On my afternoon commute yesterday

I thought I'd try a different way into work instead of that packed #5 bus at Corona. Anne suggested I take the #3 in upstairs on Jasper and go in that way. I boarded on the front of the train at Clareview and at Central Station, the escalator was shut down. This meant climbing two long flights of stairs to the upper concourse and then 3 long flights of stars to street level and it got me to the corner of the RBC and Jasper across the street. Huh? I was spent but I I got to my stop and I had a good 10 minute wait for my #3 bus. At least I had wifi. My bus arrived empty, which was a good sign, as it began to rain. It was empty until City Center mall and it just packed right up. There was a bit of a stall on 107th just before my old place of work last October. I got off at my stop on 107th and and 124th street and into the office 15 minutes to spare. My bus arrived on Jasper at 12:50pm. This means I'm able to get a coffee at Starbucks before it arrives. Today however, I'm going to board on my Clareview train at the back as last night the East escalator heading up was working. Anne said I take the right exit rather then the one I took yesterday because that gets me to my stop faster. That was I can pop into Starbucks and get a coffee before my bus arrives. Anyway, that's all for now.

Three days ago I was bathed in the

cool air of a fan in my office here at home. We're sitting at +15 when the other day this time of day we were at +21. The cooler air is most welcome here in the city and at the moment we're getting some much needed rain. I hope it rains all day.

I haven't heard from my employer all week, which leads me suggest there's been no work for anyone or the office is shut down for August. So, I decided why not go there and see whats going on. I took the bus/train bus uptown to 124th and 107th street and into the office. I made pretty good timing only to find 2 of my colleagues there. One was doing coding and the other working on a focus group. There hasn't been a schedule posted all week. The boss and super were out having lunch. I couldn't even fill out a calendar as they never had any printed. I hung about for 15 minutes. They said they'd let them know I was here. Its the usual story line: steady shifts return next month. Unless they call me before hand I'll just wait until after the labour day weekend and call. That is if I find something else by then. My wife is right I need a 2nd part time job that is steady that has no lay offs until I get pension. I'm going to try something in the security guard area. The hardest thing about that line of work is just trying to stay awake. I've done security guard work before I got married. I wouldn't mind doing that on weekends and the market research job 2 days a  week until pension. 

Some major breaking City news. The 3km Metro lrt line apparently will be online Sunday September 6th ready for the school year. The City is using what's called a line of sight approach to signaling with slightly reduced frequency times. In other words after 15 months, this long awaited and delayed system will finally be operational. As a side note, The 27km Valley line from Mill Woods to downtown (phase 1) is in its early stages of preparation, getting 29 buildings along the 1st phase of its route ready for demolition. By this time next year the Valley line should be in the early phases of construction mode.  

I'm up around noon today and at 1-3 I'll watch Smackdown and then I've got a couple of cfl football games to watch. I got BC/Hamilton and Ottawa/Calgary. Other then that, not much going on this weekend.Anyway, that's all for now.

Our resident manager had the property manager

on the phone while I was in the office yesterday morning and approved a inspection notice. However if there is any hint or trace of bb activity, then we have to comply to spray. We bought ourselves a week. The inspector will be here none the less Friday morning. We passed the last two inspections in January and February.

So once I know what's going on with my job next week and I get on the schedule, I'm opening up a account with LM for the Electribe sampler when it comes in July. It's a cool piece of gear about the size of my laptop and half as thick. I'm still not giving up on Maschine as its a useful tool for sound design.

On National news last night they had this segment on London's "cross rail" subway project. With 9 stations and 26 kilometers of tunnels, and about 4,000 workers its the largest project of its kind in Europe. Yet a year after our own Metro line has been completed, we can't even get the system online.

I'm enjoying my week off. Last night I watched the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in a 2-0 win over Tampa Bay. Wow. Then I watched Monday night Raw. I had a great night. Anyway, that's all for now. 

I had a great night last night on the

job but my blood sugar was dropping. I'm on the busy Corona station platform waiting for my train 9pm Clareview train home. It was pact as usual. All the University students At that time of night as Track 2 Clareview always has more passengers then track 1 Century Park heading South. I was lucky to find a window seat so I could doze off here and there.

I'm waiting on the 129 Northgate bus to clear out of Clareview nodding off here and there. There's that character standing at the front of the bus driver again. I pull the cord for my usual stop request. And a "Sorry." What? That character distracted the driver past my stop by about 100 feet. He let out about half a dozen of us onto windrows walking back to the lights. I was pissed off. So much so that I made a rare complaint to ETS complaint line and explained to the operator what had just happened. The bus driver is a  nice guy and all but its that distracted driving. The complaint line lady said this was something worth complaining about and asked if that was a ETS off duty driver standing there talking to the driver? I didn't know but he didn't look like that to me. If it was, the off duty guy should have known better. I wont be on that bus tonight but she took down my false name and my phone number and will put the complaint forward. Around mid December before I got off at my usual stop, I yelled out: "Thanks for distracting the driver bitch." I told that story to the complaint line operator. If the bus driver had not missed my stop obviously I would have never any reason to make a complaint. 

We have management coming in for a annual inspection of the premisses in the morning (we hope) If not by 1pm if they are not here, one of us should remain behind to go to Southgate Apple store to get our replacement iPad. Most likely that'll be me, because Anne needs to work this afternoon. "I have a day off." If I'm successful with the iPod I might just go to Bo Didlies across the street for a cold one. Although I'm having this craving for a shot of Sambucca. We'll see. Anyway, that's all for now.

A couple of things going on

this month. First off it's the Edmonton public library's main branch Centennial year, nice. Too celebrate the City of Edmonton is handing out free library cards to any city resident. It's a good deal. I haven't used the library in years but it's free right. why not?  

Yesterday I found out my job isn't permanent. It's on a project by project bases. I have these hours for at least the middle of June. After that I don't know. If near that time, I have no conformation of anything, say like a week or 2 off, I can live with that. If however things are shut down for a couple of months, then I have a few other options. If all we have is evening work, I can live with that. I'd rather work part time where I am now then full time out out on 124th street with the gang. Maybe I'd do it next year when the Nait line opens up. In that case it'd be a train to Churchill and connect to the Nait line out to Kingsway board the #12 out to the job site. That might be easier, but we'll see. I don't want to give up on my present job for just a few dollars more an hour.

This caught my attention from i09 earlier: Should we put criminals under surveillance instead of in prison? The thing is putting criminals under surveillance wont prevent crimes. And how are we going to apprehend these criminals once they figure out that resources are so stretched it's going to be very hard to catch them? Read more here:

The other thing I want to do one of these Saturday's this month is head out to the Telus World of Science for the Star War's "Identities" show before it leaves by the end of the month so maybe next Saturday night. I really want to see this before it leaves. I can get a bite to eat at Westmount and take the #5 to Corona station from Westmount and the train home before Anne calls.

The other thing is our local landmark, the High level bridge, has a built in attraction called the "High level bridge waterfall."  It's normally an event for the summer, usually around Summer long weekends. There are lights that shine from behind the waterfall hooked up from just under the bridge. It's nice at night but the event has been shut down over the past couple of years. Forces at City Hall want to bring it back but with Redford's cutbacks and all that affect the City, it's hard to come up with the funds to justify opening it again. What's odd about this project is the water wasn't pumped from the river below and recycled. It was treated water. Now City councilors want to use the water from the river. They should have done that years ago.  

On Coast this morning the topic is about how scientists have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA. Cool. Looking forward to listening in on this for a bit. Anyway, that's about all for now.
 

I slept ok from just

 after 2am until about 9:40 waking up before my alarm, shaved and showered.

I got a LRT notification from my “Connect 2 Edmonton” forum site and the LRT has service interrupted today as they are down to 1 track. Apparently the City is having a kind of breaking through the Nait line tunnel ceremony this  morning at 11am. I’ll see the highlights of this tonight. It’s going to be interesting to see how the timing between 2 tracks and 3 trains going in 2 different directions off the same track. Currently it’s just track 1 & 2. For the most part my train comes on track 2 heading either to Corona station or Clareview. Now there’s a train heading to Clareview and to Nait and the other way. In other words, 3 trains sharing 2 tracks. The only thing I can think of is if the Nait line doesn’t go all the way from Nait to Century park but stops at Churchill. Will passengers need to get off at Churchill to go South or East or go straight through? This is going to need some computer gymnastics to pull off the switching details. But it won’t be ready for another 15 months yet.

I’m having my coffee relaxing as I hope I’m in for a good full day. I don’t like the new script for CPC because it’s like were talking down to the public by saying that if they don’t support the party with a donation then like the NDP defending Iran, they become no better. Essentially we’re talking down to these people. I like the conversational selling aspects here and all, good stuff.

Looks like we’re going to be in for a decent day today weather wise. We’ve been under a bit of a mild winter so far. The past couple of winters haven’t been like what we used to have in the 70’s & 80’s. All these things go in cycles.

Monday I’m in early to make a bank deposit and get a haircut before work. But today it’s 7.5 hours and do the bank thing and home for a couple of hours and back to bed. Anyway, that’s about all for now.

Yesterday while watching

Yesterday while watching hockey and Doctor Who, my daily does of our local news got put on the back burner. I discover while watching the weather channel this morning that the town of Slave lake 250 Km north of us got completely wiped out by a grass fire. Hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed. The whole town! Apparently it started by a grass fire and burned almost every house in the community including the Town hall as well. Other then black Friday 1987, which I lived through, this was the second largest disaster in Alberta‘s history. Incredibly no loss of life occurred.

The other news story I heard just before Monday night Raw, was that the NHL 2011-12 schedule is printed and apparently it has in it The Winnipeg Jets. I can not confirm or deny this but local news said that its almost certain that Atlanta Thrashers will be coming to Winnipeg. Wow! This doesn‘t make sense because last year the schedule wasn’t made public until a few days before the 2010 draft.

Ok Ubuntu is installed but I can’t get my wifi settings worked out. Vinay said something about “Refresh hardware devices.” I cant find that in my control panel, so I’m going to mention this to Keith and bring my laptop in on Wednesday.

It was this day Friday May 16th I recall that special weekend when Richard/Ellen and I were all together 31 years ago. The more I thnk about it the more I'm leaning over to the possibility that Richard didn't deposit his stuff in E because even though she was on the pill, she was only recently taking it. She might have got pregnant by Richard but i don;t think so.

So this morning I’m out there waiting for my bus and I know there are two Not in Service (Nis) buses that tear past me a minute or so apart. Ok the 2 Nis buses whiz by. Then I see what looks like my bus make a right turn onto 137th. I see a bus in crossing the street North of the 4 way and another that scoots behind. So I got 3 buses. The one in the turning lane and two coming up to the light standard. The 3rd Nis bus is in the turning lane. 3rd? The 4th Nis bus whips past me. Meanwhile the bus that actually had passengers behind the Nis bus doesn’t know that the bus in front of it is an Nis bus so it whips out into the turning lane thinking its going to pick me up. That’s 5 buses! Unbelievable! Finally I could see a bus coming down the Manning bridge. Is this the one? Finally it was and I got to the Clairview station at 8:15am and missed my train. I was getting a headache and my mood wasn’t exactly the best. I said to myself that if I don’t get any sales, I’m going home at noon. So in walks Carl to sit beside me. I like Carl. A year older then me. Good guy. So he says he’s leaving at noon already pre arranged and just before noon, no sales. I was getting a headache and my mood wasn’t helping me get any sales. Ten minutes into the 2nd half, I get a $100 sale and that’s all I got all the rest of the day. To say my day was long, is an understatement. Anyway, that’s about all for now.