot 10th in the West at the end of April.

I called the office and there is no work for me this weekend. The boss is hoping for mid next week. Our staff Christmas party will be next Thursday. I've got a couple work from home options I'm about to look into. I hope I'll be able to get the ball rolling on one of them next week. I'm also following up on a security guard job as well. If Anne and I can survive between now and mid December, we should be ok. Anyway, that's all for now. 

From the looks of things

there doesn't seem to be any kind of a schedule for the weekend. We're supposed to be having our staff Christmas party next week, which suggests to me that there won't be work of any kind, at least until the first week of next month. I'm looking for another part time job, anything. The job I have now is ok for when I'm on pension but as for now, its so unpredictable and we cant live like this. I'm checking in about a job in a totally different industry other then call centre work. I've done the work in the other industry before but that was like 15 years ago. I have 2 different resumes for two different industries..

Obama has decided to shut the doors on Syrian refugees most likely a decision based upon last Friday's tragedy in Paris. Yet JT wants to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this year? Bordering on asinine. The cost of this program over 6 years will be $1.2 Billion. No doubt there are some of these refugees that would just as soon as kill us then escape the trouble in Syria we don't know. Here in Alberta we're going to be accepting about 6,000 of them. Personally I think it should be the Muslim community that should be looking after these people. Give them tax breaks. They're used to having 8-12 of them in a household aren't they? Personally I think these refugees are a low security risk but one never knows.

Earlier I was able to put up another video to my new YouTube channel. So many "Jimmy Jam's" out there, I decided to drop that and create a new YouTube channel. I'm now a entity or a band, called "Amok Thyme." Its a play on words and a bit of a shout out to a Star Trek tos episode of a similar name. I'll be working on this over the weekend. Anyway, that's all for now.

Another day off today

on a what looks like a cold sunny Wednesday afternoon. I haven't seen a November like this in a long time. Normally we'd have about 3 inches of snow on the ground this time of year and looking at -18/25 windchill. All part of this global warming or climate change trend I suppose. 

Apple has a app called Quicktime installed on iMac's that allows for screen recording. I'd like to be able to do this on my iPod Touch. Since I didn't make it to the studio for my hour yesterday I couldn't try this: With my lightning cable and iPod Touch download the Quicktime player. I'm sure I can sync my iPod Touch screen with the iMac to do this. If I'm not working on the weekend, I'll try and get to the Apple store. What I'd like to get is a 27 inch 3 Tb iMac but that wont happen until I get full pension. Earliest I'd be looking at getting one would be Spring 2018. What I'm working towards now is freeing up some space on Anne's iPad for iMaschine and BeatMaker 2. If I can get the Quicktime player on our iPad and my iPod Touch i can see myself still using that in the meantime.

I'm about to email off a few resumes this afternoon. I sent out 2 yesterday. My goal is 2/day. All I'm looking for is something part time, 3 days a week. Anne is home Monday/Tuesday so this will have to be office work days if I end up taking a work from home situation. I'd like to go to this one place I was working October 2014. I tried getting started at the end of this last September. They have a work from home situation but I had forgot to ask about that. As far as work goes at my current job, they have a few small projects but apparently my flow rate from the last project didn't make the cut for this one. If I don't hear from the office by Thursday, I'm checking a work from home set up. 

As for tonight, I'm home holding down the fort watching the Chicago Black Hawks/Oiler hockey game on TV. Thursday I'm making setting things up for a work from Home situation. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Have job no work

should be the theme for me the last half of this month. I'm hoping I'll get a few days in and stat pay along with my small pension to cover the basics between now and Saturday for the end of the month. I'll get work in December but also a break due to Christmas. Hopefully work will be more steady in the New Year.

Yesterday I picked up a iTunes card and bought iMaschine 2 for my iPod Touch. iMaschine 2 was on sale for just under $6 at an introductory price. The original iMaschine has been out for awhile now. The new version has 12 new features like step mode, and can even be used in my iPod's Garage band, which is pretty cool. I messed around with it last night for a bit. Native Instruments has offered a iMaschine expansion "pack" for free. There are iPhone/iPod Touch screen recorders out there but how good they are, I don't know. Some ratings are pretty good. Apple has a app called Yosemite and is part of the latest version for Apple's Quicktime app that has decent screen recording. I would like to see something like a screen recorder for iMovie. A screen recorder for iOS devices would be really handy. At the moment iMaschine 2 only shares to Soundcloud as far as I  know.   

And finally, its no secret in the call centre market research industry that its project based. I like this type of work. If they have projects, they have work. My place of employment is no exception. Most people that are in this industry have either a 2nd job, or are students or are pensioners. This is not a job one can make a steady living at. I'm 22 months away from pension, so like my other colleagues at my place of employment that are not pensioners or students that have a 2nd income, I'm also looking for a 2nd income. I'd like to keep this job because I'm so close to pension, this job and my pension world work great together. Yesterday I sent out 2 resumes and had a bit of a phone interview. With the economy so tight now because we are in a recession the job market makes it tough to get a job. Employers love this environment, not good for employees though. Anyway that's all for now.

I could have a unscheduled day off Monday

in, which case I'd like to book some studio time at the maker space sound booth/studio. Its in the main branch of the downtown public library. I'd like to use their iMac and make a beat of some kind.

The Oilers last night played their C+ game against the LA Kings. The first period LA scored seconds into the game. The score was 3-1 in the 2nd period and Taylor Hall managed to tie the game at 3 in the third. I could feel OT about to happen and the Oiler's were really pouring it on. Near the end LA took advantage of a tired spent team making sloppy mistakes. The Oiler's worst enemy wasn't, time or even officiating but themselves. The Oilers ended up 1/5 on this road trip, and the way they are playing without Connor McDavid in the lineup last place in March seems to be where they are headed.

Today I'm going to watch a bit of football read and have brunch and relax. Anyway, that's all for now.

I have more information about what

happened yesterday. Isis is claiming responsibility. There are 129 people dead, 99 in critical condition and 352 people injured. There were 8 attackers in the 6 attacks. Most of the attackers blew themselves up. One of the attackers had a Syrian passport. That begs the question: Are we allowing a Trojan horse in our effort to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees into this country? I'm not suggesting we shouldn't allow them into this country but in light of yesterday's attacks in Paris, could something like that happen here and how much is this going to cost us? It gives me pause. Maybe JT needs to rethink our mission in Syria and Iraq. Perhaps before we bring these refugees here we have a tight system of checks and balances. In other words a strong security system. Maybe put them in camps for a year and screen them and implant a gps chip in all of them as a security caution. Having 25,000 Syrian refugees is a noble and humanitarian gesture on our part but are we going to end up paying for it like Paris has done? I don't have any answers to those questions. Currently underway is the G-20 world leaders are in Turkey for the G-8 summit. So close to what's going on there in Syria. Also, Police have been able to trace a vehicle used by the terrorist's to a source in Belgium. Those people have been rounded up. Police want to learn how this was organized who funded them etc.

On my plate today not much going on. I'm going over my You Tube subscriptions, have some lunch and watch the Oilers/LA game. Watch the Oilers receive another whopping. Anyway, that's all for now.

My shift ended before it got underway

and there wont be anything for Saturday, and Sunday is out. Since it was just after 4pm I thought I may as well go get my Proline ticket at the little Chinese store across from where I work. I filled out my ticket catching a bit of the news from the store owner's TV set. Something about a gunman and another shooting? I thought here we go again. The shooting of the month in the US. Then as I brought the ticket to the till the TV was behind me, I turned and was shocked to discover what was going on. I felt a sickening pall in my stomach. At the time the reports were of 60 people killed by a suicide bomber in Paris at a soccer match, oh my God. I was numb. I still can't believe it. What kind of group or people could do such a sickening thing? I don't mean to sound naive, but I thought this kind of madness went out with Hitler. What is going on in this world? I took my #5 bus to my RBC bank cashed my cheque and decided to take the train at Central to Century Park (end of the line), while my trip was haunted by the events in Paris. When at my destination I was able to use the wifi and got more details waiting for my train to get underway. I read how there were 6 coordinated attacks, which caused the deaths of 128 people, 22 are critically injured and something like over 100 casualties. The bulk of the attacks were at this Heavy metal rock concert. In a rooftop shoot out at the concert Police managed to kill the two gunmen. I don't know about the other attacks. I don't have a lot of info. Isis is applauding (typical of those monsters) the attacks, so I doubt its them. It sounds more like Al-Qaeda because the attackers (at least at the heavy metal concert) were not wearing masks. Also the attacks were so close to where the January attacks near the Charlie Hebdo offices. This is why I don't think it was Isis. Regardless of what group it is that did this despicable act, is a crime against humanity. I share a sense of loss and sadness for the families of those victims Paris. I'm left wondering the same question others area are asking: Why? Is this senseless act motivated by religion or politics or both? Is it related to the attacks in January? The US assassination of Jihadi John the other day? What ever the reason behind this madness? This is Neanderthal at its apex. What happens now?     

Its back to work for me

as of today and up early Saturday morning. I like Saturday's. I just don't like getting up at 7am. But I'd rather be going to work rather then looking for work. I'm literally counting down the months until pension. That's 22 until full pension, if I get there that is. Other then that not much is going on. Anyway, that's all for now.

Remembrance day is one of my

favorite days to have a day off. Its more then a day off for me as my father Richard Warren Shannon served as a pilot flying bomber aircraft across the Atlantic ocean in world war 2. I often think of dad but more so for what he did for this country. He never won any honors or anything for his duty nor did he expect any. His position was to fly the aircraft to the theatre of operations not to go on any combat missions. My Remembrance observance took place at my lodge last Thursday. I wear my poppy all through out the month of November.

For what I need I'm beginning to think that the webcam idea to record my music jams was money wasted. It didn't dawn on me at the time of purchase that a selfie stick for my iPod touch could have served the same purpose and takes better video. Also, in real time and isn't as finicky. I can get a blue tooth selfie stick and I'm ready to go for about $20 bucks. I still might use the webcam but not for music production. By using iMovie in my iPod it finds any piece of music that's uploaded to my iTunes library and I sync from there to iMovie and publish accordingly. I've done this before. I don't need a $500 GoPro camera or even a $100 clone or a webcam.

Next Tuesday or there about, we're supposed to go into the minus side of the temperature scale. Its not going to be anything like -20 or anything like that but it could be. I always like to wear my street shoes when I'm out and about, so anytime when we can avoid snow on the ground is good. Anyway on my plate for tonight, I'm going to cash in my free 6/49 lottery ticket get a bag of cheese doodles and settle in for tonight's Oiler/Anaheim game. Anne's working tonight and I'm going to enjoy a night by myself as tomorrow night (my last day off this week) I'm going to make an effort to go to Freemason's Hall and visit Saskatchewan #92, have some adult libation and enjoy their Remembrance day observances. Anyway that's all for now. 

I forgot to bring my

iPod Touch camera as Anne and I ventured out yesterday to check out the new Clareview rec centre. My baby back ribs were slow cooking in the oven. Our first stop along the way was to Bulk Barn. I haven't been in the store yet. I got a bunch of candy for when my blood sugar levels drop. The Clareview rec centre has been opened for about a year now but we finally got a chance to get a look inside yesterday. Its really big. Lots of concourse, there are 2 NHL size ice surfaces, an indoor track and field area, tennis courts outside and a big pool, large sauna and smaller wading pools. Then there is the library. Very nice. What caught my attention was this beautiful desk for their new iMac. The desk had coaster like wheels on it. The library for a Monday was very active. Anne got a library card and ordered a book from one of the other city libraries. There was along ramp to the outside and, then to Walmart across the street. I was looking for the Belkin Rockstar headphone spliter device but they didn't have what I wanted. We almost bought me a new office chair and was ready to pay for it at the till but we were not confident it would hold a 200 pound man like myself so we left it behind. Anne bought some things and I was craving for a McDonald's strawberry ice cream. We walked home from there. My ribs were ready and I watched Monday night Raw. Anne wanted to check Staples to see what they had for office chairs but instead came back with 4 metal wheels for my current chair. it's almost like I've got a new office chair.

After our late evening meal I attempted to fool around with my webcam. I wanted to see if I could take a video of me doing something on my laptop with Maschine but the images I'm getting are all opposite. I'm not very happy with this webcam but I'm not giving up on it just yet. I need to tinker around with it some more. My iPod takes better video then this webcam. Eventually I'm going to get a a Go pro clone. I've seen some reviews on YouTube and for about $100 on Ebay. 

About 2:30am I felt my stomach tighten and felt a bit nauseous, uh-oh. I knew what was coming. I was moaning and groaning with Oiler bucket in hand in the bedroom. I was sweating all over. Finally my stomach heaved and I just let er rip and brought up my nacho dinner. Anne found the Pepto B for me and that helped. I felt better and I had a shower, then went to bed after that. Spicy food and I do not get along. Other then the vomiting earlier this morning, I"m having a decent day. Anyway, that's all for now.  

We went out over to

Humpty's Sunday afternoon for a brunch but Humpty's doesn't serve up breakfast sausages. Its easy enough to get to. We just take the #2 bus. I had a great bacon cheese burger/fries. Anne had a ham and egg breakfast. 

We missed out #2 bus heading back but even with a snow and rain mix it was still a fairly mild day. We decided to take the #10 bus to Clareview. That's when I noticed this tree bent over. It looked tired and like an old man. I felt a connected to it as it kind of reminds me of myself, tired and old. Being darker outside that time of day makes the photo even darker taken from a iPod Touch. Even after the photo is edited. The #10 bus here is a longer way around but that #10 changes to a #11 and it drops us right across the street from our place. I wanted to check out the new Shoppers drug mart and Anne led me to it. Its a nice store. Its a bit more expensive then most stores but that's Shoppers. At least they have a 6/49 stand. Anyway that's all for now.

Its a gloomy rainy day out there but its bark looks worse

then its bite. The plan later this afternoon is to head up the street to the Manning shopping centre area for brunch at Smitty's but once Anne takes a look out at that weather, will she even want to go? I don't care myself. Its only a short walk. Our options are limited today because to the lrt needs to shut the Clareview to Corona portion of the line down to accommodate a contractor doing utility work on the Valley line. Once a month doesn't go by when the ETS has to shut the half the lrt Capital line down. They have replacement buses which work well.  

I got the webcam C270 software to work with the laptop. Its for the most part pretty good. I've got to tinker with the gain/contrast a bt more. The but in all of this has to do with their "Gallery sharing" to YouTube/Twitter and Facebook. They don't work. Gallery interface doesn't recognize my YouTube account. Other posters on YouTube with the same webcam have issues with Facebook, nothing happens. The work around is the initial opportunity to have the finished video sent to their "Motion detection" folder. From there, I can drag the video out to my laptop's desktop and, then drag and drop it onto a flash drive then into my desktop already open YouTube account and publish from there. Everything else with the webcam works except their sharing aspect and apparently Logitech's tech support isn't that user friendly. Still with music, I'm considering the iELectribe for my iPod Touch. Its a cool app for about $16 bucks and I've been looking at the iKaoss pad for the iPhone. Garage band has added a Audiobus like feature to its eco system but on my single core iPod Touch processor makes the outcome in Garage band clip too much. I'm not sure if this is a product of the hardware or the software. 

At the moment I'm having my first coffee waking up. I woke out of bed at noon today. Anne wants me to wake her up at 2pm. Last night I won a free 6/49 lottery ticket by hand picking 2 numbers Friday. Plus my Calgary/BC Lions CFL game came in my favour last night. I have 3 NFL games on that ticket. Two to win and one to tie. I got the NFL picks from the Brady and Walker show Friday before I left for work. I'm curious as to see how these games will play out for $83 bucks. 

If we get out for brunch ok, if not ok as well. Tonight the Oiler's are in Chicago. On the Oiler's website the poll asks "How many games will the Oiler's win on this (CFR) road trip. Most respondents are more optimistic then I am. they say 2 games. I say 1. This road trip will be a good road trip for Eberle to get back into the swing of things. If anything its going to put the Oiler's 2nd from last place. The CFR screws the Oiler's up every season. Its hard to play 500 hockey when your on the road so much. The schedule is not very kind to the Oiler's. Never has been. Anyway, that's about all for now.

This is turning out to be pretty

good as I'm about to have 6 days off. Its mostly a client end thing but I go back to work next Friday. Anne is struggling with this because its like a huge tragedy of some kind. Sunday is my regular scheduled day off and I'm off Wednesday for Remembrance day, which I get paid for I believe and I'm back to work Friday as management said. I'll be missing 4 days but its not permanent as we got work for the immediate future. I'm not even going to have a Christmas break. So I'm going to enjoy this time off while I can. 

Obama went and pulled the plug on the Keystone pipeline yesterday. We've been sending oilsands oil mostly by rail anyway and have been doing this for a long time. At least once a week before $45 oil, I'd see cars heading South to the boarder. I'm sure after the US election in 2016 the GOP will reverse Obama's decision. The Republicans are in favour of Keystone but at $45 oil? 

I'm considering with this time off to make a couple of beats at the Library. I can from their sound booth log into my YouTube account and work from there, using their computers and their webcam on better equipment then what I have here at home Also they have Mac's and Ableton Live. Anyway, that's about all for now.

For non members of our

lodge that are interested in joining we have a early festive board. This lets them check us out and vice versa, meet the guys, fellowship and take part in some masonic education. We had a fellow that's been showing up more then a few occasions last Spring and again recently. He came by last night with his petition. We had a nice remembrance day celebration. I left early with one of the guys and got home by 10pm. When I'm on pension I'll be able to stay up latter. 

Its a beautiful day out there at 3* as its calling for 5* later today. Tomorrow, we're at 9 degrees. Up until the middle of the month we're holding out at above 2* or better. We still get the odd bit of snow but that evaporates off the ground as the day advances. 

When I got home last night, I checked my call display on our TV call history and the job called but when I called today I was still asked to come in but the shift could end early because the project is winding down. That, I wont mind and if I'm out early I might be able to catch the 2nd period of tonight's Pens/Oiler's game. It would have been great to have McDavid up against Crosby. McDavid's shoulder injury the other day put that on pause. I don't know about next week or if there is a schedule going on the board for tonight, but I'll know that when I get there. I think tomorrow is out. There is a good indication I could have a long weekend and I'm ok with that. Anyway, that's all for now.

Earlier this morning after tinkering

around with my C270 Logitech webcam, I finally got it to work. First, I uninstalled the software/control panel I installed from the logitech website. Then opened up my YouTube channel "Jim Tube" and after a bit of messing around I got YouTube to record a live video test of me talking etc. It was only a 30 second test but it worked out well. The audio pickup is really good. YouTube even has some decent video editing tools as well. Next is to try and get one of my audio clips to sync with my sample video test 3. 

I went in for my shift yesterday and I got a full shift, leaving out of there about 9:30pm. I'm scheduled to go in for tomorrow, but I'm half expecting a call from Super saying my shift for the weekend will be canceled. I'm ok with this as there's a Oiler game Friday night. If I can go in for Friday night even if for 3 hours, I'm ok for that as well. If my shift for Friday is canceled I'll be calling a job lead and setting something up for next week and before the Oiler game, I'll be grabbing a bus to Wendy's and timing it before Anne leaves. I've got several places I'm able to call. I just need something part time steady. I don't know what I can get out of a work from home situation and I've got a few options there as well. 

As for today, I'm off this afternoon as I've got lodge tonight. I'm leaving out of here at 5pm in my suit and tie long after Anne has left. We have our festive board early. This way I can have a adult libation before we Tyle and enjoy lodge. I decided to take the Junior Steward's chair for 2016. Not much to do unless we confer a degree. Anyway that's all for now.

I picked up a webcam

on my way into work yesterday afternoon, leaving out of here a bit early. I got the logitech C270 at Best buy for $50. I proceeded to resume my commute at Clareview station and got my coffee at Starbucks at Central. I was at my destination within 15 minutes of catching my bus. If I have a shift Saturday, (more on that later) I'm catching a bus from Central. Seems to work out better.

I read from my "Descent of Angels" book, as I'm just about to wrap that one up. (took me long enough) With about 20 minutes on the clock before I needed to show up at the site I did something I haven't done in almost 20 years: Visit a near by pawn shop. They had some mixers but they were expensive, some cameras selling for like $40 but no iPads. Lots of iPods though. Something to file against for later.

I went to work and sat in on a briefing. We have some projects but we might have some time off at the clients discretion. Super doesn't know when we'll begin the next project but all of these are slated for November. I could walk in this afternoon for a briefing on the new project or it could start 2 weeks from now, we don't know. If I'm on the schedule for next week, then that's a good sign. I'll have a cheque for Anne on the 13th but I'm  not going to tell her about this, just yet. She'll explode. Most people I work with have other sources of income. One needs to, doing this kind of work. I'm going to hold out until Friday. I'm in for this evening and I could get a update tonight. If no update tonight I'm off tomorrow for lodge and in on Friday business as usual. If no update Friday, I'm in Saturday.

I got the full shift in yesterday. I don't know about today as we're cleaning up the file. I left the office with my blood sugar way down. I bought a regular bottle of Coke and a candy bar and the store owner had the last dying minutes of the hockey game on. RNH scored the 4-2 empty netter. After a brief wait consuming the Coke and candy bar, I felt better. I didn't feel all that great with the knowledge I could be off work for awhile . I was home at 10:30pm and after supper and the news I was shocked to learn Connor McDavid suffered a shoulder injury in last nights game. I unpacked the webcam and installed it on my Windows Xp system. The webcam worked until I installed the software from the Logitech site. Every time when I tried to use the software to make a recording my computer shut down on me. Then I realized that it was most likely due to system requirements on the box, over a half a gig of Ram and I have 1 Gb of Ram that wasn't seated properly when I bought it in 2007. Most likely its the wrong Ram. My laptop is bloated with adware rendering the laptop almost unusable. I could get a 2.5" drive and a copy of Windows 7 and start fresh or see if I can get the proper Ram and get 2 Gigs this time. I might go that approach. Anyway, that's all for now.

Our iPad is almost full as

most of it is loaded with video and photographs. I'm gradually taking a lot of them out of my photo "collection" or as iPad calls them "memories" and uploading them to Flikr to save space. My everyday use computer hard drive space has under a Gb left in it. The only thing I need it for is this Blog, iTunes, YouTube, email and my diary. I can't reformat the drive because it calls for the recovery disk, which has to be compiled and built from within the original OS. Its an Windows Xp computer. My laptop has about 50Gb and has non genuine copy of Windows Ultimate. A colleague a few years ago was kind enough to get rid of a virus that took out the original OS. I'm considering a 2nd 1Tb hard drive for my everyday computer, since at the moment they are cheep enough. When I go on pension I'll be able to free up more of my time and work towards getting a newer computer.

Today I need to leave out of here a bit early to get some cat pounce cat treats at the dollar store and I'm going to check out a pawn shop just behind my place of work to see if I can get a used iOS device or a Gopro camera and to see what they have used. 

My commute yesterday, leaving out of here at 2pm got me to Starbucks at 2:30pm. I was at 124th/107th by 3pm. This gets me a chance to read for half an hour before I get into the office. That #3 works really good as I'm able to get a comfortable seat and I was still able to get my afternoon coffee. When it gets colder, I'll just leave half an hour later. 

I'm in the office today for my 4-9:30pm shift. Tonight I'm following the Flyers/Oiler game. Super usually updates me on the scores. I'm usually having my break at 7pm when the game starts. I like to get the score during the end of the 1st period by that time it's about 8pm and the score when I sign out after my time sheet. Now with Capital City wifi is open, I can get game scores topside at Corona station before descending to the train platform. Its a 10-20 minute trip to Clareview and while I'm on my #11 bus waiting for it to leave, I can get the scores then until I get home. By that time the game is over or I get the fans on the train boarding at Rexall. Anyway, that's all for now.

My Sunday morning commute

yesterday will be my last for awhile. There were a few people in the line up ahead of me at Starbucks. So much for my coffee. I could have waited but to my surprise a #3 bus arrived. I could have picked up my coffee after all. Next Saturday (if I'm put back on the schedule) I'll get my coffee at Starbucks and my #3 into work. This way, I wont have to wait for an extra 15 minutes. 

Coast has a couple of good show coming up Wed 11-04  Anomalous Star & Space News• Seth Shostak
Thu 11-05  Clandestine Operations & Secret Societies

• Kris Millegan I like stuff like this. The biggest space news this last weekend was that skull like asteroid Halloween night: TB145. Very scary kids.

My day yesterday was slow. I think we must have had a handful of people in the office. Some work just a few hours others work the full 7.5 like I thought I was on for. I always work 7.5 on a Saturday/Sunday. I even took my 12:45 break thinking my half was at 2pm and my other break was at 4pm. However I failed to look at the schedule properly Friday night only to learn I'm off at 4:30pm Sunday. Ok. Not the end of the world. I need to talk with the boss later today to find out why I'm not on Saturday's shift and could I be placed back on. Once knowing that, I'll be able to get some gear. I'm looking at the Korg Volca sample, the Korg Kaoss pad mini 2, and the Zoom handy audio recorder and possibly the Korg Monotron delay. I'll want to do this Wednesday. 

On my way home, I caught the Eskimo fans leaving the game. Score was Al's 22 Esks 40. This means that pending what Calgary does next weekend we could be first in the West. Anyway that's all for now.