First day back to the office after having

21 days off work. We had a short crew because Super only had a limited amount of hours to work with. As for now the project is day-by-day. I'm lucky I got hours but just the same I'd rather have the time off tbh. I'm not going to turn the hours down at the same time. The project ends next Friday.

After over 20 years, yesterday Anne convinced me to shave off my mustache. My "stache" was uneven, hard to keep trim and made me look older. I kept the mustache for several reasons, mainly it held the absence of my missing upper teeth. Also, 2 years before I turned 65, I kept the stache, because it made me look older for ETS/lrt ticket inspectors as I was using a seniors bus pass ahem "un officially." We couldn't afford the $90 for an adult pass, so for 2 years I was using the $15 month senior bus pass. I never got challenged by the "lrt police during those 2 years." I would not be able to prove I was 65 while holding a seniors pass at the age of 63. Its basically a $125 fine. I'm legally able to use the $15 senior pass now however. So those were the 2 main reasons why I kept my stache. 

Apparently this current project at work ends next Friday. I'm out of here at 2:30pm today so I can get a Canada post Visa (if they still have them). Propellorhead (Reason 10) has a "End of summer sale" 80% off on everything. I'd like to get their "Omph" Club drums. At $65 its a real bargain. Also, after work tonight, I'm off for 4 days because of the upcoming labour day weekend. We shut down. It'll give me time to play with my new software. Anyway, that's all for now.

My job is a killer.

Not in the sense that I'd go ballistic or anything, or bring a hand gun along with me and begin shooting at people because I lost in a video game tournament or had a bad day. It's a killer with one victim in mind: Yours truly. These jobs are not meant to be full time or long term. That ended for me at Xentel back in 2012. These kinds of jobs are sedentary. I sit down 30-40 hours/week, plus I'm at the computer on top of that. Is it any wonder I have t2 diabetes? You don't get much exercise with a sedentary lifestyle. In my case I have scoliosis on top of that. That all ends tonight. After dinner Anne and I are going to go to the Clareview rec centre. I'm getting on the treadmill, and stationary bike. Even if I can do this, 2 days a week for now. We're not going to use the pool, or sauna. Anyway, that's all for now.  

Having a nice evening off to myself

staying indoors due too all the smoke coming from BC. The smoke from the forest fires are spreading across the country. I've never seen anything like this in my life. Their supposed to be getting some rain overnight and Sunday.

When I first came out here to Edmonton in 1978 40 years ago this month/week it was for my brothers wedding. The reception would be almost over with by the time I post this. I was here living at the time with mom and dad. Hard to believe I was 25 years old back then. Mom worked at the Charles Camsell hospital, just a block away. Dad was not working. He was about ready to retire. I didn't know if I wanted to remain here in Edmonton back then. I was on unemployment insurance. I made the decision to remain here. Mom convinced me that there was a lot of work here at the time and that was true. I was living on this location where Douglas college is now in a old grimy apartment on resource that were not sustainable. I felt bad I left behind a new colour tv, new stereo, all my wargames, books, the works. And I hadn't even paid for Septembers rent at $300/month. I was barely getting that a month on unemployment. it was an easy decision once my brothers wife's father got me a security guard job at the municipal airport where the city is constructing Blatchford. You can read all about Blatchford that here. 

Here in Alberta meanwhile, the Alberta Government will increase the minimum wage to $15/hour. Its good for some people, others not so good. For me, it means I'm going to have to scale back my hours. If our household makes too much money I could risk losing a lot of things we get for free, like my meds, our rec centre pass, other subsidies. I'll be scaling back to 3 days/week which is 30 hours on a pay cheque. Anyway, that's all for now.

Last nights Eskimo game was

a heart breaker. Hamilton had just come off a bye-week. Hamilton walked all over us. Not even the return of C. J. Gable (our RB) could help us. About the 11 minute mark of the 4th quarter, their receiver got the ball. We had two guys covering him and he does a dipsy doodle, and scores a major. Then with single digit seconds on the clock they score a field goal to win 24-25.

We've got a overcast autumn looking day out there this afternoon. Sure beats that heat wave we had a few weeks ago. We're sitting at +10, but it feels like +8 and there is a bit of rain.

                

It's possible my (as of Tuesday) 21 day break will come to an end. There's some talk we could be called back early next week. Work usually ramps up a bit in mid September, so we're a bit early. I've been getting lots of reading in, messing around with Reason 10 and OBS, and a few medical appointments. Sunday we're having lodge practice. I was on the phone this morning with ei etc. I've been chatting with friends on messenger, that sort of thing. Anyway, that's about all for now. 

Its a bit on the cooler side today

but the smoke 🌫 is back. We're supposed to have a peak temperature of +28. I didn't sleep very well this morning and it had nothing to do with the heat or getting older. I haven't been very active in the last 15 days, which could account for that, not the weather.

I've been messing around trying to get Voicemeter Banana (vb) to work with my copy of Reason 10 and OBS. I think I got the process correct on this end:

I got a chart and a couple of good videos from You Tube explaining the process. I'm trying to do walk throughs and tutorials "Lets make a beat," recording my screen with audio. I'm still  playing around with OBS to also do some live streaming. We don't have unlimited internet but live streaming takes up our monthly internet cap usage. OBS and vb are free anyway. I want to use less of the iPad. Mainly because this is another dimension making music, sound design etc. I'm also looking at building my own Eurorack modular case some time this fall. Its a hobby. The case can be built out of cardboard but I want to build something out of acrylic instead so I can install some RGB lighting in the case. The RGB lighting can be programmed with the music within the case. Or just to add a bit of a light show to the music. RGB lighting strips come in kits for about $40. I'm thinking of a double rack slight angular skiff. The skiff could be about 20 inches in length both rows. Modular synthesis is controlled by voltage. Just simple AC house current. The case gets plugged into power bar as the Eurorack case has its own on/off switch. There's lots of video's about this on You Tube.

It's nice having all this time off and all. I can get things done. Tomorrow I'm off to Service Canada to get my Federal Pension worked on, not the oas one. This one is for low income seniors. Apparently I need to be on oas for about a year before I can get gis anyway. The main thing about the low income pension is I can get a adult seniors low income bus pass for $58/year. 😲 Living the dream eh? It goes downhill ⛷ from here. Right now I'm itching to get back to my 4 days of work. Anyway, I got to get on with my "busy day," anyway, that's all for now.

I had a good time watching

Summerslam last night. Its usually on the weekend before my birthday. On a scale from 1-5, I'd rate it about a 4.5. Lots of fun.

I've got a Doctors appointment at 1pm this afternoon. Then I'll make a payment for my copy of Reason 10 before watching Monday night Raw. I got my birthday on Tuesday, and other then that, I'm just waiting to get a call from work, to see when we're starting the next project. Once I get the green light with that, then I'm getting the Nintendo Switch. Most likely I'm going to wait for awhile until just after labour day. 

So far I've had 12 days off and I'm anxious to get back so I can get a game with my Switch at the end of the month. Anyway, that's all for now.

In all my 41 years living here

in Edmonton, I have never seen the air quality index at 10 before. One of the posters at Connect to Edmonton took this photo, so I thought I'd share:

The above was taken yesterday afternoon. This is a rooftop shot looking East. That's Jasper Ave at the bottom. This picture looks very apocalyptic. We had a bit of rain earlier about 9pm but it didn't do much.

The City of Edmonton has a pilot project, where much like photo radar, a microphone takes snapshots of extreme audio and can scan the cause. There is a map I've seen of the placement of these microphones. One is on our street, but its by the other end of 137th in an industrial area 🤦‍♂️They need one at this end where there's more speeders in a mix business residential area.

I have the funds for the Nintendo Switch. Its within my grasp. The caveat is that I don't know what work or lack there of will bring. Plus I have a payment for Reason 10 to make. I have another expense, I'm hoping my pharmacist can cover for me. As for other things, I'm watching the Al's/Eskimo's at 7pm if the game isn't canceled because of the smoke. Plus Sunday is Summerslam/Pizza. Should be a fun time. Its a tough life 👀 Anyway, that's all for now. 

A lot of memories over the years

looking back. The passing of Aretha Franklin occurring the same day as the death of Elvis. Both of these artists never did much for me. However I recall exactly where I was when Elvis died. I was about to play Wellington's Victory. It was SPI "monster table top war game," and the only wargamer I knew was a young fellow up there in the "British Properties" area of North Vancouver. My friend and I were at poolside taking a break from setting the game up while his mom was working the Barbie, the radio was on in the background. That's when we heard the news. I think the time of day was late afternoon. I look back on those days 1977, wow 41 years ago. We never did start the game and I hadn't been to that area of Vancouver since. Anyway, that's all for now.  

We're about to get into another heat wave

but nothing like +30* or anything like that. We've got some +25's, 26's that sort of thing. My birthday week is next week (August 21st) and I'll be 66. And no, I don't feel like💩I'm hoping for some nice weather next week.

Yesterday I went into the General (downtown) Hospital for my appointment. I had very little sleep and I was fasting. I wasn't in a very good mood. I hadn't been in that hospital since 1981when I had a lacerated finger/tendon. I had trouble finding where I needed to be. They had a nice little cafeteria there. Good thing I brought a bit of cash with me. An employee saw me a bit confused, and I said I had a 2pm appointment (Community Care) She was very helpful and I checked in. Sure enough. I had a bit of a wait, to read 3 pages of my book. Somebody took me into a little Doctors office and did a ultra sound scan of some kind. Then a tickle thing with my feet. He seemed pleased with that. The a right toe test and I had some paper work to fill, out. That was it. I went to the cafeteria and got a diet coke and the bus outside to Corona station and home. The whole purpose of the visit was to establish if I had cvi. I did and depending on my income, (excluding pension money of course) I'll be able to get my compression stockings at a discount.

I'm not doing much today but preparing for a possible Live stream Saturday. I'm not sure if I want to get the Nintendo Switch first or a couple VST's. I can always get Switch in October, or black Friday. The VST's I can get them in about ten days. We'll see. Anyway, that's all for now. 

After about 35 emails later

Propellorhead tech support walked me through some long frustrating hours to finally get my copy of Reason 10 to work. Now comes the task of paying it down but my first payment wont be until the end of August. Also, I think I have obs figured out. It was missing a compressor. I was messing around with Reason 10 and I like the look and feel of this daw.

What a tragedy in Fredericton yesterday. Two police officers and 2 civilians killed by a local man. Its not clear what the motives were. Its times like these that makes me feel that the death penalty should be activated for killing a Police officer. Anyone committing a murder using a firearm should get the death penalty. This is outrageous.

So far other then the smoke and the heat, I've been having a nice couple of days off. I'm getting things done. Monday, I'm being tested for CVI, which I did last year. Plus I'm going to check work on getting that GIS pension processed and filed. I'm hoping my return to work won't be until late next week. I've almost got enough for a Nintendo Switch, but I want to get Zelda. I don't have to worry about Nintendo de monetizing my site because its not monetized. Anyway, that's all for now.

I'd be in remiss if I didn't post today

of all days. What with me being an Oilers fan since 1978. Today marks the 30th anniversary of arguably the biggest trade in the NHL. I was working for a local regional department store here in Edmonton, in what is now called Cobogo lofts. Back then this was on a Tuesday. I had just come in from Joes café with my lunch at 3pm and Bob was sitting in the back by the receiving door when he with the radio on. We we're both in shock when we heard the news. "I promised Mess, I wouldn't do this," the rest of that line is history. I cried for a long time after that. I kind of suspected something was going to happen when Gretzky married actress Janet Jones the month before. I was only 35 years old, still thin and had teeth, employed in a full time job. It was the end of an era. I look back to those times 30 years ago, wow. So much history. 


The other item making news today is the weather. Right now its:

And at this hour that's not even close to accurate as its now +35! Friday should be the end of our heat wave. My poor wife has to go into work today. Its going to be cooler in her office that's for sure. I'm glad I have most of this week off. I'm hoping for more time off. I think this is a summer record. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Friday night was my only night off during the last four days

off during the last four days or I should say, the only night I had off to myself. Anne has been home with me for the last 3 days. Yesterday afternoon we went to Londonderry mall for our Sunday brunch at Alberts. Its just a bus ride there and back. I  like the way they make their sausages. The ride home was very warm, getting in about 5pm, and then watching wrestling. 

Over the weekend I was able to get OBS to work with my DAW, Cubase 6. I was struggling with this for a long time. Finally I found a video that put the whole thing together for me. Its very easy. The process calls for a free application called "Voicemeter." It gets installed in the computers Audio devices. It first needs to be right click enabled, then add the control panel left level meter to mono. Then on the right side there's a drop down menu to select the microphone. In my case its my AT2035. Then in the daw, make sure the inputs/outputs are tuned to Voicemeter and instead of Asio its Voicemeter Asio. Then in the audio tab of obs select Voicemeter. make sure the Voicemeter control panel is at least in the taskbar. Launch the daw, and success. its a slick and easy process. The only problem I'm dealing with now is clipping, or static. I thought it was my webcam causing my audio to clip, but that's not the case. Obs comes with some audio tools, like a compressor,  noise suppression, gate etc. I haven't been using the compressor, yet once this work project ends (today?) I'll have another short break, where I'll have more time to tweak this. Its a good process that does what I want it to do. I put together a crappy 18 minute video that had some extreme clipping in it. I cued up the listener in advanced after the video took me over an hour to upload. The hole idea of this is to screen record and stream a "Make a beat with Jim" video's.

My afternoon commute today is  going to be about +28, uggh. All week until Friday, we're going to have Tuesday +27, Wednesday +30, Thursday +32, Friday our warmest day of the week at +34 uggh. Way to hot for me. Next week a lot more comfortable at about +22. At least I wont need to coat my skin in "Bronzer,"
whatever that means. Anyway, that's all for now. 

We're about to enter another

5 days of summer heat uggh. Hopefully this will be it as we advance into mid August just around the corner. Fortunately we have out AC  and face East. We're under the shadow of our building and we have a series of nice trees about 12 feet out from our balcony. 

Streaming games using a streaming service like OBS/Twitch is one thing, its streaming digital audio work station (daw) like garage band to work with audio and video together that's another. The issue apparently is with system sound like Asio. Streaming a daw can be done, using a hose of different things, like Jack Router, Asio bridge, VB meter, all kinds of things. I'm trying to get a program called Voxengo Recorder to work. I think I tried this before but I got discouraged over it.

I've got 2 of the 5 days of the cold snap at home, which is ok. I'm thinking the project I'm currently working on will be done Tuesday, and we'll be off work for awhile. At least its comfortable in the office. Anyway that's all for now.  

Its usually unheard of that in my line of work

(market research) we're working in August. Most people are on summer vacation or out and about. Its hard to get ahold of people. My colleagues and I are surprised we even have work in August, although we suspect it's going to end after a bit of a short break. I figure I'll be done for the summer by at least the 15th. I'm hoping for 6-8 weeks off, then I can be as elusive as Bigfoot. Whatever that means. 

I'm thinking I might have one more shift for tonight, and tomorrow night off, so I can watch the Riders/Eskimo game. Speaking of which my boss and I were chatting about the so called "spies" in the seats at commonwealth the other day. For all we know, these 2 guys were friends of the coach planted there just so the media would have something to chew on. Or they could be scouts from an upcoming game to get a glimpse of the playbook.

Other then that, Anne's enjoying some time off. I'm hoping this is my last shift tonight, then have a break for a few days and one last project before the longer last project and the break. Anyway, that's all for now.