Black Friday

I had never heard of Black Friday until last year. It was a US thing. I don't even think I saw it on TV as the shows were all repeats or Thanksgiving/Xmas themed, so I wasn't watching it.

This year, Canadian retailers decided to jump on the band wagon and a lot of my friends were speaking about it. My boss at work asked if she should get an iPad2 or a Mini the iPad2 was on sale. Anyway, I decided to take the day off. I saw an add for a new Nikon camera, a DSLR. It could synch with mobile phones, hell it looked sweet. I priced it out, it was around $600, too much for what I wanted to spend.

I broke the sunglasses that I had fixed a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to check out some Oakleys on the internet. Sunglass Hut had a sale on, it was super on Thursday and I was all set to buy some glasses at the marked down price, but I thought I better try them on. When I checked the site this morning, the sale i had picked stuff out on was over. They had a different sale. I priced out two pair of Oakleys at $172 including tax, regularly $325. I decided to come into Edmonton to see them. On the way out of town, I stopped at WalMart, they had a sale on SDHC cards, regularly $22.95 for $8. I bought three (sorry people at work!) The sales person told me about the cameras. They had the Nikon D3000 which is a few years older than the one I wanted. It was $350 with a case. I bought it.

I came into the city and the Sunglass Hut had the glasses, they were even cheaper. I bought them. It is a good thing I worked a lot of overtime lately! I did strategic shopping at all the stores. I even ventured into Apple and bought a card reader, there was a lineup out the door and down the mall for $51 off an iPad. I got the card and then paid for it with my iPhone!

I went to another store to check out a telephoto lens for camera. But I don't need to get it yet. Now I know I am going to the mountains for Xmas, take some pics.

I went to a store that has Blu-Rays, I got Contact for $5 - a great movie.

I am at Starbucks, no more shopping!

Well I didn't get the Vancouver job, they said I didn't have enough experience. I must have not stressed how much on my application. A good thing actually, I was depressed for about 12 hours, but then it went away. I could not afford to rent a house in Vegreville and a place in Vancouver for a 6 month job. There was another job posted for Ottawa, it was only open for one day. I applied for that.

The guy I met online is still chatting, still no plans to meet up before New Years though. I have said that will not be the first time we meet face to face. I don't need the new year starting with rejection.

I have charged the battery for the Nikon, it took about an hour. I had to take iPad case off to use card reader. No will not go buy another case!!! The case needs to be cleaned.

I can't stay in the city tonight, a Fire Department event tomorrow for the Food Bank, have to work it. Probably come back to city for Blues in the afternoon.

The moustache for Movember is coming in - but I hate it. It makes me look older. My hair was long, which made me look even older. I got a haircut today and asked the hair person about the moustache, she said just left it grow. I may have to put wax on it. Some women have told me they like it.......No not shopping there.

I read a really good romance book this week, it was amazingly good. Some people reviewing it said there was too much sex......er Guy here. Anyway, the book dealt with coming out. Sorry people, sex is part of the process. After being out, it doesn't define you, it is just part of you. You just have to accept yourself first. This book dealt with that, plating an older closeted gay man against a guy who just discovered he may be gay. The book dealt with all the conflicts pretty accurately. I have heard more than once that some guys won't date me as they feel I am a tourist, having been married and having a son, they think I will bolt back to a woman. I don't need them in my life. Of course, Gay men being gay men, I have seen them pointing at me and relaying this. So some guy that knows nothing about me, is an expert on me. I have had the conversation with these guys after they find someone else and then say they always had a crush on me.

Anyway, I have decided that I don' need those people around anymore. Maybe stand up to them when they start the 'expert opinion'. I know it sounds like a 'you lookin at me' straight guy thing, but a guy has to stand up for himself.

For the last 6 months I have been doing pushups every morning. I have missed about 3 days. I started off at 40, then 50 after a month, then 60 after two months. I find 70 is good. I bounced this off some guys at the FD, the ones around my age. They said they'd be lucky to get to 50.
Time to start the running again. I am feeling a bit chunky, I have only gained about 10 lbs, but they need to go.

They are playing Xmas music in November here, I gotta go

The Fifth Season

I swear the first of November is the start of the fifth season of the Year. Xmas, people are in a panic because they don't want to be caught 'not ready'. The stores add to this, to them it is beneficial. If they can have people thinking they are never prepared, they sell more. Of course, I am a normal human being on 01 November, but as the Xmas spirit builds and the musak, and xmas parties start, I think the first ones are this weekend; and the ladies at work freak out cause December is way too busy....I start to hate this time of year. There rant over. BTW the Fifth Season would start November 1st and end January 1st.

I worked overtime today to get some extra cash for a trip. It sucks that Xmas is on a Tuesday, that means working one day, Xmas Eve and then two days off. I think I may take it off, the Eve. That way I can be on the highway after sleeping in and breakfast.

A couple of years ago I left Edmonton for Vancouver on Xmas Eve, I got to Revelstoke where I spent the night. Then I drove to Vancouver on Xmas Day. Fraser Canyon was freaking amazing, and I was the only car on it. It was like driving the motorcycle. That was the most memorable xmas I have ever had. This year, Jasper or Lake Louise, not sure.

Have a room booked for New Year's Eve, a party in the same hotel, Take the Elevator Home - great idea. I may stay there the 30th too. Not sure. Met a guy online, he lives NorthWest of Edmonton. He may come to E for New Years. We'll see.

How about Mitt Romney, nuff said. America dodged a bullet.

Not really depressed about Ottawa job, it is way colder there in the Winter than here. In Edmonton you get Chinooks, in Ottawa you freeze for 3 months. Still in the running for Vancouver....will I jinx myself.

Ironic, the guy in Ottawa that dumped the job, as not required is coming at the end of the month to see how our unit works. I am hoping for an illness, or an emergency trip to someplace hot. A group of higher ups are doing our presentations (we used to do them ourselves). I have trouble with scripts, especially when someone else writes them. They always get pissed off when I go wondering, or answer a question that is not on the script.

Gaza, it is like an 18 year old gay child. Dad is Israel and Mom is Egypt. Mom is staying silent, while dad cracks the whip. Dad has told little Gaza he's an adult and has to take responsibility for his actions. Dad won't approve of any of his dates, and chases them off. Dad decides what's for supper. Mom let's his scream for a bit, but then says 'Listen to your father'. Right now dad is tearing up all the stuff Gaza has made.

We practiced with burning pallets the other night. Got some good pics, it was -10 C but warm by the fire. I took some pics, they show my Movember stache.

There are way too many good shows on TV! Last Resort got cancelled, it's a shame, it was a good show. Not enought people watched it. Treme is winding down as is Sons of Anarchy.
I have cabin fever already! Maybe I am not ready to settle down

Water issues at the house. Normally I can live with a dripping tap, but all of them are dripping. My water bill was three times higher than normal. It turns out the toilet decided it wanted to leak too. Now I turn off the water after the cistern fills. The landlord was calling the plumber for the drips, now I have to add the toilet and the shower head, yeah water flies up from it.

I could learn to be a plumber.......nah - it's winter and I would wreck the place! Besides, I don't have the crack for it.

Bravo to the Occupy Movement in New York and New Jersey to show they are not good for nothing. They have been on the ground helping more dynamically than FEMA or the Red Cross. Romney wanted to get rid of FEMA and replace it...with vapour I guess. I have noticed that some high profile people with really bad hair have been vocal about how long it is taking, but they haven't put their business acumen to use. There is actually a movement to have Macy's drop his shirts made in Bangladesh by loving children and ties made in China. If you have some spare cash, support OccupySandy - real people will get the money, not administrators.

Well enough rambling, Druid for a Guinness and dinner and then the movie.

They fixed blogger!

There is an iPad version now, which means in don't have to have it in portrait mode as opposed to landscape and.......the little box that gives the hide keyboard option is not locate where you are typing. This is annoying as you can't tell if there is a spelling mistake until you hit return and go to next line.

I have been sick for last two days, sore throat, it felt like strep throat, but it can't be that. You'd need contact for that.

I think I have met someone, it is only in online mode. We'll see what happens. I booked a hotel room in Edmonton for New Year's Eve. $69. W00t. I may wind up staying for two nights, the 30th as well.

Did some live burn practice the other night. I took pics :)

The upgrade is user friendly, have me.

Long Weekend

Remembrance Day is on Sunday, which means we get Monday off. Nice.

Canadian Finals Rodeo is in Edmonton this weekend. I planned on going to it. We had a massive snow storm on Wednesday. The highways and streets in Vegreville and Edmonton are still covered in snow and are icy.

I have cabin fever already, so I decided to come to Edmonton on Friday. The highway was icy and slippery in the right lane and not too bad in the left lane. So a lot of people were driving in the left lane. One idiot was in the left lane, going about 60 in a 110. Granted people were driving slower, but not that slow. To put icing on the cake, the driver had a silver car, it was dusk and the car was the same colour as the road and the ice. You'd think in blowing snow, a person driving a car like that would have their lights on.

At Elk Island Park the traffic started for Edmonton. It was bumper to bumper lal the way to the city (about 50 kms). When I got to the city I figured I better take a flat route to my destination. But it was rush hour. The Yellowhead into Edmonton is bad in good weather. I was not taking it. I went South and too the exit that led to Whyte Avenue. the highway South was slow moving. Some great songs came on the ipod. Captain Tractor, Stevie Wonder, Jan Arden and some Chicago Blues. I had the window open and was singing along. I did have to go through the River Valley to get to the North side. I decided to go by the Legislature as it is the flattest hill to the north side, all hills are flat right, this had the least incline.

When I got to 105 St hill, all the little cars were turning to go up it. It is quite a bit steeper. I decided to try it. It was 4 lanes of emptiness except for three cars, including me. I got traction and was up the hill. Normally when you come straight to the hill you see people putting their brake on before climbing the hill. This causes great comedy as they lose their traction about 1/4 of the way up. Then they fish tail and slide back down the hill. or as far as the car behind them. So normally it is a good road to avoid.

I got to my destination safe and sound. Thelma (Robert) was there. We had some beer and spoke about things. We hadn't seen each other since August, I think. We got caught up. Anita is still staying with him, she is 90 and getting her a long term care facility is more urgent. I gave him some suggestions of other towns other than the one he was waiting for a spot in. Long term care facilities are a booming business in some towns, Vegreville is one of them.

We split up, I went to the Druid for Guinness and supper. I was there for several hours. The guy on the next stool was a Manager in an oil field company. Normally you'd think wells or service rigs. But he didn't do that, he built pipelines. Guess which ones he is involved with. Both of them (Northern Gateway to pacific and the one to Texas). I was a good boy. I have some friends that would not be so good. I said I was not in favour of the Texas one. It got louder in the bar and it was hard to discuss this. That is a good thing as he told me he has been bounced from this bar, when he gets passionate about something.

One time when he was off smoking a colured guy came up and asked me what I thought of Barack Obama winning. I was wearing a western shirt, wranglers and the bar had given out cowboy hats. I was profiled by the asker. He thought I'd be all redneck about it. Shocked when I wasn't, I told him to wait for the other guy to come back.

Today I took some pictures in a park in the city.

At work I have been writing a report for the last three days. Normally it doesn't take that long, but I kept getting interrupted. It is a monthly report, I take turns writing it with my co-worker. This month I completely changed the style. in keeping with changes in the department. I passed it to my boss, she didn't ask me to change anything. She is off till Wednesday so it must be ok.

Bad news yesterday. The Ottawa posting was cancelled. I was of two minds on it, but it would be nice if it was my choice. It took me 4 hours to write that cover letter!!! grrr Still in the running for Vancouver.

Barack Obama won! I followed Nate Silver for the last couple of weeks. The better the odds he gave the President, the more that the Right Wing hated him.

What else, well WWoZ is pissing me off. I support them at $20 a month. They have membership drives two times a year and they send special CD's to the supporters. They haven't sent one to me. Two weeks ago I sent an email to them, no response. Second email a week ago, no response. Third email yesterday......I told them if they weren't going to reply, that they may as well stop deducting. Will wait to see if the donation comes off my credit card.

My boss sent out a request for emergency contact information. I replied with my address and cell phone number. I said there was no person to contact. She came up and said who would she call if something happened to me at work...911 wasn't a good enough?

I thought of this on the way to the city (it was a long drive). Really there is no one. If I were to die on a Friday after work, someone may notice on the Wednesday of the next week. Only because I had no called in and I would need a doctor's note for leave. At first it makes you feel really alone.

When I mentioned this to Thelma, he said what does it matter. You're dead.

Normally I participate in the Remembrance Day ceremonies as a member of the Fire Department. But since I won't be in town, I am not this year. There weren't that many of us that did participate.

I just heard a woman say that Los Angeles is a safer city than Edmonton. Starbuckslogic - later

Winter has finally arrived

Well it snowed Thursday, really snowed. The Fire Department was quiet, amazingly people remembered how to drive on slippery roads.

That night though there was a call. We had to attend a house. After the call when we were packing up we had to re-rack the 'High Vol' hose on the back of the Engine. We didn't need to use it, so it didn't have to be drained. The officer decided rather then break it at the couplings, we'd just have the Engine backup and the crew would pass it to the guys on top. This is easy when the roads are clear. But 2 inches of snow with ice underneath made it tricky. I was the first guy off the truck, passing hose to the guy on the back. A couple of times walking backwards I almost wiped out, which would result in the engine driving over me. It was tense. But we live for that stuff.

Today, there was a Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) - accident is the wrong term. In today's event, one pickup decided STOP signs were optional. And drove into an SUV which then drove into a power pole. The roads were icy.

I was doing traffic. We do traffic to allow the police to do their documentation and take pictures.

I was standing there, looking good of course in bunker gear, I had a STOP/Slow hand held sign.

A black pickup was coming towards me, I had the STOP side facing him. I could see that the driver had a camera on top of his steering wheel as he drove, and he was looking for the best shot of the MVC. It was obvious his viewfinder did not include a fireman with a red sign, as he kept coming. I had to walk into his viewfinder for him to see me. The old guy didn't want to stop. He thought he could get through, the tow trucks blocking the road were not an issue to him.

When I spoke to him, he decided to turn around and go the other way. In mid turnaround he decided to sit there blocking off the road taking more pictures. He didn't see the vehicle coming up behind him. He saw me point and took off. I was nice to him, I could have had one of the officers come and get his personal information.

I like living in a small town, the other night I left the garage open. I live in the middle of town. When I went to go to work I saw the garage door was open. I immediately checked for mountain bike. It was there. So was everything else. Whew!

At work there was an issue with an email I left on a file. A privacy request was made on the file. The Privacy person read the email and had concerns. They asked why I had left it there. I said I used it to make a decision. I never read the complete email, there was an opinion in there. I did not use the opinion in my decision. But everyone, including my boss had an issue with it.

The suggestion was I should have edited the email. I am not an editing kind of person. This is old school I guess. But to me, if you edit, where do you stop. Do you document what you edit? Do you change a positive to a negative? This is a slippery slope. I think I am safe, my decision was statutory, not discretionary. This is what I envision a Romney America being

I watched the storm with firefighters, we were amazed at the 20,000 911 calls an hour. How do you deal with that.? Who is doing the rating? Later a 311 service was used for really really urgent calls.

One guy, a GOP operative in New York City used twitter to report a fire at a Hospital. This is pretty major, in the Big Picture. FDNY responded and it was a false alarm. A blogger managed to track the guy. He resigned from his communications post at GOP. But, he should have been charged by NYPD in my opinion. Those firefighters were unavailable for a real emergency.

Nothing on the jobs I applied for yet. I could read this to be a goo thing, I figure I may have passed initial screening. I am still up in the air on whether I'd take either.

An App doesn't work on my iPhone. It is an app that Rogers created so that I could track my data usage. The internet method of checking was not working either. When I called Rogers they could not give me the information. Due to issues on the iPhone and iPad with iOS6 I was nervous about data usage and Rogers was not helping.

I put in a trouble report on the App on Monday. Wednesday a tech guy called me. He was a specialist and he told me just to restore my phone and it would work. Having done this in an attempt to fix it before (both devices) I told him that didn't work. He then said, do it again, that is the fix. I said ok. Then he sent me a text message saying the problem was fixed.

I did the restore on the iPad and the App still did not work. I then called Rogers back, of course it would be another couple of days to get a tech guy to call again.

I went to the TELUS and Virgin sites and found better data plans. I called Rogers back to ask how much to cancel my service with them. The guy wound offering me a plan which doubled my data to 6GB and it would cost $60 a month including all the phone stuff. This was half what I was paying before. I couldn't say no. I said go ahead. I am not tied into a contract. The app still does not work, but I have enough data to allow for iOS 6 oopses