The Hilton Chronicle

Another week has flown by here at the Chronicle and whoops,...looks like we are at the end of August already. You can tell that summer is winding down as the evenings get cooler faster and it's starting to get dark earlier, a sure sign that winter is on the way. I always hold out a little hope that September and October will have just a few nice warm autumn days and not be like last year where we came to the end of August and boom! into the depths of winter we went. I always look forward to the fall to try and get out and take advantage of the autumn colors and try and get a few good photos or maybe some good stock video footage.
We have been chatting up a storm with Sandi now that she has had her internet connection hooked up. We contacted her last night on Skype and spent about three hours chatting, all the while seeing her face and she able to see us. She called again briefly tonight and told us of her plan to go hiking next weekend and to climb mount Fuji. She had bought some new hiking boots and had gone for a hike today to break them in. She starts her teaching assignment in a couple of weeks so she is taking advantage of the remaining time to get out and explore and experience as much as she can. Her car broke down last week so she scrapped it and bought another one, one that will be more dependable throughout the winter. It was a bit more expensive for her but it bought her peace of mind. She is still planning on purchasing a video camera and chronicling her adventures in video and will probably be posting them on line, so stay tuned for details on that.
I am enjoying my new job more and more with each passing week as I learn more skills and gain more confidence to use them in public. I am getting to know the other staff better also and that makes me a little more comfortable and able to be more myself. One thing I do find interesting is going into all these businesses on service calls and seeing what they are all like. Some places have really nice, fancy lunch rooms and tend to pamper their employees whereas others just provide the bare minimum and conditions tend to be quite appalling. Of course it all depends on the type of business. The consulting firms and software development companies tend to be more upscale and the oilfield and manufacturing places are a lot more blue collar and tend to reflect it in their working environment. Nonetheless, it's fun to go in and meet new people and I do get a feeling of accomplishment when I can go in and repair their equipment so that they can make that all important cup of coffee in the morning. They are very appreciative of that.

Posted 8:02 PM by Jeff

Monday, August 20, 2007

The Really Remote Shoot

Well, I'm three weeks into my new job with Aramark and so far all is going well. Even though I am still in training and have had only a limited time on the road by myself I am finding the job far more interesting and much less stressful than Connect was. I have made a few service calls solo, just minor fixes, and have quite enjoyed it. Once I become more proficient on the more complicated equipment I will be going on more complicated calls. The other guys in the shop are friendly and fun to work with and the whole place has a more relaxed atmosphere. Today I finally got my uniforms so now I will feel more like "one of the boys".
Sandi finally got her internet hooked up and working so now we will be able to email and Skype her more frequently. She also has a page on Face Book and has been posting videos and commentary on her experiences as she learns the ins and outs of Japanese culture and explores her new surroundings. She has been doing a bit of decorating in her house and has bought a couch that folds out into a bed, so if anyone has a hankering to visit Japan, there's a bed waiting.
Dianne and I are just getting over the effects of a rather nasty virus which we believe is the same virus that causes mono. I started about a month ago with a sore throat and feeling lousy and then last week Dianne got it and has been through quite a bit of pain, not only in her throat but also her ears. Even with antibiotics the virus held it's grip on me. Dianne is battling it with a battalion of homeopathic remedies and has seen some improvement over the past few days.
I am about to start a new project, which is the wedding video that we shot last weekend in the woodlands around Canmore. Unforeseen circumstances caused us to have the wedding in a remote piece of bush in the mountains high above the Canmore town site. It was truly a peculiar wedding but nonetheless breathtaking for it's novel surroundings with mountains on all sides and some very picturesque scenery in the foreground. Hopefully this wedding won't take as long to edit as the last one.

Posted 7:55 PM by Jeff

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Sandi Settles In

Dianne was in Saskatchewan all last week visiting her dad and having a little sister time with her siblings so I was left to fend for myself with only the psycho cat as a companion. Dianne came home last night after a very nice visit with her family.
We got a call from Sandi last night to report on how things are going in her new abode in Japan. She is settling into her new house there although was quite disappointed at how dirty and cluttered it was as the previous teacher had not really lived in it and it has been unoccupied for quite some time. She is planning to get some friends over for a cleaning bee to fix the place up. When she called she was about to head out in her new car to look for some furniture for the place. She said the town she was in is very beautiful and quaint. She feels she is really going to enjoy herself there as she has already been taking part in some of the cultural activities including a community hot spring where bathing suits are not allowed. She will start teaching at the beginning of September and so she has been spending her time at the school studying her Japanese and meeting many of the students who still come to the school even during the holidays for various activities.

Posted 11:10 AM by Jeff

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