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Friday, December 24, 2004
I'll Be Home For Christmas (Sorta)
The aroma wafting through the house is heavenly as the Christmas baking nears completion. There's a stack of presents sitting in the bedroom waiting to be addressed and looking at the date I see that it is December 24th. I guess we have made it to another Christmas eve, and one I might add that doesn't seem quite as stressful as recent years. But alas, again I am working evenings tomorrow, Christmas day, and that always puts a damper on things. But otherwise I think we are ready to settle into the holiday spirit for a few hours anyway. We'll be going to the Christmas eve service at church in a couple of hours and then home to a little snack of ham on homemade buns and lots of other goodies. So as we sit around and soak in the festive mood, we'd like to wish all our faithful Chronicle readers a Merry Christmas and the best for the new year!! Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Christmas Countdown
Here we are into the last week before Christmas and all seems well. We seem to be pretty much done with our shopping which is surprisingly early. Nonetheless it feels good not to be dashing about at the last minute. We will be spending Christmas at home as usual seeing as how I have the pleasure of going to work Christmas day afternoon. We have our white Christmas here also as quite a bit of snow has fallen in the last couple of days but not enough to hamper any activities. Just enough to put that nice glare ice on at all the intersections.
As you can see at the left there is a link to the Christmas Chronicle for 2004 for anyone who didn't get the hard copy version. Saturday, December 11, 2004
Winter Wonderland
It's been a busy week what with working every evening and trying to get the Christmas stuff done during the day. I was hoping to get more posting done than this but what can ya do? Anyway, all the outgoing Christmas packages are gone and it's just the kids to buy for now, a walk in the park (ha ha). I'll be labeling the Christmas cards like mad in the next couple of days to get them out this week. The Christmas Chronicle is set to go as well, once I make some copies.
After a couple of scary days of -25 degree weather, it warmed up to a balmy +1 today, however, with that come a bunch more wet, soggy snow, really hard to get off the driveway. Good thing it didn't last too long. We were supposed to be at our annual work Christmas party tonight but Dianne developed quite a bad case of the flu or food poisoning or something last night and has been in bed all day so the kybosh fell on that outing. 
Here's a little shot of how our new "fake " tree turned out. Monday, December 06, 2004
Big Dump
Well I guess I spoke too soon on Friday as no sooner has I said it was mild with no snow we got a big dump and the temperatures plumetted to around -15. Sorry, my bad. Oh well, I guess we should be glad it waited this long, we could have been up to our ears in snow since mid October.
What a busy weekend! All kinds of little things including Christmas shopping, fake Christmas tree assembly and shovelling snow kept Dianne and I hopping all weekend. Now I'm back at work and able to spend a few minutes with important stuff like posting to this blog. Canada is sending 500 observers to the Ukraine for the re-run off of the presidential election there and Paul Martin is volunteering to help Iraq with their election next month. Since when did we have a corner on the election expertice market? I guess the government is anxious to please Mr. Bush with anything as long as it doesn't involve any soldiers, armoured cars, helicopters and especially submarines. And finally, many happy returns, Mom. Hope you had a great birthday despite the cold. Friday, December 03, 2004
Warm Trend
The thermometer outside says +10 and there's no snow in sight. I'm wondering if I went through a time warp on my way back from Cuba to the beginning of October. But just checking the forecast now I see that we may be in for it next week as the temperatures are to drop to the -18 range and there are flurries predicted. So, although they are saying we will probably have another brown Christmas, I should still get out there and look for that new winter coat I have been needing for the last couple of years.
I've been playing around with the video editing program Adobe Premiere 5.0 in an attempt to learn how to use it well enough to build an entertaining slide presentation for Angie & Lee's wedding. So far things are looking good. I'm getting the hang of it and things are working as they should so I am inspired. I may be able to pull something off for the spring. Now I have to try and justify buying a new digital camcorder to be able to digitize our old home video stuff. The Ukraine supreme court has ruled that the election run off in that country is invalid and must be redone, much to the joy of the Yushchenko backers. Maybe this time they will do it properly and I guess Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew offered Canada's help in efforts to ensure that voting is conducted in a legitimate manner. "Canada will do everything it can to assist in that election," Pettigrew said. "We will want to send a significant number of observers." Maybe they should send a delegation from Florida as well, for good measure. And IBM has announced that it is unloading it's PC computer business, not to American interests but to the Chinese. It seems IBM is lagging behind fat cat PC manufacturers like Dell and HP but PCs are no longer IBM's strong suit in today's throw away technology industry. Still, its interesting to see how the face of the industry is changing especially when power houses like Big Blue are finding their futures off shore. Wednesday, December 01, 2004
You're Welcome, I'm Sure
I guess it's better late than never but three years is a little long as President Bush thanked Canadians for their hospitality during the 9/11 crisis. You're welcome George, but I think that the people of Nova Scotia and the rest of Eastern Canada have felt the gratitude of the American people for some time now. Many a lifelong freindship was kindlled between the passengers of the grounded aircraft and their hosts who willingly opened their homes during those tense days. Regardless of any bureaucratic praise from the chief, I like to think that we Canadaians are just naturally hospitable and would have done the same for anybody. CBC News: Author Pierre Berton dies at 84
Another prominent Canadian has left the building with the death of Pierre Berton. Of all the national heroes, if one can call them that, Berton was one of the biggest, at least in my mind. Most of what I know about Canadian histeory comes from watching "The National Dream" on CBC years ago. (I would love to see that series out on DVD, hint, hint CBC) While in Cuba, we learned that the Cubans have many national heroes who they pay homage to in a big way and I got to wondering who, in this country, would be of comprable stature. Immediately one of the names that came to mind was Pierre Berton. He will be missed.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Everything is up and running well on Dianne's new machine. The building and installing went very well and Dianne is very pleased to have a machine that will respond to her in the same century.
Yesterday we went to Costco and picked up the new Christmas tree much to the dismay of the kids who seem to have become traditionalized with the real thing. However, I think that once it is up and decorated it will seem just like the real thing. At least it won't shed like the real thing and I won't have to clean it up, a tradition I'd like to let go of. Thursday, November 25, 2004
Yule Time Approacheth
I'm just in the process of loading and installing software on Dianne's new computer which I picked up yesterday. It's running on an AMD Sempron processor at about 2 mghz which is a far cry faster than the 90 mghz the old Pentium machine was. It was a long time coming but the ol' gal is finally being put out to pasture. So while I wait for software to load up I will make a few notes here.
Ralph Klein is back in his office at the Leg after a rather sweeping victory on Monday, although the city of Edmonton has turned mostly red which is something the premiere should note very carefully. There's not as many PC's in office any more. Still having great weather here. No snow yet and fairly decent temps. We may just get another brown Christmas. I took advantage of the great weather to do the annual hauling out of the Christmas lights yesterday. Everything looks good there. And in a surprise departure from tradition, we are planning to buy ourselves (wait for it)...a fake tree! this year. I finally got tired of having to haul a real one in and out of the house, dropping it's needles everywhere, wrestle to get it up and fill the base with water and all the rest of it. They've some nice artificial trees at Costco for $80 this year so I think we're going to get one. Then it's just a matter of getting the Christmas shopping done. Oh joy! Monday, November 22, 2004
Cuba Pages Up
As you can see the Cuba Tour pages are finally up after a couple of weeks delay. Click on the link at the left or click
here. There are a fair number of pictures so be patient in the downloading although Photoshop Album does a good job of paring down the images to bite sized chunks when it creates the pages. A bit of a snoozer was yesterday's Grey Cup game although I was already asleep after working all night. Nonetheless, with it not being Edmonton or even Saskatchewan playing, it was of little interest in this neck of the woods. (sorry tiger cat fans!) Today we have our big provincial elections which I think most Albertans will sleep through too. All the pundits are saying that Ralph is a shoe in for another term which may not be a bad thing. Friday, November 19, 2004
Plasma Goodness
I'm writing this entry while at work on a midnight shift as it seems like this is the only place I have time to think, never mind write. I have pretty much finished my little project for church which has to be set up this afternoon. So eventually I'll get the Cuba pics uploaded. Patience.
Meanwhile, we have been getting pretty stoaked here at Movie Central as we now have our High Definition channel up and running. The main feature of this is a great looking 42inch plasma flat panel HD monitor hanging in our master control room. The movies we have been running on it are upconverted from regular SD but still look great. And the special HD programs just about jump off the screen and bite you on the nose. We wants it, we does. Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Pictures Coming
I have been busy putting together an A/V presentation for a missions conference at the church this weekend so I haven't quite finished getting the Cuba pictures up on the site. Plus we were in Saskatchewan over the weekend so I was unable to do any work at all. In the meantime there are some pictures here at the IHS Orchestra site. Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Instruments Delivered
I just found out that the instruments we collected in Canada this summer finally made it into the hands of the students in Havana. We had hoped to see this happen while we were there and get some pictures, but because of the bureaucracy and other circumstances, the instruments sat in a warehouse for the duration of our tour. One of the members of the team, who stayed an extra week in Cuba, was able to see the boxes delivered and some of the instruments presented to the students who were reported to be "ecstatic". I would have loved to have been there but I am glad that the instruments at least got into the right hands finally. Sunday, November 07, 2004
Havana Memories
It's been almost a week already since I got back from Cuba and I'm finally adjusting back into the Canadian lifestyle. The cold weather and snow tends to help a bit, I guess. I am in the process of compiling a few pictures to post on this here web thingy along with what will be a bang up article about the intrepid travels of yours truly.
Seems we didn't get our audience with Fidel like we wanted, although I am thinking that even without the broken arm and leg he might have been a no show (probably). I like to tell people he broke his bones when he tripped dancing to the polka at one of our concerts. Doesn't usually impress, though. Saw a lot of motorcycles in Havana, almost as many as cars and some oldies too. There's no helmet law down there so it was a shock to see everyone tooling around with their hair flying in the breeze. We also saw lots of old cars from the fifties. Some in good shape and some not so great. Guess it depends on how good a driveway mechanic you are. Once the old Chevy short block gives out most guys will drop in an old Russian diesel. It's odd to see a 57 Chevy chugging along like a locomotive with black smoke pouring out the back. Thursday, November 04, 2004
Home At Last
After another week of traveling around and performing in Havana I am now back safe and sound in sunny if not chilly Edmonton. I had to curtail my postings somewhat during the last week as I ran into a bit of trouble with the internet service in the hotel and it started to get costly. However, I am in the process of downloading and compiling my 500 plus photographs and will be entering the journal in the next few days so there should be a new page available soon documenting all the exploits of our troupe in Cuba.
It was a bit of a shock to come home to snow on the ground and +8 degree weather after basking in the Caribbean sun. But now it's back to the old routine. Time to get ready for the pre-Christmes pandemonium. Friday, October 22, 2004
Week One A Success
It's been a fabulous week here in Havana as we finish the first week of our tour. We have played a few concerts and seen a ;ot of cool stuff. And we have met some really lovely people. The Cuban people are very warm and friendly. This weekend we will be doing a little sightseeing into the interior of the country as well as doing a live TV broadcast and playing at a lively church service on Sunday. The guys in the team are having a great time together especially our Cuban students who love to play their African drums and play them most of the time including while travelling on the bus. We have seen very much of Havana as we travel back and forth and it is an amazing place. We all look forward to another great week. Saturday, October 16, 2004
Hola From Havana
I have been just settling in to our new digs here in Havana. The rest of the flight went swimmingly, a bit more comfortable as I had all three seats to myself. We are about to have our first rehearsal this afternoon after a tour of the city. The Cuban people are super, nice and friendly and I am picking up a lot of Spanish. Last night we were treated to an awesome concert by famous Cuban pianist Chichoo Valdez with a spectacular Latin rythm section. Kind of showed us what we were up aginst. I'm just getting to know my fellow musicains, there are a few new faces.
The accomodations are very nice. We have a newly renovated house with plenty of rooms but some faulty plumbing but nothing unbearable. We have no seat on the toilet! The internet is close so I should be able to update our status regularily, so stay tuned for more. Thursday, October 14, 2004
Halfway There
After a rather greuling four hour ride in a sardine can I have arrived in Toronto and am waiting for my connection. Two hours to go before boarding and not a Tim Hotons in sight. What a wasteland! Anyway I am still awake and doing fine. After all it's only six hours into the trip. Nothing to us seasoned globetrotters. Must run now before my time runs out on this kisky thing. Love to all. Wednesday, October 13, 2004
It's A Go
The last couple of days has been kind of a drag. With everything packed and ready to go all I can do is wait. I guess it would be worse if I had to work. Nevertheless I hit the tarmac tonight at 12:30 headed for TO and then on to Havana tomorrow. I picked up my passport from Purolator yesterday with great relief. Just last minute things to do now. Hopefully my next post will be from sunny Cuba.
I guess it would be very, very funny if it wasn't so sad but one can't help shake one's head over the Canadian Navy's submarine debacle. It does not put us Canadians in a very good light when we have to buy Britain's mothballed relics to become our entire sub fleet. And now they have grounded the lot of them due to the inquiry over the Chicoutemi fire, which is funny because only one of them was commissioned and sea worthy anyway. Navy brass are red faced and up to their ears in this scandal and there's questions being raised in Ottawa, where I'm sure somebody will deny any knowledge. It was quite a blow to hear that Christopher Reeve has died of a heart attack. It has shocked the world, especially considering that he will not be around to witness the fruits of his efforts into spinal cord repair research. Sunday, October 10, 2004
Talk about cutting it close. Because of the long weekend my passport remains "in transit" in the Purolator system until Tuesday. Once that is secured there is nothing left to do but pack and get ready for Wednesday evening. The instruments are on their way across the country to Toronto where we will have them loaded on an Air Cubana flight and sent down once we are in Havana. It will be interesting to see what shape they are in when we receive them there after their journey. I get to see how well my packing job holds up.
I'm still being impressed with Mozilla especially the tabbed browsing feature and I spent some time perusing their site yesterday looking at the various "extensions" you can get which are like plugins that enhance the features of Firefox with different little applications. Cool stuff. And last night I spent over an hour downloading Knoppix, the "load from CD" version of Linux. I haven't tried it out yet but I'm curious to see how well it works and if it is everything they say it is. Friday, October 08, 2004
The Trip Is On
After basically holding my breath for three days I can finally breath easy as I know my passport is making it's way home thanks to Purolator's online tracking system. The envelope was picked up in Montreal this afternoon around 2:00 so it should be back in plenty of time for my flight on Thursday. Phew! Thursday, October 07, 2004
Dueling Browsers
For the past little while I have heard a lot of people say a lot of good things about the Mozilla browser and how it blows the doors of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. So this morning I downloaded Mozilla Firefox to give it a trial run. So far I'm very impressed. The install was a snap, it even imported all my bookmarks and such and it seems that the pages load lightning fast. But one feature I really like is the tabbed browsing. It allows you to have several sites open in the same browser window without having to open (as in IE) another window. It also comes with a built in popup blocker which is always a good thing and a Google search window in the toolbar. Apparently there are lots of really cool plugins for it which I will experiment with once I'm done giving the thing a test drive. I am not quite ready to hand default browser duty to Mozilla yet but I think Internet Explorer's days are numbered, at least on my desktop. Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Bureaucratic Balderdash
I had to send my passport off by courier to Montreal yesterday, not something I felt too comfortable doing with only 8 days left until I leave. But we need special visas in Cuba and although they had authorized them last month already, nobody in Canada could find them. With three embassy offices in Canada the least likely one was in Montreal but after sweating bullets for a few days I phoned Montreal and sure enough that's where they were. So I am expecting my passport back by the end of this week or else there'll be trouble. The neat thing is I can track it online once it leaves the embassy in Montreal.
The instruments are still sitting in the living room but they should get picked up tomorrow. They will be stored at a church in Toronto until we can arrange the flight to Havana. Sunday, October 03, 2004
The weather has been downright nasty lately. Temperatures have been hovering just above freezing. So much for biking.
There is a mountain of shipping boxes in our living room as I prepare to send off the donated instruments to Cuba. Hopefully they will be picked up some time this week. We are hoping that they arrive in Havana while we are there so that we can oversea their arrival and unpacking, making sure they get into the right hands. I installed a new closet door in Dianne's study yesterday therby completing the reno project in that room. At some future point I plan to build her a new computer desk to replace the child's desk and work station she has in there now. Now that I have all those instruments out of my work shop I actually have some room to work. I want to build a new desk for myself and so will probably make it a nice little tandem winter project. Wednesday, September 29, 2004
The Puck Stops Here...
What will people do now that there is no Hockey Night In Canada to while away the long, cold winter evenings? There's talk here of having games with some team called the Roadrunners. My bet is that there will be a mysterious baby boom in nine months because of all the guys with nothing else to do but spend time with their wives. Monday, September 27, 2004
As you can see the futon is finally finished and installed into Dianne's office/study. This monster actually folds out into a queen size bed, although we haven't actually tried it yet, but I have a feeling it will take up most of the real estate in that tiny room. But no luxury is spared for those who dare to venture forth to visit us here in Tundraland. With only 3 weeks to go till Cuba, I have been practicing as much as I can on the horn which is difficult here unless I have the house to myself. Many of the songs have been changed at the last minute and a few new, tricky ones have been added causing a slight panic to ensue. Just when I had the licks down on a song it's pulled and a more challenging one is in it's place. Well, one can only do so much and I suppose a little "faking it" is not completely unheard of in music circles. And on a final note for this edition of the old "HC", looks like Coronation Street is drawing quite an audience here in the colonies, or at least the CBC would like us to think so. I've actually seen "Street" cast members doing on air program promos for upcoming shows on the Mother Corp. Is nothing sacred? Sunday, September 19, 2004
Took the plunge yesterday and downloaded the new "Service Pack 2" for Windows XP, perhaps a little recklessly as I haven't read any reviews on it yet, but so far the computer is still running fine. Some of the enhancements are kind of neat and there doesn't seem to be any conflicts yet, so we'll see how it is in a couple of weeks.
The futon project has been put on temporary hold until I can get the time to work on it. We've had visitors (Dianne's Mom & Dad) all weekend and I have been working midnights so it may be some time next week before I can continue putting on the coats of Verithane. Hopefully it will be done by next weekend. We are about 3 and a half weeks away from our Cuba tour and are in the process of arranging for the donated instruments to be shipped to Toronto for their flight to Havana. Then I will be winging my way south for the tour in mid October, all the while praying that the hurricanes have all blown themselves out. Wednesday, September 15, 2004
"...Futon A Happy Face"
You will recall the tale of woe I describe to you a few months back about the ill fated hide-a-bed-that-wouldn't-fit adventure and the disappointment it caused. The alternative, as I mentioned at the time, might be in the form of a futon. Having mostly gotten over her dislike for futons, Dianne decided to give it a try and so last week we had one made that folds out to a queen size bed and has a lovely patterned cover that we think will match the decor of the room nicely. The frame comes in unfinished pine so now I have the arduous task of finishing it to fit the room. After disassembling it as far as I could go I stained it a nice red mahogany color and am now in the process of applying multiple coats of clear satin Verithane. This may take a while. But, I think it will look great and when finished I will post a picture for all the world to see.
Our faithful cat Chester the Chicken almost had a coronary yesterday as two guys invaded his territory to steam clean the carpets. As they neared his hideout behind the couch with their roaring and hissing monster he became a blaze of streaking fur as he raced up the stairs and hid, cowering, behind the sewing machine. He remained glued to that spot for the next hour and once the guys had gone, Chester would not show his face for the rest of the day. Well, with exactly a month to go before the big trip we are starting to get final preparations in order. The plane ticket should be arriving any minute and we are in the process of compiling all the donated instruments that we will be shipping down to the Conservatory of Music in Havana. I have been scouring the internet for interesting touristy type things to do in Havana as it seems I may have a few extra days to linger there after the tour is over. I'm hoping to hit some of the hot Cuban jazz clubs. If things work out I am planning to try and update the blog from Havana, providing I can find an internet connection. Friday, September 10, 2004
Pardon my tardiness in not posting for a while. I have absolutely no excuse. I've been spending much of my time practicing for the Cuba trip and trying to make arrangements for said trip.
We seem to have gone into a pre-winter mode here in Slushville. We've had temps teetering at freezing level and most people awoke to the shock of a lawn full of snow yesterday. If I remember correctly we are still in summer, aren't we? It seems George Lucas is at it again. He is now releasing a DVD version of the Star Wars epic which, apparently, is not the "original" films or even the 1997 "Special Edition" but a newly tweaked version. In an interview he claims that the films have just taken over his life as he has spent the last 30 years filming and refilming the same boring stuff. George, let it go! Nobody but you is that interested any more. And here is something that I found amusing. It is instructions on writing your own fantasy novel with a clear jab at the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. Thursday, September 02, 2004
Silly Fads
I think that I am not the only person who will be glad when the time comes for it to not be fashionable to pierce every conceivable part of the body. Earrings I can handle and perhaps the occasional tiny gem on the side of the nose, but I get turned off completely when I am served by a very attractive young thing in a store and she has shards of metal protruding from parts of her face that should only be reserved for less armor-like purposes. And then she gets annoyed because you are looking at her with revulsion or worse yet you are trying to totally not look at her. I saw a picture today of a woman who purportedly had around 1200 pieces of crap protruding from various dermatalogical surfaces and from the look of it most of it was in her head. I can only imagine where the rest of it is. I think if she ever removed all her hardware she probably would instantly lose about 30 pounds and would whistle when she walked from all those perforations. The only consolation with piercings is that if you remove them they heal. But once you get a tattoo they tend to be a bit more permanent, which is a whole 'nother rant! Monday, August 30, 2004
Miscellaneous Ramblings
Well, the Olympics are over for another four years, we can look forward to 2008 in Beijing. And from all reports in the media it looks like it's hats off to the Greeks who were able to pull it off despite some negative prognostications from the world stage, probably much to their own surprise. We caught a little bit of the closing ceremonies last night and apart from an endless stream of singers and dancers with unpronounceable names, it looks like it was quite the show especially the fireworks which seemed to erupt at regular intervals.
With all the sporadic rain we have been getting lately I haven't been too diligent in my lawn care duties, but yesterday I was able to get out and cut and trim the lawns before another shower came our way. The weather has been markedly cooler lately and we have to keep reminding ourselves that it is only the end of August and we should hopefully have a couple more months of mild weather to enjoy. Lately I have been spending much of my spare time practicing my sax for the Cuba trip and so far the progress has been good. Fortunately for me most of the pieces are ones we have played before so there is some degree of familiarity to them although a wrench was thrown in the works when I was sent the charts for the 2nd tenor sax instead of the 1st which is what I usually play. There is just enough of a difference in them to trip me up on the more intricate licks. Thursday, August 26, 2004
The Toys For The Boys
We are in the process of moving to High Definition broadcasting at work and to a geek like me that can only mean one thing. More neat toys. In fact today I had a look at a brand new 42" Hi Def plasma screen that was just purchased for our master control room. We were watching a bit of a hi def feed of the olympic games and I must say I was very impressed. The drool factor is way up there. Mind you, this little baby only cost about $6000 so I guess I will be collecting pop bottles for some time before one of these gems shows up in our rec room. I suspect, however, that as is the case in most things techy, these things will be less than half the price in a couple of years when hi def tv is widley available and worth the investment. Until then I drool on... Saturday, August 21, 2004
Olympia....!!!
As usual I haven't been following too closely the Olympic hoopla going on in Athens other than the fact that Google keeps running Olympic themed titles on it's home page. (Quite cute actually) But I was browsing through the sports page at work today and I noticed that Canada is not doing too well in the medal standings. We're way down at #32 in this list behind Belarus! I was almost in Belarus once. It's a little ex Soviet Union country next to eastern Poland. I stood on the border in Teraspol, Poland and looked into Belarus and watched people from that country cross over into Poland to stand in the town square for the whole day to try and sell a bottle of Vodka or a pack of cigarettes they somehow managed to get their hands on. The border guards were not happy with us when we started video taping the border crossing. They started waving us off with their Kalashnikov rifles. This is the country that has more medals than us?! I can understand being behind the US and Russia and China and, okay, maybe even Australia, but Belarus? Well, I guess it's not so much about how many medals we get but how we are one with the global community spreading fellowship and understanding to the other members of the human race and all that other good PC stuff. So why is it that the first thing I did was to check how many medals do we have and why are we behind Belarus???
On another Olympic note, I found it a bit amusing that one commentator pointed out that the beach vollyball event was the closest to the attire of the original Olympics. In ancient Greece, if you recall, they did the games nekkid! Friday, August 20, 2004
I Owe, I Owe, It's Off To Work I Go...
I wipe away the tears as I write this. This is my last day off before going back to work after a nice lengthy and extremely enjoyable vacation. I have not darkened the doorstep of the ol' salt mine since July 20, making it about a month of easy living. I must say that I am not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow to trudge off to work. But I guess there is light at the end of the tunnel as I will only have to wait for another couple of months before I am off again on another worldly adventure.
I must admit that the weather has been superb for a vacation, much like it was for last year's two month sojourn. We have had very little rain, although not so good for the lawn, but unfortunately I have not been able to get as much biking in as I would have liked. Always something else to occupy my time I guess. So now it's back to browsing the interweb for tidbits of information to talk about on the blog. And once again, many happy returns, Dad, on your 80th birthday! Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Takin' It Easy
For some reason Blogger is being very pokey this evening. I had to wait quite a while for the post page to open.
Well I've been enjoying my last week of holidays before heading back to the grindstone on Saturday. I have been practising my sax in preparation for the upcoming Cuba tour in October. The music charts arrived while we were on holiday so I've now got lots to practice. The sword has a new home on a wall in the basement. If you don't know what I'm talking about refer to the Road Trip '04 article on the left of the page. Here is a shot of Anduril mounted and all shined up. Saturday, August 14, 2004
New Page Is Complete
The new Road Trip '04 page is up and running and apart from the usual missed spelling mistakes I think it looks pretty good. It's over there on the left under "Adventure Chronicles" by the pulsating "new" sign. You will find the page easy to navigate. For those who just like pictures there are four pages of thumbnails for you to choose from or you can start at the first one and arrow your way through all four pages. Just click on the thumbnail for the larger image. Use the arrow buttons on the screen to navigate and don't miss the captions under the picture. For those who want a blow by blow description there is an abridged journal under each page of thumbnails that you can read at your liesure to find out what some of the pictures are about. And when you have browsed through the site, give us your feedback in the forum at the end of this post. By the way, if you are on dial up please be patient as the stuff loads. They aren't big files but there's lots of them.
Forum: Road Trip '04 Friday, August 13, 2004
Coming To A Web Page Near You
After going through and compiling all the pictures of the trip, a new page is in the making which will give everyone a very graphical look at our recent trip. And for those of you who like to read there will be a journal as well although not a very wordy one. Recent research has discovered that most people prefer to look at pictures instead of reading long words. The candle is burning at both ends in the midnight oil here in the Chronicle office as we put together a little something called "Road Trip '04" coming soon. In the meantime here is a sneak preview:
Congratulations go out today to Angela who wrote the last two final exams to complete her degree. She is now officially finished school! (for now) Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Picture Perfect
I spent today just relaxing and resting up from our trip. Oh...it was so nice to lie in bed till 10:00 and not have to get up at 7:00 to put in an 8 hour drive. After breakfast I puttered around a bit, washed the car and got rid of those messy bug carcasses. Then went through the mail and finally took a peek at our bank balance. Gasp! Can't beleive we spent that much but the stack of recipts on my desk bears it out. Oh well, payday next week.
We all sat down last night and went through all 460 pictures we took as well as some from the wedding in Saskatoon. Now I have to go through them and edited out the duds and figure out a way to present them in an efficient manner. There's actually some very good pictures and I'm thinking that there may be some suitable for putting on the wall in a frame. Monday, August 09, 2004
We're Baaack....
Our two week road trip is over and we are finally back to the beat. We had a fabulous time and saw lots of cool stuff. Getting hold of a computer hooked to the interweb while on the road proved to be a bit tougher than I thought, either through lack of time and/or availability. But we took tons of pictures which I will somehow organize and put together on a bit of a page with some journaling for whoever is interested. Briefly, we headed to Vancouver Island for the first week and had a great time visiting with Mom & Dad and exploring the place with Roy & Sue and family. Then it was south across the line into the states where we spent a few super days along the Oregon coast. After zipping through most of California we spent a couple of days rediscovering Las Vegas. Finally, before heading home, we visited the Grand Canyon on the north side. Now we're back and it's time to catch up on all the happenings since we've been gone, but stay tuned for some exciting photos to be posted soon. Friday, July 23, 2004
...On The Road Again
This will probably be the last post for a while from the home base as we are pushing off tomorrow on a trip to Saskatoon for a wedding and will then be heading to the west coast on a two week plus road trip. Our niece Colanne is getting married tomorrow afternoon and the whole gang is hoping to get there in time for the ceremony. A quick turn around brings us all home on Sunday and bright and early Monday it's just Dianne and I on the road to meet up with brother Roy and his family to visit the folks in Parksville. We'll be puttering around Lotusland for a few days and then are heading off into the wilds of the US hoping to make it as far as Las Vegas, stopping to take in a few sights along the way. I'm hoping to be able to make a few posts as we go providing we can find an internet cafe of some sort from which to post. This is our first long road trip in several years and looks to be quite an adventure.
We leave you with this bit of fluff. Seems the poor sensitive souls at Canada Post were not amused at the sale of dog bisuits shaped like letter carriers. The company that makes them has pulled them from the store shelves but continues to market the ones shaped like cats. Maybe they should make some shaped like campaigning politicians. Sunday, July 18, 2004
...And The Itsy Spider Crawled Up The Spout Again.
Well it's now a week since our incredible storm and people are still drying out although the weather has greatly improved and is making the drying out process a little easier. But there were many flooded basements and lots of damage and ther will be lots of insurance claims.
We went to see The Merchant of Venice last evening in the park and had the last few minutes cancelled as a major thunderstorm moved in and settled down to watch the play. Fortunately it didn't last long and apart from some much needed rain which cooled things off there was no damage although I had to go to the internet to find out how the play ends. We try to get to Shakespeare in the Park every year and thoroughly enjoy it. So Martha Stewart got five months in The Big House and a $30,ooo fine. For lying. I know there will be a media field day with this but could we just move on please? One more night shift and I'm on holiday! Yahoo! Monday, July 12, 2004
Noah!!!!
So we are taking in a little entertainment at the Street Performers Festival in the Arts Barn near Whyte Ave when all of a sudden we were hit by one of the worst storms Edmonton has seen for some time. Thank goodness we were inside! A few minutes earlier and we would have been caught in a sheet of water pouring out of the sky limiting visibility down to nil followed by a deluge of pea sized hail so intense they were using snowplows and graders to later clean off the streets. During the storm I got this shot of the hail pouring off a church roof.
It continued pouring like this for a good twenty minutes. Later, when it finally subsided and we were brave enough to venture out to get to the car, the volunteers were frantically trying to mop up water and deal with snowbanks of hail. 
As we drove home we noticed the leaves that had been pulverized from the trees were laying all over the road and the parked cars and there was an eerie mist rising from the soggy grass creating a rather strange scene. 
Apart from the flooded roads and basements a couple of tornados touched down just outside the city. The city was still cleaning up today and although our basement didn't flood, thankfully, I won't be cutting the grass for a few days until the small lake in our back yard dries up.  Thursday, July 08, 2004
We All Live In A Yellow Submarine... 
Well I guess I shouldn't complain, it's doing the grass a world of good, but it has been raining beaucoups de buckets here in the last few days. Quite a difference from last year's salubrious weather during my two month recovery sojourn. But I guess the forest fires in BC have tamed down somewhat from this sloshy weather and I that's a good thing. There are still several hundred fires burning there which only goes to show you what an incredibly humungous land mass BC is in that there can be hundreds of fires burning in it. Hundreds of fires would probably totally cover all of England. But then there probably wouldn't be forest fires there because they get this wet stuff all the time. Where's me mac, and I'm not talking OSX either. Friday, July 02, 2004
An Offer He Couldn't Refuse
I just notice this on the wire that Marlon Brando has died of lung failure. I was never a big fan of the much respected actor, being too young when "On The Waterfront" and "Streetcar Named Desire" came out but I'll never forget his rivetting portrayal of Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now". Then there is his signature role as Don Corlioni in the "Godfather" films which I guess he will be remembered for most. So, another one of the greats, gone at 80.
We enjoyed the Canada Day fireworks last night as the following picture attests. 
The weather was great yesterday for the festivities, not too hot and yet warm enough to be comfortable. We had more fireworks of a differnt kind this afternoon as thundershowers rolled into the area and gave us torrents of much needed moisture. But boy, was it noisy. At one point we had to shut down the computer network as the power was spiking on and off at random. Hopefully the lawn will be thankfull for our sacrifice. Thursday, July 01, 2004
O Canada.....
Happy Canada Day! It's turned out to be a gorgeous day despite forcasts of rain. We actually managed to clean the car and get rid of the winter scunge. For anyone interested here are some shots of Nikki's grade 12 grad from last Monday afternoon and evening. She is now officially finished and will be starting work at a sign shop next week. At present she has headed off to Abbotsfield BC for a youth conference with some friends. Tuesday, June 29, 2004
The Last Graduate
Last night was Nikki's grade 12 grad and other than becoming a very late night from driving the kids around it was very enjoyable. All the kids looked very nice as usual. Here are a couple of shots that I quickly put together before doing any adjustments on them:
The second shot is of Nikki with her new beau Jamie. I hope to have a bit of an album prepared in a few days with some more shots of the evening. Here's hoping that everybody out west here is not too sad about being subject to Liberal rule for the next year or so and now that they have to be allied with the NDP it does not bode well. Hopefully Martin will heed the warning and try to clean up the act in Ottawa, but probably not. More later. Sunday, June 27, 2004
Pomp & Circumstances
After the long hours spent on the renos it was almost nice to get back to work this weekend to rest up. Tomorrow is Nikki's grad and we will be going to the commencement ceremony in the afternoon and the banquet in the evening so I will probably have some pictures to post tomorrow evening. Nikki has had her hair braided again for grad and is definately going for a different look. (wait for the pictures).
And that wraps up the basic education for all our children as the last one finally graduates. No one could be happier than Nikki to be finally finished high school. Obviously the shock of the real world hasn't hit yet. Saturday, June 26, 2004
Blood, Sweat and Tears
The posts have been a little sparse lately due to not having any time. We have been madly renovating the upstairs bedroom for the last four days and finally got that done yesterday just in time for an engagement dinner party for Angie and Lee. Our family was joined for the evening by Lee's Mom & Dad, his sister and her boyfriend.
The renovation looks great and everything went well except for one dissapointing thing. Dianne had spotted a hide-a-bed on sale at Costco which she fell in love with and decided to get for her new "study". We bought it and hauled it home yesterday only to discover that no matter how we twisted it and turned it and cajoled it, it was not going in that room without major explosives. So with tears in her eyes, Dianne had to return the hide-a-bed to Costco and resign herself to the fact that hide-a-beds are not designed for small bedrooms with tiny doorways and that she would have to settle for a futon instead. In the meantime it was several good renovation hours wasted as Lee and I had to haul that thing on and off the truck several times with much panting and sweating. Now the rule is two word: tape measure; don't leave home without it. Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Home Sweet Home
Went to pick up our wayward traveler from the airport tonight and it sounds as if Sandi will be regaling us for days on the stories and experiences she had while a temporary resident of La Belle Province. She came home to a rather messy house as we are just in the process of preparing the second upstairs room for a facelift before the new floor goes in. I'm planning to get the bulk of that work done next week on my four days off after this present midnight shift. Monday, June 14, 2004
Boy, have we ever been getting some lousy weather. It's been gloomy and showery all weekend and today the sun tried to peek out several times but was always chased away by some angry black clouds. I took the opportunity during one of the sunny spells to cut the lawns before the house disappeared in the foliage. And once again we find ourselves battling those nasty little ants who have taken up residence in various parts of the lawn. I have evicted the queens and all their entourage with some carefully applied ant powder. I may have to bring a truckload of it in if they get any more ambitious. The good news is that even with all the rain there hasn't been any mosquitoes to speak off. One can only hope... Saturday, June 12, 2004
Renovatin' Again
With Sandi's floor finished we turned our attention to the other bedroom upstairs that is in dire need of restoration. Dianne ripped the rugs and old baseboards out of there yesterday and today I cut up some new baseboards, ready for installation when the floor was done. But looking at the room in it's rather naked state it seemed silly to just do the floor when the walls were a complete mess, so now we have decided to paint before we floor. And thus starts the proverbial "renovation escalating spiral" where a simple "touch up" becomes a "mega project". So we have been poring over paint chips again until our eyes water trying to choose a nice soothing color that Dianne will like in her office. Once again the hallways of the house are full of junk as we work away on this last room. From there we attack the living room again, or maybe the kitchen....it just goes round and round.
It was a big blow to the jazz/blues community with the passing of blues great Rae Charles. I was not a big fan but I enjoyed his music a lot. Sad to see him gone. Monday, June 07, 2004
There Is No Joy In Mudville.....
Well, a sad time for Alberta, Canada and our brethren to the south of us in Calgary. The Flame has gone out. The cup stays stateside. A valiant effort to the end but many who were gathered at the outing we were at tonight said that the cup was lost on Saturday night after that OT goal. It kind of knocked the wind out of the sails of the Flames, permanently. It's next year country. Go Oilers!
I didn't know this until today but Ronald Reagan passed away over the weekend. Seems he was one of the better ones. And it looks like maybe summer came and went again for this year. The forecast is for frost tonight. Better think about getting those Christmas lights back up. Sunday, June 06, 2004
Down To The Wire
If you were sitting on your deck in Edmonton around 10:00 last night you could have heard a faint yet audible collective gasp of disbeleif as the city of Calgary reacted to the goal by the Tampa Bay Lightening 30 seconds into the second overtime period. After a neck and neck battle for four periods all hopes for a quick resolution to the series and the chance for the home town crowd to revel in the cup victory were dashed in a split second. It was a gasp heard all acoss Alberta and for that matter Canada, I'm sure. This of course forces the series to game seven, so all hope is not lost for the Flames but it gives the Lightning one more chance as well and, fortunately, on their home ice, so even if Calgary does take the series tomorrow night, the fans will have to rejoice from a distance. Not that that's a bad thing but victory last night would have indeed been a sweet thing.
Many have criticized Edmontonians for rooting for their long time rivals, the Calgary Flame,s but the honour of the country is at stake here and for one breif moment, fans and non fans alike in this here burg can put away our rivalries for a moment and say "Go Flames Go!" Saturday, June 05, 2004
Trust Me, It's There.....
Looks like the Royal Bank has been having some fun this week when a supposed "programming glitch"has held millions of transaction in bank limbo for several days. The time it takes to fix the problem keeps delaying the throughput of all those transactions. The money's there, the bank assures, they just can't see it. Puts your faith in the banking industry on shaky ground a bit. Does this mean I don't have to pay my Visa bill this month?
Michael Moore's award winning documentary Fahrenheit 911 has found a distributor and will be out in theatres shortly. This one is a must see and for a preview check this out. Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Small Things Amuse Small Minds.....
We're a society of gadgets and sometimes I wonder if we aren't going too far. I have often wondered about the practicality of having a remote control for your car stereo, it's not like it's across the room. Now you can actually download your illegally acquired MP3s to your car stereo from your computer, wirelessly, using your computer's wifi network. And speaking of useless gadgets; Dianne received a sample in the mail the other day of the new Hummingbird flosser. Have you seen this? It has a little piece of floss mounted on a wishbone affair on the end of a handle, but here's where it starts to get geeky. The whole thing vibrates! It really doesn't help you to floss but it's supposed to feel good while you do it. I half expected to see a digital readout of something (RPM's?)on the handle, but there wasn't. Comes with a vibrating toothpick. Wow! I wonder how stuff like this would go over in a third world country where hi tech is having a handle on your water bucket.
But if you want to see something really cool check this out. The new Mini is out in a convertible model called the Cabrio. Funny how the world is still in love with this little car. Very international, too: designed in England, built in Germany and powered by a Brazilian engine. For more info and a really jazzy website go here. I think for me, though, it's a tossup between this car and the MG-TF. Midlife crisis?... Saturday, May 29, 2004
"Ee by gum, that's luvly"
Peter Jackson is in New Zealand planning the remake of King Kong as the third Lord Of The Rings movie, The Return The King is released on DVD. But don't rush out just yet to pick it up. The two disk set is only the 3 1/2 hour theatrical version seen in the theatres. Jackson is slated to be releasing an extended version as he did with the other two installments, but because of his King Kong comittment time for editing the final third of the saga is at a premium. Rumour has it that the extended version release may be delayed and may not even be ready for Christmas. Gasp! Forget the Kong, give us the King!
And good news for all you British soap fans, no not the bubbly kind, the ones with the funny accents, CBC has announced that starting next month it will be airing Coronation Street four times a week in Prime Time! The 40 year old drama will air at 7:30 in the evening as part of Mother Corp's attempt to come up with an interesting schedule that doesn't involve anything reality based or American. How much further away from reality can you get with Coronation Street back to back with Red Green? Wednesday, May 26, 2004
A Live Floor Show
Spent the day installing the new laminate floor in Sandi's room and tomorrow I will finish off and stick some new baseboards in there. Then we can get her humungous bed out of our living room and have her room all nice and ready for when she returns in mid June. Once we manage to clear out the junk, the second bedroom will get the same treatment. One more step towards a carpet-free house! (Well upstairs, anyway)
I'm finding an awful lot of adware creeping on to the system lately. Ads are popping up when I'm not even on the internet or when I'm even near the computer! Today I downloaded a program that scans for that sort of stuff and it said I had about 24 malicious programs. But to clean them off I had to send them $20 for the full version. Upon investigation I discovered that none of those programs were really on the system. Smells like a scam to me. Battleing the Sleazeware.... Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Blogger Woes
I've been getting reports that the page is unavailable for some that call it up. I know the server was down last night as I couldn't log on but it has been fine all today. Hopefully it's just a minor glitch. Oh What A Spin I'm In
Now "Dubya" Bush is promising to tear down the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and build a brand new state of the art max security prison in it's place in an attempt to prove that if you throw enough money at a problem it will go away. It's still a prison isn't it. Wouldn't it be a better idea to revamp the people who run the prison? I don't know, but from my perspective it looks like it's getting harder and harder to spin this whole Iraqi fiasco, and the worst is yet to come. Who knows what will happen at the changeover at the end of June, they don't even know yet who they are going to hand the country to.
I've been spending the last few days reformatting and rebuilding a friends computer. It's been fun but the Microsoft demons await around every turn. Tonight we bid a sorrowful adieu to our good friend Rocky who is trekking back to his roots on the rock. He leaves for Newfoundland next week after spending about seven years in sunny Alberta. Good luck Rocky, we'll miss ya'. Monday, May 24, 2004
And They're Off...
It's election time again. For the next 36 days it's "Survivor: Ottawa" as the top political honchos sling mud and backstab each other in the ultimate reality TV show. The lawns will be full of signs and the tube will be full of campaign ads, but in the end the decision will come down to who to vote for. Basically it's a tossup as to who can continue to screw up the country the least. Who knows what the new "Conservative" party can offer as an alternative to the stranglehold the Liberals have over the land. And then there's the NDP. Are they still around? My guess is: after June 28 it'll be rape and pillage as usual.
I knew these guys were superstitious but I didn't know it went this far. I guess the players in the NHL refuse to touch or have anything to do with the Stanley cup until they have won it. Is it supposed to jinx their chances at winning or what? And that cup gets a lot of road time too. Each player of the winning team gets to take it home for a day for parties and parades and such. Must get pretty battered up over the course of a year. Good thing the original is locked away in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Let's just hope the replica can stay in Alberta for the next year. Saturday, May 22, 2004
Goin' To The Chapel
It's the long weekend and traditionally a time to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. However, the air is feeling just a little too fresh at this point, thank you very much, so I will just stay indoors. Nikki went down to Sylvan Lake near Red Deer for a church camp out and we are hoping they are not getting the same weather as we are up here in Edmonton.
Reports in from the East indicate that Sandi is having une bon temps in her temporary new digs in Quebec City. She has been to a ceramics factory, a maple sugar farm and several bars and clubs, so we're not sure what mischief she's getting into...as long as it's in French. Construction is under way again in the Hilton house as the carpeting in the two small upstairs bedrooms is being ripped out, much to Dianne's delight. The carpet will be replaced with new laminate flooring similar to that which was installed last year in the master chamber. And finally some really good news. Angela and her longtime beau, Lee, are finally officially engaged. Word has it that the pivotal question was posed by a romantic waterfall in Banff and an acquiescing response was the result. More details to follow. So the happy couple can now look forward to a year of planning for the big day. Not to worry, with several cousins getting hitched recently there should be a good wedding planner list floating around somewhere. I guess it's time for me to rent "Father of the Bride" again. Click on the link below to add you comments. If Steve Martin can do it..... Monday, May 17, 2004
Sarin Nerve Agent Bomb Explodes in Iraq
See I told you so! A weapon of mass distruction is found in Iraq. (Yahoo! News - Sarin Nerve Agent Bomb Explodes in Iraq) Now Dubbya can sleep soundly knowing he was right. I'm just wondering where these things are going to start showing up now. There might be some interesting touristy type knick knacks in the Bahgdad market tomorrow. Sunday, May 16, 2004
Midnight Cowboy
Just working through the tail end of a midnight shift so I haven't felt too creative the last few days. One more night to go and I'm looking forward to four days off. We are going to be redoing the floors in the two front bedrooms upstairs with laminate similar to the stuff in the master so I may have a go at that next week while Sandi is out of her room.
Had a chance to get out on the bike yesterday as the weather finally seems to be cooperating although it is at least 10 degrees colder than it should be, in my opinion. I was just watching this movie a couple of weeks ago and now I read that the pilot of the famed WWII bomber "The Memphis Belle" has died of complications from a fall. The movie was great, although I hear that it was a highly fictionalized version of the bombers 25th and final bombing run into Germany setting the record for the most runs a single plane made. Nonetheless, it must have taken some raw courage to climb into that thing for every one of those missions. Sunday, May 09, 2004
Test
Discuss test La Plume De Ma Tante.....
First off... Happy Mother's Day to all our moms. Take the rest of the day off!
Went to a rather unusual wedding yesterday featuring the daughter of our pastor as the bride and included the lighting of over 2000 candles by 38 candle lighters, a foot washing ceremony and a fertility dance performed by a troupe of Rawandan tribespeople. Not your standard wedding fare! I caught this shot of the candle lighters coming down from the balcony with their lit candles. The time exposure gives it a rather ghostly appearance. 
Our jetsetting daughter Sandi is off traveling again. This time she is in Quebec City where she will be attending a five week French immersion course at L'Universitie de Laval on a scholarship that pays for everything except air fare. We saw her off at the airport at midnight last night and had a call from her this evening, safe but exhausted, partly from the 11 hours spent in planes and airports but mainly from trying to understand the French spoken by her host family. She is not allowed to use any English under penalty of expulsion so she is going to find it truly challenging for the next several weeks. Lots of "repetez, s'il vous plait". Send her an encouraging message at sspanndexx@hotmail.com mais vous devez écrire en français seulement, svp. Saturday, May 08, 2004
Still Here.
Where has the time gone? Here it is the middle of May nearly already. We've been quite busy with one thing and another including a wedding, a funeral and MORE SNOW!!! So the posts have been pretty lean. But we're still kicking here on the 'ol homestead so I'll try and be a little more postactive (if that's a word)
I was just reading yesterday that the geniuses at the CRTC have finally figured out that we reallty do not like Canadian programming no matter how much they shove it down our throats, so they have come up with a few incentives to improve the situation. If a Canadian broadcaster airs stuff that is produced with Canadian money and resources and it meets a certain criteria, that broadcaster is rewarded with 2 1/2 more minutes an hour of commercials for that show. Well thanks a lot guys. Not only do we have to suffer through that undigestible pap but we now have to watch more annoying Canadian commercials to get through it. I've had little time to get out on the bike in the past few weeks and when I have had the time the weather has been deplorable. I guess it could be worse. We could be out watching soccer in this weather. Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Vacancy at the Crowbar Motel
Nikki had her third auditiion today before the "celebrity" judges but unfortunately does not move on. Still, it was a fabulous experience for her being picked out of 13,000 people to be one of 150 to go this round, but did not quite make it into the final 10. It remains to be seen whether she tries again next year but I think the Canadian Idol bug is out of her system...for now.
For those of you who havn't seen these yet, here is a good natured poke at the ill fated Martha Stewart and her upcoming doom. Thanks, Dad, for the images. Tuesday, April 20, 2004
A Star Is Born?
Well, Nikki has passed the first two rounds of judging for the Canadian Idol auditions and will go before the celebrity judges tomorrow morning. She says that if all goes well there it may mean a trip to Toronto at some point for the finals, however I am not holding my breath. The auditons went pretty well, she says, and both girls were exhausted after spending much of yesterday hanging around West Edmonton Mall waiting for her turn. Monday, April 19, 2004
Well no sooner did I get the bike back outside when winter reappeared and dumped a very large amount of snow on us. The temperatures went down to the point where I had to start wearing my winter coat again. So my daily ride had to go by the wayside for about a week until yesterday when it was nice enough again and the snow had finally melted so that I could make my usual trek to the shopping mall and back.
On Saturday night I had the honor of participating in a fund raising concert for a missions trip for a family in our church. The evening involved a mixture of Celtic music and the blues, but not at the same time. The blues part, in which I had been asked to participate was in the second half of the show and proved to be an extremley enjoyable event and judging by the response of the audience the music sounded pretty good too. Here's a picture: 
Today Nikki is auditioning along with about a zillion other kids for the Canadian Idol Show. She and Sandi were at West Edmonton Mall about 5:30 this morning to line up and I suspect they will be there for much of today. I'll report tomorrow on how things went. Sunday, April 11, 2004
"No Pain, No Gain"
As a sure sign of spring, we went for our first bike ride of the year "outside" last night, although by the time we got going it was getting dark and so our regular ride was somewhat truncated in the interest of visibility. Nonetheless, it was great to get out and feel that frigid air rushing by my face and the exhiliration as the muscles in my legs started to burn with pain. But now we look forward to future excursions further and farther afield.
Spent most of my day yesterday installing a new CD player and a couple of speakers in Dianne's Corolla, something I haven't done since I was a kid. It seems they are making trunks smaller these days or something cause they sure are a lot harder to climb in and out off. This evening we are sitting down with a few friends for our Easter meal and on that note I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter! Friday, April 09, 2004
Romantic Getaway
After our hectic trip to Saskatchewan last week, Dianne and I decided to take it easy and spend some time together. So for most of this week we have been down in Radium Hot Springs enjoying the spring weather amidst the majestic rockies. We had a great time. We took a drive down to Invermere, Windermere and Fairmont Hot Springs as well as a four hour hike through the trails around Radium. Here we are pausing for a breather in a canyon on the trail.
The trip was capped off by a delicious steak and shrimp meal at a fancy restaurant. Then it was back home for the weekend before Dianne goes back to work on Monday. Saturday, April 03, 2004
It's Still There
Just back from visiting the Fam in Saskatchewan where we're all visited out. At least I am. Dianne could go on forever. Had a chance to check out the new and improved Wascana Lake as it fills up after being dug out all winter. Where else but in Saskatchewan do you find people who want to go boating so they dig their own lake and when they want to go skiing they build their own mountain. And the beautiful park is full of beautiful trees, all hand planted. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the lake but the internet is full of them. We did get some shots of a few of the relatives including brother Roy's two young'ns, Graham and Emily who are seen here almost towering over Dianne. What are you feedin' these kids?
 Saturday, March 27, 2004
On The Road Again
Today we are heading off on an excursion into the jungles of deepest, darkest Saskatchewan for a few days. We'll be there most of the week and apart from me not being able to get my daily fix of Tech TV, it should be fun. I'm taking the camera to get some shots of the native wildlife so when we emerge next week I may have some interesting stuff to post.
Yesterday Angela celebrated her 23rd birthday with a quick supper of pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake before everybody headed off in all directions for their weekly Friday night activities. 
The 2003 income tax returns have been sent and now we wait with bated breath for the cheques. Too bad the money has already been spoken for. Yesterday the kids rented the movie "Mean Machine" which is sort of a remake of Burt Reynolds' "The Longest Yard" about an ex-star soccer player who is sent to prison and is forced to form a team to play in a big exhibition match against the guards. Although a bit violent, it is quite hilarious especially with the British and Scottish accents and David Hemming's eyebrows. Friday, March 19, 2004
After waiting what seemed an eon for all the receipts and forms to come in I finally got down to it and tackled this year's income tax. The nice thing about doing your taxes with a software package is that all you have to do is input the numbers and it figures it all out for you. Then there is the handy ability to e-file the returns which means we'll get the cheques in less than a couple of weeks. I'm using Tax-Wiz again this year which, although not free, does allow me to do all 6 returns for the one low price.
I have one more week of day shifts to go and then I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks. We still haven't decided on what to do other than spending a few days in Saskatchewan. May just take a jaunt to see what early spring looks like in the mountains. Either way I have to get out with the camera. I haven't done any decent shooting since the fall. Sunday, March 07, 2004
So it looks like Martha Stewart is heading to the Big House where she will probably have matching sheets and pillow cases in a nice spring taupe...and that's a good thing. Her stock is probably going down the tubes though...I'd better check my portfolio.
Went to see "The Passion of the Christ" last night and wow, what a powerful movie. Not for the faint of heart, mind you, as it is definitely not a sugar coated gospel. Very sobering, but not a dry eye in the house by the end of it. We would both like to see it again, but not for a while. I may have given the impression yesterday that we were in the deep freeze with blizzard conditions here in the frozen north. However, no sooner had I quilled those words when I noticed water running in the very street. Seems that despite the wind it got pretty mild here as it was again today and as much as I like to think it means spring is here, which it definitely is not, it makes for one messy drive to work. The cars are filthy and we are going through windshield washer like crazy. Nobody's washing their cars as they are dirty again by the time they are driven home from the carwash. So while we bask in the lugubrious weather and watch the snow slowly shrink from our yards, we wait. What color was that car again.....? Saturday, March 06, 2004
Today the winter winds are howling and the snow is flying, reminding us that, even though it is the beginning of March, we are still subject to the vile cruelness of the Canadian winter. Such are the joys of living north of the 49th parallel.
I read a book this week called The Life of Pi which is the story of a young boy who gets shipwrecked and ends up in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, an orang utan and a zebra with a broken leg. It makes for a fascinating read and kept me up real late the other night trying to get through it. Good reading. And from the "Life is like a Soap Opera" department comes the story of the Liberal MP's caught on leaked audio fearing for their careers. And so they should be. Of course it's not good to paint them all with the same brush but let's face it, the life of a politician these days is tainted from the get go. I don't care which party you are from, most politicians are seen as crooks by the GP (general public). Trouble is what do you replace them with? More politicians? Someone suggested maybe a benevolent dictator. Yea right! Maybe we should all move to Cuba. At least we wouldn't have to put up with these infernal winters. Sunday, February 29, 2004
Kiwis Rule!
Much to all us Lord Of The Rings aficionados joy, The Return Of The King scored a clean sweep at tonight's Oscar ceremony, winning all 11 of it's nominations. Peter Jackson appeared scruffy haired and sans shorts to pick up his trophies as he got best director as well as best picture.
One movie that I am interested in seeing and that was featured in tonight's Oscars is "The Triplets of Belleville" an animated feature that was five years in the making. They played the song from it tonight and featured a musician playing a bicycle and another one playing a vacuum cleaner. It sounds like it's out there. I would also like to see Bill Murray's latest, "Lost In Translation" as I've always been a big Bill Murray fan. Was it just me or did he seem really disappointed tonight when he didn't win? And finally, it was amazing to see how many beloved personalities we lost last year as honor was paid to those who have passed on including Gregory Hines, Buddy Hacket, Buddy Ebson, Charles Bronson and of course John Ritter. Saturday, February 28, 2004
Is It Spring Yet?
Well, the end of February usually signals the beginning of the end of old man winter for another year, and none too soon either. We have had great weather the past few days so it's not hard to anticipate the lengthening days and increased temperatures offered in the spring time months. But don't get too comfortable! Just when the driveway was completely clear of ice and snow, thanks partly to some heavy duty shovelling and some above seasonal sunny days, we get a dump of snow that puts us right back to square one. And not that March is not without it's little evil surprises, especially in this province. Driving the #2 highway is always a bit of a crap shoot this time of year as spring storms cropping up out of nowhere are common, especially around the Red Deer area.
We are still trying to decide what to do with our two weeks off at the end of March. Finances are in such a state as to rule out any out of country hot holiday type destination, although we have renewed our passports just in case we get a hot last minute deal. We had thought of driving to the west coast but with the aforementioned spring storms that is always a bit treacherous. So we are still pondering, hoping that we don't just end up sitting around here as we would probably spend the time doing something quite mundane like housecleaning. As I predicted, the only real outcome of the corruption scandal in Ottawa is an inquiry into the matter, which, as I also predicted, will cost us poor taxpayers umpteen million dollars. I realize Paul Martin needs to make an example of these guts, but can you tell me there isn't going to be reports of even more government bamboozelling at taxpayers expense down the road? Tomorrow night is Oscar night, I guess, and I, as usually, am pleading indifference to the whole thing, although I would dearly love to see Peter Jackson get best director for LOTR at least. According to the pundits LOTR should be walking away with a lot of gold which will please me. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think honor should be given to those who were able to pull off such a monumental achievement in bringing a favorite piece of literature so faithfully to the big screen. Mind you, there is always someone out there who tries to spoil a good thing such as this article which lists all the ways Jackson deviated from the original books to make the film. Give me a break! It's an adaptation, OK?! More after the Oscars tomorrow night. Tuesday, February 17, 2004
As promised, here a few shots of Dianne's resort in Cuba courtesy of Dr. Myron Roth:
Dianne looks comfy as they head south to Cuba. See how comfy she after six hours in that sardine can. 
The gang as they arrive at the resort. Why are there no Margaritas in anybody's hands? 
They took a couple of "scooter" excursions. Dianne's first experience riding a motorbike. Born to be WILD!! 
An arial view of the resort from a small mountain behind it. Notice the coral reef just off shore. 
The girls practice up on their "salsa" skills, ready for some hot nights when they get back home. 
Vintage cars are everywhere on the streets of Havana. 
The gang looking sad as they leave this tropical paradise. Hands up those who feel sorry for them. Even though the weather was a little chilly, the guys had a super time. And looking at the pictures makes my mouth water for a return visit there. A yearly trip to the Caribbean would certainly do a body good. Saturday, February 14, 2004
Microsoft Brand Bandaids
Hopefully everybody has downloaded their latest Windows vulnerability patch from Microsoft. This hole is a very critical one, I am told. If you're running Mac; at ease, smoke em' if ya got em'.
Dianne arrived home on time on Monday night and it was very good to have her home at that. She was not all that much more tanned than when she left as you would expect from someone going to a Caribbean locale for a week, being that much closer to the sun and all. But I guess the weather was not all that great, they had some cold fronts move into the region and along with a few excursions out and about, she did not get to do as much beach lounging as she would have liked. She has some pictures which I have not even seen yet but will endeavor to get one or two up on the site shortly. Oh woe! Another scandal in Ottawa. Paul Martin is already wiping the egg off his face and having to spin some damage control over this sponsorship debacle. Remember Paul, when you point a finger at someone you are pointing three back at yourself. Of course there will be a big inquiry as to where the 100 million has gone which will probably cost the taxpayer another 100 million. And, oh yeah, Happy Valentines day. Monday, February 09, 2004
Comin' Home
It was a beautiful weekend in the burg of Edmonton, so much so that I actually got out and started chipping the accumulated ice and packed snow off the driveway and even worked up a sweat. I am quite excited at the moment as my sweetie comes home tonight. Unfortunately I have to head off to work right after I bring her home. Bummer!! Saturday, February 07, 2004
A Longish Week
My last post was back in January so it's time to quit being a sluggard and write something. I haven't had to shovel much snow this week as expected, the weather's been great. The only problem is that the grader came by the other day and piled a dirty great snowbank in front of the house making it tough for Angie to park there. I guess somebody's going to hafta go out and shovel her a little parking spot!
Well, the week of being spouseless is almost up and the house hasn't burnt down, in fact things have gone pretty smoothly although I have been at work every evening so I haven't been around to see any fireworks. Dianne actually sent me an email from the resort in Cuba the other day which I, like a twit, accidentally deleted without reading, thinking it was spam. She sent another one yesterday which allowed me to finally catch on and give myself a sound butt kicking. From the sounds of it she is having a great time and says she wishes I was there. So do I. She says the entertainment at the resort is pretty spicy and the disco was not the same without me. What, not enough hot Cuban Latinos for you? They took a day trip to Havana, climbed a small mountain and have been snorkeling in the reefs. Hopefully she will have a few pix to post when she comes back. Friday, January 30, 2004
One Ring to Win Them All?
After spending an hour shoveling today, I went to the back of the house and it was as if I hadn't shoveled at all. It has been snowing continuously for the past few days making driving a real treat and the aforementioned shoveling a losing battle. However, on a positive note, it is not as cold today. The temperature has risen to a balmy -23 degrees.
The nominations for the Oscars are out and after taking a cursory perusal I see that Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King is nominated for 11 awards. Now, I am not one to usually follow this ego tripping award falderall, as you know, but with LOTR in the running I, for one, hope that Peter Jackson is given some recognition for at least the monumental achievement of bringing the Tolkien masterpiece to the screen. I will predict at least a best director nod for the Aussie hobbit. As for the other nominations, the only other movie we have seen is Pirates of the Caribbean which is nothing more than a bit of Disney special effects fluff so I don't see much competition there. As for the others....who cares? What is wrong with these so called "all news" channels that they won't give you the news? I sat down for lunch at work yesterday and started flipping through the channels to get an idea of what was going on in the world. I had to surf for 20 minutes before I got even the top news headlines. CTV and CBC seem to think that sports and business news are more important than the actual news and CNN and Headline News are so busy self promoting themselves that you have to commit a whole evening to get any meat. I thought the idea of these news channels was that you could just tune in for five minutes and be brought up to date on the worlds happenings. The only one that seems to do any thing close to that is the good old BBC and we can't get that at work. And I can't stand all the cutesy chit chat the anchors seem to think they have to do to make the newscast more entertaining. Enough of these bubble headed "personalities". Just give me a guy in a tie that will deliver the goods. Remember George Finstad on the CBC?... Now that was no nonsense newscasting. Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Tell Me Agin Why I Live In This Country?
No sooner had we dug ourselves out from three or four days of continuous snowfall than we were plunged into the deepfreeze which, as I type this, sits at -35 degrees. Over the weekend I was out at least twice a day shovelling snow. I guess the only redeeming thing about that is that the constant movement prevents you from freezing up in the icy temperatures.
I have been virtually locked out of any of the computers here for the past few days as one child or another has been busy writing essays, studying and doing school assignments. Even Dianne was busy for the last two weeks writing an essay for a bible study course she is taking and has been glued to the upstairs machine for the duration. So I have had a good excuse to why there have been few to no posts. Dianne will be leaving the freezing climes of Edmonton next week as she wings her way to the sunny beaches of Cuba where she will spend a week taking a few continuing education courses and generally soaking up the rays with the rest of the staff in her office. I have not been invited and will remain here to hold down the fort. And probably shovel a bunch more snow. |
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