At first when I heard

the news that Trump invaded Venezuela to capture Maduro and his wife, I thought bad for the country. Maduro was a bad dude. A lot of drugs that came into the US were from Maduro, Trump did a good thing. Hussein.

My first Tick Tock upload tonight from a You Tube short. The short was from awhile ago. Better then nothing. Lots more work to do on my profile lol 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.

Apparently Super Bowl 50

was one of the most boring in NFL history. I didn't watch much of it but I enjoyed the half time show, my pizza was good.

I like Justin Trudeau, don't get me wrong, however he has made some (imo) bonehead moves since becoming PM. I don't like the idea of pulling our aircraft out of the combat roll in the middle east. I'm not a big fan of having 25,000 Syrian refugees coming to Canada. I don't mind some but that's way to many. I don't like his position on the Trans pacific partnership. And I definitely don't like the $1B being spent to bail out Bombardier because some of that money most certainly go towards subsidizing jobs in the US. Thanks Bill for the share:

 
I don't have a problem with going into debt for a few years. Having the infrastructure spending is good but we here in Edmonton wont see any of it for at least another 2 years yet. While I appreciate JT's International presence, I'd like to see more job creation here in Alberta and more money invested in opening pipelines. 

So for the most part this week its leave out of here at 3pm for my 4-9:30pm shift And home to watch whats left of wrestling. After this week I'm taking off at 9pm just on Monday nights. Anne says she's ok with that. I've got no where to go after work this week anyway so its just 3pm commute 4-9:30pm commute home by 10:30pm do my stuff until 4am sleep until noon. Basically rinse and repeat from there until Friday. Now that could change if my other job sends me a letter asking me to come back for March. In that case, I'll work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (we get  off at 8:30pm) at the other  place. Other then a couple Oiler games I'll be following not much is going on this week. 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.

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.

Its a beautiful

sunny day with a high temperature forecast of about 16. Sun usually sets by 6:45pm this time of year. Daylight savings is 11 days away, right after Halloween.

If these are true, there are already a few things I'm not liking about our new Federal Government: I'm hearing that Trudeau wants to end our bombing missions in Syria and Iraq. Not good. Sure, its only a few jet fighters but its doing our part in bombing the terrorists. The other thing I don't like is hearing about a National carbon tax (carbon pricing). I wouldn't mind a carbon pricing tax if its revenue neutral like the gst. Its a plan that is up to individual Provinces but at the same time he's saying he wants to develop pipelines (Trans alta) and growth in the oilsands.

If only my afternoon commute was as easy as my evening commute. Last night I left the office at about 9:35pm and home by 10:30pm. And that was even while the #5 stops at a few places along Jasper Ave for a few minutes. Anyway I'm in from 1:30-9:30pm. That's 7.5 and a half hour unpaid break and x2 10 minute breaks which are paid for. Anyway, that's all for now.

I've been going hard at it over the past few days

with work. At the moment working the election until the last hour and then a clean up project for the last hour for 7.5 hours. I got home just before 11pm last night. Today I'm in from 1:30-9:30pm but I have tomorrow off but back at it Sunday. Then the same hours for all next week. Or at least that's what the week looks like moving forward.

With 4 days to go the Federal election race is just bout to come to a close. Its been a long 74 out of 78 day campaign. The front runner now are the Liberals. Out of all the party leaders Justin Trudeau speaks with more passion then the other leaders. Our current PM has been in power for far too  long. Maybe its time for a change. I'm leaning towards Liberal this year because I agree with almost everything about their platform. We need infrastructure while we're in these tough economic times. It worked for Canada during the 2008-9 cash crunch its a good recipe for Canada today. We don't need a balanced budget right now. The NDP's balanced budget and their platforms are going to cost way too much. The Conservatives are mostly looking out for the upper middle class and beyond. At the moment the Liberals are leading in the poles. They need a majority Government.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my day off tomorrow. I'd like to go to lodge but I'm going to the District meeting next Saturday. I'm considering heading out to get a hard drive for my computer. Its running on mb's. It needs a bit of love. I can go out and get the hard drive screw driver set and sata cable, then to Red Robin across the street have a beer and a bite to eat. Anyway its a full day today that's all for now.

Our 78 day Federal election

is heating up. Harper has been playing stupid over this Netflix tax thing. Its been making the media rounds all over the place and is sort of a running joke. You can read about it here.

Lon Milo DuQuette will be on Coast 2 Coast later this morning. While I have a luke warm interest in ceremonial magick and the occult these days, I still consider myself sympathetic to Thelema but in no way active. This "interest" is kept at arms length as a casual observer, mostly brought about through nostalgia. It's always interesting listening to Lon discuss Ceremonial magick, Crowley and the Tarot.

It's been somewhat of a annual tradition. Every Spring Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer would release a new novel and take it on tour across Canada and arrive every April to Audrey's books to do a reading from his recent novel. He is the only author I'd ever buy a hard cover book from. His last visit was April 2nd 2013 at Audrey's. I always get a autograph copy. His last novel was Red Planet Blues. That was 2 years ago. He announced recently on his blog that his upcoming 23rd novel will be Quantum night. Of course, I'll order a copy and I hope to get it autographed again.

Yesterday morning I called the x-ray to cancel. I called my pcn to confirm my next appointment on the 13th at 10:15am. I'll be calling ei after I wake up to find out when I can report again. I'm joining Anne on her 3pm commute riding partway in with her parting ways at Bay Station. I'll be heading into the office to pick up my whopping 4.5 hour cheque and to get an update (if any) for work for next week. If all I get is a non committal response, then I'll be looking for something part time. I need something steady. I'll be doing the job search thing at the employment agency Monday if there's nothing forth coming. After I pick up my cheque today, I'm off to get a bite to eat at the food court. Anyway, that's all for now.

One of the most important projects

for Edmonton is the upcoming Valley line LRT (light rail transit) The city has set aside $800M for the project and Ottawa put in its share of $150M. With uncertainty over oil prices and its loss revenue the Province counts on to help balance its budget, there are fears the Province might renege on its promise its share of Valley line funding. The Province is promised $450M, through its Capita Plan and Green Trip initiatives over 3 years. If the Pronince balances the budget (March 19th) and the Valley line becomes the budgets sacrificial lamb, it could derail the future of this vital project. I'm hoping even if the Province does renege, the city should go ahead anyway and send the Province the bill for the balance owing. The City still has almost a $1B towards the Valley line. It's going to take about 4 years to complete phase 1 anyway and by the time the Valley line even completed a lot can happen between now and then. The budget will be before a Spring election April 1st. If the Province reneges on this, I will not be voting PC that's for sure.

We're getting a couple of snow days this week, Thursday and Friday. and then by this time next week we're warming up to about +1. That's not to bad to take.

I'm in the office for my 5-9 this evening. Then I have lodge Thursday, work Friday 5-9 and all day Saturday. I'll get a clearer picture of what next week will look like. I'm looking at a work from home situation just to fill in for missing shifts, only if it makes sense. If I can make $50-100 a week, this might have possibilities. Especially since I could use the extra cash flow. Anyway, that's all for now.

It was a 3 point game heading into the

half then Calgary opened the flood gates and the sleeping Esks fell way behind in the 3rd. Too be fair the Stampeders don't have a 9-1 record for nothing. Without the injured Mike Riley the Esks put up a bit of a fight near the end scoring 2 majors. It was too little to late in a 41-34 Calgary win. There was a major Edmonton fumble that gave the Stamps momentum. Turnovers and penalties is what killed the game for the Eskimos in their new signature big EE jersey's. So much for my 3 game proline tie ticket. Stamps have beaten us 11 straight games now. I forgot all about the Seahawk's game today and I could have put them on the cfl double header. Not to self: In any Stamp/Esks match up always bet Calgary to win. Next weekend have the Seahawk's on my ticket.

I'm watching football for the most part this afternoon now that the NFL is back. After that I'm heading out of here for a lodge practice. I'm under pressure by some of my senior lodge members who don't like the way I'm running lodge, but after Friday I just have 3 more months and I'm a bum in a chair in the New Year. I'm not getting a lot of positive reinforcement. After my IPM year maybe I ought to join up with another lodge, I don't know.

The Alberta pc leadership race ended yesterday and my guy Lukaszuk didn't get elected in a 3 way race. Jim Prentice got 77% of the votes, Ric McIver, received 12%, and my guy Thomas Lukaszuk got 11%. McIver's reputation during the 2011 campaign did him in with his march for Jesus initiative, which sabotaged the Wild Rose campaign. The only reason why I think Prentice got elected was because he resides in Calgary. Lukaszuk was already in the pc caucus and already had experience and knew his way around the legislature.  He didn't win because he's a mla residing in Edmonton. The pc leadership was decided on geographic lines nothing more. Next election, I'm voting Wild Rose. Anyway that's all for now.

Computer hackers

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

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

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

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

So far there is no date on the upcoming

Alberta PC leadership convention. There are a few contenders such as Doug Horner (Spruce Grove) Thomas Lukaszuk (Edmonton-Castle Downs) Lukaszuk would be my first choice. Before the PC party calls for a leadership convention they want to make sure they have enough candidates.

If someone were to come up to me and ask "Jim, why do you blog?" I blog to leave a record of my life when I'm gone. Blogger might not last 10 years after I'm gone but as long as people are using it then it served it's purpose. I'm hoping Google will continue to use Blogger 10-50 years from now or even later. Sure my blog might be in the slush pile but at least it's somewhere. In a sense, my blog is my legacy. With pictures and links and my rants and raves, this blog is like a a snapshot of my life and my community (or my impression) in which I lived long after my death and what my life in my community was all about. That's why I blog and then this entry gets copied and pasted to my diary from here. My diary is a bit more private then the blog of course.

I'm a little tired and feel a need for a nap for an hour. I had a little nap there and feel a bit better. Monday is the last of my 5 hour shift's as I'm back to my 4 hours. It gives me 27.5 hours minimum during the week. Tonight I'm in for my 5-9 and all day Saturday from 10-6 and my lodge get together Sunday night and that's the weekend. Anyway, that's all for now.

This post has more to do with city politics but

Yesterday I left out of here at 2pm and arrive downtown. The weather was great. I started my shift and then called Anne on my break at about 5:15pm. Little did I realize the action going on across the street from where I’m working at the Matrix hotel. At 7pm I did my time sheet and logged off meeting my obligations. I had a survey I was just completing as the rest of the crew had left and I shut my station down and headed for Corona station thinking about the upcoming election results, dreading the worst.

I had a slight headache and still do. I caught my train to Grandin and then the Clareview train on track 2 for Clareview and a bus wait and then home. Never mind Monday night Raw, I was more concerned with something that really mattered. The results were slow to come in and I caught a bit of Raw and a few results were coming in. By 45  minutes into the broadcast 2% of the poling stations (275) of them responded. Iverson was in the something like 1500+ votes and everyone else way behind. When Iverson was sitting at 8500+ at 14% of the poling stations reporting the TV station declared Iveson winner. Then I watched some Raw and went back and there was Karen making her concession speech. I knew it was over. Iverson won 132,16/62.2% followed by Karen Leibovici 41,182/19.4 % and last of the “Big 3”: Kerry Diotte: 32,917/15.5%.

What’s ironic about all this is unknown to me at the time when I left, Don Iverson’s election night gathering place was The Matrix Hotel. If I knew it was there I would have popped in. I can now and the city moving forward can breath a sigh of relief. In my opinion if Diotte had been elected it would have set our city back years.

The guys showed up an hour then I

I thought they and Mike was first at the door as Anne was cooking our brunch. So she at first didn't like this but when the guys showed up she put everything away and then went out shopping. We had a pot of coffee and Anne bought some cookies, the nice ones and ice tea. The meeting was productive and John asked some interesting questions and asked some I was prepared for. I think I did ok. After they left Anne came in about half an hour later and made our brunch at 6pm. I had a great night, she used face time to call her sister. Anne made me a little snack and here we are.

Other then that I'm buying a usb thumb drive so we can take 10.5 Gb of video and photo's off of our iPad because Anne likes using the camera I'm not spending any money this week. I like using it too but she takes it to work to play games and too look at her photos of me and the cats. I'll be getting the thumb drive after work Tuesday. I'm trying to get the 32 Gb iTouch or a iPhone but I can't afford a iPhone plan on my budget not on getting $32/week for pocket money. This time last year I was getting more hours and $100/week for cash flow. Even if I put in 5.5 hours/day only gives me about $120/2weeks to play with. I need something better this this. I think it's going to be 42 hours/pay cheque from here until the end of the year and I can't live like that. I'll be going to Service Canada to see what my career options are. I need a new PC, I want the new iTouch/iPhone, I want the latest Maschine Studio so there are things I want and sorry but 42 hours in a pay period just doesn't cut it. I'll be setting that up for Service Canada Tuesday and this is going to be a process. Getting a decent job isn;t going to happen over night despite how good the economy is. My place of employment is a good job for anyone that's retired but it's nothing to live on full time and I won't work For $10/hour anymore especially for someone who threatens to fire you if your not as good as the next guy.

In the National news there was a conspiracy story about how Bobby Kennedy had JFK's brain. The rational for this had to do with any ramifications both legal and other wise to protect the family. There wasn't much detail and maybe other sources will have more information.

I'm in bed by 3 am this morning hoping to get a good 8 hours sleep in. Then it's off with my ID and my voting card to cast my vote for Mayor then come back with said card so Anne can go out and vote later this evening before polls close by 8pm. I should be home by 8pm to watch the results. All this week I'm in from 3pm-7pm. Unless we get another project. Anyway, that's all for now.

We're getting a little bit of rain out there last night and this morning

which is nice.

I had a slow start to the shift and didn't get my first complete until about 7:30pm but rallied at the end. I hurried out the of the building and ran for the train. Good thing I did otherwise I would have missed the train but I think I should not  have ran because I ended up walking home. If I caught the 10:20pm train i might have a Northgate bus there but I barely caught the train but had to walk from Clareview to the set of lights here anyway. 

At work I was tracking the Jet's/Oiler home opener and and when I left the Oiler's in the 3rd had a commanding 5-2 lead. I thought the win was in the bag. When I got home checking the sports highlights, the outcome ended up 5-4 Jets. I'm still standing by my original prediction earlier. 

With Washington shut down over "Obama care" it's going to have some devastating effects the longer it lasts. If it drags on longer say a couple of months, Canada could lose about $700 million/week. This is serious stuff. Both sides wont budge but something's got to give.  

Yesterday was actually decent day. First of all I got a chair filled in my lodge, which I'm happy about. I need 2 more including a replacement. Elections are Thursday and it looks like I'm going to have my year. The other bit of good news is my CPP has been approved. It's enough to pay for my cable bill and my insulin. I should get my first cheque in December. Some good news for a change. 

So because of this good news Saturday before work I'm going to get my Horus Rising audio book. Its a 5 CD set and it's going to give my Audry's book club points a shot in the arm. Anyway, that's all for now.

Our service provider went and grouped their channels

so all of our favorite channels have been moved around now. Space was on 174 now it's on a 4 digit higher number and all the other channels have been moved around to accommodate groups. It'll get some getting used to.

Earlier on the news under the section called "trouble shooter," a local man noticed that he was being charged .15% on gift cards. He bought a $15 iTunes gift card and was surprised there was a charge. There shouldn't be. I bought a $15 iTunes gift card just last month. I should check into that next time. No gst on gift cards.

It was on this day 1978 35 years ago that I got word my UI cheque was transferred to the TD bank at Grandin Mall. I recall getting a bus at Westmount and heading to Saint Albert. I recall how hot and humid it was like today. The cheque I recall was $149. I remember receiving it and they cashed it for me. That was a lot of money back then but that was the 1st week of my new life. Hard to believe I was just 26 years old.  

Some more details on the SE/W Mill Woods LRT decision yesterday. The project isn't cancelled, just on hold. It was a unanimous decision from council yesterday to delay the project until they got all the funding in place. Once the funding is in place they can then put the project up for tender. Public consultations are still going forward as the Design phase gets closer to the Build phase. Next public consultation is Wednesday September 18, 2013. The SE/W LRT line from Mill Woods to Lewis Estates (past West Edmonton Mall) will cost $3.2B, add $60-$80M every year the project is delayed. It will take all 3 levels of Government to fund 1/3rd of the project. The City of Edmonton (coe) has earmarked $800M plus a possible $235M from Ed Stelmach's old "GreenTRIP" public transit fund. That's our 3rd. We need $2B. The Feds said they'd help out with $255M but that means they still need to put in $750M. With the June flooding that alone will cost about $5B and the Feds said they'd pay for most of that. Yet in 2015 there's a Federal election coming up and if the Liberals or NDP get in we might as well write the SE/W project off but that's just my opinion. So far no money has come forward from any level of Government. November 20 to determine how to proceed on the project. I hope they have enough money for stage 1 Mill Woods City Centre. We wouldn't have to be under the P3 rules and we can build it under our own rules but we'll have to wait and see.

Its been a hot one this afternoon

evening.

The topic on for Coast overnight is survival. Not one of my favorite topics but I like to catch any of the "other" news they have on just at the beginning of the first hour but Wells unlike Noory doesn't cover a lot of this sort of thing.

The BC/Al's game Friday night, I never thought it would be a tie game because the Al's were so hungry for a win at home and they got it 38-39 for a Proline tie. Then last night Stamps/Argo's. It would have been an Argo's win except Ricky Ray got injured and had to be put on the sidelines. That was the momentum shift Calgary needed. This game was hyped as a Grey Cup rematch from last year. Calgary won 35-14. I forgot about the significance of the game. Then the double header today. Winnipeg/Hamilton. 14-37 for the home team. I called that one right. Then the Riders/Esks game and the Esks held the lead twice on the 1 yard line Esks football to take us into the lead late in the fourth quarter. The coach took our young quarterback Mike Riley out of play thinking back up Qb had this. Then after the ball is snapped the ball is fumbled then recovered. They should have gone for a field goal to tie the game at 30. Instead of going for the field goal they take the replacement Qb out insert Mike Riley and he spots his man in the end zone, the ball is tossed and it's picked off! Riders have possession and wind the clock down. Another Proline tie! Riders 30-27. Up next is the labor day classic and we got Friday Hamilton/BC. Sunday Winnipeg is at Saskatchewan, Monday its Edmonton/Calgary. Tuesday Montreal/Toronto. I'll be working up until 7pm so I'll miss that game. The labor day classic is the unofficial mid way part of the season. 

This summer was so short and NHL training camp for the Edmonton Oilers is right around the corner. September 14th. 

That's enough of sports.

I'm not a great fan of the Batman franchise. I liked the first 4 movies. I didn't see the Christopher Nolan series yet. So now Ben Affleck has been selected as the new Batman in the 2015 Batman/Superman movie. There's a lot of buzz about this, to which I say...meh. My response to the hoopla of Ben Affleck.

Seems that Obama is going to make a decision about Syria and about their use of chemical weapons on their own people. Obama wont do anything because Syria has Russia in they hip pocket. Syria can basically do what ever it wants. if Russia backed Iraq to the extent it does Syria then the war in Iraq never would have happened. Just my opinion

Fan expo in Toronto's last day is tomorrow and it looked like a good one. We get our own fan expo here in Edmonton September 28-29. It's not as big as the one we had last year. This year, Garrett Wang of Star Trek Voyager will be there. Christopher Lloyd. and a bunch of others I'm not familiar with. It's a stripped down version of last years event but for $20 bucks it's not a bad deal but there's nothing special for yours truly. I probably wont be going.

I took a sleeping pill before bed early this morning and other then waking up to pee the odd time, the pill really zonked me out. I remember up about 8:30am to use the bathroom and I passed out right after that and woke up at about 12:40pm. I like to wake up about 10am on a Saturday. Anyway that's all for now.

For the most part yesterday

I was not watching any TV. Overnight this morning Anne comes in saying former Alberta Premier Ralph Kline had died at the age of 70. I knew that he wouldn't last the year being in palliative care recently. He was suffering from dementia and more recently emphysema and bronchitis. He was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life. Even early as Wednesday he was quoted as saying “I’m not dead yet,” he said with a chuckle. Ralph Kline from Calgary Alberta was Alberta's 12th Premier for 14 years. It's been quite the week for Calgary, what losing in a trade Jerome Iginla, their franchise hockey player with the Calgary Flames and now Ralph Kline. 

Tomorrow Anne and I are out off to the movies and I'm looking forward (for "free") the 2nd installment of the new GI Joe movie:
 
 I mean come'on, The Rock, Bruce Willis, how can anyone turn that down? Also, I'm making a pit stop into Games Workshop to see if there's any Warhammer action going on and dinner (not in the food court this time) then the movie and or even Chapters if there's time.

I've been cultivating an interest in basketball lately. Obviously I can't play it but I appreciate the athleticism from watching these guys run up and down the court and pulling off these amazing moves like they do. When basketball highlights come on I don't turn the channel anymore. Being Canadian I support the Toronto Raptors but otherwise I like the "Miami heat" for obvious reasons. 

In the 1960's growing up in Coquitlam BC, our family lived a few blocks away from the Vancouver golf course. The VGC in the 1960's was a great place to get the red huckleberries (these were very plentiful at the VGA and they would be nice and ripe about now.) until they put a fence around it. I'm not a golfer but would like to play as some of the guys in my Lodge play Saturday's in the summer and maybe practice with them a bit. The only problem is it's an expensive sport. A set of clubs (new) can cost about $600+ never mind the cart, balls, shoes and tee time. Frank encouraged me last year to come along to play but I was working Saturdays. I might go out with the boys for a few rounds of golf this summer. Now that I'm not working Saturdays. I have such a history with golf I even worked at the VGC for a couple of weeks back in 1973 but that's another story.    

Last night on her way to work Anne bought from the Dollar ramma across the street these pair of headphones pictured below. This is what I'm looking for a microphone headphone setup with a mic line in. The only problem after trying to figure out how to get my voice sample into Maschine, I'm getting a "shushing sound." I think it's because my threshold was too low. I'm going to tinker around with that for awhile tonight.  

  Monday is the last day of my 5 day weekend and I'm going downtown to Jack's in the Baker Centre and get my haircut and it's Monday night Raw/Oiler's. Tuesday night I'm going to Audrey's for a book signing and pick up my annual hard copy of Robert J Sawyer's new book "Red Planet Blues." The book is going to cost me (90% off due to my Audrey's book club membership) about $10. I've been seeing Rob at Audrey's every year now since "Rollback." I still want to get "Triggers" signed as well. Wednesday/Thursday are 2 more Oiler games but Thursday is Lodge night, that comes first. Friday is about the only night not tied up with anything,so it's going to be a busy week. Oh and there's an Oiler game on tonight, good stuff. Anyway that's about all for now.

Apparently the guy that won the

 $16M last Wednesday, in an interview yesterday, he said he was shocked when he discovered he won! He bought a quick pick at a 7-11. Usually large amounts like that are won by a group of people. It showed him and his girlfriend receiving the check. I wonder if she's worried he's going to take off on her. They aren't married or anything. If I was in her situation, I'd be worried as well. She probably isn't saying this out loud but I bet secretly inside she's thinking, "How much am I going to get of that?" There is assurance from the lottery corporation a husband and wife always splits the winnings, they always investigate things like this but what kind of assurance does the girlfriend get?

One of my previous co workers dropped me a face book private message saying staff at my previous place of employment are going to meet for a Saturday afternoon get together. I replied saying I’d be there and I will, to play catch-up and see what everyone is doing. I’m probably the only one of the gang not yet working. This colleague of mine, like me also likes the Star Wars novels. We’re huge Star War’s fans. 

Last night’s hockey game a Rexall place was the Edmonton Oiler’s 34th home opener. The Oiler’s received 2 soft penalties against them giving the Shark’s 2 quick goals. Yakapov got his first goal and after that the Sharks were the better team giving the Oiler’s a 6-1 shellacking after the first period! Yikes. Dubnyk, let in a few soft goals as well having a bad first start. He's usually better then that. After a goal tender change, N. Shultz got a goal in the 2nd and so did Hall. That was about it. Denis played a lot better then Dubnyk and shut the Sharks down. I enjoyed the game anyway despite the outcome. Thursday LA Kings come to town.

On the news earlier there was a story about the floundering film industry in Vancouver. Vancouver and the Province in general used to be the place to be for the film industry to produce movies. Vancouver used to be called Hollywood North. Lately though that's not the case. There's been lay offs film companies leaving etc the Province for other places. The Movie "Total recall" for example was shot in the Province of Ontario because Ontario gave film producers lots of tax breaks to work in that Province. Vancouver always thought the BC scenery alone would be enough incentive to keep the film industry alive in that Province. High provincial taxes basically chased the industry away finding a home in Ontario. 

We‘re going to have another Civic election coming up in October. I hope Mayor Mandal run‘s again. In all the 35 years I‘ve lived here in Edmonton, Mandel has been the best Mayor since Lawrence Decore. Mandel can run for a fourth term but any Mayor after this can only go for 3 terms. Anyway, that‘s about all for now.

Not one of my better days

on the job performance wise and I really wanted to have a good day. I think I had the US election coverage on my mind and for some reason I just couldn't get into the job all day. It didn't help much that I was pulled off about 6 campaigns all day. I managed to get 2 sales, though but that was about all.

I kept on following the election results on my iPad all night and it was very interesting. At one point Romney was leading then Obama pulled ahead, it was a real horse race and there were some states where voters were in lineups for 3-4 hours at a time. Unbelievable. Obama ended up with 290 of the 270 electoral votes he needed. Romney at this hour is still preparing for his concession speech. He has to do this before Obama can deliver his acceptance speech. I'm happy that Obama won though.

Because not only were my calls slow and I had way more answering machines then most days I had a chance to catch up on a bit of TV. The movie playing this afternoon was American Graffiti  There was another movie but I can't remember what it was.

Ok, I have 824/1000 points to see a movie at Silver City. I'd like to go see James Bond "Skyfall." Speaking of movies, it seems that the upcoming Star Wars 7 will have the original cast in it. All accept one of course because in the books one of them, well I won't provide a spoiler alert or anything. 

Anyway, despite a disaster of a day and all, at least I got something. Anyway, that's about all for now.