Friday and a cold developing as well, yeesh

I don’t think anyone these days puts much stock in Friday the 13th. But sure enough over night I get a cold/virus. I got early signs of watery eyes, scratchy throat and runny nose. The only thing that works for me is sleep and time. I should be over this by this time next week and I’ve got to go into work tonight. Uggh. I’ll try it out for the first half.

After work last night I hurried over to my bus by Tim’s and I caught the #5 to my bank and there in and out. I even caught the 9:20 pm train to Clairview and home at my usual time.

After watching the news and supper I got a chance to play Oblivion. I’m still at Level 1 with 40 gold. But I did learn how to Camp and I got out further North West. Game time wise I’m in a week with only 40 Gold. I haven’t found any place where I can buy and sell.

This is going to be a short post today. If I can hold out for the full shift after work I’m going to get Book #3 of the “Night’s Dawn” trilogy.

Anyway, Bloggers that’s all for now.

e. Jim

Uggh

I had a brief wait for my bus and there were a crowd of kids loitering around at the front. I just elbowed my way through. Nobody said anything. I was able to read on the way into work and I got there just as the afternoon shift was leaving. Again it was a full house. The early hockey game was SJ/Boston, in home jerseys. I ended up with $265 by the end of the first half and 1 CC sale. I collected a lot of cans and bottles as well and called Anne and said hello. Super asked me and Chris if we wanted to go in the back and do ASRAB. Good stuff. $20 for most bumps and $10 for most CC sales. I got the $20 and Chris got the $10. Also, my total was $868 for the night. I had a great evening and I got a $100 sale from a bump (increase) I left out of there with a bunch of bottles and cans feeling pretty good about the night I had.

When Chris and I were sitting in the back there doing ASRAB in the 2nd half of the job last night I asked him (if he’s in on Saturday) if he wouldn’t mind giving me a lift out to Fergeson’s. He knows where the Harvey’s is out there on 118th Ave. I used to stop in there after buying my Christian Ska CD’s in the mid 1990’s. I discovered Ska while I was a flirting with Christianity there when my father passed away 1996. Fergeson’s is about a block West of Harvey’s. This afternoon, I’m going to call Fergeson’s from the office, after I’ve gathered all my bottles and cans and get some more info on buying back the instrument your using. You need to take it home to practice. I want to find out how that works. But the other reason why I’m going out to Fergeson’s is to take a look at their Alto Saxophones. I Haven’t given up on the piano and I might still take lessons. I’ve been reading testimonials from people saying their fathers/uncles, brothers etc have taken up the sax at the age of 55 68 etc. I’ve been hearing phrases like, “It’s never to late,” “Age is not a requirement to play,” etc. Since Ska has always been one of my favorite musical genres I’d like to learn how to play. Of course this is depending on if I can actually play this thing and get some early encouragement. I can’t play guitar because arthritis has taken it’s toll on my fingers. Piano I can do and I know how to read a bit of sheet music. The only problem with Sax for me is living in an apartment but there are mute bags and I’ve been reading that they are quite good and cut down up to 70% of the external noise. Apparently they are pricy as well but I want to check into all these things at when I call this afternoon and when I go out there to Fergeson’s on Saturday. I mean if Chris is in on Saturday that is. But if for some reason I’m having difficulty with the Sax, I’ll switch back to piano instead.

It was a crowded LRT heading home and I read for a bit. After dinner and the local news and Anne had watched her stuff and I was donng my blog rounds, she was cleaning up “Hamsterland” as she calls it with her 2 new female Hamsters I settled into playing Oblivion. Sure enough the alcove one of many adorning the room revealed a darkened entrance into a tunnel of unexplored territory. I was in the sewers battling Goblins and rats. I found some gold and a few more doors I could have explored but I was itching to get “outside.” The key was useful to get into the sewers and ahead what looked like a long tunnel and light at the end. Anne sat with me to watch as we headed outside to a night sky. Of course every new area, I’m saving away as I go. I even got into the Imperial Palace where there are a lot of people to talk with lots of shops and things to do. I found a ship, horses to ride and buy but couldn’t afford. The Imperial Palace is a huge place unto itself. I could have gone on for hours exploring but at 4am it was getting late and as we were lying in bed Anne had got up to use the bathroom and looked out the window and saw a familiar shape out there in the cold.

“Boot’s is coming in.” She put some things on and five minutes later we have him back inside. After Boots was settled a finale cat roll call, we were in bed listening to the last of Coast.
I got up shortly after noon today to catch the markets graphic. Everything was up, just a little but that was up from yesterday’s huge losses on the DJIA, etc. Even Walmart and Nike are feeling the pinch it seems but Walmart is restructuring closing some stores and opening others.

Weather wise, it’s changing here over the next 4 days. It’s a smaller cold snap. Nothing like -20C or anything. Saturday will be the coldest it being -18C and a wind chill. After next Monday it’s going to warm up to what around the -5C average we’ve been getting. I don’t mind the -18C stuff. This time of year weather like this will only be for a few days at a time.

Still reading “Logos Run.” Very enjoyable but it’s going to take me the rest of the month to finish it. If I were to give the book a rating now, at page 67, I’d give it 10/10 e. Jim’s. I’m having fun with it.

Anyway, other then that, things are going well. Tonight it’s into the job thing. Most likely it’s CPA the first half and then hopefully ASRAB in the 2nd. Management is opening up more of the back area near business. There’s about 10 stations there that are not getting used in the evenings that for just a few are. When times are tough the locals flock to my company. Half a dozen are being tossed into the revolving door like so much cannon fodder at least once a week now. If that was me, I wouldn’t have survived the cut each week.

Anyway, Bloggers that’s all for now.

e. Jim

We tried going to sleep "early"

even though I went to bed “early” Anne wanted to listen to Coast for awhile

Yesterday on the job for the first half we did a reset list for CPA and sure it went along fine but it had it’s moments. I ended up with 4 CC sales for just under $400. I collected a lot of cans and bottles at break and called Anne. Super moved us in the 2nd half to do ASRAB this was as JT said a short list. That’s why they only had just a few of them working it in the 1st half. Basically those that did well in the first filled up the vacant slots when the day staff left at 7pm. This went really slow for an hour. The calls were not coming through. By 8pm he moved the 3 of us doing ASRAB back to CPA and I did a lot better. I got a CC sale making it for 5 CC’s and an $18 bonus that goes on my cheque for next week. I ended up with $835 5 CC’s and an $18 bonus. Not a bad way to start the week.

I got home to watch Monday night Raw had a good time with that and rounded out the evening. I wanted to play more on Oblivion and trey out that escape door beside the guy guarding the Kings body. But Anne was more or less occupying the TV until about 2:20am and as 3am rolled around I was feeling tired. I had trouble sleeping all night and woke up late missing the markets.

Not much going on today, into work and coming home. I get an hour to do some stuff and then Anne makes me supper just in time for local news and then I get 2-3 hours off for me.

Weather wise, well it’s changing again. Were at -4C/-9C with the wind chill. We’re going to get cold for about a week. Not like -25C or anything mostly -13C stuff like that. By this time next week were warming up and that’s going to lead us into Family day long weekend and with that Daylight savings time is just around the corner.

This is an interesting month because this Friday is Friday the 13th and the Saturday is Valentines day on the 14th. And it that’s not enough it’s a long weekend as well because of Family Day holiday. This Saturday I’m buying my sweetie and I a bottle of red wine for Saturday night.

Anyway, Bloggers that’s all for now.

e. Jim

I had a busy couple of days but at least 1 bill is paid off and the weather is nice as well.

Friday afternoon I locked up and got the bus and into the office. With fresh snow on the ground meant the parking lot behind First Edmonton Place would be easier to walk on. I got my usual seat at my dialer and paid JT the $2 I owed him and I decided to treat myself and I bought him and me a Tim’s coffee. I asked Greg for my pay cheque and I got the full amount, all my bonuses and regular hours. Good stuff. I had a good start to the first half but the 2nd half was a bit slow. I ended up with 1 CC sale for a total of 20 for the week and there’s always today as well. I need 1-2 more CC sales and as long as none of them decline, I should get the CC quantity bonus and 2 other bonuses on my cheque next week.

I took this shot of the Manning bridge in the background. My #11 swings over this bridge. I can see the blue grey of the bus and it’s orange sign. I can’t wait for Spring. I’m considering April 1st until after Labour day to work mornings. If the boss is hard on me, I can always with back to get out of his hair. I can work Thursday afternoons to get my cheque.

After work I headed over to Audrey’s books. Nothing yet came in for me. They had a poetry reading and finger food present. I went to the SFF section and found Peter. F. Hamilton’s book #3 of the “Night’s Dawn” trilogy in, I scooped it up and wondered if I had enough out of that $20 or would it break the bank. I was about $3 away so I took it back and bought “Radio Freefall” by Mathew Jarpe. It’s a Cyberpunk story but its in the first person which might make it a bit more accessible. It’s also a first novel as well. I’ll see about getting the Peter F. Hamilton book next weekend.

With my business at Audrey’s done I went downstairs to catch my train. I probably should have waited for the bus. If I take the bus I don’t need to climb those 3 flights of stairs up to my bank like I did before. And in decent weather I’d rather wait with a decaf coffee for the #5 bus even on a Thursday night. But I did my banking and caught the train with extra cars (Oil Kings game at Rexall)

I decided to get a bite to eat at Tim’s this morning. In my running shoes the sidewalks were still a little slippery, but I did ok. The first half of the shift was ok. I had a mediocre day but I did get a couple of CC sales for 23 for the week. I was so glad to have the work week over with I was glad to get out of there. The Oiler’s were losing badly again 5-0 in the 2nd. Yikes. I took off to MM with no waiting. The clerk helped me fill out the Western Union form. 50 Euros ended up costing me $94.98. That includes the transfer fee, everything. Not bad. Actually it was cheaper this time around then last year.

After my success at MM I went to Audrey’s at the end of the block and was determined to get that Peter. F. Hamilton’s book as mentioned above but I wanted something new. I bought book #1 of John Varley’s “The Gaen trilogy” last month and the other 2 volumes were there so I picked them up instead. I’ll get the other book latter next week.

Also Suvudu is covering “Comic Con 2009.” About the 6th photo down in today’s Suvudu entry some poor guy is being interrogated by Storm Troopers. Here’s a link at least to Saturday’s post.

Anne had another monthly admonishing by her Super to pick up the sales. They want $400/hour but that according to staff is almost impossible given that they go through sometimes 25-30 minutes without calls. Basically it’s trying to upsizing the customers order. Doable but when your having slow periods its very hard. I wish they’d leaver her alone. She’s there on time and she doesn’t make any mistakes. I wish they’d cut her some slack but other staff there say for her not to worry about it.

Speaking of Pizza my wife is going to use her credits and with an extra $12 I’m ordering pizza and the chicken pieces for my lunch latter tonight. Good stuff. She had a hungry man dinner in the icebox but because I’m having chicken tonight, I’m just going to eat the sandwiches instead. Try and save some money.

I’m kind of worried for Anne’s job more then mine but if she ends up losing her job for some silly reason like above we can get emergency help to keep our apartment going and EI will cover her for about a year. Also I can pick up the slack while she finds another job. If it comes to that.

Anyway bloggers, that’s all for now

e. Jim

it's in the little things

My wife and I got out of here about 1:20pm yesterday and we road the new look LRT train, she tripped getting on board but recovered ok. We rode the train into Central station, then to the bank I got a replacement debit card and was able to talk with someone about investing. RBC has something called Self-directed investing. I got some pamphlets and then we went into City Center phase 1 Mall food court. Weather wise it was very nice out there. Warm and Sunny and I wore my runners for a change. We decided to go to Ricky’s but after Anne sat down and looked over the menu didn’t see anything she liked so we ended up going over to Taco Time instead. We took a very crowded train home and I did some Internet stuff and called Neil about 5:30pm. His wife said he’s going to Lodge and would pick me up. Sure enough he came by at about 7pm.

We got to the Lodge and some of it was already being set up. I got to work on helping set up of what was remaining and because we were receiving a high District official, I was given a few lines to say to announce him and his entourage into the Lodge. I screwed up getting the Tyler sword. Receiving those lines sort of caught me off guard. I began to make the announcement but thy weren’t ready inside. After a bit then I was. We did some balloting as well and I screwed up there but it was no big deal. Also I was last to ballot and the WM had me in the spotlight informing me who was being balloted etc. It was kind of scary. I screwed up in that part to. J who was our master of ceremonies in his British accent took me aside and admonished me properly in a nice way and taught me how to do a few things. I’ll know better next month. I helped put the Temple furnishings away and went out for the Festive board. I bought a Stella (beer) and a can of diet Coke. I even got up to say a few things and got a nice round of applause. We had a great turnout of guys there tonight. It was a fun night. G took it upon himself to ask me if he could drive me home because Neil had some other things going on and I felt better about that. All in all, everyone felt really good about the evening. Sure I embarrassed myself a few times but it was a learning experience. I had a great time. A lot of guys that are in trades are feeling the effects of the economy.

If anything what this crisis is going to do is force people to be more productive to keep their jobs. It’s the little things that count. Anne and I were talking about this as well on the train ride downtown yesterday that some people at her place of work are more productive on a 4 hour shift then she is on an 8 hour shift only because they “sell” more Piazza’s products. And she’s conscious of this and she realizes she’s got to sell more. That’s what this economic crisis is going to do, is force people to work harder. Be better performers on the job. It’s not going to be the magic bullet that will keep my job but at least it will help me to contribute to the overall climate of productivity. That’s what’s going to pull us out of this economic mess not me alone but all of us together being more productive. Ask yourself what did I do today on the job that I can improve upon tomorrow? Focus on one thing and do it as best as you can. It’s the little things that count.

As for here in Alberta this current economic crisis might last us a another year or even 5 years but it will also force companies to keep their costs under control. They can separate the wheat from the chaff. Get rid of the slackers that don’t want to work that are only in it for a pay cheque.

Earlier yesterday afternoon when we got home from our trip downtown, I stumbled upon Ferguson’s music here in Edmonton. They’re located by the Inglewood area on 118th Ave. They’ve got an interesting teaching music concept and that is you take lessons to buy out your instrument. I already have a piano but I wouldn’t mind a full 88 Upright piano. Mostly I’d love an upright piano like a Mason & Risch or a Baldwin but theses uprights new would cost around the $5K range easily. Even if I took weekly piano lessons for 5 years it would take me about 250 lessons to pay for it. But Ferguson’s said I might be able to go in Saturday’s after work. Not just that but in five years I’d not only get good value for my money but also if I keep going for 5 years at $18 a half hour that’d be enough to get me a new upright piano and lessons as well. In theory. I’ll have more to say about this on Saturday. The other thing I’m seriously thinking about doing is diversifying my skill level in what I can do job wise. Sure, nothing is safe from an economic downturn but one thing I’d like to do is to take a few courses in Accounting bookkeeping. Academy of learning has course for 2 hours each Saturday morning. I can always sub a Saturday for a Sunday. Like I’ve said that before.

As for today, it’s into work and off to buy a book and get the MM forms for my website. Then Saturday I go over to Ferguson’s and check that out and on my way home, I go to MM and pay off my website then maybe go get a bite to eat somewhere and home for a nap. There’s an Oiler game Saturday but it’s an afternoon game on at 1pm. We’ll be able to see the first hour but then there’s a Sunday game in Minneapolis vs. the Wild. The Oiler’s won Thursday night…….. 12;55pm> Again I was in bed early this morning and awake about 9:30am. I laid in bed and dozed off here and there. It was my wife’s noon alarm that woke me up for the news and markets. Only oil was down by a bit.

Around the Blogsphere etc on Coast tonight: In the first two hours, researcher and lecturer David Wilcock talks about 2012, as “the year our DNA changes.” Oh…K. Over there at Fantasy magazine, Naamen Gobert Tilahun is talking about Stargate Atlantis and has some interesting things to say. Also, I added Scifi chick to my list of links page. Right under Scifi guy, naturally. Now back to reality again:

Angus Watt doing the markets and more was talking about the Obama stimulus package. Right Obama is trying to appease the Republicans to make the bill a bipartisan bill both sides can live with. In order to get the economy rolling again the banks need to feel more comfortable lending money. Obama wants to cover the banks losses (if any) That should encourage the banks, like City Group, Bank of America, etc to get money circulating and get credit moving again free up credit. I think it’s good strategy.

The other day, I mentioned in my “Runner” review high hopes for the sequel “Logos run” would be better. It sure is. I hope to have this book read in about 10 days or so.

I’m writing this on the fly as this afternoon I’m out to the job thing and because I didn’t get my cheque last night I’ve got business to take care of tonight.

Anyway bloggers, that’s all for now

e. Jim

I'm running behind on a couple of things, like days mostly

Anne left out of here shortly before I did to go on a bottle run. I left my office window open so Boot’s could come in. He was sitting comfortably out on the deck chair out here. I locked up feeling really tired on the way in and I read a little.

I got off the elevator and Greg said right away that I’ve got $130 in bonus money coming to me on my next cheque Friday. Great. With what I have here and bonus money Friday I can get my website paid up without me being completely broke.

I had a slow start for the first hour and I didn’t know if I was going to get L/h. I barely got over $200 by 6pm and a couple of CC’s. By break I ended up getting 5 CC’s for a $20 bonus. I got another 4 CC’s and a $930 total but I forgot to record my CC sales. I know I had at least $300 the first half in CC sales. I know I did a lot more then that in the 2nd. I think I can get the amounts or at least what the CC’s were all worth out of 5 CC’s for the 2nd half. But 9 CC’s is a record for me. Some days I barely get that in one week.

Also I got a short garbage bag full of cans and bottles. I had a great night. Lots of laughing and joking going on. I had a good time.

I got home and Anne was doing laundry and just in time for Monday night Raw. Good show this evening as well. I liked the old Jerry Lawler when he was always favoring the bad guys. I liked the older announcers like Booby “The Brain” Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. They were great in the older days before Raw.

This brings me to where I am now and the Internet is slow. again this morning. All in all, I had a good Monday night.

My Google news reader is pretty cool. It provides me with updates on the feeds I subscribe to. The other day I punched my name in the RSS search field and where it reads subscribers, shows well over 2, 000 of you subscribe to this Blog. So this tells me that the feed burner widget isn’t working then. The whole Goddamn Internet isn’t working this morning. Even YouTube is misbehaving. I’ll sure be glad if I live long enough to enjoy Cern’s “The Grid.”…..2:20pm I just finished William C. Dietz’s “Runner.”

Review Summery: A science fiction novel that honors fantasy and reacts to religion.

My rating : 7 e. Jim’s out of 10

Brief synopsis: Jak Rebo is a Runner on a mission to deliver a boy to a special ceremony in a crumbling society.

Pros: Great writing, solid world building and excellent characters,
Cons: The character’s say “So” way to much. Not much to complain about.

Bottom line: A decent yarn with some surprising twists to it.

Reaction: I had trouble getting into this story. It Didn’t grab me right away and I couldn’t put my finger on why it didn’t. The writing is tight and clear but throughout the novel I wanted to find out how it ended and that kept me going. Some reviews said they predicted the outcome of the novel within the last 100 pages or so. The story kept me guessing right to the last few pages but the outcome seemed rushed. It would have been nice to know what became of one of the main chracters after the last few pages. When reading Dietz’s “last word” about the story at the back, he said he “wasn’t sure how to handle the concept.” Then it dawned on me why I had trouble getting into this story: The author wasn’t confident enough in telling it and it showed. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good story, far from it. I really enjoyed “Runner” and the sequel coming up next, “Logos run” might be better handled then “Runner.” One thing’s for sure, I will be paying more attention to William C. Dietz’s other works in the future and this alone earned the title of “fan.” As for “Runner” I wasn’t disappointed a whole lot……. ……..10:25pm I went into the office and read a little of “Logos Run.” To early to tell how good or bad it is. So far so good. I got to my dialer as the shift was changing. JT and I bet on the Chicago Oiler game tonight. $2. I had a slow start to the shift and Greg paused my dialer as we went to haul those wine bottles out of his car. I didn’t know what to expect but the bag as really heavy, almost 40 lbs. It was a struggle to get them to the lower level and I noticed a plastic utility cart the janitors use. I placed them in there and hauled them upstairs with the security guards permission. I made quite a spectacle of myself. I took a lot of cans and bottles from the office and the wine bottles and continued on with my shift. I called Anne on my way out and I asked how much are these bottles worth? Only ten cents? Yikes. Well at least I got $15 in bonuses tonight. I tossed one of the bags into a curbside dumpster not far away and took one home with mostly cans (worth the same and lighter then wine bottles). Oiler game tonight meaning extra cars on the train but it was packed train all the way home. I had a chat with my wife and here I am.

That was my Tuesday evening folks. The bad part was the Oiler’s losing. Same score as on Sunday. What I liked about work this evening was we had 10 tap shooters and maybe 15 on the front 20. We had a thin crew, just the way I like it.

Anyway Bloggers, that's all for now

e. Jim

Thank God January 2009 is in the bank and I'm typing way to fast. What kind of a word is Gid? *laughs*

I was very tired going into work this morning. I brought funds with me for my February bus pass (more on this latter) and for my website money. I didn’t bother to go into Tim’s. I just wanted to get myself a coffee and settle in. Rob was there at one of the dialer’s taking Buds space answering the phone. I think we had 10 tap shooters and possibly equal amount of the front 20 (semies and cold) Rob wanted $180 l/h and I had a couple of $50 CC sales and a slow start but things picked up after that and I ended with way over l/h and 3 CC sales. Steve was there and didn’t bother anyone. I ended up with $880 and 4 Cc’s for a total of a $22 bonus and 32 CC’s for the week. If none decline I’ll have another good pay cheque. Super was moving house and said he still has a lot of wine bottles in the trunk of his car. I’ll be hauling them home Monday and Tuesday. He agreed with that. Could be about 10 bucks worth of bottles.

Also now I’m not taking his word for it but according to D this evaluation thing looks like it’s only an annual thing. I feel a bit better about it.

When I left out of the office under somewhat clear skies it was really gusty out there. Some of that wind was about 80k as I took the long way around to go to Money Mart so I could get my website paid off but there was a line up and that meant who knows how long of a wait. I can always go tomorrow up the street. I went up to Audrey’s and got the last of the American pricing Star Wars “New Jedi order” books, “Dark journey” by Elaine Cunningham. So far now I have 9 in the series. I was lucky to get the first one “Vector Prime” by RA Salvatore (1999) It should have been out of print. I caught my train home and was glad I was in. I did a bit of research over how many of the “New Jedi order” books, I have left to order. There are 12 left remaining and most of them should be in print.

I was able to have a nap for a couple of hours and Anne called about 6:15pm. I was looking over some “Garagebnad” like software for making “music” and I discovered “Auto tune.” I don’t know if it’s a free download or not but it looks really good. You can even import your own vocals onto home made tracks. I might download it a bit latter and play around with it depends on the learning curve.

Anne called again after I had that dinner thing she made up for me. I was just about to get into playing Oblivion at the time and I got really far in the game. Still level one but I thought I was trapped in the catacombs underneath the palace or whatever. I refuse to find any cheats for this game.

After about half an hour in Oblivion I went in and did some reading in “Runner.” Officially I have an hour to go. This is so far a great book.

Anne should be home in about half an hour. She really wants a pizza from “Pizza Hut” this evening. After getting off my train hurried off to the Redi mart to get my February bus pass. I was shocked to learn that they went up $8! That’s from $66.50 to $74.50. The reason why I think the City did this was because they know Ottawa is giving tax breaks for low income workers who need to take public transport. So much for getting a tax break. The City just took it. And the City isn’t through yet. There’s another transit increase planned to bring a monthly transit pass up to $90! Holy crap. I can recall in 1978 a monthly bus pass was $25 bucks. The City isn’t raising transit buss pass rates to piss consumers off. They’re just keeping in line with other major Cities here in Canada. Also the City recently bought new LRT cars and wants to within 5 years expand the LRT to Nait.

My wife came home with Pizza alright but it was a frozen thing from Superstore. It was ok and we watched AMC’s Super bowl tailgate movie, one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies, “The Good, the bad and the ugly.” A classic .Hard to believe I was 14 when that movie came out in 1966.

So, I’m up at noon later today to watch the Oiler’s host Nashville and then it’s over to Money mart to pay for my website. If they have the Euros. Some MM’s Don’t have the amount I need.

Anyway bloggers, that’s all for now

e. Jim