The Hilton Chronicle

Well, we got another good dump of snow today and the weather has been pretty rotten overall for the past few days. Kinda makes me glad I'm not out working in it somewhere.
I attended a two day job search seminar on Monday and Tuesday to see how to tap into the hidden job market that is supposed to contain 85% of the available jobs that only 15% of job hunters go after. It was a great seminar and I had wanted to take it about a month ago instead of now, however the scheduling was not the greatest over the Christmas holidays so I had to wait until this week. Still, it did give me a lot of information and a little bit more motivation. However, because it involves calling people up out of the blue more, I am a bit more hesitant as that is not one of my more favourite things to do. But it has to be done so I just screw up my courage and do it. Nothing positive has transpired, job-wise though, but at least I have a bit more ammunition and I feel like I am doing a bit more than spinning my wheels.
Sandi has an interview with the Japanese embassy in Calgary in a couple of weeks to determine if she will be selected to join the program to go to Japan to teach English. She is quite excited about it and is really hoping for the best. We're not sure when she would go but it will probably be some time in June. She will have graduated from university by then and will be free as a bird, no better time to take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity.

Posted 8:57 PM by Jeff

Friday, January 26, 2007

Wedding Video Completed

I have been spending a fair bit of time working on the video DVD for Chris & Nikki's wedding lately and it's just completed. Turned out pretty well I think. Tried a few new techniques and they seem to wok OK. I have posted a little trailer promoting the video on YouTube for those who want a taste of it. I do these trailers as bit of a lark, but they seem to get a good response so I throw them on the DVD along with a few other items of Bonus Features. Things have been pretty quiet on the job search front. I was supposed to be at a seminar yesterday and today on tapping the hidden job market but it got canceled, so I am scheduled to attend one next week. I do have a couple of things that I am working on and now that the video is done and before I start the next project I will follow up on those, probably early next week as well as get a few more prospects on the line.
This weekend I am planning to clean out my main computer, which has been running rather sluggish of late. So I'm going to repartition and format the drives and do a clean reinstall of windows and all my apps. So that will keep me busy for a couple of days probably.

Posted 12:34 PM by Jeff

Monday, January 15, 2007

Farewell and Good Luck

We had a great time on Saturday night at the Movie Central farewell party where we were able to say goodbye to many coworkers. It was a bit sad but overall a good closure as we moved on with the next phase of our careers. Many people were, like me, still looking for that ideal opportunity whereas a few had moved on to new jobs and some were even heading back to school. All in all it was a great time and I have posted a few pictures of the evening in the picture gallery as well as here .
I have also posted another video to Youtube. This is a video made a few years ago to celebrate the Movie Central launch and features many past and present staff members. It's available here. Of course, most of this stuff will be pretty meaningless unless you actually worked at Movie Central but nonetheless it's kind of fun to see it.
I am finally getting around to putting some new tires on the Nissan truck which has being running on some pretty bald summer tires recently, much to Sandi's chagrin. The roads here are so bad at the moment that she has been taking the Corolla to work and school because she is so nervous about driving the truck. Hopefully a new set of winter tires will help.
I just had my holiday pay for last year deposited in my account yesterday and after all the deductions for taxes and whatever else it amounts to only about half of what we were expecting. It peeves me off that I have to pay into a dental and health plan that I can't use anymore as well as almost 30% income tax. I just hope I can get that back at tax time.
Speaking of taxes, I guess one should start thinking about doing one's taxes. I am ticked that my usual tax software package is not available online anymore and is a lot more expensive in the stores. I am also wondering what to do about Nicole's tax return although she really didn't make any money last year so I guess it's a no brainer. But I guess this is the last year I will be able to file for her. She's in Uncle Sam's hands now.
Nikki and Chris are moving in to an apartment this week after living in Alabama for the last few months. It will be nice not to have to drive for ninety minutes each way to get to work and back. They have also bought a new truck, which will make Chris very happy. They like their trucks down there much like our own Alberta rednecks. And they are still working on getting Nikki a visa so that they can come home for a visit. Hopefully that won't take too long.

Posted 12:57 PM by Jeff

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Winter Woes and Fond Farewells

Winter's icy fingers gripped us like a vice today as temperatures plummeted down to the high minus 20's. This following a stormy day that dropped a ton of snow on us and a fierce wind that whipped it up into knee deep drifts. It was a good hour and a half job to clear the driveway and that's not counting the front sidewalk as we have a good Samaritan neighbor who drives his snow plow equipped ATV up and down the street after every major snow fall. Here's a few artistic-like shots of the snow yesterday:

Angela and Lee and our friend Melissa and her grandma stopped by on Sunday to celebrate Lee and Melissa's birthday. The kids also had a chance to open some late Christmas gifts from Nikki and Chris. Here's a couple of pics:

On the left I have posted a short video I put together to celebrate the end of an era. 23 years ago Superchannel signed on and I was there pushing the first button. This video documents that occasion. And now 23 years later, the sad farewell to the Movie Central/Superchannel origination center here in Edmonton, and once again I was there to turn off the last piece of equipment. On Saturday evening, the staff of Movie Central are gathering one last time to say farewell to each other and the pay television era here in Edmonton.

Posted 9:22 PM by Jeff

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Happy New Year

We made it home from Regina on New Years Eve about 10:00 in the evening, just in time to unpack our cases and ring in the new year. It was some holiday, for sure. On New years day, the kids came over and cooked us a turkey dinner and we all had a great time eating turkey and potatoes and stuffing and all kinds of pie and pulling on crackers and opening gifts and all that stuff. Here are a few pictures of the festivities as well as a few shots of the activities in Regina. The gifts were a little sparse this year but it was OK, but we did miss our baby as Nicole and Christopher were not able to make it up as they had hoped. It's the first Christmas we didn't have Nikki home with us to hand out the presents. They are now trying to plan a trip at the end of January provided the paperwork for Nicole's immigration goes through properly.
It's back to the grind for Dianne tomorrow. (get it? "the grind" - she's in dentistry...oh, never mind) Not something to look forward to. I have started working on the job search. Put in a few resumes today and got an interview for tomorrow, so I shall see how that goes.
For anyone who has not had a chance to peruse the Christmas 06 edition of the Chronicle I have posted it over there to the left above the picture gallery.

Posted 11:12 PM by Jeff

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