No real high points from Monday.......

With this being my 8th novel I've read so far this year, I’ve got about 128 pages left to go in “The Wilding.” I should have the book read before the end of the week. The I can start on “In the Company of others.”

This Saturday I’m performing curator duty with Dale at Fort Edmonton park Lodge. I’ve never been to Fort Edmonton park before although I’ve seen the pictures uploaded from Google Earth of the grounds but I have no clue as to where the Lodge is located. I don’t know if we’re in suit and full Masonic regalia, or how long we’re there for or if we’re there for or if we have to bring our own food or are we going to have a meal or what. Dale is a nice guy and all but we haven’t exactly resonated with each other. I’ll be calling people up today to find out what’s going on. I’ll bring my camera along and have Dale take a few photos of me.

Today the big guys are in the office, yawn. I’m there business as usual and to put my 4 hours in. Greg doesn’t know it yet but I won’t be in on Sunday because for my birthday Anne’s ordering me Pizza and we’ve got Summerslam all ordered. $39.99 + tax isn’t bad. Usually comes to about $45. I order 2 WWE pay per views each year from my “meager discretionary” income.

The other thing I’m observing this up coming weekend is Calgary’s Con Version-25. Now that I know when it’s on I can plan for next year. But I’d like to meet Tanya Huff and Terry Brooks. Get my photo taken with both, all 3 of us together. Next year I’m going to plan for a 1 day trip and head down there. Most likely there’s some from Edmonton venturing down but that’s for 3 days most likely. This year at our own Pure Speculation we’re having Spider Robinson join us and I’m definitely down with that in October…….12:20am> The above was from yesterday afternoon. Anne sat with me while I waited for my bus and I headed into work picking up my 6/49 ticket on the way in. The big bosses didn’t appear to be in but bm seemed pissed that I wasn’t in on Saturday and I had to remind him we made an arrangement I could trade Saturdays for Sundays and that I was in yesterday. We did BOB all night. Yeesh, what a disaster. I got a good haul of empties and no card sales this evening. I came close but the customer was away from her purse. I was glad to get out of there with a $220 total. I got “mugged” by some people I work with on the train crowding around me annoying me. So at the next stop I got off and took the last car and read on the way home.

I watched a pretty good Monday night Raw. DX made a brief comeback but they got ambushed by Legacy. On a scale from 1-10, I’d rate last nights show about a 6. DX needs to be Evolution with another wrestler in their ranks. Four would be better or at least 1 other wrestler with them. It was a good show but I’m sure this DX/Legacy storyline is just beginning to develop.

Anyway gang, that’s about all for now.

Jim

Nice day Monday

Since it’s been a few days since I last posted a blog entry, I figure it’s better late then never. Anne wanted to get up a little early to make us our Sunday brunch for Monday. She got out pots and pans and went to work. So we had out nice Sunday breakfast about 2pm Monday afternoon. I got some Lodge mail and Anne got a $100 gift certificate from her sister for both of us. Very nice of her.

My wife had to leave for work early and I left at my usual time. I ended up catching my bus in the cold but because there was very little wind, it wasn’t that bad heading out Monday late afternoon.

I’m still reading FF #1 and I just read “A Smaller Government.” It wasn’t bad. Not great, but not bad. I’m on pace for completing this book by the end of the year and I’m picking up FF #2 Christmas eve,

Speaking of Christmas eve it is a work day but were only working until 1pm. Cheques are being sent the day before Christmas which is ok. It also means I’m up pulling in a rare early morning shift to get the cheque and to qualify for my stat pay. When your working part time here in Alberta you need to work the day before and the day after. Kind of silly really.

I had a pretty good night at work. Greg put the Oiler game on for us and the Oiler’s were winning 3-1 when I left out of there at 9pm. I got home and with 10 minutes left it was 3-2 Oiler’s with 10 minutes left in the game. Anne called with 2 minutes left and the Oiler’s scored on a power play. Good stuff. Nice Christmas present for us Oiler fans. Anne put out some canned ravioli for me and I watched Raw. It was an excellent show last night. On a scale from 1-10, I’d say it was a 10! Great stuff.

Anne’s not home yet as she’s out at Superstore across the street getting stuff for the holidays. Otherwise I had a nice couple of days since Saturday’s entry. I worked on my special writing project. For now I’ll just call it KOR. I’ve got the first 12 scenes done up a bunch of characters. That’s all I’m going to say about it now

Anyway Bloggers, that’s all for now

e. Jim

Here it is already

in the middle of the month and I would have thought by now I would have FF# 1 read. The last story “P dolce” was highly enjoyable. I’m enjoying “Jesus Christ reanimator.” Another good story. The 2nd half of FF #1 is turning out to be better then the fist half.

Not much going on today. It’s out at 4pm to brave the cold weather and into work. I’m going to put in another full week and maybe a few afternoons as well. I don’t want to miss a CC bonus because of 1 mistake on my part.

After work it’s home for Monday night Raw. The next Oiler game is here on Tuesday against Chicago. Then for the rematch at Vancouver Wednesday.

Hard to believe Christmas week is almost here. Next Wednesday is Christmas and then it’s time to renew my website for another year and my lodge dues are up soon as well. I normally on New Years day take a look back at the that was with a bit of a review and some predictions. I’m going to start a separate page called “predictions.” None of them turn out but it’s fun trying.

Coast has a decent show going on as I write this (Sunday/Monday) Horror suspense novelist Dean Koontz. He’s been on before. Wednesday/Thursday is on UFO’s. One of my favorite Coast topics.

Anyway Bloggers, that’s all for now

e. Jim

We're in

winter now folks.

Saturday night I watched a great Oiler's/SJ game on the road.

I didn't get a lot of reading in this weekend because of a soar tooth. I did manage to read 1 short story from the FF anthology. At first the story was slow going but it moved a little faster near the end. I hope to have FF #1 read by the end of the year.

My wife gave me a sleeping pill just now, even though it's a little early and I seldom ever take a sleeping pill on a Sunday night. I'll most likely sleep until 1pm this afternoon because of this thing.

Also I got into a bit of writing on a special project I'm working on. I've got half of the scenes more or less figured out for half of the beginning part of the project. If all goes well I should be in full writing mode May first of '09. I hope.

Today nothing special. I want to go into work and do my Monday nighter and then home to watch Raw.

For hours Sunday night I've been browsing YouTube for various video media players. I'm looking for something that has an external speaker, plays games, and external flash memory. The Zune looked pretty good except for no external speaker. The Zen looked good but it couldn't play games. I finally came across the Newman Manman A4. Its a big 4" screen but has 2 external speakers. I think it's sold for about $140 bucks. Looks really good. I don't like the screen size though.

last night I stumbled a pretty low quality 1992 video on the Gnostic Mass done in 8 parts no less. The video quality was fair. On a scale from 1-10 I'd say 4. But easy to see what was going on. I rather enjoyed it. Last time I was at a mass was I think 1996, just as Nepthyse was closing down. I really miss it. I think ByThor is still holding them with Ashtoroth, I'm not sure.

Anyway Bloggers, that's all for now.

e. Jim

Sunday was spent

lounging around doing a lot of piano theory, reading and JFK assassination research. You can read my musings over there on the JFK Lancer board. I don’t take any official version on the case. I've got a post there called "Another rifle."

Today I left out of here at my usual time. I got to my dialer and Cathy mentioned how one of us tap shooters is making $14/hr. She's been here for about a year now, the woman Cathy is talking about. I wont mention her name but she flirts with management. She’s nice enough and all but guess how she got $14/hr by giving the boss head. Among other things. She even said as much to me. “I just suck (you know what) and I get what I want,” and she laughed about it. I didn’t think too much of it at the time some months back when she said this out of the blue. Now after hearing she makes $14/hr this really set me for a spin. And I went out and cut the legs out from underneath me getting that $50? But oh know I had to say the right thing and short change myself $50.

And it took management at XL 5 years to get me to do taps and 8 years to get to $10/hr. So this really made me upset. From now on when it comes to work, no more “Mr. nice guy.” I’m going to take what I can get. I ended up with a slow night and but got a couple of CC’s and just under $400 by break. I got 7 CC’s and a $720 total at the end of the shift, and a $25 bonus and I became back to my old self with MS-ahem. She makes $14 at this job and $21 on her day job and has the gall to ask me for change. My wife called saying that she came back from the bank and cashed my GST cheque.

After work all I wanted to do was to get to the LRT train, read on the way home and watch my Monday night Raw. The show was really good this evening.

I haven’t been watching much of any local/national news lately. The world financial markets are sliding and people are saying that this recent economic turndown has similar hallmarks to the crash of 1929. There’s a lot of emotion out there but I don’t think a $700B bailout package is the answer. I’m not a stock guy even though I wouldn’t mind getting into the stock market. I just don’t have $10K to invest.

Other news politically speaking here in Canada, all the main political parties here are still attacking Harper. If the election were to be called today Harper would have another minority Government. If you care about the economy, don't vote Dion or Layton. Lots of people are saying we need change, well thing is change costs money. The Liberals are in panic mode over the economy and all the Greens and NDP want to do is tax everyone. Yeesh. Now I’m not necessarily a Progressive Conservative kind of guy. I’m more of a center Libertarian then anything. I’d vote Jack Layton but he’s in favour of a cap n trade system on the oil industry and this will only slow down our economy here in Alberta. I hate to admit it but the only way for Canada to go is for Harper.

I’m really enjoying this “Icewind Dale trilogy.” R.A. Salvatore’s writing is awesome but maybe its to early to tell in the book but I get the feeling that the characters have it too easy in the fight scenes. The plot is first rate although and the writing is tight and crisp. I wont give away too many details. I should be at page 300/1040 by Friday.

I’m going to go to Pure Speculation on Saturday even i come in the middle of a panel. I won't go for both days. It's only $10 bucks.

Anyway Bloggers, that‘s all for now

e. Jim

At least the weather is nice

Yesterday was totally laid back. I did almost nothing but a bit of computer, reading and a lot of TV. Anne made me a nice breakfast even though it was at 5pm. She went out to get Chinese food. That’s ok, as it gave me more time on the computer.


I was looking for a Canadian distributor for the Nord C1 combo organ. it’s a Hammond B3 clone and from what I was listening to on YouTube, it sounds identical in every way to the original B3 without the drawbars. To top it off I’d like a Nord Wave synth and behind me a Roland Hpi-7 arranger piano and I’d be in business. But we’re talking about 6k just for the Hp alone. Altogether about 12k. I like everything about the C1, its sound retro feel.


Still working through Icewind Dale and I’m having fun with the story. Its taking on some interesting turns. So far I’d say this trilogy is well worth reading but I’m a long way from writing a review to say the least.

Yesterday I ended up watching a highlight hour long show of the past weeks highlights of Raw/Smackdown/ECW. I used to have something like this when I couldn’t get cable to watch Raw back in 1993. I think the show was called (today) WWE “Extreme.” Now I can’t always sit there and watch 2 hours of Raw and Smackdown every week. 4 hours is just to much especially when the Oiler’s are about to kick off their regular season. A one hour package deal while having my brunch fits in really good.


By now we’ve all heard the $700B wall street bailout didn’t go through. And this reflected badly in the markets today. Oil took a $7 hit and things were down across the board. I believe though that oil will move up towards the $100 mark by the end of the week. As far as “Decision 2008” goes Dion is really low in the polls. He says Canadians will change their minds when the first English language debate is under way. I think this is Thursday. Dion could be the most eloquent and likable guy in the world but he’s selling his carbon tax and nobody in their right mind wants that.


Today, I’m back on the job thing putting my 4 hours in. So far there hasn’t been a big announcement about the DNC list and that takes into effect Tuesday. All day Saturday I was using the disclaimer and it didn’t affect my sales at all.

Anyway Bloggers, that‘s all for now


e. Jim

Last night Anne

wanted me to take today off, so I’ll call in using Moe’s phone number or call in about 6:30 while he’s on shift. I still might swing downtown when Anne gets up to check that City Hall job board or even do that tomorrow on my way into the office.

For some reason that isn’t quite clear yet, Google Earth (GE) wont connect my account to their servers. They say I need Java enabled, which it is and to pass their 3 levels of server testing, which I did and passed but again, I still can’t connect. I’m thinking it’s a denial of services attack on my computer. I’ve tried a question into their help forums and I’ve gotten a few posts with the same problem but the moderators haven’t answered them yet. The other thing is, it could be a bug fixed in their new beta version of GE.

Also this morning I figured out the side-by-side image code thing. The reason why I had broken images was because I had no URL to the image code in my HTML table. Thanks to Markus for referring me to a program that stores images for me in my directory.

It doesn’t matter. It’s with any book I begin to read, it starts off slow and then I build momentum after about a third of the way. This book “The Icewind Dale Trilogy.” will most likely take me 10 weeks to read. Maybe by November 15th. I’m enjoying it. Then when I’m done with Ice, I can start on Lou Anders “Fast Forward” #1. This is interesting because I began the year reading “The New Space Opera” an anthology of short stories, and I end the year reading an anthology. I prefer reading anthologies with an assortment of different authors rather then a collection of short stories from a single author. Now I’m just guessing here but in a collection of short stories from a single author, the author is a little biased towards his stories that he would consider his “darlings.” In an anthology of assorted stories the author doesn’t have that kind of control. The editor might say “Not good enough, have you got anything else?” The editor of the anthology might have really high standards. With this anthology “Fast-forward” the editor has collected some pretty big names. I haven’t read any short stories from Elizabeth Bear but I have read one of her novels. I liked what I read. I haven’t read any short stories from Robert Charles Wilson either but I liked “Spin” but I’m still a slow reader, but with any luck at all, I’ll finish “Fast-forward” before the end of the year.

This next hour Anne’s going down to pay on the cable bill. We would have had it in Thursday night except for the pin login change fiasco at her bank. So I hope she’ll be doing that today, so I can watch Raw tonight.

It was nice yesterday to finally meet my wife’s sister after all these years. We kept the marriage from the her family because her mother at the time was going through a couple of strokes and wasn’t feeling well. We didn’t want to cause any undue stress in the family but her mother passed away a few years ago. So, it’s about time the family knows.

Anne’s out the door after having a long talk with Shaw Customer Service. Apparently Shaw is hiring. I’m sure they pay about $12/min hour and not just that but it would improve my Internet tech skills as well if I got hired on. A couple of things; they are located in the west end and they might have some kind of math test in the interview process. It might be something to think about but I’ll be calling up Shaw today for more information on how to submit my resume. If there is a math test then I’m screwed. If it’s out in the West end getting there could be problematic but for a job like that, might be worth while for me. It’d be great if I enquire today submit my resume over the Internet and get a call this week to go in for an interview and start the same week. But the dreaded math test (assuming there is one) might put the kibosh on the idea working for Shaw. Most likely Shaw is looking for employees with a background in IT. There wasn’t a math test as far as I know When Anne applied at Pizza.

In conversation waiting for our dinner last night at the Olive Garden, Anne mentioned about when Donna is going on another Cruise. And she said she’s about due, but doesn’t have anyone to go with. I wouldn’t mind but I just met her yesterday. Maybe in about a year or two. On the way home from the airport Donna mentioned about the time just before Anne and I got married how Anne was invited to spend a weekend in Miami but Anne got air sickness over Denver and had to take a plane home. Her mother had even given her $500 spending money. It kind of left a bad taste in Donna’s mouth but I said I love to fly and that in most places there is more turbulence riding on an ETS bus or Subway. Another thing is Donna goes to New York City a lot. Keith’s territory. Maybe in a year or two there’s a chance to meet Keith in person but that wont be for a couple of years yet.

Anyway Bloggers, that‘s all for now

e. Jim

Last night Anne

wanted me to take today off, so I’ll call in using Moe’s phone number or call in about 6:30 while he’s on shift. I still might swing downtown when Anne gets up to check that City Hall job board or even do that tomorrow on my way into the office.

For some reason that isn’t quite clear yet, Google Earth (GE) wont connect my account to their servers. They say I need Java enabled, which it is and to pass their 3 levels of server testing, which I did and passed but again, I still can’t connect. I’m thinking it’s a denial of services attack on my computer. I’ve tried a question into their help forums and I’ve gotten a few posts with the same problem but the moderators haven’t answered them yet. The other thing is, it could be a bug fixed in their new beta version of GE.

Also this morning I figured out the side-by-side image code thing. The reason why I had broken images was because I had no URL to the image code in my HTML table. Thanks to Markus for referring me to a program that stores images for me in my directory.

It doesn’t matter. It’s with any book I begin to read, it starts off slow and then I build momentum after about a third of the way. This book “The Icewind Dale Trilogy.” will most likely take me 10 weeks to read. Maybe by November 15th. I’m enjoying it. Then when I’m done with Ice, I can start on Lou Anders “Fast Forward” #1. This is interesting because I began the year reading “The New Space Opera” an anthology of short stories, and I end the year reading an anthology. I prefer reading anthologies with an assortment of different authors rather then a collection of short stories from a single author. Now I’m just guessing here but in a collection of short stories from a single author, the author is a little biased towards his stories that he would consider his “darlings.” In an anthology of assorted stories the author doesn’t have that kind of control. The editor might say “Not good enough, have you got anything else?” The editor of the anthology might have really high standards. With this anthology “Fast-forward” the editor has collected some pretty big names. I haven’t read any short stories from Elizabeth Bear but I have read one of her novels. I liked what I read. I haven’t read any short stories from Robert Charles Wilson either but I liked “Spin” but I’m still a slow reader, but with any luck at all, I’ll finish “Fast-forward” before the end of the year.

This next hour Anne’s going down to pay on the cable bill. We would have had it in Thursday night except for the pin login change fiasco at her bank. So I hope she’ll be doing that today, so I can watch Raw tonight.

It was nice yesterday to finally meet my wife’s sister after all these years. We kept the marriage from the her family because her mother at the time was going through a couple of strokes and wasn’t feeling well. We didn’t want to cause any undue stress in the family but her mother passed away a few years ago. So, it’s about time the family knows.

Anne’s out the door after having a long talk with Shaw Customer Service. Apparently Shaw is hiring. I’m sure they pay about $12/min hour and not just that but it would improve my Internet tech skills as well if I got hired on. A couple of things; they are located in the west end and they might have some kind of math test in the interview process. It might be something to think about but I’ll be calling up Shaw today for more information on how to submit my resume. If there is a math test then I’m screwed. If it’s out in the West end getting there could be problematic but for a job like that, might be worth while for me. It’d be great if I enquire today submit my resume over the Internet and get a call this week to go in for an interview and start the same week. But the dreaded math test (assuming there is one) might put the kibosh on the idea working for Shaw. Most likely Shaw is looking for employees with a background in IT. There wasn’t a math test as far as I know When Anne applied at Pizza.

In conversation waiting for our dinner last night at the Olive Garden, Anne mentioned about when Donna is going on another Cruise. And she said she’s about due, but doesn’t have anyone to go with. I wouldn’t mind but I just met her yesterday. Maybe in about a year or two. On the way home from the airport Donna mentioned about the time just before Anne and I got married how Anne was invited to spend a weekend in Miami but Anne got air sickness over Denver and had to take a plane home. Her mother had even given her $500 spending money. It kind of left a bad taste in Donna’s mouth but I said I love to fly and that in most places there is more turbulence riding on an ETS bus or Subway. Another thing is Donna goes to New York City a lot. Keith’s territory. Maybe in a year or two there’s a chance to meet Keith in person but that wont be for a couple of years yet.

Anyway Bloggers, that‘s all for now

e. Jim