Despite Edmonton and its

cyclic economy, I'd rather live here then anywhere else. Ok so we have bad hockey, we have a decent climate  though. Thanks to a 2015 El-nino year our climate has been sub arctic-moderate. The average High temperature for October for example has been 16.7, and November we've had about a week of -0/-6 for the whole month. That's what a El-nino year can do for us. At the same time we don't experience any flooding. Did I mention the hockey is bad? 

On the Connect to Edmonton movie thread I mentioned since JJ Abrams is involved with Star Wars, what does this do for the Star Trek film franchise? Does the success of Star Wars breath new life into the floundering Star Trek movie series? What happens to Trek now?

Ok this is my last post for 2015 (I promise) My wife is working tonight so I get to hold down the fort and ring in New Year alone. Anne's going to order me a pizza meal from her discount for my dinner tonight and I'm settling in to watch the Oilers host the Anaheim Ducks. Its free LRT service in the city tonight and tomorrow but we got our bus pass for January. Happy New Year everyone, anyway that's all for now.

At first I thought I had a stroke

At first I thought I had a stroke overnight or something, when I heard what sounded like a vacuum cleaner that started for a few minutes and then idled down. This woke me up about 9:30am. Anne has yet to hear it because when she's in bed, she's oblivious to anything around her with those ear plugs of hers. Then within the brief minute or so since above the sound was coming right above me. The people upstairs are doing something. The noise would start and then peter off and then ramp down. That can't be a vacuum because that was over 3 hours ago. Is there a contractor in the building that management never informed us about? I'll let it go for now but if this keeps going on after 5pm, I'll be paying a visit to management.

Even though I haven't played Advanced Squad Leader (asl) in years, I've been following the development of the hobby. Asl has always been one of my favorite board games. If your thinking this is like another Risk or a party game, your sadly mistaken. The learning curve is quite high. The time and money that goes along with it is substantial. There is a element of luck involved as it uses dice and colorful cardboard counters. I've seen asl go from Avlon Hill (ah) to Multi man Publications (mmp) over the years. Since mmp they've been adding new modules on a consistent basis. Asl focuses on World War 2. Since the 2nd reboot of asl in 1985, I've always wondered if the games would ever step out of ww2. 

  

So many possibilities, like Vietnam, middle east and even Korea. So, to my surprise in my email yesterday mmp announced "The Forgotten war." Mmp is taking pre orders. Out of all the 26 asl modules I have12. Some are out of print. I'm sure in some of my many moving house over the years I've lost some pieces. Since mmp took over ah I have yet to buy one of their products. There's not a lot of places that sell wargames anymore in town. Warp one might. I've never seen any wargames at Happy Harbor. Mission fun and games might sell them. The official release of The Forgotten War wont be until 2016. There is a computer version of ASL and one of my YouTube subs has had a whole series on the topic. It looks interesting but as usual my computer is slow. I could see mmp making a iPad asl app. The hobby is almost screaming for an app. Most likely I'll try the software version of asl when I get my iMac in the near future. Anne has all my games boxed up on the closet. If your interested playing asl at the bottom of the wiki page link there is a Google maps directory location of players world wide. Asl is mostly a male orientated hobby. I've never seen any females play the game. You can learn more about ASL here.  

In wrapping up, I'm just wondering if this is some kind of un supervised children's toy going on upstairs? Can't kids get a quite hobby like Leggo or asl? What ever the drone like noise is, it just started today. Did they get one of those aerial drones for Christmas and are trying it out inside? I'll get to the bottom of this eventually. Anyway, that's all for now.

Even though its a overcast typical winter

day out there the temperatures are getting better. We're at about -13 now. Its supposed to warm up this week to around -5. If we can get January to remain steady at about -5 to -10, I can live with that.

The other day I stumbled upon a curious device from Moog. Is it another add on for their portable "Minitaur." Upon closer inspection, this thing even though it looked like a Minitaur it had a patch bay. I checked out a review of the recently released "Moog Mother 32," or 32 for our purposes. This thing has a built in step sequencer and a button style keyboard. Ok, nice. I can add this to the file folder for later. Then I came across another You Tube video on the 32 only this time the 32 was cradled into a double stand of some kind and the demonstrator of the 32 was showing how the 32 can be used with modular modules from 3rd party developers. That really caught my attention. The modules and the 32 worked well together and makes the 32 very expandable. I immediately filed the 32 out from the file folder to wish list. I'd like to get into modular synthesis and this lets me get into it without breaking the bank. 

Later this afternoon Anne wants to check out Best buy to see what we can get for a boxing day tv special. I want to go with a smart tv. Then Marks next door to see if they have any mens winter jackets. I'd rather have a winter jacket as mine is still good for another year but showing its wear and tear. I'd rather not use the Visa at all unless its for my lodge dues. Anyway, that's all for now.

About the highlight of my

Saturday was watching the Oilers/Canucks game. That game should have been won in a shoot-out but it was a Oiler 2-1 loss in OT. I thought our goal tender played decent enough but that last shot ordinarily he should have stopped.

Anne wants to head out of here about 2pm for Londonderry Mall. There's a coat there she wants me to try on and she needs some stuff. Then its to Capital Pizza for our Christmas Pizza tradition. After that its home to watch the Oilers/Flames on TV. Anyway, that's all for now.

Today I'm taking it easy enjoying my

time off. After the weekend I'm going to be looking for a more steady part time job. Something that doesn't rely on projects or is seasonal. I need a job steady that's open year round from 9am-3pm, somewhere in there. Security guard work is out because its too regulated and I have to fork out $100 to take a test and pass with 80% or greater. Then there's a fingerprint service fee and a Police records check fee etc. It's not like the old days where you can just apply and they suit you up and your ready to go. I'm also looking at house keeping or janitorial. It doesn't have to be long term. Once I get on pension my current casual job will be good enough. I've been looking around lately on Kijiji. I got a job in the summer of 2014 through Kijiji and this job. I'll find something.

This week I need to go to the Southgate Apple store, and I'll probably do that Monday. We want to have our i0S devices separated so I can get Airdrop on our iPad. There's probably a online solution but I might screw up. Better let them know and get expert advice. I have a back up email and I'll need that to open a Apple id for the iPad and work from there. I also want to get Apple TV because it has Airplay. Airplay (as I understand it) will let me mirror our iOS screens on our TV. There's a 3rd party app that with Airplay lets an iOS user record the iOS screen. If this works, then I can just record the iOS system audio using a 3.5mm male to male jack plug that into my laptop using Audacity to record the audio export as a wav file, then once the video is recorded load that into iMovie and sync the two together. In theory. It's a long process but its the easiest way to screen record an iOS device that I know of that doesn't jailbreak (hack) our iOS devices. This process if it works like I think, will enable me to record my iOS screen and upload to YouTube. iOS music production has really taken off since the birth of the iPad in 2010. There's Audio bus and a ton of music apps and sequencers out there. Most music software studios like Cubase and Fl. Studio have their own versions for the iPad and Android devices. Even Native Instruments has iMachine 2 and a "stripped down" version of Apples garage band is available like for $5 from the app store. What I like about iOS music production is that in the world of music production an iOS device is more hardware, then software. Producing music on a computer can be labour intensive and costs a lot of money to keep up to date with computers and the software libraries are so huge. Anyone starting up with this hobby today here in Edmonton, doesn't need any money to get started to produce music. The library downtown has their maker space, complete with green screen, sound booth occupied with Mac/PC complete with Ableton Live 9 etc. The maker space is free and open to the public. They have mixers, speakers, video camera's the works. We got our iPad in 2012. Apple TV starts off at about $100. The 3.5mm cables are pricey but I want them now not 3 months from now from eBay etc. So I don't mind paying $20 at London Drugs. Best Buy has them cheaper but these are only sold online and a long wait to get them. Apple TV is similar to Googles Chromecast. Anne bought into the Apple TV idea last night when she heard that she can watch YouTube, and have our Flikr photos displayed on flat screen TV. By separating our iOS devices on 2 different accounts I can free up iPad storage space by Airdropping then onto my iPod touch as I still have about 11Gb of space. All I need is to free up about 4Gb off of the iPad. Airdrop isn't on the iPad. I need both devices to have Airdrop. Airdrop and Airplay are different concepts. 

Our Christmas yesterday was good. Anne started early on her Christmas turkey. I got Anne her annual Shriner's Calendar and a fantasy novel trilogy Mercedes Lackey. She got me some t-shirts, each with a front breast pocket and a Tim Horton's cup. We got lots of cat toys. We watched some Doctor Who. She got face time calls from her family that she missed because they were in Florida. We just let the rest of the night sort it self out and went from there. Anne's off to work for her usual shift today and I'm watching the Oilers/Canucks game later tonight. Anyway, that's all for now

This is going to be great having over ten days

off during the holidays. I'm going to work on my lodge stuff and finish that beat I've been working on this last fall. Also, I'm going to finish reading "Agent to the Stars," before the end of the year. I'll be staying up late and sleep in late.

  
I've always been fascinated by Leggo since the original Star Wars movie. They keep coming out with bigger and better concepts. Their latest is something I'd like to tinker around with. The Doctor Who Leggo should have came out a long time ago but time is relative. Some people are making stop motion sequences to tell stories with Leggo figures. I kind of like this idea but the Leggo kits cost a lot of money.

Anne is working from 2-8pm today so I get some time off by myself. Next week, I'm going to be separating our shared iOS devices. I need Air Drop on her iPad so I can transfer a lot of her video onto my iPod where I have more memory. That's another project. Anyway that's all for now.

Tonight is my last day of work for

2015. I lost my 1st market research job and applied for ei in February. Then I had another "job" that lasted for 3 days in March. Then I got the other market research job in early April and I'm still with that, for now. Then I'm working at something else trying to recruit volunteers for a non profit agency for their door-to-door campaign. I'm going to that after I do business with my market research job. I'm looking at another job opportunity, and if they call me in for a interview and I get hired I might leave the recruiting job but only if its long term. 

 Anne was there last night and Army & Navy staff don't seem to know where they are going or if they will be out of a job at the end of January 2016.

Army & Navy department store at Londonderry Mall is closing at the end of January 2016. The mall feels its going to compete with the high end clothing Simon's. Army & Navy has been at Londonderry mall since 9/11.

I'm out of here at 3:00pm today. I want to pick up my cheque at the other place and hopefully do my business and make it in time for my shift or be a bit late. After that its to my bank. Anyway, that's all for now.

I went by the other job site on the way home and

there were no lights on in the building and that was at 8:45pm. I smiled at my "good fortune." They are closed until January 4th and at least I've got work for a few days. My first cheque from the other job wont be until the 22nd but I'll get 16 hours on the 1st week of the year. 

About 9:20pm I'm crossing at the set of lights out here by the new Shoppers drug mart to get home. I wait for the light to change white to go. Quite often as I'm stepping off the curb some dick head is turning right almost me ready to cut me off. I've been cut off there many times. Lately I've had a rock in my hands and I display it openly waiting for the light to change just getting off my bus. So last night, I'm stepping off the curb rock in hand (about the size of a golf ball) The car was about to turn right against me and the driver cut me off and I let the rock go and it hit his car passenger side. He stopped and got out and glared at me. "I had the yellow light." (I was walking to the meridian nice and slow.) "I had the marked crosswalk bitch and you nearly killed me." I should have said something like, "Well that could have easily been your face." I was almost ready to have him try and track me down by doing a U turn by 50th but I think he just headed on his way. I hope when he had a chance to see where I hit him that the rock left a nice dent in his car. I'll do it again at the corner tomorrow night to anyone that cuts me off at a marked cross walk. Pedestrians take their lives in their hands crossing there at night every day. Just what I need is a bit of drama after a difficult day at work.

When I got home the Jets/Oilers game was in progress. Oilers were winning 3-1. My choler was active from earlier and slowly sinking to calm. I was happy the Oilers won but at the same time the Oilers are 2nd from last place in the West. The good news is McDavid is skating with the puck. Hopefully he'll be back playing like he did before he got injured. I'm in the office tonight for my 4 hours and 1 more shift after that before my Christmas break. I get to work on that beat I began a month ago and work on that oral exam for the lodge. Then I need to go to the Southgate Apple and have them separate the iPad from my iPod. This way we can have Air drop on both devices. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Happy Winter

solstice everyone. Or rather on the eve of it. Apparently Solstice begins something like 11:52pm tonight. Its the shortest day of the year. The Druid's at Stonehenge come out and draw crowds each year. In light of whats going on  in the world, I hope security is tight on Salisbury plain today.

The Oilers are entertaining the Winnipeg Jets tonight at Rexall place. We need a win before we go back on the road for another 2 games. Even from the early beginning I never expected the Oilers to make the playoffs this season (2016). If they can get the 10th or 9th spot, I'd be happy with that. They can still get there when McDavid comes back. 

I might not get most of the game but follow the score results on my way home and I'll get the 3rd period and Monday night Raw encore show. Speaking of wrestling, I asked Anne to record both TNA and Ring of Honor wrestling so I can watch them Sunday afternoons. Today I'm in the office from 4:15pm-8:30pm. I'll get home by 9:30pm hopefully to catch whatever is left of the Jets/Oilers game. Anyway, that's all for now.

My working history has taken me down a lot of different paths

as I've done a lot of different jobs over the years. I delivered papers at the age of 6, flipped burgers as my first job. I worked for CP rail cleaning out box cars. I trimmed blue prints, worked on the grounds at a golf course. I worked in the shoe department of a department store and even janitorial work in Calgary back in the mid 1970's. For the most part in the 1990's its been call centre work sprinkled with several security guard jobs and a janitorial job that just about killed me. Lately its been inside sales and market research. I'm exploring one of those options above that I haven't done in years. However its going to mean another tweak of my resume and I'll be doing that next week. The industry I'd like to return back to pays pretty good and I'd  only keep the job (if I get hired and I can do it) until I get pension and just do the market research job I'm doing now 4 days/week.

Since I can't really play a musical instrument (I know some music theory) other then to hammer out a basic melody on a midi controller for the most part I'd classify my music as experimental. Over the course of the past year I've been "researching" modular synthesis in a Eurorack configuration. There are a lot of brand names. Just go to YouTube and search Modular synths. This kind of experimental music is hands on and uses a lot of patch cables and knob turning. The initial cases can be expensive. The modules are reasonably priced though. I'm going to start small and work from there. I'm not going to endorse any manufacturer as they offer different takes on their modules. LFO's (low frequency oscillators) are almost as varied as a fingerprint. I've seen a lot of cases with many different manufacturers modules. I'm using Module Grid as a resource to get started. 

I'm in on the job tomorrow from 4:15-8:30pm and hopefully for Tuesday and Wednesday. Next week I'm looking for another job to replace the 2 I currently have. Well, that's the idea. As for today, Anne's out and about, and will return to make our brunch and I hope to read more from "Agent to the Stars." Anyway, that's all for now.

Good thing I went into work last night

at the new job. It seems the Supervisor had a scheduled day off today and the un official acting super doesn't work weekends. Translation: I have a weekend off but instead of the 36 hours, I'll have 32 hours but I still get 18 hours from my other job and that'll be ok for rent. 

So I come home and our kitchen sink is overflowing with water. WTF? There was about an eight of an inch of water all over the counter tops and the floor. Sink water was leaking all over the kitchen. I bailed about half a dozen buckets of water and managed to get everything under control. When Anne came home she was shaken by this but recovered. The sink backed up again later and we got that under control. Anne gave me a sleeping pill and I had a great rest of the evening heading to bed about 3:30am. About 9am Anne was in sheer panic mode. "Get the care taker we need a plumber. Its a emergency." I scrambled to put some cloths on. The acting caretaker was up and about in the hall way by our door and I got her attention explaining the situation. I invited her into the kitchen where Anne was crying bailing from our kitchen sink. After about half an hour of this I went down to get a status report on the ETA of the plumber. She didn't know. Anne figured something was going on between the taps from the people upstairs. Once everything was under control we went back to bed. The plumber knocked on the door sometime later. I stayed in bed. Anne came in later to try and get some sleep saying the crisis is over. He fixed the problem. We now have these 2 big heater fans in the kitchen blowing air drying out the carpeting in the living room. I tweeted a picture of the fans. What a mess but its all under control. I can adjust those fans for the Oilers/Ave's game tonight. 

Speaking of which, Connor McDavid is skating with the team again. Its a start. They are taking small baby steps with his timeline to play with the club. Soon he'll be playing with the puck. The timeline is after the All Star break. Mid January. So its looking pretty good for him. Hopefully he'll be at pre injured game ability when he returns to play. Anyway, that's all for now.

I left out of here about 3pm yesterday and made great

bus connections on Jasper Ave at Central station. I was at work from Clareview after taking a bus to Clareview and a train downtown and a bus to work. It took all of 45 minutes. I was in the office 15 minutes early even. I filled out the tax form properly and Head Office will get that Wednesday before I pick up my cheque Wednesday. My other job will just do a direct bank deposit the next day. Then I get a nice 11 days off of R&R. Back to both jobs both on the same day but I'm giving each job 3 days. I'm at the other job today and tomorrow.

Donald Trump may be entertaining and some people are taking him seriously. Trump has a lot of support. However Trumps folly I feel will be what does him in. Trumps opposition will simply pick up the pieces and take what spoils they can. The one with the most Trump spoils wins the nomination. I'd like to see Clinton take it but I don't think America is ready for a woman President. Chances are its going to be Jeb Bush but Lord help us if its Trump. 

Last night was the "advanced screening" of the new Star Wars movie, "The force awakens." Local news on location observed fan reaction at city theatres. Without spoilers, fans were all saying, "wow." Even fans with limited expectations were all saying the movie was awesome. If this is the case then 2015 is going to go out with a bang. Actually, I can go see it next week because I have enough Scene movie points and if for some reason I can't get in, I'll go see Spectre. I win either way but we'll see. I'd like to go see it while I have the time off. Anyway, that's all for now.

About 60 percent of Rogers Place

arena downtown is almost done. There's a few cosmetic things to the outside and they are closing in on that now. Most likely the outside will be done by June. The inside lower bowl's  seating support is well underway. For the most part it looks like the arena is on pace for opening in 10 months. The winter garden might not be 100% but its getting there.

Tonight the Oilers are in Chicago. I'll be working somewhere tonight, I'm not quite sure yet where. I've got to call the first job just to make sure and that will determine if I go to the first job or the 2nd job. The 1st  job has a short project and depending on how they did last night, might determine if I got about 3 hours or if I go to the 2nd job. Regardless, I'll be working somewhere tonight and tomorrow. Anyway, that's all for now.

Sleep was not very good to me over night only because

I was worried about my pcn appointment this morning. I got 2 reminder calls from them on a Saturday night and I was getting a bit annoyed, with 2 back to back calls. Anne said I was supposed to say accept. So I emailed my pharmacist saying I'll be there for my 10:15, and called pcn when I got out of bed about 8am to confirm my appointment. I was still good to go. I left out of here about 8:40am for Northgate under a nice pc sunrise, and headed to Tim's to get some breakfast. I settled on my usual breakfast sausage sandwich combo. No problems. I enjoyed my breakfast, kept my appointment and got enough insulin to last me until the end of February. I had a lengthy wait for my bus only because a snow blizzard developed. It tapered off on my commute home, and now the Sun is breaking through cloud. My afternoon commute looks good. When I got home I went to bed for an hour or so and rested. I didn't get any real sleep but I'm ok and no worse for wear.
 
Last night the Oilers won in Boston in OT. That's 6 consecutive wins. With that win the Oilers are right in the mix for that last playoff spot. There's a lot of hockey between now and the last game of the regular season in early April. The Oiler's are doing all of this without McDavid. 

At the office Christmas party last night, super announced we're going to go until December 23rd. My other boss called while I was out. Anne said I'm good to go for at least Thursday, and Friday but to call first Thursday just in case. By then I'll have at least 3 days in at my other job and I'll have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which is the 23rd. I'll have work, and still about 12 days off. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Talk about a quick turn around in

in developments. Has Eskimo GM found a replacement for Chris Jones already? Now the other team is asking for compensation. If Eskimo GM has found his man, (I'm not saying anything to jink this) but why not give the new guy a promotion like the Riders did with Jones: Assistant GM and head Coach. This (in theory) would avoid an compensation issues. 

On my way into work Sunday morning the snow was slightly falling. I had a longer then normal wait at Central station street level as we received a major snow blizzard. This lasted a long time. I think the blizzard tapered off about 2pm. It was a significant snowfall but I not enough to bring out the graders. At this hour its still -6. Hardly cold at all.

Today I'm back to my afternoon evenings shifts. I'm 4:15pm-8:30pm at my 2nd job and we're having a staff Christmas party. Tuesday I've got to pick up some insulin at my pcn before work. Its going to be a long day. I've got work up to Wednesday. Not sure whats going on for Thursday and Friday at the other job. I'll know more about this Wednesday. One way or another I'll have a full week until Friday and then I'm off for 16 days. Ah, living the dream. Anyway, that's all for now.

I'm usually good for the day if I'm working

on 5-6 hours of sleep. I can get by ok. Saturday morning I was operating on less for a 8 hour day, and still holding out sort of. Today I got maybe 6. I'm good to go.

So what happens when the price of oil bottoms out and crashes completely? What's next? In the case of oil rich Alberta, what's our back up source of energy? Is it solar? Or maybe geothermal? Alberta is sitting on top of a geothermal goldmine. Geothermal energy taps into hot water very deep underground that produces steam, which can power turbines etc. The water gets sent back to its source and the process begins again. At the moment its very expensive to get to the source. We have the infrastructure and the capability, but as long as oil seems to be the status quo, the world will rely on oil. We're a long ways away from using geothermal. With the signing of every nation on planet earth yesterday to come to a agreement on global warming, we could be a step closer to using geothermal energy. It wont happen in my lifetime but the future for geothermal here in Alberta looks promising.   

Friday December 18th is the release of the new Star Wars "The Force awakens" movie. I'm not going to go out of my way to see this one. I'm just not feeling it. We'll wait when it comes to video on demand or we'll see it at the dollar theatre in the fall of 2016. I just hope that Disney doesn't dumb this movie down to a young adult type of film like "Hunger games," that sort of thing. That'd be a real turn off for me but from what I'm sensing it seems this new movie was not produced to appeal to 63 year old white guys remember the good old days. The first 2 Star Wars movies in the original series meant something to me but when the 3rd movie came with the "Ewoks" that really soured me on the whole Star Wars movie experience after that. I was in my mid to late 20's back then. After "Empire" I was burnt out from Star Wars. I still went to see the 3 movies after Jedi, and they were enjoyable but still had that young adult after taste. When "The Force Awakens" trailers came out, the plot of this movie became apparent, and overall very similar to the original Star Wars format of Campbell's "Hero's journey." No new story telling ground broken here.

Today, I'm into the office for my shift but we're about to wrap up the project early. I could be in for 3 hours. Hopefully I'll get at least 4. Yesterday when I left out of here at 9am and caught a #5 at Central I was in the office at 9:45am. That's pretty good on a weekend. I got a full 8 hour shift in and I did my banking after that and home shortly after 7pm. The weather was relatively mild overcast and breezy last night on my commute home. It wasn't too cold. Most likely I'll update this blog when I come home and fine tune it a bit more. Anyway, that's all for now.

When I'm on pension

there will definitely be no more morning shifts. Every weekend will be a long weekend, except for lodge week and then I'll ask to come in from noon-6pm. Something like that I can handle once/month.

Thursday the Oilers gave special dinner to honor Glen Sather. Most of the Stanley Cup winning Oiler notables were there, including #99 himself. He couldn't make it for the raising of Sather's name but the banner raising was quite touching. It was a memorable night. There's just one more name that they need to raise to the rafters: Joey Moss. He was the equipment manager for the Oilers during those years. Gretzky befriended him in the beginning. Not just all of the above, but the Oilers won their 5th straight win. That hasn't happened in a long time. Also, with those 2 points last night brought the Oilers within 2 points of the last play off spot. What with the upcoming road trip I doubt that's going to hold up for long. When McDavid comes back, I think the Oilers have a chance of making the play offs this campaign. 

As for this weekend, I'm out of here shortly before 9 for my 10am shift. I'll get my very small cheque work out the afternoon to my bank and home by 7pm for the rest of the night. Sunday, its a repeat of today except no bank. just straight home. I'm looking forward to a break over the Christmas holidays.

This is unknown territory for

for the Edmonton Oilers. Last night they won their 4th game in a row. Not only that but they are just 3 points away from the last playoff spot! With the NY Rangers in town tomorrow night, honoring Glen Sather, can the Oilers make it 5 straight wins? Sather's name goes up with Gretzky's, Messiers, Kurri's etc tomorrow night. Of course the other team always comes into our barn on special nights like this to spoil the party and win the game. As for the Oilers winning streak, I hope it keeps going but after Friday the Oilers go on a 4 game road trip. So much for 3 points away from a play off spot.

I'm just waking up with a cup of coffee this afternoon. At 1pm I'll be calling to set up a appointment to get some insulin. I hope I can get a couple of boxes to last me for a couple of months. I'll be doing that before I leave out of here today.

Now for a bit of This n' that: I'll be at the late job today from 4:30-9:30pm. I still get 5 hours in. I'm scheduling Friday off because I've been working steady since last Wednesday. That's Anne's suggestion, not mine. Then I'm in Saturday and Sunday for the full day and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at the other place. They have their office Christmas party Monday. I'm considering another part time job from say 10-2pm during the week but I don't want commission. The other 2 jobs would be just to cover my domestic expenses. The 10-22 job would just be for myself. I'd do this only until pension. Anyway, that's all for now.

During the last big economic slowdown

of 2009, oil prices bottomed out at $33. Our household got through that crisis unscathed. Now oil is at about $37.14. Is the threshold $33? Oil prices could hover around this price for months, who knows? When oil prices drop our local economy suffers. On my commute I pass by Hope Mission every day and there's usually a huge line up around supper time. I'm hoping oil prices rebound soon but I'm not holding my breath they will.

A US politician running for the GOP nomination (we know who his name is as he's a real card.) is causing a world wide stir by saying the US should ban all Muslims from entering the country. WTF? Talk about being unhinged. He was suggesting that all Mosqu's be shut down! That is one of the most nut case things I have ever heard. Even members of the Republican party are saying this guy is out to lunch. Even members of his own party are giving their heads a shake. These kinds of comments are going to back fire on him big time.

Lately I've been leaving out of here shortly before 3pm. I take the East escalator at central station, up 2 quick flights of stairs and I'm at street level meeting the #5 or #3 bus. Either will take me to my destination, within 15 minutes of my shift. Its slick and easy and at night, I'm in no hurry to get to my bus as I usually get home within an hour. If I have the early job, I get home at about 9:30pm. If its the late job I get home at 10:30pm. I need to call the super at my late job to see if I'm going in for a few days Thursday or Friday. Or is the job over today. If that's the case and its the last day on the late job, I can put more hours in on the early job. Anyway, that's all for now.

The Royal Alberta

museum (RAM) first opened its doors to the public in 1967. An old friend of mine from the early 1970's during the 1990's had a job at RAM as a security guard. I've been in the museum a few times, just wasn't interested. RAM over this last weekend had a 48 hour farewell party over this last weekend in the old building. It seems like a huge expense for a building but the RAM is moving into their new $375 million dollar digs on 103rd a Ave and 99th street downtown in 2018. 

I'm sure I'm not the only CFL Eskimo fan pissed off about this: Saskatchewan Roughriders have lured our coach Chris Jones away from us and now he's joining the Riders as head coach and GM for next season. So now, we're left trying to find another head coach and our players will now have to learn a new system from an already established one. Jones was under contract to play for the Eskimo's for another year. Sure its just business, I get all that and its a lateral move. This should not be allowed to happen and in my opinion makes the CFL look like a amateur league. I could see this happen between a Eastern team but it shouldn't be allowed to happen within a conference. This would never happen in the NHL. Fan reaction is mixed on this one.

I'm heading off to my other job leaving out of here at about 3pm. I had forgotten that there were 2 street entrances to Central station. I thought there was just the one on the north side and the other one leads across the street by Telus. over the past 2 weeks I'd board the Clareview lrt at the front and take the West escalator up to just behind Starbucks on 101st. That's a long block from 101st after walking up 2 flights of stairs to where Central station buses pulled up on Jasper. So this way I'm going to board the Clareview train at the back just off the elevator and take the East Central escalator and not the West one. If I'm there at 3:40pm for the #3 I can get that to my destination by 4pm or just a bit. Live and learn Jimmy. As long as I get my 4 hours in, tonight and this week, that's all I care about. Anyway, that's all for now.

Not that working on the

weekends is a bad thing. It has its ups and downs. Morning commutes are a challenge because out here in Clareview the bus to the LRT ("Clareview station") runs about every half hour. My shift is at 10am on 124th street/107th ave, and if I leave out of here to catch my bus to Clareview station too early I have about half an hour to waste downtown. If I leave out of here at 9am, I'll be late. If I arrive at work at 10:15 this morning for a 10am start, I'll get written up, but I can always forfeit a 15 minute break to make up the difference. I leave at 8:30 and I'm downtown at around 9am nothing is open. I'm going to dread that for the next several years until pension. The good part about Saturday and Sunday shift is I get a full 7.5 hour shift. That's 15 hours in 2 days. Not the best but in a job where I need the hours, that's 30 hours on a cheque. Most likely I'll leave out of here at 9am. I'll leave a voice mail message before I leave saying I'll be late. Anne gave me a melatonin pill, which helped me get a few hours sleep over night. I'm ready to go and no worse for wear. Once the mornings are done, a weekend shift is just like a afternoon shift. I'll get in at about 7:10am, while Anne has our late brunch (breaky) cooking for me.

Rogers Place arena seems to be on pace to open for the 2016/17 season. There's a link on my sidebar list of links that reads "Downtown arena webcam." They've added a rink view. You can watch workers adding in the support structures for the seats on the South side of the rink area. They haven't got the seat structure for the North side in place yet but I'm sure they'll have everything in place to open for next September. The surrounding buildings in the Ice district are under construction. The hotel infrastructure is well underway and the City of Edmonton and Stantec tower is well under way as well. 

The other thing is my first job breaks on the 11th of this month until January. When, I'm not sure. My other job could be breaking for the holidays on the 19th. I'll be able to cover my bills but that's about it. The good news is I'll have about 2 weeks off and I can work on that memory work for the lodge. I'm doing the oral exam for one of our members that took his Master Mason degree. Its public speaking. I've done this before much to our lodge masters confidence in me to do it again. Also, I'll be able to work on that beat, watch some Oiler games and stay up late and sleep in late. Anyway, that's all for now.

Weekends are rough for me getting

in any sleep, while I'm working on the weekends. Today is only 4 hours, so its not to bad. Sunday is 7.5. I went to bed tired but I just couldn't sleep until about 6 this morning and I got up at 7am. 

This morning I'm out of here in about half an hour. Just waking up, then I have a call to make at work, and on my way to Clareview station to wait or meet Anne to give her the buss pass. She'll give me her house keys. Anne said she'll have Burger King waiting for me at home since we're across the street from a BK. After that I'll have a nap. Anyway, that's all for now.

My first coffee for the day and I've got a hour and a half or so

before I need to get ready for work. Its middle of a pay week. We're caught up with most of our bills and we're holding our own here.

Yesterday at the other job, I'm calling on my break at the first job. I'm going in tonight for 5.5 hours. Saturday I'm in 10-2 at the other job and Sunday I'm in from 10-6 at my 1st job. After what happened last month with no work that whole month on my first job, my 2nd job had work. I took on the 2nd job to make sure I wont get another November like that  ever again until pension. That's the trouble with my 1st job. There could be brief shortages of work. There might not be any work for say, 3 days, a week, or 2 weeks or like in last month, a month. The summer is always shut down and this up coming summer is no exception but at least I'll be working in September. When I'm on pension, I won't mind the brief lay overs. 

So, I'm out of here at about 2:30pm for the first job. I was considering working Saturday from 3-6 but I'm just working my other job from 10-2pm Saturday. Anyway, that's all for now. 

There are a few casualties

with me taking on extra work. I won't be able to attend lodge tonight, which is our installation. Also, I have a job and work but the job lacks hours. I'm getting only 4 hours/night and this job like my other one both break for Christmas. I doubt I'll get Christmas stat from my other job as well, if they call me back. Even if they don't until January, at least I'll have the basics covered for Christmas. 

Yesterday I got my direct bank deposit form and my Space Marine Battles book on my way to my other job. My only spending money for the next few months it seems. Oh, wait. I got $6 to last me until then. I didn't know what the temperature was but it was very warm. I later learned we got up to +9 yesterday, which is very Spring like. There's no ice or snow anywhere I need to tread on during my commute so I think I'll be able to wear my runners into work this afternoon. 

 I was doing some job shadowing for 4 hours yesterday. One of the people at the new place is a fellow I worked with during the old Xentel days. We used to always get along. He's about the same age as me and he said since he's on full pension, he just uses this job for pocket money. I'll be up against that as well, soon. I hope. The other thing I like about this job is, it pays a little more. Work is more or less guaranteed. Since it seems I'm being played for at the other job, this job will cover any losses from the other job. Anyway, that's all for now. 

About 3pm yesterday afternoon I received a

call based upon a resume I sent in on Kijiji. I worked with this company before and I was hoping I could get on board again last March but my resume was forwarded to the proverbial slush pile. This time, the voice on the other end called me and arranged a over the phone interview. He said they are training today and its paid. Just bring a direct bank deposit form and my SIN and at least 1 reference. Also, while I'm getting my bank form, I'll go across the street to Audrey's and get my Space Marine Battles book: "Overfiend," cool. I hope I get this job. With this I can do 3 and 3 shifts between each job. What I like about this company is that its easy to do and Saturdays are from 10-2 I'm within easy walking distance for my other job and I might be able to work there 3-6 on a Saturday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, that's all for now.

Before bed the wife suggested I stay home today

send out more resumes, and I can follow up on any responses tomorrow. The good news is I have 2. One is a work from home situation the other could be in a office because of the 780 area code. I'll be following up on both later this afternoon. The work from home job is appealing because of its open availability option. That could fit into my current job, especially during the summer. I don't want to work at a home job if I have to work 8 hours just to get $20. Not a good use of my time.

We're having trouble with our two iOS devices as they seem to be on one account. I think this happened due to us signing up for extra iCloud space last year. I need to get to a Apple store to have them correct this. I have a extra email address ready for the iPad. We can use Air drop but its only on my iPod. I need to have it on our iPad so we can share her stuff on the iPad over to my iPod. I have more memory on my iPod touch then she does on her iPad. Most of her iPad memory is tied up with videos and photos. Both devices need to have Air drop. In other words Anne needs to have her own Apple ID/account. I'm not equipped to do this right now.     

At the moment I'm just waking up here, working the sleeping pill out of my system. I'm kind of waiting for my job to call me back to work between now and Thursday night. I'm not going to hold my breath that they will. If they don't call me back to work this week, this month somehow I'll have another job. I can't help but feel that my place of employment is playing me with the old shuck and jive routine. I just got a bad feeling about this. I'm sure I'm just imagining this and I'll get a call Thursday night while I'm at lodge. If I don't then shit could hit the fan here. Right now we're just relying on my wife's income. I've got 21 months until pension. Anyway that's all for now.