Our Valley line lrt is

in full construction mode. Most of the routing of utilities has bee done quite awhile ago. The of the tunnel on the North side of the North Saskatchewan river is in full gear. Support beams and some pylons are set up where necessary. Track is on location. Davis station itself is elevated and its in the early stages of construction. The elevated portion of the tracks are in full construction mode. Looks like Valley line will be completed on time for 2020 opening day.

Hurricane Harvey has dumped a crap load of rain on Houston. From the looks of things, Houston is underwater. Hurricane Katrina is nothing like this. On the news they were saying that over 3,000 cubic feet fell over the weekend on Houston. I don't know how accurate that was.

This boggles the mind but a burger place ran a promo for 15 cent burgers in the Philippines. When the word got out thousands of people stormed the place. The promo was for the 1st 80 people. Good lord are they that desperate for a burger there?

On Friday I'll be able to use my Alberta Blue Cross for seniors. I'm not sure how the process works though. I was going to call them today. Apparently it works out to be a 30/70 arrangement. We pay 30% the Province pays 70%. I also heard that apparently we have to pay upfront and then we get reimbursed by the Province. I don't see that happening. I hope to get answers tomorrow. If that's the case what happens? Does the retailer invoice the Province and the Province puts the difference back into my account, or what?

Note too self, don't eat spicy

food moments before midnight. So about midnight this morning (I only eat 2 meals/day) Anne treats me to her spicy home made burritos. She did caution me. I ate them anyway and I had a stomach ache all day up until about 4pm today. Uggh. So before Anne left she buys me a meatball Sub from Subway, with curly fries she put with the sub when she got back. 

The Powerball winner that beat the odds to win $758.7 million is going to be hit by charity groups, investment opportunity friends etc is probably figuring out how to fly under the radar. Her biggest mistake was not to protect her identity. After taxes she's still going to get over $330M. Time to hire an attorney. I think the most I ever won by playing the lotto 6/49 was $10, but $330M? Crazy. My first Alberta Seniors Benefit came in this morning at less then 1000% of that and I thought I was excited.

A few days ago, I put together a Novation Circuit video using my new Roland Go Mixer. The You Tube video, was just me messing around with Circuit. I tried playing around with Korg Gadget on the iPad 2 but there were too many artifacts, pops and clicks. The iPad 2 cpu just couldn't keep up to Gadget. I have a few immediate bills to pay off but I think once I get back to work is to get a bluetooth selfie stick. Anyway, that's all for now.

At the moment I'm just keeping a

low profile. I don't want to draw much if any attention to myself. Its not that I'm trying to be evasive or anything. Making waves is not a option.

One good blessing out of losing the Heart and Stroke job is I can just focus on one job. That's what I told the boss earlier this afternoon. When my place of employment has a project, I have work. That kind of makes me a make work project :) I still need to take the bus/train/bus.

I've been taking Metformin since last week. My Doctor suggested 1 tablet/day for 1 week. Now I'm at 2 tablets daily. Then I take 4 times/day until the bottle is done. Metformin intake is done this way because with first time users it can cause side effects.

In the mail this week I finally received my oas letter of entitlement. Also this week I received a letter from the Alberta Government saying my monthly Provincial supplement, comes in tomorrow. Its enough to cover a monthly bus pass and a bill. Anyway, that's all for now.

Sunday was spent engaged in part

in a Live Stream from one of my You Tube subscriptions and watching Summerslam up to 9pm. These Live streams are enjoyable. Yesterday it was Doug Woods from the Sound test room. Good times.

Today in a few short hours its a celestial event known as the Solar eclipse. On this my 65th birthday. August 21st 1952 Now put the 2 together and this is why its a special occasion. A milestone. I probably should do something to celebrate but I'm not famous, so today would have gone by unnoticed if it wasn't for the eclipse. Mixed emotions are playing with my head today as I'm trying to process what this all means, turning 65 on the day of a solar eclipse and all. other then having problems with calluses on my right heal causing some discomfort, I'm ok. Most likely the callus heal is a sign of diabetes or a yeast infection. The good news about turning 65 is I can now instead of paying $94/month for a bus pass, It's now $15/month. That's what I paid for a adult monthly pass in 1978, I've come full circle. The real "fun" begins next month when my seniors health benefits kick in and because I'm low income next month, I get to apply for a low income seniors annual bus pas of $57. My pension basically pays my rent. I have no job at the moment so my ongoing bills can only be paid off if I get back to work at my market research job. The good news is I get to pay my lodge dues this month and I might buy a $15 iTunes gift card. There are a few perks by becoming a senior. Apparently lots of my diabetic supplies are "covered." By that I mean next month my diabetic supplies etc are covered 70% by the provincial government and 30% covered by me.

Ok, on my plate this week: Today I'm at Ft. Edmonton park. If your in the area after the eclipse, drop by at the Masonic Lodge building. We're upstairs above the café and across from the "fire hall", say hi Jim. Birthday greetings are optional. I've got to set up a appointment to see the foot doctor. Friday its the Riders/Eskimo's at Commonwealth stadium. Other then that, not much, its still summer. Anyway, that's all for now.   

The Eskimo's streak came to an end

Thursday night at Investors Group field, yet that only told part of the story. Esks came into the game with 14 injuries behind them. It was our 2nd back to back road game. Some of the calls were bizarre including the hits on qb Reilly on a play that was whistled down before scrimmage and with the Esks actually getting the unsportsmanlike call after Reilly was gang tackled on a non play. Our back up kicker blew a field goal attempt. Esks 26/Bombers 33. Back at home next weekend with the Riders in town.

I'm 48 hours away from being a senior and to start my morning off I'm underway at Ft Edmonton park. My partner in this is picking me up at 8:30am so hopefully we can do a Tim's coffee run before the solar eclipse. We here in Edmonton will get about 70% of the eclipse. This from the CBC website:

For us here the eclipse will last ~10:25am-12:30am. That actually covers most of our Ft. Edmonton time slot, so hopefully my companion and I won't be too busy and we can play some crib in the kitchen. Turning 65 and a solar eclipse? There's something ominous about that.

Anne's off at work probably in the elevator on her way up. Tonight I'm going to work on a beat of some kind. Not sure on what I'm going to use. Gadget or FL. Hard to say. Anyway, that's all for now.

This morning after I woke up I went to get water for my coffee

This morning after I woke up I went to get water for my coffee and no water from the taps. As far as I know, we never received a "24 hour Shut down water notice." Lets try the bath room sink faucet. No water there. Anne never filled up the kettle or get a reserve of water anywhere else. This place where I live has about 6 scheduled plumbing maintenance episodes/year. So many so that "#203 can figure it out," The water comes back on about noon-1pm.

Ok so far this year, my 12 year old pc died, we had to put our 17 year old cat down last month, I lost my job, all this and I turn 65 next week. Wait now, I've got enough material in this paragraph to make my own country music song. Can I get a "C" please?

Speaking about country music and such, Elvis Presley was in that genre. I was never really a fan. Elvis was still relevant music wise in the '60's even with the British invasion going on. I liked a few of his songs and I've seen most of his 13 movies. The announcement of Elvis's death is one of those history defining moments, where you knew where you were when the announcement of a major personality died. For JFK I was 12 years old at what is now called Miller park school in Coquitlam. That event for me and in my class was the start to an early weekend. Then when the announcement came on about Elvis's death, I was more aware and in tuned with that event. A young wargaming colleague of mine were going to play 'Wellington's Victory." The game was what we'd call at the time was a "monster game" because it was huge with thousands of pieces. We had the game all set up then a break for lunch by the pool. This was in West Vancouver. I was a bit stunned to hear this before lunch was served. My young friend wanted to continue the game tomorrow. I remember coming home where I was living uptown New Westminster coming home to my room in the Anderson house. I can't recall exactly where the house was but on the news they were talking about it, the long lines at Graceland to see the body. I remember that vividly. Years latter when I had internet access, I discovered some references that Elvis was a Rosicrucian but I doubt that. Then there was his friendship with Muhammad Ali the boxer. Hard to believe that for a music icon like Elvis that had For a laugh there's always the conspiracy theory that Elvis faked his death at the age of 42. If Elvis is alive he'd be 82 years old now. Its hard to believe that with 10 #1 US albums, 18 #1 US singles, 13 movies, Elvis had earned him more then a billion dollars but had around $10 million at the time of his death. I just hope I'm alive to blog about Elvis and the 50th anniversary of his death.

Not much going on right now. I'm expecting 2 things in the mail: A card from Anne's sister. She's a close friend of the family. She sends me something every year. I'm also expecting my blue cross for seniors card. That's got to be in the mail this week if I'm supposed to have this by Monday. Yesterday, Anne bought me some Metformin (first time using it) and that's a $30 hit every 3 months. When I get the card my diabetic supplies should be covered by about 80%. Anyway, that's all for now. Jim has left the building. 

I had no idea when I left

for my Doctors appointment yesterday and at home later opening my email, I'd have a good news bad news kind of a day. Even at my Doctors office, there was very little waiting. Even my blood pressure was 113/70 with a pulse rate of 89.

The good news at my Doctors was the hyperthyroid results came back negative. The sub Doctor asked me if I was taking Metformin. I'd heard it had side affects and it was expensive. The side effects are on some people. She asked me if I would like a prescription. "Its $30 for a 3 month supply," Sure. "Come for another visit in 3 months. I left feeling ok and enjoyed my commute home. No hassle. Anne had left on a bottle run to get me a Wendy's Baconator combo. I checked my email and there was a follow up from the Heart & Stroke foundation. I saw the words "unfortunately," uh-oh. Apparently "my services are no longer needed." Translation: I was fired. There was no "come in and see me," and then give me an explanation. Just cut and dry. I was counting on that job September, October etc because my other market research job usually has little or no work during those months, When Anne got home with my lunch, I gave her the good news bad news. She took the bad news pretty well because even though Heart & Stroke was limited it was steady work, there was a lot of rejection to it. My job and the people that worked with me was to call people out of the phone book by areas and ask if they would like to do some volunteer canvasing. People don't stick with it for that reason. We don't use computers there, just pushing paper. Most of the people we called were old or crippled. I'd be lucky after making 220 calls in a 4 hour shift I'd get 1 person to agree to canvas online. We had a retention list as well and I'd call a few, and get the odd one. For that they paid me $13/hour for a 4 hour shift. They seldom had a full room, maybe 8-10 callers a night. They'd never fire anyone but they would never invite you back. I liked the job and the hours were good. Now I just have the one job and hopefully they will resume for a bit in September. At least I have ei for now until the end of October and I have full pension after that, so its not to bad. The basics are covered. I'm going to try and keep my market research job going for at least as long as some major bills are taken care if.

Its been a rough 2017 so far. First I lose my cat and now my job. I enjoyed my job at the Heart & Stroke. My West end job is easier to get to because its just bus/train/bus and I get home in about an hour. Anne wants me to work Monday-Friday and Saturdays off. I like this job because often we have a few days to a week break in between projects. I'm rather depressed over losing this job but I'll bounce back. If I lose my market research job I'd like to get out of the call centre business altogether. Anyway, that's all for now.

I woke up about 7am this morning feeling ok except for a bit of

chest pain. Anne gives me 1 medicinal aspirin a day. When I was in the NE emergency clinic just over here by the EPS NE Police station last March, they gave me a chest x-ray and found nothing wrong with my heart. I had all the symptoms this morning, like soar arm, neck etc. of a heart attack. No droopy smile and my face just as ugly as ever 😄. I found the aspirin and after taking that, I went to bed for a bit but couldn't sleep. I felt better latter on.

I was 47 years old when the main story that August 12th 2000 was the sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk that went down in the Barent sea. Out of 118 crew 23 of them clung to life losing oxygen as the sub hit bottom. The tragedy of Kursk, didn't begin there. The tragedy has its roots in 1991 at the end of the cold war. The end  of the cold war, budget cuts torpedo maintenance left idle, were the main factors the boat sunk. Amidst all of the political rhetoric and Russia still fighting the cold war, the survivors waited for rescue. The remaining crew were never rescued alive. The cause of the sinking of the Kursk, was a faulty torpedo leak that caused a chain reaction.

Motorcyclists are normally well adjusted people. I know a few of them personally. My brother rides a motorcycle. So when the motorcycle mob story in Toronto made national headlines a few days ago I took notice. So what these people do is tear up and down the freeway doing dangerous stunts, stressing out other motorists in general causing mayhem and slowing traffic. The bikers aggressive behavior sparked road rage on more then a few occasions and not just in this country. There's the incident that was filmed from a dashcam in June that went viral from Santa Clarita. And in this country there was road rage from 5 motorcyclist that caused death.

So far I'm having a nice weekend, relaxing. I've got this lodge thing going on tomorrow. The folk fest is well under way. But it feels good having a night off by myself. Anyway, that's all for now.

Tuesday late afternoon while checking for any calls that may have come in

on our call display, I got a call from the Doctors office late Wednesday late afternoon. I couldn't get to call until Thursday morning. No doubt its news on my lab visit for Hyperthyroid, uh-oh. The waiting was bugging me. So when I called Thursday morning the receptionist said my Doctor was out on vacation and his sub wanted to go over some numbers with me in the office concerning the lab visit. Reception couldn't tell me much except my Hemoglobin A1c was too high. It doesn't suggest Hyperthyroid, one way or another. I have an appointment for this coming up Monday.

In regional matters, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is stepping down as Premier. He served for 9 years and was against Trudeau's imposing a carbon tax on his Province. He was always articulate and well spoken. It was his "Sask party" that helped to out 16 years of NDP rule, that devastated that Province. He was cut of the same cloth that brought us Ralph Kline. Maybe he's going to run for leadership of the PC party. That's be cool.

Otherwise for most of the week, I've been doing lodge memory work, reading and enjoying the summer. After beating Ottawa last night 27-20, the Esks are 7-0! This morning I have my ei reporting to do. Anne and I want to go to the rec centre. Well that's the plan. Its been 2 days but I've decided to take out salt from my diet. I think this is one of the leading cause to my weight gain. Diet cola has salt in it. Saturday I've got nothing going on. Sunday, lodge practice and another bbq? Oh well. Monday will be just 2 weeks away from me being a senior uggh. Anyway, that's all for now.

My ISP is acting up on me today

what with it being holiday Monday and all and with random showers in some areas of the city, lots of people are inside slowing the Internet down. I had a nice couple of days off at home over the weekend, and getting a lot of reading done. Not much else has been going on for me this weekend. At the moment, I'm awaiting for lab results from my Doctor to check for hyperthyroid. We're trying to isolate by trial and error the results of my sudden April to last check up in weight gain. I'm kind of looking over my shoulder with that. If I don't get a phone call from his office, then "no news is good news." Our outdoors "Heritage days" festival is underway wrapping up today. This event is always plagued with rain over the long weekend this time of year. Why they don't hold it during the Victoria day long weekend I have know idea. Tonight is TV wrestling for 3 hours but I might just leave it and have it recorded for later after the news at 11 or just start the show at 10pm and have our dinner from there.

Since my 2005 computer died out on me last week, I had to resort to several free word processors on my pc stick. I didn't like Ableword because of the lack of auto spellcheck and the continuous page feature wouldn't work for me. I'm back to Open Office and its ok, except that its bundled with a bunch of other stuff I don't need. I'm missing my Works word processor. Yet I'm using Open Office anyway. The problem (I think) with my desktop pc from 2005 is that its old and the cmos battery to the motherboard died, which is why the computer wont boot up. The motherboard battery is about the shape, colour and size of a quarter and usually last anywhere from 10-12 years 2005-2017. Usually the motherboard battery will sit in a slot with a lever. The battery is easy to find I located mine. Memory Express has them for about $3. So, tomorrow, at 1pm I'm heading out to follow up on my South side job and who now is in charge. Am I ok to come back in September? I hope to get some headway on that tomorrow. Then I can catch the #70 bus heading South just off of 51st Ave to get my battery. I can install this thing myself when i get home. Its a pretty simple install.

After Tuesday, its the Esks/Ottawa CFL game Thursday. I've got my ei report to fill in on Friday and Sunday I'm doing something with my lodge plus I've got some memory work part (public speaking) for after the labour day long weekend. That first Thursday. This morning after the news last night, on Netflex, we watched the most recent Mission Impossible "Rouge Nation" movie. I thought it was great and gave it a 4.5/5 rating. It didn't gross over $2B for nothing. This week is going to be a bit busy. Not hectic busy. Three more weeks then I'm a senior. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about that milestone. Speaking of that night August 21st, I'll be at Fort Edmonton park, in the historic Masonic building upstairs above the café. Me and another colleague from our lodge will be doing a meet and greet with the public, answering some questions etc. I like to do this every year. Its casual wear I think from 6-9. Anyway, that's about all for now.

I got of here about 11am

yesterday morning, almost 80% of the way through a necessary fast and about a ten minute wait in the hot morning Sun out here. Anne had packed me a sandwich. Bay station elevators out? I had a good 20 minute wait for my #3 at Central for Long and McQuade. There was a slight detour by Rogers place on 101'st. I doubt it had anything to do with Lady Gaga. I got my go mixer, a 1/4"x 1/8" inch cable and made my August payment. I figured I might have time to pop in and see my boss but while at 107/124th street, at 1bout 12:30, I might not have time. The traffic was crawling around 116 street and Jasper. In the core was even worse. I'm on my way to the Baker clinic where I had a walk in to check for Hyperthyroid. It was 1pm when they called me in. What no pee sample? The food court was nearly empty on the lower level there. I bought a diet cola and half a sandwich. Was this a ice cream parlour? No its a iced milk parlour, rats. Bay station was operating on pilot lights. Ok. There was my #11 at Clareview.

Anne was up getting ready for her shift tonight. We did a happy birthday video sent out to her sister. We attached it in chat. After my lunch and she left I "unboxed" my go mixer. This was about the easiest blister bit of packaging I have ever opened. That was a great unboxing experience. It didn't take me long to figure out how to work the mixer over my iPod Touch. Lightning cable goes into the iPod and the usb end goes into mixer. After setting up my so called "tripod" and camera angle, I tried Circuit and the 1/4"cable into my laptop right into Audacity. I think I needed a 1/4 male to male cable, that goes from Circuit to my sound card. Oh well. I made a Circuit performance video, and previewed it in my camera roll. It sounds good, it worked. I had some trouble uploading my video to You tube but the test video is up there now. I felt good about my experience. It's a nice feeling when things just work. Football tonight. Anyway, that's all for now.

Right now its only 13 this afternoon over the noon hour

as its a damp rainy Tuesday. The weather should clear up about 8pm. I don't mind this because weather like this slows construction and keeps the screaming kids inside.

It was 3 years ago when full pension entered my consciousness. At that time work was sketchy, I had the wife nagging at me, there were days while working at Malatest I'd have no work and while she was home, I'd ride the rails on the lrt to pretend I was at work. Full pension would not only help me get out of my situation but even improve my cash flow. It'd be like Xentel was to me in 2011. I knew then that collecting pension would on one hand almost be like the Holy Grail but on the other bitter sweet because I'll be 65. All my obligations wold be covered and I'd have a bit for myself working part time. That's still is the idea but now 65 is looming. Its no longer 3 years away.

Its like 20 days away. I won't get my pension until the end of next month however. I think I got work in September either with my market research job or the South Side job or maybe both. At the moment I have no conformation. This month I'll be getting provincial health care card and as soon as I have a record of gis I'll be able to get the low in come seniors bus pass at $57/year. Turning 65 is bitter sweet for me because its another phase of my life. The image I get of seniors is pushing a walker, playing Bingo, and going to drop in centres and I don't want to live like that. Turning 65 officially makes me a senior citizen. My health isn't that good as it is and if I last beyond 72 like my father, I'll be happy. At the moment I'm just chillin and relaxing waiting for my Roland go Mixer to arrive at the shop. The website said usually within 10 business days, which is between now and Friday.

The idea here is Anne and I would be going to the Clareview
rec centre but its kind of gloomy out there. So other then the above, I'm reading, surfing the web, eating, sleeping, checking my email, stuff like that. Anyway, that's all for now.