Alain Saffel: the journalist

alainsaffel.com

2008-10-13T23:24:00.003-07:00

As you can see from the sorry state of my blog, I haven't been here in a while. This will likely be my last post, ever, here.

No, I'm moving to a new blog location: http://alainsaffel.com

Make a note of it. That doesn't mean it will disappear though. You'll still be able to read all my pithy posts here, as long as the Great Google is willing to keep Blogger rolling.

I've moved on in my blogging and decided to use a hosted WordPress blog now. I've grown beyond the confines of this place.

I've been blogging and writing in other places like StumbleUpon or at the company I was recently laid off at. I've been writing web content and press releases. Hey, those writing muscles are still working, just not in obvious places like this. That will change though, with the start of my new blog.

Semi-retirement and miscommunication

2008-06-28T12:32:00.003-07:00

I’ve really been neglecting my blog and because of the changes in my life, I’m planning on eventually rolling out another one at alainsaffel.com. That’s going to take me a bit, but it will happen.

In the meantime, you can read my blogging on StumbleUpon where I do my work-related blogging. Of course, I’m always on Facebook, Twitter and a host of other places. Search my name online and find out what I’ve been up to because I’m out there doing all kinds of interesting things.

So, while this blog is semi-retired, I will keep it up, for what it’s worth. I still monitor it to see what’s happening, but don’t expect regular updates, although lately, I might express my frustration on a topic or two.

Communication? What’s that?

Everybody’s got problems these days. I’ve had a few of my own. If anything, it seems like so many problems stem from a lack of communication. Or, more accurately, a lack of clear communication.

I guess my advice to people is if you’re about to assume something, ask yourself a question: is this what the other person meant to say to me? Or, are you coming to a conclusion that that person did not intend? I’ve been on both ends of these types of miscommunication lately and it’s frustrating, and in many ways depressing.

I guess what I’m saying is just don’t assume. I don’t have to repeat the old saw of “if you assume you make an ass out of U and ME” do I?

Lately I’ve taken to making the assumption that the other person did not intend what they communicated, I’ve laughed it off, joked with them about it and life is better. Life is better that way because the vast majority of the time they didn’t mean it the way you took it.

If you’re going to assume, assume that the other person meant it in a good way. I hope when I say something asinine, that you'll assume I didn't mean it like that.

Does the news get better? Not right now.

2008-02-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

If you thought the economic news couldn't get any worse, get ready. Apparently there is another hidden problem that is just starting to come to light. Apparently US mortgage insurers are facing difficulty due to the sub-prime disaster there. Predictions are that they'll all go under and Jim Cramer of Mad Money is predicting that will happen in two to three weeks. He said that last week.

How insulated will Canada be from all this? Well, people will still be driving, so Alberta should be fine. The real problem is going to be the psychology. Will people avoid going into a panic over the bad news? Doubt it. The panic will be worse among people who know they're not in good shape. Why is it that they never figure this out before everything hits the fan?

The basic rules of finance apply whether you're in good times or bad:

1. Pay down high interest debt. Don't incur more!
2. Save! More is better, but at least 10% of your income.
3. Invest. RRSPs, etc
4. Live within your means.
5. At least 3 - 6 months of living expenses saved (beyond the 10% in #2)

Now, this is always easy to say, harder to do. Our governments don't make it any easier to save when you're living paycheque to paycheque. Wouldn't hurt to avoid the credit cards though. They make it worse, especially if you have little self-control.

It also makes sense to give some serious thought to how secure your job might be in an economic downturn. Maybe it would make sense to find one that would be, although your time at your current employer may insulate you. Maybe. It is tough to predict.

So, if you're at least in good financial shape and you feel your job is relatively secure, why worry? Wouldn't hurt to tighten the belt a little, but you can keep on going. Besides, the misery of others might just bring some good investment opportunities if you have the cash to take advantage of them.

On the other hand, you have to wonder how much exposure Canadian banks might have in this latest wrinkle. God knows they took a few hits lately over their exposure to the sub-prime mess. I'm not sure I'd be buying any bank stock until I was comfortable they weren't dangerously exposed. I'm not that knowledgeable in that area though. That's not to say that you couldn't pick up their stock cheap later on if they were exposed.

Life, the elections and everything

2008-01-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

I’d like to say my life has been exciting lately, but it really hasn’t. I’ve been working, packing up the house and attempting to imitate Mike Holmes around here in my renos. The move to Edmonton is really only a couple weeks away.

The only really exciting thing is that I think I’m being cyberstalked. Fun huh? Somebody from Saskatchewan. I have an idea who might be anyway, particularly judging by the location of the IP address. Should be interesting to see if they can make it to my page now though. I wouldn’t necessarily notice something like this other than some odd things happening and I’m rather obsessive about monitoring the web traffic on all my sites.

Aside from all that, isn’t 2008 shaping up to be an interesting year? I have been quite interested in the election obsession in the U.S., which can’t admit it’s already in recession. Will it make its way up to Canada? The world has changed and the U.S. isn’t the prime focus economically, so we might be spared, partially.

Alberta and Canada should also have elections this spring. I would imagine I’ll pick up the blogging again soon.

I just hope we make it out of 2008 without George Bush starting a war with Iran.

God knows who the world would be better off with as U.S. president though. I hadn’t realized it, but Obama is willing to invade Pakistan. I guess you could give him credit for wanting to invade countries that ACTUALLY HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. On the other hand, maybe it is not such a good idea. Bush kind of limited himself to relatively weak countries with no WMD. That’s why he didn’t invade North Korea.

I think it’s time to stock up on toilet paper and build a bomb shelter! : )

Maybe it’s time for America to spend some money at home instead of bombing another country. That pesky sub-prime mortgage mess (irony intended) might not be quite so bad if the U.S. was in way better shape financially. Instead, Bush gave his rich friends huge tax breaks while giving them huge defence contracts in Iraq, siphoning trillions out of the U.S. treasury. I can’t believe the American public hasn’t stormed the White House and hung he and Cheney from the flag pole out front. Bush and his cronies are traitors.

Aside from the invading Pakistan thing, I am not fond of Obama. I heard one of his speeches and he sounded like a minister. I don’t think he’s that great of a speaker. He sounds pompous and arrogant. Not a big fan of Hillary either, or Edwards.

On the Republican side, I really don’t like Romney. I watched a debate where he was asked about torture and talk about dodging the question! Do the Mormons allow torture? Guess he figures they do. McCain certainly can speak with authority on that issue, but I don’t like him either. Frankly, he’s too old to be president. He almost seems doddering.

I like Huckabee, but he’s a Republican, not that I like the Democrats much more. Huckabee seems like the most genuine guy of the bunch. It’s nice that he’s so successful without a huge campaign machine and barely any money. Corporations don’t vote and they control the political process too much with their money.

Back to Romney though. That guy scares me. Something in my gut says there’s something wrong with him, but I don’t know exactly what. Maybe Romney is the anti-Christ.

While I’m at it, I was thinking the other day, why the hell didn’t George Bush visit the Middle East early on in his presidency to try and make peace between the Palestinians and Israelis? Now he has little power and even less credibility.

Let’s just hope, like I said earlier, that we make it out of 2008 without Bush invading Iran and without Bush making up some excuse or finding a way to stick around for another term. Maybe he’s taking lessons from Vladimir Putin or Musharraf? God, I hope not.

Don't be so serious

2008-01-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

I know I should be commenting on all the serious crap going on in the world. Yeah, I know. Take a few seconds, relax, look at these comics. Laugh. It’ll all be better soon.

This one really makes me laugh. Being a bit of a Facebook addict, I've always wondered what is so "complicated." You are a couple, or you're not. If you're not, you're divorced, separated, single, just friends, etc. How complicated can it get? Wait. I have an ex-wife. Okay, so it's complicated.

Some days my blog feels like a cat blog, kind of like I'm going to rip apart your couch and piss in the corner. Then, I'll ignore you for a week. Other days, my blog feels like a dog blog. I just want to go for a walk and chase birds in the park. If you don't let me do that, I'm going to tear apart your shoe and take a dump in the middle of the floor. But, I'm really sorry about it. Wanna go to the park?

I have been accused of being over-educated and overqualified. It only means I know what I'm talking about, or does it? I'm going to check on flights to Mexico. :)

I promise, I'll comment soon on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee winning in Iowa and all the other crazy crap going on. Eventually. First I'm going to crack open a Corona, go to the park and mull over how complicated life is.

Irony defined

2008-01-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

2007 in review & 2008 forecast

2007-12-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the end of another year. Might as well do my final post on that year. It won’t be the last post on this blog, but you have probably noticed they’ve been fewer in number in the past six months. That is likely to continue as I embark on different projects in 2008. It looks like it will be an exciting year! But first, some light humour.

Heard in Starbucks last night

My wife and I were in Starbucks in Red Deer last night looking to replace our worn coffee travel mugs. We found two mugs, same design, we liked: one red, one blue. The blue one was $3 cheaper. I went to the till. The girl rang them in at their separate prices and I told her I wanted them both at the same price. This required the girl to talk to her supervisor. A nearby customer, observing this, piped up “Starbucks makes a billion bucks a year and you have to debate this?”

I’m writing this while sipping out of the blue mug. We saved the $3.

My year in review

It’s been a long, topsy turvy, emotionally upheaving kind of year. That said, I think it’s gone rather well.

The move from Williams Lake to Alberta happened and went reasonably well. It had been a while since we had moved into our place there, so there was a lot of accumulated junk. The house sale took a while to complete. The buyers weren’t in that much of a hurry it seemed, and were trying to nickel and dime us on picayune (I love that word) items. I put my foot down and told them that was the end of it: you either want the house with the deal we made, or not. Evidently, they wanted it

I was relieved to be out of Williams Lake. It’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time. I won’t be going back to stay either. To visit, yes. To stay, never.

We began looking for houses here and had settled on a couple options, but there were delays and delays. We had a deal on a new modular home but couldn’t do it because we couldn’t move our old trailer out. Try getting anything done in a timely manner in Alberta, I challenge you. Then, we decided to look at a house. Everything fell through when my wife lost her job. She got screwed at her job in Rocky Mountain House by a new manager who apparently has a panic disorder. I’ve met preschoolers with more backbone than this person, but that’s another story.

It was a blessing in disguise, but it meant another move; a move away from a community we like and new friends we’ve made. That’s the tough part.

The kids decided that in spite of the uncertain future (when is it ever certain?) they would move to Alberta with us. They started school in the fall. Things have generally gone well for them, particularly my son, whose grades and work habits have really improved this year. He’s got lots of friends and we’ve seen him mature a lot in a short time. Neither he nor my daughter would like to move, but sadly, this must happen.

My wife’s job search went very well, with lots of interest in her and lots of interviews. We decided to focus on the Edmonton area after a while. There were a few job offers from all over, but she decided on one particular place. In terms of the title, it was a small step down, but in terms of her responsibilities and the team she would be working with, it was a huge step up.

I’ve never seen her so happy to go to work. She’s always talking about the great things they’re doing there and the great people she works with. She’s lucky. We don’t all have that luxury. It really sounds like a good place to work and it’s nice when you can look forward to getting out of bed every day. The nice thing is, it’s the kind of place she can see herself staying for a long time. She says it’s the best place she has ever worked.

For me, the employment situation was a little cloudy. We spent the first few months concentrating on the housing aspect of things and I had applied for a few jobs.

One local reporter job I thought I had a lock on, I didn’t get. They decided to hire someone with no experience and do an internal shuffle to fill the job I was after. Puzzling, because I’ve read the paper since, and… let’s just say I’m not impressed. I had met the previous editor, who was great. Sadly, he died months before I’d applied, and the new editor I didn’t like so much. Not getting that job wasn’t such a bad thing. Their loss. One thing though, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a job interview where the interviewer swore, let alone as much as this guy did. Very odd. I swear too, but not in job interviews.

We decided to focus on my wife’s job search and begin the process of moving. We sorted through a lot of stuff. I think we got rid of about 3 or 4 pickup loads of excess clothing, furniture and generally unnecessary belongings. We donated it to a worthy cause. Believe me, garage sales are fine if you have a garage and the time. Perhaps this gesture will earn me a few more credits in heaven. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a big overdraft up there.

Courtesy of a friend of mine, I became aware of a search engine optimization course, and I signed up. Thanks Ross! I completed this course and another in writing for the web. I did great in both and really enjoyed them. It opened up my eyes to some new possibilities other than journalism. I’d considered them before, but wasn’t sure how to proceed.

I also applied for a great technical writing job in Edmonton and had two great interviews, but didn’t get the job. Essentially it boiled down to being overqualified (how many times have I heard that?). They thought I’d get bored and quit. Too bad for them because I wouldn’t have. The job was doing technical and corporate writing. My newfound knowledge could have really helped them because I reviewed their website through my new lens on the web world, and their website sucks. They need a lot of help. Too bad they won’t get it from me. I am available for contract work though.

I had a big blog post analyzing the whole situation, but decided against posting it. It wasn’t nasty or anything, I just decided to move on. I thought I had a lock on the job, especially since there were three people interviewing for two jobs. The next week, I got an email: the job had been reposted. I decided not to apply. There’s no point.

I have been doing contract work for an Edmonton SEO company and that work has picked up, but the future is not certain in terms of the quantity of work. I like the guy I’m working with. He’s set up an office and it looks like thing are picking up with him, which is good. I enjoy the work, but working on contract is feast or famine. I know he’d like to hire me on permanently, but can’t at the moment.

Looking ahead

So, the conundrum: go for security (perceived security) in a full time job or contract. I think I’ll contract. We have the luxury of my wife’s great job to keep us in a house, so I can wait things out for a while.

As long as I can work steadily with the SEO company, I have lots of other things to keep my busy. I have several website ideas that I’ve been itching to pursue and my journalism job site traffic has really been picking up. I have loads of ideas, so if I’m not working full time, no big deal. My goal is to get a steady stream of income from these many projects and then I’ll be fine.

On that note, my experience in self-employment has helped to make me realize I should be nervous when I have one source of income (a job). In business, you want many sources of income, because if your only source dries up, you’re up the creek. Many streams equal more security.

I’m really positive about the future because I think I’ve hit on some good ideas for web business. My goal is to become another Internet millionaire. I think 2008 is the year to get started on that. Between my contract work and my business ideas, I don’t think I’ll have enough hours in the day!

We’re moving at the end of January to Edmonton. We’re all looking forward to it and it should be a really good year.

Happy new year!

#10 for journalism jobs on Google!!

2007-12-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

It would seem that I’ve found the Holy Grail, however fleeting it might be. It seems that I am #10 on a Google search for “journalism jobs.” Hitting page one on any Google search is what every site wants to achieve for its targeted keywords. Obviously, my journalism job site would have journalism jobs as the targeted keywords.

Now I just need to keep it there and see if I can move it up the list. If you remove three results out of that top ten, which are repeated results from pages in the top ten, I come in at #7. That’s nice. Very nice. I'm sure my wife will be thrilled to hear the news. I can picture her eyes glazing over.

Other interesting tidbits

Apparently Ottawa has also been interested in my site. I noticed the other day that someone searched for the HRSDC logo (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) and visited my site. Egad, what a mouthful of a name!

Now, someone from the House of Commons did the same search. Who knows, maybe they want to offer me a job! Ha ha ha! I doubt it.

Anyway. I have noticed a few times people search out the logos of various organizations and then pay my site a visit. They’ve never complained, nor should they. I suppose if I was saying nasty things about them, they might complain.

On that note, I could write a book about my dealings with HRSDC and EI. Most of it stems from when I was on it a long time ago when they called it UI. It was unemployment insurance, now it’s employment insurance.

Bureaucrats. They’re always so focused on language. Yes, language matters. I of all people know that, but why change it from UI to EI? What the hell did that accomplish? Did the UNemployment rate all of a sudden drop because they changed the name of the unemployment insurance program?

Oh well, who really cares anymore? And, I’m rambling. Time for me to get back to work. Oh, and whoever in Parliament is looking at my site, get back to work too! Unless you’re looking for work as a journalist. Then, feel free to check out my site! :)

eBay, Journalism Jobs, Food Prices & Global Warming

2007-12-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

eBay. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Either way, you ought to be careful if you’re buying from them.

A Calgary man was scammed out of $20,000 when he tried to buy a car on eBay recently. Apparently the scammer hijacked a reputable account and successfully, so far, got away with Shaqir Duraj’s money.

Aside from Duraj losing his $20k, I was not impressed with the reaction of eBay, which feels that it doesn’t have to respond to media enquiries and, if I remember correctly from the radio, wouldn’t even return calls to PhoneBusters. Maybe eBay doesn’t realize that PhoneBusters is actually a joint operation between the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP. Perhaps eBay officials should be charged with obstruction of justice?

I’m not sure if the fellow who was scammed used PayPal, eBay’s payment arm, but it would appear he’s covered up to $2,000 if he did. He should be anyway. Maybe eBay can do the right thing and at least give the guy $2,000. I would also suggest they cooperate with law enforcement in trying to solve the case.

I would be extremely careful about buying anything on eBay. I’ve bought a few little things, but I wouldn’t buy anything over the protection limit. Try making a successful claim. I’m sure eBay is worse than any insurance company in trying to get some money back.

Writing jobs

Life’s been busy lately. Isn’t it always? My wife started a new job up in Edmonton and she’s really liking it. I’ve been doing some contract writing work and also had two job interviews in Edmonton. Same company. I’m hoping I get the job. It’s with a software company and I think I’d do really well there. It’s doing technical and corporate writing.

Everyone I’ve met there seems really nice and relaxed. I think it would be a great work environment. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

So when I’m not looking North, I’m sort of packing up the house and getting it ready to sell. Another move. But, it’s where we want to be. We cleared out our big storage locker a couple weeks ago and moved the contents to heated storage in Edmonton. We donated a lot to the local Salvation Army-equivalent in Rocky Mountain House. I think we’ve taken two or three pickup loads of surplus stuff there. I would like to have sold it in a garage sale, but it’s to a good cause and I just want to be rid of the stuff. It makes me feel better in a number of ways. I’m doing some good and the stuff is no longer a headache!

Journalism and writing job site

I recently completed an SEO (search engine optimization) course as well as a web writing course. I’m planning on taking more of these kinds of courses. I see a good future in this work area.

I’ve been paying close attention (obsession) to my journalism job site and the traffic I’ve been getting. It’s grown consistently since I started it. The site design is virtually unchanged in the last year.

But, I’ve been mulling over ideas of what to do with it. I have some ideas to grow the traffic to it, and after that, who knows? What really amazes me is how high my site ranks for a number of search phrases. I’ve seen my site hit #1 out of 111,000,000 for one phrase! Obviously I’ve done a few things right without even realizing it when I built it.

I’ve also been kicking around a number of other website design ideas with people close to me. I am planning on helping them construct their own sites. I’ll do a lot of the writing and SEO work. As for the actual site construction, well, I’m not sure. My design is serviceable, but hardly award winning.

Rising food prices & global warming

It’s always interesting to see the unintended consequences of human activity. With seemingly unrestricted population growth and carbon dioxide emissions, we might not have enough to eat in the future.

It seems that global warming might lead to a 16 per cent drop in world food production by 2020. You think that the population will drop that much by then? Forget it! Starvation might take the population in that direction though.

So, global warming, paired with the biofuel industry are conspiring to limit the supply of food and jack up the price. As they say in the article, that’s not going to be good for the world’s poor. We’ll probably be fine in North America, though we’ll probably grumble about high prices for food and gas.

How long we’ll remain insulated from reality here remains to be seen. Our “leaders,” and I use that term loosely, are playing political games when we need solid action on global warming. Australia’s new government signed Kyoto as its first act. Ask Australia about drought and their thoughts on global warming. I think they take it seriously there.

As for our Prime Minister, well, let’s just say that “action” and “global warming” aren’t to be found in the same sentence with Mr. Harper. Let’s see how much actually gets accomplished in Bali. I think the Canadian delegation will get a tan, and that’s about it. Harper doesn’t seem to want to do anything unless everybody else does something too. I guess he doesn’t understand the word “lead.” How about “to go first?”

Instead, Harper would rather criticize the Liberals, deservedly so, for doing nothing since they signed Kyoto to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. No question, the Liberals did nothing. How long can you sing that song before people get tired of it though?

Yes, we know the Liberals did nothing. Now, what are the Conservatives going to do? Are they going to keep pointing at the Liberals and waiting for the rest of the world to get its act together before doing anything? Might be too late by then.

We need real action now and we need a leader who is going to do it. I’m not confident it will be a Liberal or Conservative. They’re both so concerned about power and nothing else that they won’t be able to do anything. Green or NDP? Not sure either.

Spare me the “argument” that it will hurt the economy. How much would it hurt the economy to have a desert from the Rockies to the Great Lakes? No, being a leader in green technology will help the economy and any costs, if structured properly, will be more than offset by savings. As we enter the era of peak oil, remember that energy prices will rise, and substantially. I think that models calculating savings need to reflect much higher energy prices in the future.

Dog Chapman and the N word

2007-11-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

I always wonder how celebrities think. It seems they get a bit of a case of megalomania, begin believing their own hype, which ends up making them a target.

Case in point: Duane the Dog Chapman. I've written about him before, in particular about his problems with the Mexican "justice" system. I became a reluctant fan of the bounty hunter with a heart.

Apparently the Dog was having a discussion with his son Tucker (whose girlfriend is black) and Tucker decided to record that conversation. Dog used the N-word several times during that phone call.

There's really no justifying it, and he should apologize. I'm sure he regrets it now.

Of course the rabid media picked this story up quicker than a cigarette butt on skid row. Yes, Dog's son sold the tape to the Enquirer. Now, A&E has put Dog's show on hold, and Chapman's sympathy currency he'd built in his struggle to stay out of a Mexican jail has likely completely evaporated.

So what should his punishment be? Prepare for a long list of black American leaders to start chastising Chapman, decrying him as a racist, and feeding on their own self-indignation.

He should not have said it, but he did. Interestingly, it was not done in public or with public officials, unlike Michael Richards (aka Kramer of Seinfeld) or Mel Gibson's tirade about Jews (this story from TMZ, purveyor of Hollywood Internet and TV garbage).

What makes this conversation a little different is that it was a private conversation recorded by one individual. I'm not sure what the laws are about that in those particular states, but Tucker Chapman could be in some legal hot water over it.

I'm not defending what Chapman said, but it was in a private conversation, where it should have remained. We do have the right to free speech, including speech that others find objectionable, like it or not. I think we need to be able to express ourselves privately. Hopefully that kind of free expression will encourage a discussion where people have the opportunity to try to change the views of people who might be racist or whatever.

Obviously, it's a lot more difficult to have a public debate where you use this kind of language, which is why a private conversation is the perfect venue for it. Are we going down the road of thought control like George Orwell wrote about in 1984? It certainly seems that is the case.

Are we now at the point where we have to worry about every private conversation we have could be recorded and released to the media? This is not the kind of society I want to live in. I have had plenty of conversations where I've used objectionable words, whether playing devil's advocate, being serious or just trying to goad someone. It does not mean I am a racist, bigot, homophobe or whatever. I'm not.

I view private discussions as a learning opportunity, and anyone who's ever had a conversation with me has probably picked up on that, considering the number of questions I ask. I know I ask too many questions, but I am curious. Some people think you're prying. It's a hard habit to break, but I'm not judgmental, and I give people second and more chances. I don't always stick with my first impression about people. It actually makes me happy when I can change my opinion of someone for the better. I only hope people do the same for me.

I remember having a discussion with a friend when I was maybe 19 or 20. I later realized that person was gay. He asked me what I thought about gay people. Regrettably, I told him. Hey, I was 19 or 20. What the hell did I know? At that age, it's pretty natural for guys to think that way. I didn't even know anyone who was gay and had never met someone who I had known was gay. I occasionally suffer from foot in mouth disease; that's obvious.

My friend took the opportunity to try and change my mind, but I was a bonehead at the time, thought I knew everything, and the opportunity for me to understand was wasted. I do appreciate his efforts, but it just took growing up for me to realize that I was being stupid.

I haven't seen that friend in a very long time and I would like to again, but this time to apologize. I truly regret what I said nearly 20 years ago. But, I was free to say it and often it's only by saying stupid things once in a while that we can grow and learn. I have grown and learned. I know better now.

When you're a celebrity, apparently different rules apply. You'd think that when you were having a private conversation you wouldn't have to put on your public face. I guess that's no longer the case. Right or wrong, I am sympathetic to celebrities that are constantly hounded by the likes of the Enquirer and TMZ. It's pretty sad when you can no longer trust anyone, not even your children.

Colbert for President! Mercer for Prime Minister! MTV too

2007-10-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Stephen T Colbert is a Facebook phenomenon. At 6:29 p.m. Eastern time today, a Facebook group “1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert” had 922,983 members. This group has grown from nothing to nearly 1 million in just over a week.

Colbert, the satirical hos t of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, says he is running for president, but only in South Carolina. He is apparently seeking the nomination of both the Republican and Democratic parties. If that isn’t thumbing your nose at the whole political process, I don’t know what is.

Whether you take him seriously or not, there are nearly a million people who are joining him for the ride. I would expect that number to grow higher. He’s only just started. I jumped on the bandwagon too. I’m not sure what the count was at that time. It was earlier today, only a few hours ago really, and I think he was around 850,000.

If you want to jump on the bandwagon too, you have to be on Facebook to join the 1,000,000 Strong group. You can also sign a petition to support Colbert, and the other thing you can do to support him is vote for him in this online presidential poll.

Whatever you think about Colbert, he is quite funny. I don’t think he could do a worse job than the current president (who could?) and I think he’d do a better job than any of the current crop of Republican and Democratic candidates. It really says something about the state of politics in the U.S. when a joke candidate (or is he?) can command this kind of attention.

His “campaign” may run afoul of federal election laws in the U.S., but apparently only if someone complains. Don’t be surprised if someone does. I’m sure all the candidates are really pissed about Colbert stealing everyone’s thunder and overshadowing their petty bickering. On the outside the press will likely see the candidates laughing about it all good naturedly, but inside, they’re seething and they’d like to shove an icepick between his ribs. Mr. Colbert, I’d like to suggest that if you interview any candidates, you do it remotely, or have a cage to protect you.

Damn you Americans are lucky for having Colbert running. I wish we had someone like him as an option in Canada. Hmmm. Wait. We do. Rick Mercer! Yes! I wonder if I could get a million people to support him for Prime Minister here? Worth a shot!

There is a group Rick Mercer for Prime Minister of Canada. Please support it! I joined that one too, but it’s only at around 24,843. Multiply that by 10 (as we usually do in Canada) and that gives an equivalent U.S. group of 248,000. He’s got a ways to go, compared to Colbert, but he can do it. And for those Americans who don’t know who Rick Mercer is, he’s kind of the Canadian equivalent of Colbert, sort of. They’re both hilarious.

Me on MTV?

On another note, I had a good laugh yesterday when I discovered that my post on Finger Eleven grabbed the attention of MTV. Yes, believe it or not. What made me laugh is that the writer focused on my comment that I wouldn’t have know Finger Eleven from a bunch of bums on the street.

I shouldn’t be surprised but sometimes I’m really am when I find out who is reading my blog or looking at my sites. When you’re writing these things you have a vague idea who your audience is, so it’s interesting when they comment on what you’re doing.

Finger Eleven and Die Mannequin concert

2007-10-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Luck has certainly been on our side lately. That’s never anything to complain about.

Recently I attended an Adecco job fair in Edmonton and won an iPod. Don’t tell anybody, but I traded the iPod Nano (one of the new ones) up to an 80 gig iPod. That’s even better!

My wife won concert tickets to see Sum 41 and Finger Eleven in Red Deer. She was entered into the grand prize draw, and won again! This time the package included a couple of cell phones, meet and greet with the band and I’m not sure what else.

I hate to complain, I really do, but I wasn’t impressed with how Z99 in Red Deer handled the whole thing. We went in to the radio station the morning it was announced my wife had won. I was not impressed with the lady handling the promotion. She really didn’t know what the hell was going on. Winning was great, but a little anti-climactic in the presentation.

If I did the promotions there, I would handle things a little differently. When somebody wins a big package like that, shouldn’t you make a big deal out of it and get some promotional mileage? Sure, it’s not the 6-49, but it’s still a big deal to the winner. And, the station can generate some excitement out of it too.

It was a good thing we brought our daughter’s digital camera (mine was too big) to the meet and greet with Finger Eleven. I was really surprised that the deejay (Zap who was there with his girlfriend Tash) didn’t bring one. I’m not going to fault him. I figured that’s up to the promotions coordinator to either be there, or make sure somebody has one there. You say the winner should bring one? Well, of course, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if you’re doing promotions for your company, you need to take responsibility and not rely on someone else to do it for you.

Things I’d do differently:

Have all the details of the prize package ready to roll (before award date).
Take pictures of the prize being awarded.
Put the winner on the radio (saying how happy they are to go to X concert, etc).
If the winner was good on the radio, replay it in other promos.
At the concert: pictures of the winner with the band!
Post pictures on the website.
Make the winners feel special.
Be organized!

Now, I don’t know what went on behind the scenes, and sometimes stuff happens, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

We also went to the station’s 20^th anniversary party at the Toad and Turtle Pub in Red Deer. The food was great! Good thing too, because we hadn’t eaten much up to that point.

I had to chuckle when we were going to meet the band. The PR woman asked us if we were big fans of the band. We kind of stuttered. I had heard some of their stuff and liked it, I said. My wife knew their stuff more than me. Hell, they could have pulled a bunch of bums off the street, said it was Finger Eleven and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

It was a little odd meeting the band. I wasn’t sure what to expect. What was shocking was how normal they were! They all looked like the kind of guys I’d hang out with. They looked to be not far off my age either. They were really cool though. They signed a few things, we talked for a while and we got some pictures. I hadn’t met anyone in a big band before, or at least don’t remember the occasion if I had, so maybe I had some preconceived notions that there’d be a mountain of coke on the coffee table, kegs of beer and loads of scantily clad women.

Nope, there was none of that. Deep down, I think I was kind of hoping there was, except for the drugs. : ) I saw some people with laptops, surfing, but no shenanigans. Shite! Hehe.

After that, we found our seats behind the sound guys: dead center and a bit above the crowd. The sound was great from that spot too.

I almost forgot to mention that Sum 41 couldn’t play that night because one of the band members apparently hurt his back. That sucked, because I wanted to see them. As it turned out, we didn’t care. Finger Eleven and Die Mannequin put on a great show. We didn’t miss Sum 41 at all.

Before the concert started we went and grabbed a t-shirt and some buttons for our daughter. We got some beer too. I was surprised that they served beer. It has been a long time since I saw a concert outside of a bar, but I pictured a drunken, rowdy crowd developing from this. No problems developed, except for a couple slightly rowdy fans ejected later on.

The first group, Die Mannequin, put on a good show. I’m not sure how to describe their sound, but sort of reminded me of Kurt Cobain’s widow, whatever the hell her name is. After their set, they went up to the schwag booth and were signing CDs. I grabbed one for my daughter and got it signed. I also got a picture with the lead singer, who hammed it up for the camera. Everyone in the band was cool. Give them a lot of credit for going up after their set and doing that. That really helps build a loyal following, I think. The fans appreciate that kind of thing.

Then, Finger Eleven started. The sound was great and so was their show. I got a kick out of the two guitarists, especially the guy with the long hair and beard. He is really into it! It was nice to be able to get onto the floor and take some pictures. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I didn’t bring my camera gear. I’m not even sure they’d have let me in with it either. I could have gotten much better shots had I had it, especially because I wasn’t using flash. My daughter’s camera did well, all things considered, especially for a digital point and shoot (Canon A460).

It made me think I should offer to do photos for the promoters or whoever just to get into the concerts. I do enjoy the challenge of low light, action photography.

Finger Eleven did a really nice job on their songs, and they’re good live. You know how some bands sing their hits and you hardly recognize them? Not with these guys. Their songs sounded pretty close to the CD, aside from some artistic license. Of course they saved the best song, Paralyzer, for last.

At the end of the concert, the guys in Finger 11 tossed out a bunch of shirts, and we got one. We also managed to catch one of the drumsticks. Cool.

I wasn’t a fan before the concert though I liked a few songs, but I certainly am after the concert. I would definitely go to another one. Sadly, it sounds like the Red Deer concert might have been the last one on that particular tour, due to the injury of the guy in Sum 41.

I realized just how long it had been since I’d been to a concert. I did go to the Fire on the Mountain one in Kamloops in 2003, but before that, it was about 1990! That doesn’t count the odd band I’d seen in the bar. Good god! Has it really been that long? Oh, growing up and having kids. I resolve to attend more concerts. Loads of fun. :)

War on drugs: two fronts

2007-10-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

What’s with the attacks of conscience pro athletes are suffering from lately? U.S. sprinter Marion Jones has now admitted she was using performance enhancing drugs, Canadian cyclist Genevieve Jeanson just admitted it, so who’s next?

Yes, honesty is the best policy, but this sudden change does puzzle me. Kind of makes you wonder whether they think it was all worth it, considering the shame and destruction of their reputations. But, when you’re 18, do you really make good decisions all the time?

I don’t think Jeanson will have any criminal consequences for her lies, but Jones sure might. Because Jones lied to U.S. federal investigators, they want to fine her some ridiculous amount and send her to prison (a la Martha Stewart).

What I don’t understand is why Jones didn’t do like politicians and business leaders do all the time: either plead the fifth or say “I don’t recall.” The U.S. fifth amendment just says that you are constitutionally protected from having to say anything which might incriminate you.

I’m going to give Ms. Jones the benefit of the doubt and assume that she is a decent person who got caught up in something that she wasn’t sure how to get out of. Equating her with dishonest politicians and business people who abscond with millions of dollars and cost lives is nothing short of absurd.

This American obsession with persecuting people who have lied is rather laughable. I think they’d have to arrest every damn politician in the country! They do love the high profile ones though. Really, doesn’t everyone who has committed a crime lie about it? Isn’t it overkill to charge and convict someone of a crime and then do the same because they’ve lied? Who among us hasn’t lied about something?

Of course the people who rail the hardest against lying are the biggest liars themselves. Similarly, the biggest anti-gay crusaders are the ones who can’t accept the fact that they’re gay themselves. The names of several gay, but denying, U.S. politicians I am referring to escape me at the moment, but you get the point. It’s just hypocrisy.

I vaguely remember seeing something on TV about how children lie from a very young age. What are we going to do, imprison them too? If a lie is such a serious thing, and that’s not saying that they always are or are not, then why not charge everyone who lies? We’d have to imprison the entire human population.

I know lying to investigators isn’t the same as lying to your wife about whether that dress makes her look fat, but… So it’s okay to lie to your wife? I guess U.S. federal investigators must all be divorced if they’re that honest. Bully for them.

“Does this dress make me look fat?” “No, it’s your fat ass that makes you look fat.”

“Honey, what are you thinking about?” “I’m thinking about how your sister would look way better in that dress.”

See how lies actually can help society? The cost of divorce and imprisoning people for spousal assault could be astronomical!

I digress.

I agree that athletes should follow the rules and not use performance enhancing drugs. I think that the shame of getting caught and a lifetime of living with those consequences is punishment enough, not to mention the endorsement deals they lose as well. Compounding these consequences by sending them to jail is not only cruel, but stupid.

War on drugs: coming to Canada

This whole conversation on steroid leads nicely into a conversation on recreational drugs.

Our shortsighted ruling junta/party in Canada, the Conservatives, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to import the absurd and ineffective war on drugs to Canada.

That’s not to say that I don’t agree with the goal of eliminating the use of harmful drugs in Canada, I just don’t agree with them about how to go about doing it.

For the Conservatives’ part, it’s really a token gesture anyway. They’re going to spend another $64 million on it. Well, they make it seem like new money, but politicians love to get more mileage out of our money by reannouncing things. I guess their reasoning is that we’re getting more for our money because it travels from project to project, thus multiplying its value. Yeah, $64 million. This from politicians who typically would rather be seen to be doing something rather than actually doing something.

I vaguely recall hearing that the U.S. spends $50 billion a year on its “war.” So, if Canada was really serious about it, I guess you could use the 1/10 rule and say Canada should be spending $5 billion. Yep. Let’s imprison every pot smoker and drug user. Give them the three strikes rule and lock them up for life. It’s really constructive and solves all the problems. Just look south of our border to see how effective it is. No, wait… don’t look there.

I’m certainly not advocating drug use, because I’m not a fan of it. It does cause a lot of problems in society, and I’m not saying that we shouldn’t fight drugs.

This whole harm reduction idea is laudable, but the Conservatives are making it laughable. Locking everyone in prison (where drug use is rampant) is a complete joke. If they really want to do something, they need to look at the root causes of drug use.

One of the important aspects of drug use that is starting to be talked about is mental illness. Apparently, mentally ill people will sometimes self-medicate with alcohol or drugs. That’s not to say that all drug users are mentally ill, but some are, and don’t know it. I wrote an article a few years back about a woman who was bipolar. The research I had done, along with what she told me, really opened my eyes.

If you’re going to solve their problems, you need to treat the underlying condition rather than just saying “you’re a bad person, now stop it.”

What about the social causes of drug use? We’ve seen the effects in the native population of sexual abuse at residential schools. This, along with violence at home and drug and alcohol use have contributed to drug problems in succeeding generations. This applies to the entire population. People who use drugs are often trying to escape something.

Rather than just treating the symptoms, you need to look at the root causes. The cure won’t take effect immediately. It will take a generation or two. That’s 25 to 50 years. I do not believe any of our politicians have the vision or the spine to be able to make the decisions now that will benefit future generations.

Instead, our politicians would rather institute short-term “solutions” that solve nothing but cause further harm but make their constituency feel better about themselves because “they’ve done something about it.”

I think we need to arrest our politicians for lying to us that they’re actually accomplishing something.

An obituary

2007-09-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

This from the Interior News from Smithers, B.C., May 29, 1973:

Services for late Robert Saffel

It was a sad and disbelieving group that gathered with Father Keane in St. Joseph’s Church for the funeral services of the late Robert Allen Saffel on the morning of Thursday, May 3^rd.

Saffel was killed instantly in an accident which occurred early on April 29 during the course of his duties as a timber faller.

He was 34 years old.

Among the mourners were his wife Isabelle Philippart, and his two young sons, Alain, four, and Christian Patrick, two.

He is also survived by his parents Kenneth and Bessie Drey, his sisters Dianah Drey and Mary Hann, and his brothers, Gerald, David and Steven Saffel, all of Smithers, and W. Dean of Spokane, Washington.

Assisting as pallbearers at the interment, which was by the DeFrane Funeral Home, were Gerard Auger, Dale Hann, Guy Albert, and brothers Gerald, David and Steven Saffel.

Born in Colville, Washington, Saffel first came to the Bulkley Valley in 1967, but served in the U.S. Navy for 4½ years, obtained an honorable discharge, and then earned a B.A. degree in Education at Eastern Washington State College before returning to the area to log.

There, in 188 words, was an event that has affected my entire life.

I was very young when it happened, but I have memories of that time that will be seared into my mind forever. I can close my eyes and it’s like it just happened. I can remember jumping up and down on my bed screaming and screaming. I remember being with my mom and my brother in the funeral home looking at my dad as he lay in his casket. Surprisingly, I don’t remember the funeral at all.

What struck me when I read this was that he was only 34 when it happened. I’m 38 now. It happened 34 years ago. How different would my life have been had he not died? I can’t imagine. It’s something I obviously would change if I could, but then, my life now would be radically different. Many of the people in my life now would not be with me, and that I wouldn’t change. And life goes on.

I knew he had finished his education degree, and I guess he was having difficulty finding work as a teacher at the time. This is why he was logging at the time. I never worked in the logging industry for this reason. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me. I have known a couple people who were working in fields that weren’t their main endeavour and had this happen to them.

You often aren’t left with many memories from age four, and I am the same way. I don’t have many memories of my dad, and that is difficult for me at times. Often I think of people who have passed away and I feel like it’s a way of honouring them. It’s a shame that two of my strongest memories of him relate to his death.

One of the funny memories I have of him involves him saving me from a very large malamute dog we had named Muff. Muff and I were playing outside. I had to have been three at the time. I had a winter coat with a hood on, and Muff grabbed me by the hood and started swinging me around by the hood. Can’t fault Muff (who must have weighed four times as much as me) he was just imitating the airplane game, except you don’t use the hood! So, my dad, obviously alerted my screams of terror, ran out and saved me. I still like dogs though.

I also remember playing Frisbee with some of the neighbourhood kids one time, and was struck in the nose by the Frisbee. Of course my nose started gushing, and once again, he came out and helped staunch the bleeding.

The old pink house we used to live in was a funny one. The wall in the hallway had been cut off about a foot above the floor. I remember coming out of my room all the time and crawling through that gap. Once there was a party at the house and I recall Ken, my granddad, playing the guitar and singing. That wasn’t uncommon. He used to play the mandolin too.

Searching...searching. This makes me feel optimized

2007-09-27T12:18:00.001-07:00

It’s funny how chance works. This week it happened to work in my favour as I travelled to Edmonton on Tuesday to attend a job fair at the Shaw Centre. As it turned out, I would be substantially delayed in attending that fair, but it was a good thing.

I walked in to the Shaw Centre and noticed a sign for the Massive Technology Show. Whoa, what’s this? And look, a panel discussion on search engine marketing. Hmmm, interesting.

I talked to the right person, Lindsay Smith, and she invited me in to check things out. It was more than worthwhile doing this. There were a number of interesting booths at the tradeshow, and even better, I attended a panel discussion called Search Marketing for Dummies. Considering I’m taking a course in search engine optimization and would like to work in this field, I was in the right place at the right time.

The panel included Martin Byrne of Yahoo!Canada and David Cree of ClearpathSEO, an Edmonton search engine optimization company. I managed to talk with David after the panel, and I might have some opportunity to work with him in the future. The panel was informative, interesting and certainly not sleep inducing. The focus was on the basics of SEO, but then so much about marketing seems to be about focusing on the basics. It’s something people tend to lose sight of.

I’ve always been a huge fan of tradeshows and conferences. I get a lot out of them. If you’re going to attend any of these kinds of events, you definitely have to go into them with the right attitude. My view is that they’re an incredible opportunity to learn and make great contacts. I suppose you could take the cynical view that it’s just an opportunity to get a bunch of schwag, free drinks and a day or two off work. : )

During the panel talk, Ken and David told everyone about a number of useful sites and organizations that would be useful to people interested in SEO. I think I was the only guy there who had half a dozen pages of notes. I guess it’s the journalist in me. I can’t help it!

I am definitely going to be looking to attend this show next year and search out other such shows to attend.

I’m doing well in my search engine optimization course so far and I am really enjoying it. I’m planning on signing up for another course on writing for the web. I think it would be a useful one. I am, in my opinion, a pretty good writer, but it’s always nice to get a different perspective on different kinds of writing. I believe that courses and books help to cut down the learning curve.

Job fair

I did finally make it to the job fair, and I have to admit to being a little disappointed. There really wasn’t much there that interested me. There were few information technology firms there. I guess as techy as it got was doing phone tech support for Dell. “Dude! You need a new computer!”

There were tons of oilfield jobs (go figure). I could work for the Edmonton Police or I could become a corrections officer. I doubt I’d really want to do those jobs. My passion really has been about marketing, the Internet, business and writing. I want to do something that incorporates those interests.

Other developments

I stayed the night at my parents’ house in Edmonton. It was nice to visit for a while. I also enjoyed eating some of the bread my mom made in her breadmaking course over at NAIT.

While I was there, I also had the opportunity to try and sell my mom on starting a website writing about health issues. She’s quite knowledgeable about health eating, healthy living and alternative medicine. My wife is already looking at developing a website on topics she’s interested in. It’s like I’m a cyber-pusher. “Psst, wanna start a website? I can help you out. It’s easy. You’ll love it.”

Both my wife and my mom have said they’re “not writers.” They should do a bit of surfing. There are lots of people who really aren’t writers, but they give it a shot anyway. Sometimes we wish they wouldn’t, but the web is a democratic medium.

It’s a shame to hear people say that they’re not writers and they don’t take a chance. I think the key is to have passion about a subject and that will help to overcome that mental block. Just ask someone you know to review what you’ve written. Get them to critique it: is it understandable? Free from major errors? Interesting? I’d say those are the fundamentals.

Maybe I just want everyone around me to develop websites so I can help them get lots of traffic and put my skills to use. : ) I’m sure I’ll be doing that soon enough anyway.

I am planning on revamping my series of websites in light of some of the new knowledge I’ve gained. I’d probably do that anyway, even without the new information! I just like doing that kind of stuff.

On that note, I spend a little time every day reviewing the traffic that comes to my journalism jobsearch site. I always find it fascinating how people find their way to it. Even more interesting is seeing just how high I rank for certain search phrases. I’m in the top 10 for a number of them, and sometimes in the top spot out of hundreds of thousands or millions of search results. Not bad for not really having put out much effort in the design and writing of my site. I just did a lot of things right at the time without really knowing it. I’d love to help others do the same, now that I know more about what I’m doing.

I think my background in business (accounting, marketing and entrepreneurship) along with my journalism degree (major in public relations) and journalism experience, really fit in nicely with search engine optimization and search engine marketing in general.

This weekend

Considering we’ve been doing so much work on our home here in Caroline, it might be appropriate to take a bit of a break and head up to Edmonton this weekend and check out the big home show.

I think we could use someone to help clear up the clutter, but we’ve been doing not a bad job of that so far. We’ve been working on clearing out our large storage locker and incorporating all of it into our small home. It hasn’t been an easy task and we’ve had to be pretty brutal in deciding what we want to keep and get rid of. It’s a good thing to do, because next time we move, it’ll be way easier after we’ve gotten rid of so many possessions. I doubt we’ll get rid of everything to the point we’ll be like hobos with a bag on a stick (nice ideal) but life will be easier.

Besides, who wants to get rid of DVDs like Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter series? God knows I need to unload a few books. Okay, a lot of books! My daughter seems to have taken after me in that respect.

Hopefully we’ll have the energy to continue the purge. It will be worth it in the end.

Green building & blogging comments

2007-09-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I've taken to commenting on other people's blogs which, in turn, has led me to actually doing more posting on mine. :)

One of the blogs I commented on actually came to me by way of my Stumbleupon page. It was the guy writing the Vancouver Green Business Journal. It's a blog, and I like the focus of it, so I decided to read it. Of course I could not resist making a comment. You know how long-winded I get too, and the text in my comment probably exceeds the amount written in this new blog so far!

Hey, green ideas and technology... they're a passion of mine. :) So, here's the comment I made there:

This development appears to be more about livability rather than sustainability. Livability is certainly important, especially in dense urban settings.

If they are looking at creating a sustainable building, they need to look at the types of materials used, its energy footprint, etc.

The energy issue is one of the most important, in my opinion. While Vancouver may not have a cold climate, heating and cooling is required. One way to be environmentally responsible and reduce the energy footprint is to super-insulate. This reduces the amount of energy required to heat and cool.

It seems that architects love glass. It's great stuff, and I love it too, but unless it's low-e glass, or it's serving a passive solar purpose, I believe it should be reduced. Maybe if it's triple-pane, argon-filled, low-e glass you can have it floor to ceiling.

What about a green roof? These are a lot easier to do in a low-rise building. Didn't hear that mentioned. Green roofs help to insulate and moderate the temperature. No heat island there. Other benefits are helping to clean the air and reduce the amount of runoff heading right into the sewer.

As for the heating and cooling system in these new homes, are they geothermal? You have your heating and cooling all in one system. Being driven by electricity, and B.C. having a lot of hydroelectric power, there are no greenhouse gas emissions associated with them. These systems will lead to a home using more electricity than it ordinarily would, but by super-insulating, you reduce the size of the system required and the electricity too.

It seems that geothermal is also quite often being used with in-floor heating systems, which many agree provide a more comfortable heating solution than forced air. I've heard you don't need to keep the place as warm because it's usually people's feet that get cold, making them want to turn up the heat. Also, with in-floor heat, the temperature is more consistent.

How about the lighting? Is it all compact fluorescent? I know designers love halogen, a big energy waster.

Are there low-flow toilets and flow restrictors on the showerheads? This one is way ahead of current thinking on construction, but what are they doing with the grey water? (Showers and sinks, as opposed to black water from toilets). I've seen some articles about systems to use grey water to feed into an outdoor irrigation system, reducing the amount of treated water required. Furthermore, what about runoff collection systems that collect excess runoff from the green roof and channel that into an outdoor irrigation system?

You could write a book about the kinds of materials used in new buildings. Are they using wood floors? Bamboo? Is the carpeting made of natural fibres? I know I hate new carpets for the off-gassing. For the construction, are wood studs or steel studs being used? Wood is arguably a better choice. Just think about every system in the house. What better choices could be made?

I'm not really sure whether this new development incorporated these types of systems. The focus was on design, at least in this article, to the exclusion of all else. It is something that is starting to change, but it needs to happen much more rapidly. The focus needs to be on changing the laws relating to new construction. It's much easier to design a new building incorporating these systems than it is to retrofit.

And who at these development and design firms are talking to buyers? Do you think buyers would be willing to pay a bit more for a home knowing that it is going to have a much lower environmental impact and maybe save them money over the building's life?

Quality of life is more than just square footage, view and the proximity of your neighbours.

Whew! Did you make it through that without falling asleep and drooling all over your keyboard?

Another blog I have been reading (and occasionally commenting on) more often lately is that of Karina, a fellow TRU j-school grad. She leads an interesting life down there in Vancouver and has interesting and entertaining things to say. Evidently I'm not the only one who thinks so. Her blog gets a lot of visitors and they love to comment. I have to give her a lot of credit for being honest in her blog and saying a lot of things I probably wouldn't.

You can also head over to Karina's travel blog. This girl has done some serious travelling! I only hope my passport will get stamped as much as hers has.

My other commenting exploits are on various political blogs. I won't bore you with the details of my inane comments there. I am not sure what I'm really contributing in those comments other than being another one of the sheep.

Obligatory post about OJ & something totally unrelated

2007-09-19T14:50:00.001-07:00

Oh how I miss high speed. I'm sitting here in the library right now listening to some streaming trance/techno music over iTunes. My dialup at home just won't cut it. The library closes in about 8 minutes. Hmmm.

In doing research for my latest search engine optimization course assignment. I found that one of my sites had a link through Stumbleupon. God, that always sets off a chain of time-wasting events. That's not always bad though.

I found Carrie & Danielle's site about personal style. They're in Vancouver if you're interested. Looking at it made me wonder what exactly I'm trying to project in my personal style. That's a hard one to figure out. I haven't got a clue. Maybe that's what I'm trying to project? If so, I'm a roaring success. Maybe I'll trade a little PR work for some style advice. :)

Now, I will inflict my point of view on you about this whole OJ thing. I almost wish I hadn't written it now. Too late for that though.

OJ fumbles freedom – charged in memorabilia robbery

If you got away with murdering your wife and her friend, don’t you think you’d try to keep a low profile after that, all the while promising God you’d be good?

As we all know too well, for OJ Simpson, this represents the path not taken, and it’s to our regret. Instead, he seems to lap up all the lurid and outrageous tabloid press he can. While he hasn’t topped the infamous murder acquittal from the mid 90s, he’s back in the spotlight after allegedly participating in an apparent repo (robbery) of his own memorabilia.

He has such good lawyers around him, you’d think they would have advised him not to participate in an armed robbery. Hey, too bad they weren’t around to advise him not to commit a double murder, but that’s another story. (Oh, he was acquitted you say? If OJ has a problem with me saying he’s a murderer, he can sue me. On the other hand, there might be those out there who have such a dim view of lawyers that that might say the lawyers would encourage him to commit murder so they can fleece him/represent him in court. Yes, a dim view that I do not hold…generally…I think. Probably. Most of the time.)

OJ has been arrested and has not been granted bail. Apparently he’s believed to be a flight risk. I am not sure about a flight risk, but maybe a driving risk. Hide the white Broncos in Vegas, if you know what I mean.

Who knows what really happened in that hotel room in Vegas? I guess what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

I only hope that the American justice system will finally lock up this moron for good. Hopefully we won’t be further insulted by a reality TV show about OJ’s life in jail. (Don’t bet on it.) Frankly, if I was his cellmate, I’d pretty worried.

It is unfortunate that I have a TV with lots of channels because he’s going to be all over the place in the next six months. His first trial was a circus and this one is going to be on par, maybe even more of a circus. You won’t be able to escape, unless you don’t watch TV, don’t listen to your radio, read newspapers or magazines and don’t use the Internet. I just hope his trial doesn’t get advertised on buses and billboards. Don’t read blogs either!! Haha!

Apparently now he’s been granted bail. He’s on the loose again. Thank God I’m not in Vegas.

Nuclear power in Alberta?

2007-08-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

So Alberta is thinking about nuclear energy now, something which is sparking debate in B.C. I am actually surprised because I figured more new coal plants would be the power generating method of choice.

With the Americans virtually demanding huge increases in production on the oilsands front, that will take massive amounts of power, and water. I would imagine that the power will come from the proposed nuclear plant.

That’s fine, but Western Canadians don’t really have that much experience with nuclear power. On the surface it seems like a great idea: little waste, no greenhouse gases and loads of cheap power.

I suspect that nuclear waste pales in comparison to the volume of coal slag and greenhouse gases, by weight, but what it lacks in volume, it makes up for in terms of danger. I’d much prefer having my yard paved with slag from a coal burner than radioactive waste, but that’s not saying much.

The other danger that nuclear reactors pose, and some communities in Ontario are going through, is the release of tritium. Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen that is found in heavy water, which cools reactors. Canadian CANDU reactors, the type proposed for the Peace River area, apparently produce far more tritium than other types of reactors.

From the reading I’ve done, it seems some of the tritium can be recycled, but the rest is just sprayed into the air! This document from the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility discusses the dangers of tritium. It’s interesting.

I’ve done a little writing on this tritium problem before.

Reviewing that post, it was interesting to see that the Canadian government’s idea of a safe level of tritium is 10 times that of the US and 7 times that of the World Health Organization. Sounds to me like our government is in the pocket of the nuclear industry, doesn’t care about the health of Canadians or both.

I think the residents of the Peace River and everyone downstream from this potential power plant needs to seriously consider the long-term health effects before they even consider the economic benefits. It might be nice to have lots of good paying jobs, but when your kids, grandkids and people around you are dying of cancer and other wonderful diseases, maybe that job isn’t worth so much.

In the current environment, I don’t believe our federal or provincial government really pay that much attention to the health effects of industry until it’s too late, or is just the focus of bad publicity. Releases of toxins from these plants are inevitable, but what levels are really acceptable? I think the WHO and the US could give some advice to the Canadian government on these issues. How weird is that? We knock Americans for their apparently frivolous attitude to the environment, yet they have stronger environmental laws than Canada. I guess Canadians would like to think they’re better than Americans (on environmental issues) even if we aren’t.

On the economic side of things, I’m sure that nuclear power looks like a really cheap way of generating power. I don’t have a huge amount of time to research this today, but I do have some thoughts.

Having been an accountant in the past, I’m well used to the type of thinking that only focuses on the immediate capital and startup costs involved in a purchase, rather than the full life-cycle accounting that should be done on major projects. I bet it looks really good from that standpoint on this project.

But what about the almost inevitable environmental damage that will likely result? If tritium is allowed to be released in similar quantities to other CANDU reactors, is anyone going to factor in the increased healthcare costs and the costs of premature deaths into the equation?

How about the cost of disposing of the waste in a safe manner? Is that being factored in?

This project is apparently going to cost about $6 billion, but will likely cost even more. I know how that goes. Also, is this company going to be publicly subsidized at all? Perhaps it would be a good idea to force the company to also post a substantial bond (in the hundreds of millions, if not a billion) so that it can’t run away from any environmental problems that might arise from the project.

I don’t think that these kinds of projects should be publicly subsidized. It would be ironic if in pro-business Alberta that a company like this does poke its nose into the public purse. But then, the oilsands do tend to make politicians in Alberta a little crazy. It seems that just letting them do whatever they want up there is the norm.

I would be interested to see a real, honest comparison of all different options to generate the same amount of power. It would be good to factor in the environmental costs and the full life-cycle costs into coming up with a dollars per kilowatt figure. Maybe if people in Peace River saw that kind of analysis, they might want to go with something else.

I might be willing to give nuclear power serious consideration if I trusted Canadian governments to do what is necessary to protect the health and welfare of Canadians rather than protecting the welfare of corporations. Until that happens, I will remain a skeptic that this project could be done safely, on budget and without public funds.

Chinese products

2007-08-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have never been a fan of Chinese products. Let me get that out of the way right now. I find that they are very often poorly made, use inferior materials and are often lacking in the design department, both in functionality and general utility.

That being said, I find the large amount of news stories about garbage Chinese products to be quite interesting. Would you like lead paint on your children's toys? Toxins in your toothpaste? Unsafe tires? Or just some food unfit for human consumption?

It's a neverending story really. It's nice to see that the media has finally caught on about the garbage being shipped over by the containerload to this continent. Just what we need, more landfill. Is our society not wasteful enough?

In our mad rush to get a great deal, we're effectively saving ourselves to death. I would love to see an end to the Wal-Mart mentality, but I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon. That mentality spans the consumers, the retailers and the suppliers. Everyone is so greedy, either wanting the best deal or to make the most profit that they cut corners, using unsafe materials or designs. It's pathetic, and it needs to end.

When are people going to realize that going the "cheapest" route really is more expensive? It's the same old thing: price vs value. The lowest price is not always the best value. Sure, you could buy $10 shoes from China every month, but they kill your feet and eventually your back. They're landfill in short order. Why not buy some European shoes for $200 or more that will actually last you for several years? I've got some I still wear and they're over seven years old. Back then I paid $175 for them. They're cheaper and better in the long run.

It's funny that people are so pissed about the dangerous products coming over here. I guess nobody believes the old saying: you get what you pay for. Perhaps we're getting more than we bargained for in terms of toxic landfill though.

Life is always interesting

2007-08-03T11:53:00.002-07:00

You know, it has been a while since I blogged, but then, I say that every time I blog lately. Life has a way of interfering with our best intentions. Certainly my lack of Internet connection at home probably has more to do with it.

Life has been a roller coaster lately. First we were buying a new modular home, then it was going to be a house, then my wife lost her job. Now, we aren't buying anything and we're not sure where we're going to be next. We really don't want to leave, but it looks like that will be what is going to happen. We shall see.

In change there is opportunity though. We're examining the possibility of working overseas, which could be really exciting. The kids are looking forward to it, sort of. Perhaps it will be the UK, Australia, New Zealand or maybe even Japan. Any suggestions?

Surprise!

We headed slightly north of Edmonton the other day, to Morinville. My wife had an interview there.

The best part of the whole trip was who I ran into. Anyone remember Nicole Davis from j-school? I was talking with the publisher of the paper there (who just happen to be looking for a reporter) and Nicole saw me at the front desk. What a shock that was!

So Nicole has a new last name and has been there for a couple years. It was neat to catch up with her and find out what has been happening with her. I just love it when that kind of stuff happens. Life can be full of pleasant surprises. I had wondered what she'd been up to.

Morinville would be a nice place to be, though expensive for housing. Seems like a nice community.

Motor vehicles

My van is showing its age and is needing a few repairs. I don't want to put a huge amount of work into it, but might have to if I want to get the thing registered in Alberta. We're looking at a used vehicle, which happens to be a reasonably priced diesel Mercedes. We're going to look at it today to see if it's a realistic possibility.

Not much else to report. We've been having fun travelling around central Alberta with the kids and checking out the sights. They're going to be heading back to Willy's Puddle for a while, and come back for the fall to go to school. I hope we've found a place to settle before then!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last night the whole family went to Rocky Mountain House to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I think the universal feeling was that the movie wasn't that great, but we're still big fans of the series. I can't totally put my finger on what it was that I didn't like, but I'll try.

The movie seemed kind of choppy and didn't flow well. The action sequence at the end was not bad, but the rest of the movie just didn't do it for me. I wasn't a fan of the film quality either. I'm used to a crisp look with vibrant colours, rather than the drab, grainy look this movie had. It can be crisp and vibrant while still being "dark."

It also seemed that compressing the movie to 2.25 hours rather than the usual three seemed to leave out some explanations and scenes that would have been useful. Call it a gut feel, but I'd have to go back to the book and figure out what would be good to add.

While the movie is predictable for Potter fans, the director didn't seem to be able to do enough in this movie to make viewers really care much. Or was it the actors? Hmm, who to blame? I just hope the next one is better.

I guess the new director didn't do such a great job overall. Some of the online reviews weren't that great and I figured I'd give the movie a chance anyway. Apparently this director is doing the next movie as well. Let's hope it's better, but try someone different for the last one.

I was more impressed with the sheet lightning we saw in Central Alberta last night than I was with the movie. It's a 40 kilometre drive back to Caroline and we had a light show the whole way. Too bad I was too tired to get out my camera and spend the night outside. Next time. And there will be a next time, considering all the thunderstorms lately.

Six more Canadian soldiers dead

2007-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here in the laundrymat in Caroline, fighting with the pathetic equipment, surfing and cursing smokers. Yes, the laundrymat is at a gas station and the people who run it smoke. Go figure.

In my travels on the web I read some sad news that another six Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed today in Afghanistan. I feel sorry for them and their families.

Once again it brings up the issue of whether Canada should be in Afghanistan or not. Should they be? I don't know. More importantly, the issue is if they are going to be there, are they adequately protected? This is an issue the U.S. government has taken heat over in inadequately equipping its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I can't remember where I'd heard it, but apparently Canadian soldiers are dying at a much higher rate than U.S. soldiers. I suppose it's partially due to the nature of the mission they've taken on there now, but I can't help feeling like they are not protected like they should be either. I'm sure there are many critics who'd say that it's war and shit happens, but is that really always the case?

Our soldiers deserve the best equipment if they are going over and laying their lives on the line. We owe them nothing less than that. To send them in to harm's way without adequate protection is nothing short of criminal. Yes, war is a dangerous business, but you can take steps to minimize those dangers.

So soon after Canada Day, I fear our politicians will wrap themselves in the flag and ignore any criticism that our soldiers might not have the right equipment for the job. Maybe they should be the ones explaining to the families why we don't have better equipment there.

God knows if our politicians had to serve in Afghanistan, they'd have the best protection the Canadian taxpayer could buy.

As for how the mission itself is "progressing," I wonder if there might be some lessons for the Canadian government in Seymour Hersh's book Chain of Command, The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib. I'm only part way through it right now, but the contention is that the U.S. has completely fucked up the "war on terror."

Now, I haven't gone that far into it yet to find out if Hersh's contention is that this fuck up is deliberate or accidental. After all, with the Soviet Union out of the way as the bogeyman, the world needs another. Why not Islamic fundamentalist/terrorists? That's not to excuse what any of them have done, but why not go into Iraq and really stir up the pot? This way we can support our buddies (and ourselves via stock options and higher stock prices) in the military/industrial complex?

What's the first rule of journalism? Happy hour is at 5 p.m. Oh, no, wrong rule. Ummm, follow the money. If you want to really understand what's happening there, just follow the money. Those yellow bricks in the road are gold ones, and companies like Halliburton are sucking them up like coke to a Hollywood celebutard or a campaign contributions to a Washington Republitard.

I might like to continue on a rant about smokers, but in light of today's events, I'll dispense with any trivialities on my thoughts about them.

Trips and suicides

2007-06-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had an enjoyable weekend down in the Southwest corner of Alberta. We decided to do something a little different and drove down Highway 22 to Crowsnest Pass. We went into B.C. and stayed the night in Sparwood.

Coincidentally it was Coalminer Days and we watched the fireworks there on Friday night. The next day we headed into Fernie and checked out the town and the ski hill. The area is very nice. I took a number of interesting photos on the trip too.

Please, just kill yourself

A couple of prominent murder-suicides have hit the news in the past couple days. A Canadian wrestler decided to kill his wife and son and then himself. The same thing happened in Toronto where a man decided to kill his wife and her mother. He also attempted to kill his step-daughter before killing himself.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, anyone who would like to commit suicide is encouraged to only kill themselves. While I do not agree with suicide, I will say that killing "loved ones" before killing yourself is the ultimate act of cowardice. If there is a hell, I hope the cruelest punishment is reserved for people that commit such a heinous act.

I can't believe that there are people out there that think that they have some kind of moral authority to make such a decision. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised though, considering the number of murders committed every year on this planet. I think that anyone contemplating murder should be invited to just kill themselves and spare everyone else the heartbreak. Suicide is sad, but murder-suicide is worse.

Update

2007-06-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been doing some job hunting. There are some good opportunities, including one working with family that looks like it might be one of the best ones. It would be in the oil and gas industry, but I wouldn’t have to do the typical job. The money is pretty good and I will be doing some interesting stuff. I am not sure when that will get started though. You know how it goes with setting up new positions.

Not much luck on the media job front, as I haven’t been looking too hard there. I had a couple interviews at the local paper, but it turns out they’re actually looking for a sports reporter now. C’est la vie. I haven’t done sports writing, but I love sports photography.

Much of my time has been consumed by trying to get the whole deal put together on our new house. It’s maddening dealing with contractors and such here. Try to nail down anyone to a specific date on anything. Good luck.

We’re moving out our old mobile, which is a very nice place actually, just too small. The new modular home is much bigger and much nicer. The kids really like it and I had hoped to have it moved in by July 1 when they are here for a month. It’s not looking like that will happen, but maybe mid-July. The kids have said they want to move here for the fall for school, so that will be nice. They’ll have their nice new rooms for sure by then.

As for what happens to the old one, well, we’re working on that. It’s a serious hassle because I’m not the only one with the same problem. I have a different solution I’m working on and I don’t want to publicize it. I don’t want to give everyone the same idea and mess it up for me. I will know after this weekend how it works out. It’s looking good though.

I can’t wait to be done with all this house stuff. I’ve been getting bored with it and I want to get back to work soon.

I should get some good photos this weekend. :)

Dollars and interviews

2007-06-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well now, we have a 94 cent dollar against the U.S. How nice. It's okay if you're going to Disneyland. That's the plan anyway. The kids have always wanted to go, me included, so we'll hopefully make it there this fall.

What is the effect going to be on the economy? It's anyone's guess, but we might be looking at our dollar being worth as much as the US dollar pretty soon.

Interview

I had an interview yesterday with a local paper that I'd really like to work at. It went very well and I think they'd be really good to work for. That's what really counts, a good place to work. So many are stuck at places where there is a poisonous work environment and/or they're stuck there. Never a good situation. I've experienced it many times in the past.

So I've got my fingers crossed for that one. If it doesn't work out, there are so many options for work here it's hard to decide. As I mentioned before, I had someone approach me about the possibility of doing real estate assessment. That sounds interesting to me. I'm interested in real estate and it'd put some of my accounting skills to good use again. I also had someone talk to me about car sales. I've never done that before, but I do enjoy sales, and it sounds like the money can be pretty good too.

I should know by next week what's happening with this week's interview. If I had my choice, I'd take the newspaper job. :) So, I'm not sure what's going to happen, but either way, I'm not worried. I know things will work out for the best one way or another.

I think sitting back and looking for opportunities that I want to stick with for the long haul will prove to be a good strategy, I'm quickly getting to the point where I'm going to have to find something to do. Finances are not really the issue, but wanting to get out and get busy is. I admit to being a little bored.

One thing I have been doing is researching some ideas I've been given about doing photography as a career. Wedding and stock photography are a couple of possibilities, and I could do them concurrently. I recently picked up a Canon 70-200 mm f/4 IS USM lens, and oh man is it ever nice! That fills a big hole in my lens lineup. I'm looking at some others, but won't add them until I'm earning a few bucks. I had to add a new camera bag in there too. I picked up the LowePro Slingshot 300, which should cover me for a long time. I thought my LowePro Topload Zoom AW would be fine, but that 70-200 was just too big and I couldn't have my 18-55 mm in the bag at the same time.

Other lenses I'm debating adding are the Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8 and the 24-105 mm f/4 IS. The jury's out on that one. They're both about the same price, and it'd be nice to have the f/2.8, but I like the flexibility of the 24-105. I won't pick it up for a little while anyway. Other lenses I'm looking at are the 100 mm macro from Canon. It's f/2.8 too, and I could do a lot with it. I love macro photography. People hate walking with me when I've got my camera and I see flowers on the ground. I can spend 20 minutes in one spot. Yeah, I'm a thrilling companion on a hike. ;)

No matter what I do for a full-time regular job, I plan on getting out and taking photos anyway. I still would like to start doing the stock photography thing. I understand it can be quite lucrative if you're producing the right stuff. Having done ad design and layout, I know the value of good art, and I have lots of ideas about what I could do.

One lens I looked at that was really nice was an 85 mm f/1.2. But, it's pricy at about $2400! Yikes! Great portrait lens, but you need to be doing portraits a lot to justify it. Eventually. :)

I'd also like a nice wide angle lens, but I'm not sure what to go with on that one yet. Maybe I'll go for that when I pick up a Canon 5D (eventually) with a full frame sensor. I love my 30D, and there are advantages to the 1.6x multiplier, but I think you lose on the wide end. That's a couple years away anyway.

That about covers it for lenses that I would want. Any suggestions?

Rate hikes and other fun stuff

2007-05-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Before I get into what I think about the latest round of mortgage rate hikes, I ought to let you know what I've been up to.

Has it really been over two weeks since my last entry? Well, it's been a busy one. My wife and I are working on getting a new house, but have been running into road block after road block. I have found it interesting coming out to Alberta and confronting the labour shortage head on. One thing that's suffered? Customer service. You'd better not be in a hurry for anything out here. Getting anything done takes forever. I guess that's why everyone drives so fast out here. They're just trying to make up some time while they can, not that it's a good excuse.

Thankfully we have a place to live here already. If you've been watching the news you may have noticed stories about rent gouging out here by apartment owners who know they can get away with it. The government here would rather side with free enterprise rather than protect citizens from unethical business practices. I suppose if there'd been a hurricane they might stop price gouging on water, food and gas. Hmmmm. Okay, water and food anyway. We're being gouged on gas anyway. I don't know why a hurricane would make a difference.

One thing that has been refreshing has been the friendly people of Alberta. I looked forward to that and have not been disappointed. We've hardly run into any unfriendly people. I'm sure they're out there, somewhere. It's really odd when you find such friendly people, not that people in B.C. are unfriendly, but have a ways to go to catch up to Alberta. Just today a fellow came by to do a home evaluation (bank's request) and after he was done, he asked me if I wanted to go for coffee. Sure! So that was good. Still getting used to it, but it's a good thing to have to get used to.

I applied for a reporter/photographer job at a local paper too. I really hope I get this one. It's the one job I wanted, even before I moved here. There are still other papers in the area, but this is the one I want.

I'm confident about things on the job front. I haven't gone out and got a burger flipping job right away because I had stuff to do and also wanted to really concentrate my search on jobs I really want and want to stay at for a while. I know one place where I could be flipping burgers for $15 an hour though, and they make incredible donairs. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. It's close to supper for me and that burger flipping job is sounding really good right now. :)

Now I'll move on to a bit of a drier topic, so you can stop reading if you aren't interested in economics. : )

Bank rates

It was with a little bit of shock that I read that banks are increasing their interest rates right now. I know the reason: the Bank of Canada is afraid of inflation and has indicated they are very likely going to increase rates this summer and this fall.

The Bank of Canada really seems to think that fighting inflation is the only thing it's actually there for. The dollar jumped to over 93 cents US on the news of the likely rate hikes.

The BOC knows damn well what these rate hikes are going to do: kill the economy. They're hoping to only bleed off a little of the economic growth, which is ahead of their expectations. This is going to happen in a few ways. Exporters are crying the blues because their products are effectively more expensive as the dollar goes higher, making it more likely that manufacturing plants and all sorts of jobs will locate offshore. Canadians will also be more likely to shop outside the country, particularly the U.S., hurting Canadian retailers. Travel by U.S. citizens, already on the decline, will decline further as the dollar increases. Americans make up the largest percentage of tourists in Canada, if you didn't know. Hopefully that will be partially made up by an increase of European and Asian tourists. Our strong dollar also makes it cheaper for Canadians to travel abroad, meaning they spend less at home.

A high dollar is good if you're looking to buy outside of the country or are an importer. That is a good thing, but what is the right level for the dollar? I certainly don't think it's 93 cents US. We need to have a middle of the road level that splits the difference between exporters and importers.

Making this all more difficult is the U.S. government. When the difference between U.S. and Canadian interest rates broaden, so our dollar strengthens. There are other factors of course, but that one really drives it. Other factors driving our dollar's strength? Well, the U.S. is weak economically, with record budget deficits and a massive debt. Canada got that all under control years ago, and has benefited ever since. With Bush having another year and a half to go, he can still do a lot of damage in that time. He appears to be pushing for another war, this time with Iran, and that will make the debt and deficit worse. I think it would be enough to push the world into a recession if that happens. Oil prices are high now, but they'll be insane if Bush starts another war. Hmmm. That might just decrease interest rates here, along with increasing the unemployment rate.

Now wasn't that fun? I wasn't just showing off my knowledge of economics. Hell, I might be wrong on a lot of it. :) I just needed to do a little bit of writing and that got me going, especially now that I'm in the process of working on a mortgage.

I'm still here

2007-05-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Considering how much I used to post on my blog, you'd think I had forgotten about it. Well, I haven't, I have just been busy. It doesn't help that I haven't hooked up to the Internet at our new place.

We've been busy arranging for a mortgage on a new home and I've been getting acclimatized to Alberta. I'm searching for a job. Haven't found anything really earthshattering yet, but I'm hoping that something good comes up before too long. Why is it that all the interesting writing jobs are in Calgary right now?

I've been considering pursuing photography a little more. I've had a lot of good suggestions from people about that lately, including a friend in Williams Lake who directed me to a potentially lucrative site. I had another person suggest that wedding photography might be a good possibility, especially in Red Deer. My jaw dropped when I heard the fees they charge, not that I'd be up to that rate immediately.

For the near future it seems I will lead life as a general contractor (for our new house) and hopefully find a good job to go along with that.

So, life has been interesting.

Moving is done: for now

2007-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well, one part of the journey is over, and the next is set to begin.

Yes, I am now officially living in Caroline, Alberta. I guess I was technically a resident back in March, but I was back in B.C. shortly thereafter to wrap things up in Williams Lake.

The move was extremely tiring, with many long days and nights. I rediscovered that I can push myself to extraordinary limits physically and mentally, when I want to. Moving taxes you in both ways. I was rather surprised to find that I was only exhausted after the move. My back was fine and I wasn’t stiff at all.

I thought I had more of my stuff packed than I really had. It’s a good thing my wife came back a little early to help me out, otherwise we would still be packing! It had been about 7 years since I’d last moved. Moving back and forth to school doesn’t really count because you’re not moving the whole house. It was also a good thing I’d moved several loads to Alberta with my van in the preceding months as well as getting my dad to move one truckload of all the outdoorsy-type stuff (BBQ, etc).

In the past few years we’ve also been unloading a lot of stuff we knew we did not need. Thank God for that, otherwise the biggest Uhaul truck you can get (at 26 feet, which we had) would still not have been enough. As it was, it was just enough.

I’ve been on a bit of an anti-consumerism kick lately, and it was only reinforced on the Friday and Saturday it took to pack and load up the truck. I am a collector no longer, or so I keep telling myself. My goal is to rid myself of half of my belongings in the coming months. Being a packrat is like being an alcoholic I think. It’s with you forever, but you can overcome it! No more “just in case.” Our small town should have a few good garage sales coming up! : )

Fortunately, the trip went very well. It was an amazingly long 14.5 hour drive for me. I stuck to the speed limit generally (not so much on the downhills) and we got surprisingly good gas mileage in that heavily loaded truck. We expected the gas to cost us about $750 but it was only around $375. Nice! We've also discovered just how expensive moving really is: truck rental, gas, storage, eating out, boxes, etc. At least it's all tax deductible.

We got here late on Sunday night, and the most stressful part of the move had not been resolved: where do we put all our stuff? Luckily, we found a nearby storage locker and we were able to quickly move our stuff inside, with many thanks to Denelle, one of my wife’s employees.

Now I am busy getting ready to move in a brand new modular home. The fun part is that we’re moving out the old trailer and moving in a new house. God, I’m a glutton for punishment. I’ve already done this type of thing three times, so it’s not so bad. The last one I did was way worse, and I could write a book about it.

While I’m doing all this, I’m looking for a job. This part of Alberta is extremely busy, so I only need to decide what I want to do! First I will be in contact with all the local papers.

So, if you wondered what I’ve been up to lately, that about sums it up. I don’t have an Internet connection at home yet, so the local library is where I have to log in.

Damn I wish I had my BBQ

2007-04-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

Doing a little surfing of j-schooler blogs and their friends, I found a cool little video about a South African braai. Without doing a Google search on just what that means (and the inevitable half-day wasted by most Google searches and link chasing) I am assuming that it means BBQ.

Remember, it's serious men's business. You ladies just wouldn't understand.

Damn, it's almost midnight, but I'd be out there BBQing anyway. I can crack a Guinness though. :)

My BBQ is gone because my dad took a load of our stuff to Alberta today, BBQ included. It was tough to part with that beautiful stainless steel masterpiece of grilling technology (the BBQ, not my dad).

Virginia Tech tragedy

2007-04-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

If you were looking for something to divert the American media’s insatiable attention from the Anna Nicole Smith sage, you found it. Sadly, it came in the form of a mass murder at the campus of Virginia Tech.

It is, in many ways, unbelievable to think that one person could be responsible for the deaths of 33 people. There is absolutely no excuse for what this person has done. Who would really want their legacy to be such a horrific event? Only a very sick person.

I’ve said it before, and it deserves repeating, if you’re thinking of mass murder, kill yourself before you commit such an unconscionable act.

People ask how this could happen, and we’re finding out there were some serious warning signs that seem to have been ignored. When are we going to listen to the calls for help from these people? I don’t want to blame the victims for what happened either. Unfortunately, these types of crimes are often committed by those who are marginalized in society. This is how they lash out and seek their vengeance, right or wrong. This is not blaming society either, but we do need to be more attuned to the needs/signals of these kinds of people. We can’t continue to push them away until they disappear. They won’t.

What we need to do is give these people some treatment options. We certainly don’t need to be giving them guns. No, I do not believe in gun control, I believe in people control. There are some people out there that just should not have guns in their possession. They are mentally unstable, are sociopaths or psychopaths or some combination of these. I expect the calls for gun control will soon follow this massacre. It’s a natural reaction, but it won’t stop mass killers. Gun control will not help. What needs to happen is that there have to be much better and more thorough background checks on people before any weapons licenses are issued to them. And if they’re not granted one, they might just get an illegal gun from some punk on the street. What can you do about that?

Perhaps these types of people will just change to a more deadly attack, such as suicide bombs. It’s unfortunate that the people of Iraq are all too familiar with this type of attack. These attacks kill dozens of Iraqis on a daily basis. I don’t want to minimize this mass shooting, but Iraqis face a far worse problem on a daily basis. It’s not something the American media really want to acknowledge, preferring instead to focus on Anna Nicole
Smith, occasional American deaths in Iraq and this latest mass killing.

Apparently no concealed weapons were allowed on the Virginia Tech campus. What would have happened if there had been a few students there who had concealed weapons and knew how to use them? I’m sure this scumbag could have been stopped sooner with many fewer lives lost. This cold-blooded killer knew he was walking into a building full of innocent, defenseless students and teachers. Would he have thought twice if he knew that somewhere along the line there were likely students who were capable of stopping him? We’ll never know but by allowing concealed carry permits after extensive background checks and testing, we might increase the odds of survival for the next mass killing.

Inevitably the question is being asked: why? Inevitably, the crackpots come out of the woodwork and blame Dungeons and Dragons, pornography, video games, the Internet, music, TV, movies, etc. I’ve heard it all before, and I don’t believe it. The idea that violence in these forms of media would cause someone to commit such an act are absurd. If this theory held any water, the population of North America should be extinct by now. Sorry, but if you think Grand Theft Auto, AC/DC, rap, The Sopranos, D&D, or whatever cause these types of events, you’re an idiot. I can’t state it more simply. Consuming these kinds of media does not lead to these types of crime.

Now, that’s not to say that all these types of media are healthy for all people. I certainly wouldn’t let my son, who is 11, consume any of the examples I’ve noted, aside from maybe Dungeons and Dragons.

Let’s hope that in the future we can recognize the signs in those around us that might lead us to believe that someone is about to commit such an act and that we’ll do something about it. We can’t just hope that someone else will do it. We each are responsible to our fellow citizens to put a stop to people like this.

Race relations strained

2007-04-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Free speech does have its limits, as American radio host Don Imus is discovering.

Last week Imus, a radio host for WFAN and a corresponding TV show on MSNBC, made racist comments about a mainly black Rutgers women’s basketball team. The flap has cost him his TV show and advertisers are abandoning the controversial host.

One MSNBC exec commented on the firing saying the issue was about hate and that “nice is going to be the new black. I don’t mean in terms of race, I mean in terms of style.” That’s the kind of comment I would not be making, especially with the racial hypersensitivity out there right now.

Imus has also been suspended for two weeks, with Friday being his last day before the suspension. He went on a radio show with black leader Rev. Al Sharpton to apologize and discuss the issue. Sharpton is no stranger to controversy himself and was involved in a controversy about a black woman who was raped in the late 80s, named Tawana Brawley.

Sharpton has been accused of being a racist himself, apparently making anti-Semitic comments in the past.

There’s really no excuse for making comments like this from anyone, and I think that a two-week suspension should be sufficient for Imus. I don’t think he should lose his job, but that is exactly what might happen. Is his apology real? Who will ever know? But how much do you have to apologize before it’s enough? Does he need to lose his job? I don’t think so.

Lately, celebrity racist comments have really been hitting the news, from Michael Richards to Mel Gibson. When are people going to stop? If you have those thoughts, keep them to yourself. That goes for whites, blacks, chinese, etc. If you have racist thoughts, keep it to yourself. Think that racism is only a white problem? Then you are naïve.

Racism is a problem with every race. I remember many years ago reading about riots in China because black men (students from an African country) were dating Chinese women.

And why are people racist anyway? I think it’s genetic. People have always had a tendency to associate with people like themselves. It’s tribal. Our ancestors were all in tribes of some sort, if you go back far enough, whether black, Caucasian, asian, etc.

Hey, maybe I’m wrong. Here’s an interesting perspective about why people are racist and it says that nobody is born racist, but racism results from ignorance and fear of anything unfamiliar. Could be. I like this perspective on why people are racist. The essence of it is that man is acting on instinct and compares man to animals. It goes on to say that we can overcome our instincts if we make a conscious effort to do so. Evidently there is hope for everyone to make a change.

So maybe we should accept apologies and work with people to enhance relations, rather than being destructive and calling for heads on a pike. I believe a confrontational approach only forces people to become entrenched in their positions and focus on the punishment rather than the offence. Wouldn’t it be more constructive to help to educate people and focus on the harm their prejudices cause, rather than just focusing on punishing them? By taking this approach we’re not correcting the behaviour, we’re actually reinforcing it, ironically. The person who is being punished will only develop a further hatred for the class of people he may have discriminated against. How’s that constructive?

This leads into another ability that humans possess, and that’s the ability to forgive. Yes, we all know how to punish, and that ability is well-developed. The human ability to forgive isn’t so well-developed.

The constant focus on punishment will only serve to divide us. Forgiveness, hopefully, will do more to unite us.

What I know is that discrimination is a very destructive force in society and it comes in many forms. Another is class discrimination, which can be closely tied to racism; so much for hiring people based on ability. Let’s just stereotype.

A quick scan of the news these days gives me the impression that we’re more than a long ways away from some kind of Star Trek utopia. People can change, we just need to have that willingness to do it.

War with Iran?

2007-04-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have always liked reading Gwynne Dyer's opinions. He always provides an interesting perspective on what is happening in our crazy world.

The first time I really heard about him was during the first Gulf War. Gulf War One? Anyway, he was on TV a lot at that time talking about what was happening and speculating on where things might go. I think I heard him speak when I was going attending CNC in Prince George. It's getting back a ways.

He wrote an interesting column on what would have happened if the Iranians had tried to capture Americans instead of British troops. Bush would have had his reason to go to war, according to Dyer. He's not the first person to say it either. Lots are talking about Bush just looking for a reason to open up a third front in the "war on terror."

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former U.S. National Security Advisor, testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations commission on the U.S. possibly setting up a "false flag" event to give the pre-text to go to war with Iran. You'd think that would have been big news when a guy with his background says something like this, but you won't find it on the mainstream media.

And here he is talking about the Iraq war and how the U.S. has actually increased the terror threat against it. Some might say that this was the goal in the first place. Without the Soviet Union to be the big boogeyman, the U.S. needed another enemy. Enter Islam.

Getting back to Gwynne Dyer, apparently he was speaking recently on the potential for war related to climate change. How delightful. Nobody should be surprised that anything that happens could potentially lead to war. People are so damn stupid.

On the other hand, I always remain hopeful (naive?) that we might be able to sort out our differences and solve some of our problems. George Bush has two years left to go. He can do a hell of a lot of damage in that time. Let's hope he doesn't get the opportunity.

Other activities

I've been looking at lots of interesting stuff online lately. My interests are extending into citizen journalism and I've also been checking out networking sites.

It seems everyone wants to get you signed up for their networking site from classmates.com to facebook to tagged to where are you now, etc. The latest one I am on now is tagged.com. I don't see the harm in it. I could spend the whole day just keeping track of people and stuff I'm involved in... but I don't. Maybe I'll do that in the middle of winter when the cabin fever is at its worst, but the weather is too nice for that now. :)

On the citizen news front I ran across an interesting site called iTalknews.com. I figured I'll try my hand at editing stories on there and maybe doing some writing too. I'm still not convinced that citizen journalism is going to replace mainstream media, though it is an interesting diversion. Citizen journalism is typically not up to the same standards the mainstream media is at. You might be critical of mainstream media (and I am at times) but I have to say that the information is generally more reliable.

One of the big problems with citizen journalism is trying to check out what is happening all over. You'd be going to thousands of sites. This is where an aggregator could do a good job. That is essentially what the big media players are. On the other hand, that is what some people like about citizen journalists. They're local.

Bank systems and technology? Where'd that come from?

2007-04-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

During a random blog walk around the net, I ran across an article that I thought was interesting, so I thought I'd email the author. You just never know what I'm going to find interesting. I think I'm ill! :)

Check out the link for the article I commented on. It was talking about how businesses haven't instituted controls to protect their networks and intellectual property, etc.

I see some similarities between this issue and financial controls. In my experience as an accountant (now journalist) I found that controls and separation of duties was minimal in most of the companies I worked at, particularly small ones. On a practical note, most businesses are to small to be able to afford to have a separate individual responsible for tasks that should be done by another person.

What surprises me is how little oversight there really is. I'm surprised there isn't more fraud going on.

The other thing that comes into play is that even if they could afford it, they wouldn't do it. Downsizing is a great way to increase company profits, as outsourcing is also. Unfortunately, these types of policies, while they look good in the short term, are harmful to the company in the long term.

It's too bad most business journalists tend to focus just on what is happening without questioning whether it should be happening. I think shareholders, at least those who are investing in a company in the long term, would like to know what management is not doing.

I'd like to see the results of a survey that asked businesses why they hadn't instituted proper controls. I'd be willing to bet, if they were honest, that budget would be the real reason proper controls aren't in place.

The things I saw while I was an accountant were interesting, and sometimes disturbing. I did learn that things really boil down to money, as they so often do. Businesses trust people to do their jobs and often provide little real oversight, leaving themselves open to fraud, theft, etc.

The problems were especially acute among small businesses where one person often performed a number of duties, but large organizations were by no means immune to these problems. And in the case of large organizations, I learned that audits aren't really worth a hell of a lot. Before you spit out your coffee, perhaps you could tell me about companies like Enron, Nortel and the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Think Canada's immune from these kinds of problems? Nortel is a Canadian company. Some might say the U.S. has done more to try to stop corporate fraud than Canada has. The U.S. brought in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to try to deal with this problem. How ironic that this link on Sarbanes-Oxley comes from the Center for Audit Quality.

Small business is often at a disadvantage in dealing with these issues. Many small business owners are ill-equipped to deal with them due to lack of funds and lack of awareness. While running my newspaper and selling advertising, I found that most of the small businesses I walked into weren't very well educated when it came to advertising and marketing either, so we shouldn't be surprised when they aren't equipped to deal with fraud, financial controls and protecting their intellectual property.

I guess it comes down to a lack of education. It's unfortunate too, because a little education, I think, could make many small business owners much more successful. I often walked into businesses to sell an ad and would find that the owner couldn't tell me about their unique selling proposition. (Why should I do business with you?) And forget having a marketing plan. I rarely found a business with a professionally designed logo I could use so that they could have a consistent, high-quality logo used in their advertising. I was often scanning logos out of other ads and cleaning them up.

If I had any advice for someone thinking of running a business, particularly retail, I would suggest they get some education in business, particularly in the areas of accounting, finance, marketing and information technology. It would be good to focus on budgeting, economics and people skills too.

It's important to know about the core aspects of your business, whatever that might be, but the issues I've listed above are also important. While you might not be responsible for them directly in your business, if you haven't developed a certain level of sophistication in them, you have the potential for problems in your business. The education doesn't have to be formal; it could be through experience, reading, etc. But you should get those skills. They don't guarantee success, but will help.

I also know from experience that many small business owners are reluctant to admit they have little knowledge in those areas. A little knowledge can go a long way in helping to provide some oversight of people who might be providing those services for you so you know when they are feeding you a line of BS.

I remember when I was working as an accountant providing bookkeeping services for a number of clients. I ran into many people reluctant to hire someone at the rate I was charging (which really wasn't much) because they figured they'd save money by doing it themselves. I made the argument that I could do their accounting in a fraction of the time they could and that if they placed a value on their time, they would be far more valuable concentrating on their core business. I could literally do their accounting in a quarter of the time they could. I remember one client that thought I wasn't doing the job properly because they figured it should take 15 hours a week and I did it in four.

Oh, and if you made it this far, it's my birthday today. :) Oh, the excitement...

Law Society of British Columbia: Benchers' Bulletin

2007-03-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, do a search on your name. Now, do a search on mine: Alain Saffel. Here are a couple of the results you’ll find. Make sure to read about those results below. There’s an interesting story behind them.

On Google, at number 18 and 23

Law Society of British Columbia: Benchers' Bulletin

Alain Saffel, of Williams Lake, and his business, On the Money Business Services, undertook not to draw wills, trust deeds, powers of attorney or any ...

On Yahoo at number 15

The Law Society of BC

Alain Saffel, of Williams Lake, B.C., operating under the name On the Money ... Mr. Saffel has undertaken to refrain from preparing wills and giving legal advice. ...

Once you connect to those pages, you’ll find this:

Alain Saffel, of Williams Lake, and his business, On the Money Business Services, undertook not to draw wills, trust deeds, powers of attorney or any document relating to the estate of a deceased person, give legal advice, offer these services or represent that they are qualified to do so, in expectation of fee, gain or reward: February 28, 2001.

Have you ever made a mistake? Many of us have. No, wait, all of us have made mistakes, some more than others and some worse than others.

Well, I confess, I’ve made mistakes too. Today I was reminded of a mistake I made over six years ago that was made public at that time, and has been available on the web for all to see. It has cost me a potential job, and upon further reflection, I think it’s a good thing. I suspect that I would have been unhappy working for someone who is harshly critical of past mistakes and who also makes decisions on little evidence and without a complete explanation or examination of the facts. Hmmm, I guess I’m allowed to assume too. More on assuming later.

This all came about when said potential employer (re: an accounting job) called me at my wife’s cell phone, with a number of questions. I was not available and this person decided to do some online research about me. Fair enough. I guess they found something they didn’t like. Had I not called him today to see if he had any questions for me, I would not have been made aware of the situation.

One comment this person made was interesting. After asking several questions about why I was no longer being considered (I get concerned when someone is reluctant to talk to me and has a serious tone in their voice) I found out what the problem was. The comment was to the effect that he thought journalism was a good choice for me. Now, I suppose one could take that a couple ways: perhaps he’d had a chance to read some of my writing and decided I have a certain degree of talent there and should continue to pursue writing, or, he’s made assumptions about my ethics and those of journalists in general and feels that my mistake would indicate a lack of ethics on my part and that I just fit right in. Hey, I can speculate and assume, can’t I? It seems that it’s okay for people to do that.

In any case, I did not commit any crime, serve any time or anything like that. I made the mistake of doing a will for someone and charging for it. It wouldn’t have been a problem had I not charged them for it (as I was told by the Law Society). That being said, you might look at the results of a Google or Yahoo search on my name (shown above) and come to a different conclusion and draw any number of inferences about what happened. You’d likely be wrong on all counts.

Now for some background. At the time I was operating my business, On the Money Business Services, and mainly did accounting. In an effort to expand my fledgling business, I took on other services such as desktop publishing, computer training, et cetera, in an attempt to make a living. I was approached by a local insurance agent about the possibility of drawing up simple wills for some of their clients. They had another person who had been doing it for them but was no longer doing so. They told me about the software that had been used. I don’t remember asking whether it was legal or not. I assumed it was okay, as they had had another person doing it for them.

And this is where I learned my major lesson from this whole situation: never assume. Ask more questions. Do more checking. Now, I’ve always been a skeptic, but I should have been more skeptical here and I should have done more investigation. Lesson learned. It’s surprising how many problems can be attributed to a lack of thorough investigation.

From that point forward, I have been far more thorough about many things I do. I ask way more questions and don’t always take someone’s word for it. You might know the saying: trust, but verify. Or, as one of my journalism profs said: if your mother tells you she loves you, ask her what evidence she has to back it up, or something to that effect. It was in jest, of course, but the point was clear.

That reminds me of one of my past editors who requested I do a quick story one time. He told me not to talk to a dozen people or ask a million questions; just talk to a few people on this one. It’s funny how I learned that lesson about asking questions and being thorough. Evidently that editor quickly learned how I work.

Do you think it’s likely that anyone who demands absolute trust from you is likely untrustworthy? I digress, but it’s a point worth pondering.

So, I finally did one will, shortly after tracking down the software. I believe it had been early on in 2000. Near the end of the year, I got a call about another one. It turns out I was just being investigated. My next call was from the Law Society of B.C. I was a little embarrassed once I was told it was not legal to do wills. No, wait, it wasn’t illegal for me to do a will for someone else. It was illegal to charge for it. Essentially it’s a turf battle by lawyers to make sure they protect what they see as being theirs. That being said, there are some good reasons to consult a lawyer to do a will. No question about that.

Which brings me to the next call I received. It was from a local reporter. Evidently, the Law Society news release made it to the editor of the local paper. I was not impressed. This was my first time dealing with the media, and I was the subject of the story. The next lesson I learned: deal with trouble head-on.

I arranged a meeting with the reporter and I was really not interested in having a story published about my mistake. I learned my next lesson, and this one specifically about dealing with the media: I told the reporter I did not want the story and would only tell her my side if it was off the record. She agreed and I told her my side, which is what you’ve read. She tried to convince me to do the story, as she saw it as a David and Goliath story, with me as David. (Remember the turf war comment?) While I agreed with her, I said I felt like an idiot about the whole situation and wanted to move on. She respected that, and it was dropped.

That was about the end of it. I apologized to the Law Society for my error and agreed I would not do any more wills. Mea culpa.

At least, I thought that was the end of it, until I did a Google search on myself. In that sense, it has never ended. I am constantly reminded of this, as I occasionally search my name to see what comes up.

My main concern is that if the Law Society page is looked at in isolation, someone will not be aware of the context of the issue, and make judgments and decisions about it without consulting me to hear the other side.

It still frustrates me, and I just wonder how many people have seen it and made those judgments. All I can say is that it was a mistake and I have learned many lessons from it. What bothers me though is that the consequences I might suffer from it are far out of proportion than might be warranted in that situation. We’re talking over six years later, and this is still out there. Do a search on someone’s name in connection to a crime you know they’ve committed. It’s possible you might find nothing on it. Is that right? I did a basic search on a guy I used to work with who I later found out was convicted of sexually assaulting his daughter. I found nothing on it. Just pick a case and you’ll likely find the same thing, unless it has been in the paper.

How will I deal with it in the future? Well, I guess if people are going to make assumptions without getting the other side of the story, there’s nothing I can do about it. Do I really want to work for people who are judgmental and base decisions on inadequate research? Hell, if I wanted to do that, I’d shoot for the top and apply for a job with George Bush.

I can only hope that those with a sense of balance will see the incident for what it was, and get both sides. In the end, the punishment must fit the civil matter (because it was not a crime). Perhaps it’s time to consult a lawyer (how ironic) to see about removing the page in question, as the punishment, I feel, is disproportionate to the severity of the incident.

While I view the incident as a blip on the radar, I wonder if there is something else at work? I’ve experienced it before. I remember a number of years ago looking for an accounting job and I ran into the “overqualification” problem regularly. I even had a lady call me up asking why I’d applied for the job I had, and she said I was “more qualified for her job than she was.” Hmmm. Interesting. Perhaps I’m just tilting at windmills and it’s really a case of being afraid for one’s job. Perhaps I’ll outshine the master? Are they afraid I’ll displace them? Whether that’s the case or not, it’s amazing how much of that goes on. Too many people are worried more about protecting their turf than they are about achieving real excellence. I want to work for those organizations truly dedicated to excellence. They are out there, and it’s my goal to find them.

"The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous."
Shana Alexander

"Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes."
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

"Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.
Dr. David M. Burns

Another one gone

2007-03-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

Look at that, will you!? It’s been over a month since my last post. I can assure you I have not been in a coma, although at times it would be a nice change of pace.

No, I’ve been busy living life. There has been a lot of action; probably too much to talk about in one short post.

On a sad note, I received another phone call from my aunt. It wasn’t last weekend, but the weekend before. My grandmother, Bessie, passed away in Smithers. She’d been pretty ill since the start of the year. Apparently she’d had really bad macular degeneration and was virtually blind. I believe she’d been suffering from Alzheimers and was unable to communicate.

It’s sad, but at the same time, she has been released from a virtual non-existence. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in the state she was in. Are you lucid, but just trapped with no way to communicate? Or are you just right out of it and unable to communicate?

I hate to think that my grandmother’s last years were spent that way. She was a vibrant and fiery person, and I miss her the way she was.

It had been a while since I really had a good chance to visit with her. She was doing well at my cousin’s wedding a few years back. I can’t even remember how long ago that was.

One thing I always remember about her was her favourite game: Kismet. It’s a dice game, like Yahtzee, but better. In fact, I seem to have memories of all my grandmothers that way. My grandmother on my mom’s side used to play tile rummy and my grandmother on my step-dad’s side (who is still with us) played Scrabble.

I think that’s a nice way to remember her. I remember the trailer they lived in across the valley from Hudson Bay Mountain, a couple hundred metres down the road from Adam’s Igloo. People in Vancouver would have paid a million dollars for that view. I have a lot of fond memories of that place, my grandfather who passed away a number of years ago, and the steady stream of visitors they always had.

I wish my children could have been there to experience that time. I remember playing Kismet with my grandmother, watching hockey games with my grandfather and exploring the area with my brother and my cousins. I remember sleeping in the front room at Christmas time, getting up and looking out the windows lined with brightly coloured bulbs, and looking out at Hudson Bay glacier in the bright moonlight.

You can never go back, but it would be nice if you could, if only for an evening. Maybe a game or two of Kismet and then turn on the hockey game and watch the Canadiens take it to the Bruins.

Moving on

Last week I made some major progress with on a few fronts. Our house sale is virtually complete. That has been a long struggle, as the buyers are rather paranoid and picky. My problems with EI have been cleared up, and rather simply. It seems they had some things mixed up. And after a long conversation with Family Maintenance, I won’t have my driver’s license suspended. They just wanted to make sure I’d continue paying, because my driver’s license is up for renewal. So, they decided to send me a threatening letter, when all they wanted to do was confirm I’d continue paying.

I told the lady I’ve been dealing with for the last five years there were no changes to that, so we cleared that up. It’s amazing what a phone call will do. Letters are so impersonal and subject to interpretation that they cause a lot of problems. No matter.

I’m just amazed some days that I haven’t died of a heart attack. The stress I’ve gone through in the last year has been monumental, but I’ve survived. I’m looking forward to my move, which will be coming soon. There is so much more opportunity here. I can’t wait!

Death in the family

2007-02-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

I got a call Friday morning, early. When I heard the voice, I knew it had to be really good news, or really bad. You know those calls.

It was the latter. My aunt Mary called to say aunt Bertie had died. She was only 73 and had lymphoma for the third time. It was sad, but it really didn’t impact me the way the death of someone closer to me might have, which is even sadder.

Aunt Bertie I barely remember as she was in that third layer of family. The third layer of family are the ones you know exist, but are outside of your immediate family, whom you see or talk to fairly often, the second layer you see very occasionally, and the third who know who you are and you might have seen when you were a baby, or you might never have met. I can’t remember the last time I saw her or even talked to her. It would have been the last time I was in Washington with my family, which was probably in the early 80s.

I feel bad every time one of these events happens because I get the lesson in the family tree all over again, which I’ll never remember.

I know I should go on a big tour, visiting family, keeping in touch and that, but so many of them I wouldn’t even know where to find them. Then there’s the awkward part where you reacquaint yourself with them. They talk to you like they know you, but you’re kind of embarrassed because you haven’t a clue who they are.

I hate our modern society that blows apart our families like dynamite in an ant pile. I would love it if my extended family could all be within an hour drive of where I am, so I could actually talk to them without feeling awkward. It would be nice to keep in touch and visit on a regular basis. I would love to have a family reunion to see them all.

I think the worst thing is that I’m in much of my family’s third layer too. It will be a shame to die and many will go through that same reaction I had when aunt Bertie passed away. This summer might be a good time to go visit.

Other events

Well, the house is listed, after interviewing a number of agents and agonizing over the price. Hopefully it sells quickly. The market is good and we’re the only one in our category.

I went out on Saturday with my son while my daughter stayed at home with a friend who’d stayed the night. We checked out the new Tourism Discovery Centre, a very nice, albeit overpriced visitor info centre. The log work in it is incredible, and it has a huge cedar, complete with roots, holding up the roof. I would recommend stopping to have a look next time you pass through Williams Lake.

From there we had lunch at McDonalds, and proceeded on to the Rotary book sale in the mall. It’s a bad thing when I go to a sale like that. Fortunately, I only bought one $10 box of books. I did get a bunch of good ones though; lots of good ones on writing, some good cookbooks, some financial books. A good haul. My son picked up a pretty good stack too, which he doesn’t often do.

From there we went to Galaxy Games. It’s a very interesting little store. They set a good example for any retail business to follow. They are always adjusting their mix of products to find what people are looking for. They have unusual products I’ve never seen anywhere else. Their prices are reasonable and I like that they quickly clear out products that aren’t moving. The store is very clean with nice modern fixtures. I’ll certainly continue to support them.

It was a fun afternoon overall. I like spending time with my son. : ) It was really nice out earlier in the day, but clouded over later. And has it ever been warm here lately!

I've found religion

2007-02-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've discovered religion, but I'm not exactly sure which one yet. I would appreciate your input on helping me select one from the accompanying chart.

I had forgotten about the chart. It makes choosing the appropriate religion easy and you can find one that suits your personality. At this point, Judaism seems to be the right choice for me. But then, Protestantism might also be a good choice Shalom bee-atch! Get to work!

China, human rights and daddies

2007-02-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

It seems the Chinese are a bit pissed at Canada for bringing up China's pathetic record on human rights. The Chinese suggested it might be straining relations between the two countries. No shit.

I give Stephen Harper some credit for having the balls to take on the Chinese and their reluctance to live up to standards much of the civilized world tries to uphold. Yes, tries. The U.S. "Patriot" Act and Canada's anti-terrorism legislation are a nod to Chinese techniques when it relates to human rights. Security certificates anyone?

As powerful as China is, it has a major Achilles Heel. It might have a huge trade surplus with the U.S. and Canada, but it should also keep in mind that most of its raw materials come from outside its borders. As much as I worry about a nutcase Chinese dictator wanting to wage war on the rest of the world, I am confident their military and industry could be easily defeated by starving it of raw materials.

Hmmm, funny how that works. The U.S. is in the same boat. Sabre rattling in the U.S. over Iran is picking up. It might be interesting to see what happens there. Russia has interests in Iran, as does China. I think Bush is hoping that his legacy is Armageddon. There won't be any rapture for him though. I think he's actually the Anti-Christ.

Who's your daddy?

Now that Anna Nicole Smith is gone, I think it's time for me to make and admission. Yes, it's true, I am the father of her newborn baby. I didn't want to say anything before. I didn't think the time was right. I am perfectly willing to take a paternity test, and am confident it will be successful. No, it's not about the money. No, it has nothing to do with the 450 frickin million beautiful dollars. Nothing to do with that at all. :P

Anna Nicole Smith dead

2007-02-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Bubba the Love Sponge and doing some work at home when they said they'd heard on CNN that Anna Nicole Smith had died. I had heard she had collapsed earlier in the day.

Well, I am shocked... and not shocked. I can only imagine what has actually gone on.

Apparently the fighting was still going on over the billion dollar fortune she was supposed to be inheriting.

Looks like the lawyers will be fighting over this one for a long time.

Hers was a bizarre world I am glad I wasn't a part of. I feel sorry for her newborn daughter.

Maintenance, theocracies and blogs, oh my!

2007-02-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finished the work on the rear brakes on my van. It went surprisingly quickly, as I had finished everything I could on both sides while waiting for the new pads. Taylor Automotive was nice enough to deliver the proper pads to me, for which I am very appreciative. I was able to a set the pads in, close the calipers and bolt it all back together with no difficulty, aside from my sticky old jack which is nearly impossible to crank these days.

A test drive revealed that I have a surprising amount of braking power now. Golly gee! Imagine that. I'll have to work on replacing my front brakes soon. It's actually a lot easier to do than I thought. I had been a little worried about it before. I've done major repairs before, and it can be a little unnerving when you're doing work you're not familiar with.

The other day I was working on cleaning the oven (another task I'm not familiar with) and had an interesting event happen. I was rinsing off the fume free oven cleaner (Easy Off Fume Free) when I got a little too close to the oven bulb with the damp sponge. There was a loud pop and a shower of glass. Interesting! Oops. Never done that before. So I had to be a little more careful with my clean up. I normally don't talk about household cleaners, but I liked that fume free cleaner. Maybe that's why I hadn't used oven cleaner before and relied on aluminum foil to relieve me of that necessity. I remember the non-fume free cleaner from when I was a kid. Very unpleasant.

CBC scary stories: U.S. theocracy?

This morning CBC played an interesting and scary segment about U.S. author Chris Hedges talking about the potential for a Christian theocracy in the U.S.

Chris Hedges is the author of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. He's also written War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.

You can listen to the segment using Real Player.

It sounds like a really interesting book. I will definitely be picking that one up.

Another blog?

Ahh yes, I have started another blog. I think I'm obsessed. I really do enjoy blogging. Another topic that has become interesting to me is the topic of it: North American integration. I'm collecting stories on it and making comments of course. I haven't done any really serious analysis of the topic yet. Secret meetings just don't sit well with me, especially with our current crop of politicians and business leaders.

So, if you're interested in reading about it, northamericanintegration.blogspot.com.

I really need a writing job. :) I need one where I can blog.

Kyoto, Garth Turner and maintenance

2007-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Who says Canadian politics is boring? We’ve had a few interesting events lately.

Apparently Canada is now supporting the Kyoto accord again. A vote in Parliament passed on Monday, reaffirming Canadian support for the deal. The Conservatives lost the vote 161-115.

It’s ironic considering the Liberals did little to support the Kyoto Accord, aside from paying it lip service. It seems they’ve found their conscience while in opposition. Let’s see how long it lasts.

And now, Garth Turner, former Conservative MP for the Halton riding in Ontario, is a Liberal. He got the boot from the Conservative caucus because he talked too much and they didn’t like what he was saying. Turner has sat as an independent for a while and has now joined the Liberals. Apparently there were rumours he might join the Green Party.

It’s too bad he didn’t join the Green Party. I think Canada needs a strong voice on environmental issues and not just parties jumping on the bandwagon-of-the-day.

Maintenance

Today I have to go work on the brakes on my van. It’s not something I am looking forward to. My driveway is icy, I don’t have a garage and I worry I’ll find more problems with that rolling heap. Oh, it’s not really that bad, but it’s nearly at 275,000 km and I keep hearing more unfamiliar sounds as the weeks pass. I just hope it lasts for a few more months.

On the job search front, things are slow. The kind of work I am looking for is in very slim supply here. All my Monster.ca job agents come back to me with jobs in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. I’m not prepared to move to any places in B.C. and the only thing I might be able to do is find something close by where I will be in Alberta. The positive thing is that there are a decent amount of papers within a 45 minute drive of where I’ll be. If I wanted to do a 1.5 hour (minimum) commute to Calgary, I’d have a lot of choices. I’m not sure I want to be commuting three hours a day though. If the pay is good enough, I might do it. I wasn’t getting paid enough in Quesnel to do the 2.5 hour commute. My move might happen sooner than I’d like.

I’ve been doing some minor work and cleaning on the house to get it ready to show to real estate agents and buyers. The place looks pretty good after moving several loads of stuff out of here and the repairs are very minor. How long had it been since anyone cleaned under the stove? I’m not sure but did it ever need it! Behind the fridge is another task I’ll tackle today as well as cleaning inside the stove.

Bush budget

2007-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

I tend to keep an eye on politics south of our border, as well as politics here, and I’m not happy with what I see in both countries.

Today Bush submitted his budget to Congress and it’s something that should concern everyone, even Canadians. The massive military spending in the U.S. is helping to contribute to the massive budget deficit in the U.S., projected to be $244 billion in the next year alone, if his budget passes.

The total military spending in this budget is actually $784 billion, or 27 per cent of the U.S. budget! $624 billion is for the next year alone. I think Americans should be outraged at a government that rips them off like that while allowing illegal aliens to pour across their southern border, driving down wages and consuming services they’re not entitled to.

And what’s the problem with all of this?

Well, during the Clinton years, the deficit was turned into a surplus, but Bush has succeeded in reversing that positive trend. He’s given massive tax cuts to the rich while increasing military spending. The result has been Bush pushing the U.S. into a huge debt, estimated at $8.7 trillion.

That’s a bit of a change from the Clinton years when the debt was around $5.7 trillion. Why is it that conservative parties seem to crow about being fiscally responsible, yet they run up the debt while cutting taxes and overspending in areas that people don’t want spending? Is it responsible to give the rich $1.6 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years while the U.S. federal debt balloons?

In Canada we should be worried about this because we don’t want these ideas infiltrating our country. Prime Minister Harper is watching closely while Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S. will be cut by $78 billion over 5 years; this in a country where an estimated 47 million people are without healthcare coverage.

Bush is threatening the stability of the U.S. economy and the world in general. With Canada being so reliant on the U.S. economy, we could be in deep doo-doo if the U.S. economy tanks, which there are early indicators it may be heading in that direction.

Consumer debt in the U.S. is at record levels too. It’s nuts what is happening there, not that Canadians aren’t doing the same thing, but I suspect it’s not quite as bad.

The U.S. really is teetering on the edge of a recession and it could have some serious negative effects on Canada. If Bush decides to take shots at Iran, I would venture that it might be a certainty. Oil prices would go through the roof (like they aren’t already) with the resulting effect being higher prices for everyone on virtually everything.

Here’s an interesting article by Gwynne Dyer, a noted Canadian journalist now living in London.

I think he was on CBC a lot during the first Gulf War in the early 90s. In any case, he quotes a figure of $140 a barrel, though I’ve heard some suggestions of $200 a barrel. That might be good for the Alberta economy in some ways, but it would stall all other economic activity! Make sure to read this article because it contains some very interesting stuff, especially in relation to world oil reserves. I’ve written about Alberta’s oil reserves before.

And I’ve also read suggestions that China might get involved if the U.S. targets Iran. Perhaps they’ll use that opportunity to invade Taiwan.

I’m not suggesting Bush’s budget will cause World War Three, but there could be some serious repercussions flowing from it. I only hope the Democrats will reign in this madman.

The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to reduce your debt and build your savings just in case something does happen. You want to make sure you’re in as good a shape as possible to weather any economic storm. And it’s common sense whether there is a recession or not.

On the political front, Canadians should make sure to get involved in their political process and let your MLAs and MPs know your thoughts on what they should be doing. I’m happy to say Canada’s financial situation is in good shape compared to the U.S. Let’s make sure it stays that way.

That was a bit of a shotgun blast wasn’t it? : )

PS I'm not too fucking happy about being forced to switch to the "new" Blogger. I had been holding out as long as possible. I don't like having to log in with my gmail account. I think it's fucked. I better not lose anything or I'll be really pissed. This might be a good time to switch over to Worpress and get it hosted on my own site.

IPCC report concludes global warming is happening

2007-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Well, now it’s official.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded, with about 90 per cent certainty, that we’re screwing up the climate and global warming is happening. Canada is one of the countries that will be hit harder by global warming too. You can read the IPCC’s report here.

Now what?

Wringing our hands won’t work, nor will ineffective timelines. Cutting emissions in 40 years won’t help. It needs to be done now.

I’ve never bought into the BS that it will cost our economy billions. I look at it as an opportunity and so should our governments and businesses. It’s a chance for Canadian business and government to be innovative. Good luck.

Imagine the amount of economic activity that can be generated by:

Improving the energy efficiency of our homes
Improving the fuel efficiency of our transportation system
Reducing the energy use by business
Reducing emissions and energy use by heavy industry

In our homes, we’ll need:

Super-insulation – which reduce heating and cooling needs
Low emissivity windows
More efficient furnaces and alternatives such as geothermal, passive solar, etc
Compact fluorescent light bulbs
Solar hot water systems
And more… And, someone has to install those things.

For our transportation system, we need:

More public transportation
More telecommuting work
More efficient vehicles.
We have to tax gas guzzling SUVs
We need tax credits for high mileage vehicles
Government regulation forcing higher efficiency
To get low mileage vehicles off the road
And who is going to manufacture those vehicles?

Business needs:

Better insulated buildings – reducing heat and cooling load
More efficient heating and cooling systems
More efficient fluorescent lighting
There is much more, and of course someone has to install it

Heavy industry needs:

To be regulated to reduce emissions
That requires a change in their processes
They can’t be grandfathered. They have to be forced to change

I certainly don't have all the ideas about what can be done. This is hardly and exhaustive list.

We have the technology to do these things now. It will create a great deal more economic activity and opportunity for those who are smart enough to take advantage of it. Maybe profits will be lower for a few years while business and industry invests in these new assets, but in the long term, efficiency gains will help increase profits as energy costs begin to rise to even higher levels.

It takes someone with a vision of what can happen to be able to pull this off. We need politicians with some backbone to get it done, not lapdogs of the captains of industry.

Politicians are accountable to the people, while businesspeople are accountable to their shareholders. The interests of the two parties are not always in harmony.

Governments here need to set the pace with regulation and a good mix of incentives and disincentives. For homeowners, there should be measures to make changes as neutral as possible, especially for lower income people. Through a series of cash incentives and programs that would allow efficiency investments to be rolled into a homeowner’s mortgage, this could be done. We could calculate it to determine the efficiency gains that would offset the additional investment costs, and even make it so that there are savings, which would be more of an incentive to actually do it. The same applies to business and industry.

The creation of new technology and products arising from this action can be a source of income for Canadian business in the future. It’s an opportunity, not a death sentence.

We just have to be creative and earnest about getting it done, and soon.

The trash vortex. No, not Ottawa or Washington.

2007-02-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

I had to comment in Stumbleupon about the trash vortex page on the Greenpeace website. It seems people can't figure out what it's all about:

The attitudes that some people have about this problem add to my pessimism that we'll be able to solve the problem of global warming, let alone cleaning up our other types of pollution.

The point of this page, for those enough too stupid to figure it out, is to make us aware of the damage we are causing to the planet. We like to think we can do what we like and it has no consequences, but we are short sighted. They don't call it the food web for nothing.

The exhaust from vehicles contributes to asthma and premature deaths due to respiratory problems, not to mention the contribution to global warming. If our trash ends up in a dump, it often leaches into the local water table, contaminating our water supply, not to mention the valuable resources we just trash. If our trash goes out to sea, and I don't know how much is dumped at sea anymore, it can kill or contaminate all kinds of sea life. The toxins in the trash can make their way into sea life eaten by humans, or it might just kill them before we get to them.

While some of us may not care about what happens to the environment, we have a responsibility to care for it for the benefit of future generations. Anyone who denies the negative impact modern humans have had on this planet is just plain stupid. There is solid science to back it up, and we're making more discoveries all the time about how we're screwing up the planet.

It really doesn't take much of an effort to lighten our impact on the environment. Our standard of living won't take that much of a hit. North Americans could start by hauling their fat asses out of their SUVs and walk a little more, for a start. How hard is it to recycle and compost? How hard is it to donate your unwanted but still useful stuff to the Salvation Army or a women's shelter?

All the bad news I read lately almost makes me laugh. I know it's crazy. It's put me in such a pessimistic mood. I had to laugh at my last post. Me, arguing with God. Ahh, that's so me. But, you know I'd do it. It's good to know I still have my sense of humour. I can't wait for summer so I can go sit on a beach for a while. I promise not to throw my water bottle in the ocean or lose my swimming trunks. I don't want to scare anyone anyway. :)

It occurred to me that God must be a Canucks fan lately. Maybe Satan is going to screw it all up so they lose in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup final again.

Hand in my pocket...

2007-01-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

It seems that a profit of $2.7 billion just isn't enough for the Bank of Montreal. In its wisdom, the Bank of Montreal has decided to cut 1,000 of its 35,000 employees. Apparently they didn't meet stock analysts' expectations.

So, in the interest of "efficiency," the bank is cutting back.

The head-chopper CEO, Tony Comper, is stepping down in March. It should be interesting to see what his retirement package is. Will it be more than the $135 million severance that will be paid out to the 1,000 employees getting the boot? I'm going to put my money on the fact that it will be more.

It's bad enough the banks are making outrageous profits on the backs of Canadians. Oh, they claim that they're not gouging and Canadians aren't the only ones contributing to the profit. I hope Jack Layton is successful in his bid to limit ATM fees.

At least someone is looking out for the little guy. It seems the Conservatives and the Liberals are getting too much in the way of campaign contributions from the banks to give a shit about Canadian citizens getting screwed.

Sextuplet transfusions

The B.C. government has made a wise decision by stepping in and getting transfusions for three surviving sextuplets after two have already died.

The parents, Jehovah's Witnesses, had refused to allow the transfusions because of their fucked up religion. Honestly, if you're old enough (an adult) to make the decision to refuse treatment, fine. But, these babies should have the chance to make such decisions later in life. Without treatment, they won't have the opportunity. I hardly think they're going to go to hell if they get a transfusion.

And really, if God thinks it's a sin to have a blood transfusion or to donate organs, etc, then I don't think God is as caring as he's made out to be. As far as I'm concerned, the greatest gift I can give is life, whether through organ or blood donations, or by improving or extending someone else's life. I hardly think that is selfish or sinful.

I guess I'll see what happens when I die. I hope I go to heaven. I am also an organ donor. I've been lucky enough to receive blood too. I am willing to stand at the pearly gates and argue with God about it if he doesn't like that either. I just do not agree with him, if indeed that is what he has to say. But then, I think there are many other religions that believe it's okay, so who's right?

Oil country interview

2007-01-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

I’m back in Alberta for a few days. I got a call for an interview in Red Deer. I’m pretty excited about this particular job.

This might be my move to the “dark side.” Yes, I have an interview for a marketing co-ordinator job, but it’s for a social service agency, so it’s not really the dark side. : ) And, it’s only the dark side if you don’t operate according to what you know and believe is right. I wouldn't be the kind of PR guy that parks his principles at the door.

While the money might not be at a level that many PR people can make, I'm not too worried about it. It's still substantially better than what most community newspapers pay and the cause is a good one. I would consider it an investment in my future.

The weather is nice in central Alberta today. I am on a wireless connection at my local library.

The trip here was pretty good. B.C. was foggy and the roads were icy on occasion, but things brightened up substantially once I got into Jasper. How typical is that? Williams Lake has been getting tons of snow and Highway 5 from Little Fort to Valemount had tons of snow on the side of the road. I read somewhere that B.C. has a bigger snowpack than usual. Good to hear.

A couple weeks back, while it was snowing heavily, I ventured out into the blizzard. I noticed some idiot on the roads who seemed to think it was okay to drive around with six inches of snow on his roof, back window and covering up his tail lights. The accompanying picture gives you an idea what it was like, but the back of the car was covered. Where are the cops who should be giving this idiot a ticket?

Canada to be the next Iraq for the U.S.?

2007-01-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

The U.S. would like Canada to increase its oil production five-fold, according to a CBC story. That story resulted from an oil summit in January 2006 in Houston, Texas where Canadian and U.S. government officials and oil industry execs met to discuss the issue.

That should scare the hell out of Canadians. I’m reminded of the Eye of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings. The eye is on us now, and I hope we don’t suffer the same fate as Iraq. Maybe we’re not doing enough on the ‘war on terror?’ How about the war of stupidity in the U.S.? I’m thinking the U.S. government is winning and losing it. Depends on how you look at it.

Increasing output. How would Canada do this? Well, the suggestion is that we “streamline” our environmental regulations. In other words, pollute the fuck out of Canada because the fucking Americans need the oil to fuel their gas guzzlers in America and in Iraq. All this while Harper claims to be an enviro-president, I mean, enviro-administration… no, enviro-prime minister. Yeah, right. I think our PM is so spineless and such an American-wannabe that he'll just go along with it.

The U.S. would like to reduce its dependence on Middle East oil and to do it, Canada has to step up production drastically. This would cause a great deal of difficulty here, not to mention we’d more rapidly deplete our own oil reserves to feed the irresponsible, irrational U.S. economy.

Any U.S. talk of conservation is more double-talk we’re so used to seeing from U.S. governments. It’s evident there is little intention to conserve and more of an intention to seek out new oil sources/targets.

And then there’s the obvious greenhouse gases that would come from such a move. Five times more oil extraction? It’s ridiculous and would be irresponsible of Canada to even contemplate it. Not only would there be more greenhouse gas, but there is the economic damage to consider. The Alberta economy can already barely keep up with its current production. Multiply that by five times. You think getting a doctor is tough now, or maybe reasonably-priced accommodation, just try it when you multiply the economy of Alberta by five times.

I’ve already written a bit about Alberta’s oil supply. Sure, there’s lots of oil sands, but that takes water too. Alberta’s already got dwindling water supplies. Increase the population like the U.S. wants and all the fucking water in the province will have to go to oil production. But hey, the U.S. is an expert on water pipelines. They’ll get some consultants from California to help us on that one. There’s no sense hastening the end of Alberta’ oil supply, conventional or otherwise.

And let’s not talk about inflation. It would be through the roof. Wages and housing costs would explode, with the effects rippling across Canada. It’s already happening in B.C. and Saskatchewan.

No, the responsible thing for Canada to do is to continue a path of steady, responsible growth. Fuck what the U.S. wants. It is our country and not theirs. Why should we exhaust our oil supply at $60-70 a barrel when we can stretch it out far longer and generate much more wealth from it? A well-managed supply will feed us for far longer than burning it out in a very short period of time.

Besides, Canada also needs oil for its own use too. We should not sell our supplies out in a short period of time just to feed the United States’ voracious appetite for oil.

Don’t be surprised if we don’t move fast enough on this and find ourselves looking down the barrel of a gun on the issue. If the shit hits the fan in Iran, as it seems will happen, oil prices will skyrocket, supplies will dry up like buckshot on a Dick Cheney hunting trip. The result? Canada will be the next target.

The most prudent path for the U.S. and Canada to follow is a dual approach: conserve and find alternatives. It’s really a very simple equation. Reduce your current consumption and find alternative energy sources, and quick.

It’s so damn simple but our modern society, for all it’s achievements, is fundamentally stupid and is heading towards disaster. We’re heading towards Peak Oil, and we know it, but don’t seem to care. Party like it’s 1999 and let the next generation, mine, figure it out.

Yeah, we’ll figure it out all right. We’ll be riding around like Fred Flintstone. The Baby Boom generation is a sad joke played on all generations following it. It certainly was the “me” generation, only worrying about itself. More, more, more, me, me, me and not giving a shit about anyone following. I could write a book on the unrivalled greed and irresponsibility of this generation. They need to step aside and let a new generation sort out the problems. I just hope your pensions survive it. Doesn’t matter to me. I am not going to get a government pension anyway so what the hell do I care? I suppose I can care as much about the previous generation as much as it has cared about my generation.

I wonder if the whole euthanasia idea has actually come from pissed off Gen-Xers that just want to send Boomers to the Great Beyond a little quicker before they suck even more out of our wallets. You never know. Maybe the Boomers should do a little research on faster wheel chairs to outrun the boys in the white coats with the syringes in their hands. Good luck.

Thus endeth the rant.

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy: Gay?

2007-01-16T22:42:00.000-08:00

So my daughter is nuts about the band Fall Out Boy. It's fun to bug her about that, and the rumour that the bass player Pete Wentz is gay. Apparently he likes to paint his nails and wear girls hip hugger jeans. Draw your own conclusions.

So, just for fun I decided to take pictures of the lead singer (is he the lead singer?) Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz and meld them with a childhood couple we used to know, Ernie and Bert. Hey, it's only a rumour.

I'm sure I'll get all kinds of hatemail from Fall Out Boy fans, but what the hell. Fire away! :P

Two missing boys found alive

2007-01-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

To have your children go missing is a parent’s worst nightmare.

There are two sets of parents that are happy their prayers were answered after two boys were found alive in a man’s apartment in St. Louis. One 13-year-old boy, William “Ben” Ownby, went missing only five days ago. The police were amazed to find another boy who had gone missing in 2002. Shawn Hornbeck was 11 at the time he went missing.

I can’t imagine how the parents must feel now to have their sons back. I hate to think about what those boys must have gone through, but at least they’re alive. I’m sure that’s all that everyone can think about now.

It really does bring tears to my eyes thinking about it. As a parent, I’ve gone through minor disappearances from time to time. Young kids can quickly disappear from your sight and I’ve gone through the “lost in the mall” incident a couple times. Fortunately, those incidents were resolved within minutes. The feelings that run through your mind run from panic to despair. Joy and anger are what you feel when they’re back, even after only a couple minutes.

I even went through it with my daughter in the hospital just after she was born. I only have vague recollections of the event, but I couldn’t find her in the nursery. I think I was a little tired at the time, too. It was quite a long weekend. She had been wheeled back down to the nursery and I went down later to see her. I can’t remember if they’d used the wrong colour blanket or what the deal was, but I was in a panic. We found her there of course. I was in the right place if I had a heart attack though.

My kids are older now, so I’m not quite as worried about them in the mall. I will always worry about them though. I realize now that’s just part of being a parent. That is the hardest part.

So, for all you people who complain about bad news in the media, rejoice in this story. I’m really happy for the parents and for the two boys who are finally home.

War in the Middle East and what might happen to you

2007-01-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting discussion the other day about the Iraq war. It was interesting, because my adversary on this issue was in favour of the war on the grounds that Iraq was thumbing its nose at the world by violating the sanctions. I was not in favour of the war because, while Saddam Hussein may have been a ruthless dictator, I didn’t believe there were any weapons of mass destruction, and a U.S. invasion would worsen the situation in the Middle East.

And look at the mess now. The U.S. is on the verge of declaring war on Iran.

As usual, these issues get clouded over time, so I decided to do a little research.

The sanctions imposed on Iraq were put in place by the U.N. before the first Gulf War in the early 1990s after Iraq invaded Kuwait. They later were linked to weapons of mass destruction after the war, at the urging of the U.S.

The goal of the U.S. was to topple Hussein from power. I, and many others, wonder why this route was chosen rather than finishing the job in 1990? Sanctions are always a long, punishing way to try to achieve political goals, and rarely work. If you want someone out of power, go in and get him. And who suffers when sanctions are in place? The people. The hope is that the people will rise up and topple the leader. Well, that didn’t happen, and apparently thousands of people died in Iraq.

The whole U.S. premise for the war was actually the weapons of mass destruction “argument.” Apparently there were none.

In U.S. president Bush’s Wednesday speech about the situation in Iraq, he admitted being responsible for the mess in Iraq. He also blamed the current problems on Iran and Syria for supporting insurgents. No doubt Bush is right. He’s also setting up an invasion of those two countries. I’m sure Bush will get to that point. He’s already planning on sending another aircraft carrier to the Gulf, and no doubt the battle group associated with it. Oh, and Bush doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. Who does?

I don’t know how this situation will be solved, but I’m not confident it will be anytime soon. In fact, if the U.S. does attack Iran, the consequences for our economy could be interesting.

The predictions of $100-200 a barrel oil could very well come true. Hell, we had $78 a barrel with Iraq. Iran supplies a big chunk of the world’s oil, and a war in the Gulf could disrupt tanker traffic from a number of oil-producing countries.

China and Japan are big customers of Iran. With supplies drying up and disrupted and oil potentially shooting over $100 a barrel, it makes you wonder what the impact will be on the North American economy. I can hardly predict, but I’m sure it will be negative.

On the oil and gas front, Canada will do well. Alberta will see a flurry of activity that will be offset by huge cost increases in goods imported from Asia. The rest of the country is likely to slide into a recession as Canada’s biggest customer, the heavily oil-dependent U.S. economy, tanks. Investing in “defense industry” stock might be good though.

The money markets will be interesting if this happens. If the U.S. were to open up another front in the “war on terror,” the already ballooning U.S. debt and deficit will increase to even more frightening levels. Despite some rosy news on the December U.S. budget surplus, the news is still bad. I’m not sure what will happen with inflation and interest rates.

But, what happens when we hit a recession? Unemployment. I would suggest that people be prepared for that possibility, but what is the best way to prepare?

First, you should look at your job security. How likely is it that your family’s breadwinners will be laid off? Can you find a more secure job?

Next, and probably most important, is to look at your family budget. Debt is the biggest problem, good economy or not. Reducing unnecessary spending and cutting costly consumer debt is a very wise idea. If you become unemployed, the maximum benefit is just over $400 a week. How far can you make that stretch? You don’t want bankruptcy as a result of unemployment.

So, cut that debt to zero as quick as you can and don’t take on more unless absolutely necessary. Start saving so you have something to fall back on.

What other ways of reducing unnecessary expenses are there? Well, look at your fuel consumption. If oil hits $100 to $200 a barrel, gas and diesel prices will move right along with it. Make sure you’re not driving a gas guzzler. Don’t make unnecessary trips. Look at alternatives.

It’s a simple equation really. Try to maximize your income and reduce your expenses. Some people might say that if everyone did this, it would send us into a recession. Maybe so, but every family needs to protect itself.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t make it to that point.

Are the Conservatives really going green?

2007-01-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

So, we now have a new federal environment minister. Big deal.

Getting rid of the ineffective Rona Ambrose is a good move, but will the new guy be any different? Will he actually accomplish what Canadians want done? The Conservative party is so beholden to business that I’m not sure they can distance themselves from the business agenda to actually do anything except piss in the wind.

That’s not to say the Liberals were effective either. The Liberals essentially did nothing while they were in power, on the environment issue at least. There’s a bunch more Canadian flags in Quebec and a few more people with federal bucks in their pockets though.

What needs to be done? Well, climate change is a reality. It’s happening in Canada. There is no denying it. We need to be world leaders in responsible environmental stewardship. We’re not right now. We’re a pathetic example for an industrialized country.

We need to reduce our output of greenhouse gases. We need better emission standards for vehicles, industry, homes, etc. These standards need to be tough. We have the technology to do it and the automakers need to get on board. Will Detroit’s big three get on board? I’m sure foreign carmakers will. Screw Detroit if they’re out of touch with what people want.

Air quality standards have to be improved and we can’t be grandfathering existing industries to let them belch out pollution according to standards from the 1950s. That has to change.

I see grandfathering like saying my grandfather is allowed to toss his garbage out in the street while I am not allowed to. Neither of us should be able to do it. Why should existing businesses be exempt from change? It is ridiculous.

I know I’ll be accused of being some type of commie pinko environmentalist, but it’s bullshit. I am pro-business and have the background to prove it. What I am is pro-responsible business. It is every business’ responsibility to look after its garbage, whether it’s in the air, in the water or on the ground.

The government has a vested interest in looking after the environment and protecting Canadians from harmful chemicals. Those harmful chemicals are in our food, our air, our water, our clothing, furniture; they’re everywhere. This leads to all kinds of health problems and premature death. Doesn’t it make sense to clean up the environment and the health of Canadians? Being couch potatoes is a whole other issue.

Why should businesses be able to spew their harmful garbage into the environment with no consequences? If businesses don’t like it, they’re free to leave the country. There are plenty of people willing to fill that vacuum.

This fear of businesses fleeing the country is unfounded, I believe. We should let businesspeople do whatever they hell they want because we’re afraid they’ll leave?

You think these businesspeople will leave the country to mine, extract oil or cut down forests in Siberia, Indonesia, the UAE, etc? Some will. But, most will want to stay in Canada. It’s still a better place to live than most other places in the world.

I’m not suggesting the government bring in harsh regulations immediately. They do need to be phased in, but not by 2050 like the current government is doing. You might as well do nothing with that kind of time frame because that is exactly what they’re doing.

It can be done in a few years and there can be tax breaks to encourage it to be done quickly. Canada could be a leader in green technology. Businesses in this country are too used to being babied. They don’t invest in new technology like they should. They don’t invest in research and development like they should. So, when the tide changes, they haven’t anticipated it and are left only to react. Should we be babying businesspeople who aren’t interested in competing and being forward looking? I don’t think so.

It’s survival of the fittest. If you can’t compete, make way for someone who can. By grandfathering these kinds of businesses we’re effectively subsidizing them. Canadian governments say they don’t agree with subsidies, but they’ve got a long record of spoonfeeding even the biggest of Canadian businesses. These businesses should be ashamed of themselves for sucking on the government breast for so long.

Our governments seem to be stuck on cajoling big business while it is small business that provides a very large proportion of the employment in Canada. If there are to be any subsidies, I’d rather see them for smaller business to help them survive. Farmers especially need subsidies because Europe and the U.S. subsidize their farmers so heavily. So, while big business continues to get subsidized, farmers are seeing theirs cut back. I guess farmers aren’t making enough political donations.

I hope our new environment minister will actually accomplish something, but I doubt it will happen. Our governments have long ignored the wishes of the voters, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.

Money, money, money

2007-01-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

I don’t have a problem with people being well paid, but in some cases, I think it’s ridiculous. Recently Home Depot’s CEO Bob Nardelli left the company with a $210 million US severance package.

Good on ya if you can negotiate that kind of severance package. God knows the average employee couldn’t get that. I’m just not sure that if a company CEO at a place like Home Depot were to just drop dead one day that anyone would even notice. How much of a difference do these guys really make and are they worth the money?

Are they worth 262 times what the average worker makes? The U.S. is the worst when it comes to outrageous executive pay, where CEOs of companies with more than $1 billion in revenues made an average of $42,000 a day! The average worker made $41,861.

I think these CEOs should take a business ethics course. Hell, maybe they could start by looking it up in the dictionary.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to get paid outrageous sums of money too, but I’d have a tough time meeting face to face with an employee whose annual income equals what I made in a day and somehow justifying what I make.

Canada isn’t quite as outrageous when it comes to executive pay, but it is probably heading that way. This story indicates Canada is in a similar boat when it comes to the top 100 CEOs, with the average top 100 CEO making $38,010 compared to $15,931 that low paid workers will make.

According to the story, the average Canadian makes about $38,000 per year. Not as a journalist! I think the $15,931 is probably a better average to look at for journalism, but I digress.

It is interesting that the ratios of average pay to top 100 pay are similar in the U.S. and Canada.

If you’re not one of those top 100 CEOs though, don’t get too depressed. It’s not like you’re going to live in poverty, at least I hope you don’t.

Financial future

I know I’ve been thinking a lot about my future, particularly after graduating with my degree in 2005 and getting married that same summer. I’ve been highly motivated to change my life ever since that time, not that I wasn’t motivated before. I’m just not happy with the paycheque to paycheque existence.

So, since that time my wife and I have been doing a lot of planning and dreaming about what we’d really like to do with our lives. We’d like to travel and have financial security. We’d like to help our kids to go to university after they graduate. We’d like to be financially secure to do the things we want to do, but also to be able to weather any financial crises that might come up.

On that note, we’ve been working on reducing debt and keeping our living costs as low as possible. We’ve also tried to limit our non-essential purchases and devote that cash to debt repayment. We’re not quite at the point of actually doing any saving though. Running two households and talking on the phone have kept our margins slim! We recently signed up with Primus for their $20 unlimited long distance, which helps keep the cost manageable.

Once we sell our house here, we hope to have some spare cash to invest in a newer home in Alberta. That will help our cash flow situation, as will the more buoyant economy help with employment. There aren’t as many opportunities for someone with my set of skills on this side of the Rockies.

Going forward, I see our financial plan being fairly simple.

Decrease unnecessary spending.
Spend wisely (fuel efficient car, well insulated house, for example)
Buy fewer, but longer lasting, higher quality goods (cost of ownership is lower)
Keep debt levels low, especially non-deductible debt
Invest in real estate (using debt if necessary. It is tax deductible for investments)
Save (what a concept)
Life insurance (just in case anything unexpected should happen to either of us. God forbid.)

Living paycheque to paycheque is extremely stressful. My wife and I have had enough of that, so we’re committed to changing it. One of the first big steps in doing that is our move to Alberta. My wife’s got a better paying job and something she really wants to do and I’ll be able to do the same there. B.C.’s economy is better, but it’s not that good.

We’re both very positive about our move there. We hope things will be much better for us in Alberta, and we’re confident they will be. Things will just be extremely tight until we actually get completely moved.

Decreasing clutter

I confess to being more than a bit of a packrat, and this extended move has given me a lot of time to be able to cut through the clutter.

At times I have been a garage sale and auction junkie, which is not a good thing when you live in a relatively small place. In the last few years my wife and I have gone through a lot of our possessions, with many of them being sold, donated or sent to the dump. If it had some future use we didn’t just send it to the dump though. We’ve attempted to recycle as much as possible.

It’s a good feeling when you get rid of clutter. It’s like clearing your mind. The less stuff I have around me, the more relaxed I feel. Maybe the anxiety is from my back muscles, which realize that I’ll have to actually move all that crap one day!

I’ve found the toughest things to get rid of are books. I have a lot of books that I really like, and often read repeatedly. I’ve also got lots of books I will read in the future. I really will! Once we have a bigger home, we’ll have a library/office. We’ve already become much more selective about the books we do pick up.

I had about half a dozen boxes full of old newspapers containing articles I’ve written. I’m almost done going through that and have whittled it down to less than a box. That was nice! Moving newspapers is like moving books: it makes you very unpopular with friends.

Newseum and the media

2006-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Lately one of my favourite websites has been the Newseum. I first found out about it in journalism school and rediscovered it recently. It’s interesting to look around the world and see the front pages and what’s important, in their view.

Today I was searching for the Saddam front pages. I haven’t read them yet, but I’ll get to it.

I have to say that I agree with the core values of the Newseum, listed below. These days, with concentrated ownership in the media, the newsroom is looked upon more as a cost centre rather than a revenue generator. It’s sad because, while people can always be more efficient in how they do things, digging for the truth is not always a quick process.

The free press is a cornerstone of democracy.

People have a need to know.
Journalists have a right to tell.

Finding the facts can be difficult.
Reporting the story can be dangerous.

Freedom includes the right to be outrageous.
Responsibility includes the duty to be fair.

News is history in the making.
Journalists provide the first rough draft of history.

A free press, at its best, reveals the truth.

It’s ironic that newspaper readership continues to decline, while interest in news does not. People are finding other sources, with the migration mainly to online sources.

Has the newspaper business forgotten what it’s all about? Do readers have no faith in them anymore because they don’t believe they’re getting the truth but only getting the owner/publisher’s view? Or do readers have no faith in newspapers because newspapers are not reflecting what readers know is happening in their community?

When the newsroom staff get laid off, the product suffers. Stories go unreported. Facts don’t get double-checked. Typos and errors get published. The depth on any one issue suffers. Burned out, overworked reporters quit and find better paying, less stressful work.

And the result? Readers get frustrated with the product. They find their news elsewhere, or not at all. There are many other options in the city, but not in small towns.

So the downward spiral continues. Advertising dries up. Readership dries up. The newsroom is cut more. Ad staff aren’t cut though. The product suffers more.

The truth has difficulty in finding its way to the printed page. The web is an alternative, but the unfortunate thing is that it often lacks the depth that you tend to find in print. So many news sources on the web view news as a “bite.” A bite lets you know what has happened, but not much more.

It’s unfortunate that citizens and readers don’t realize what they’re losing. They won’t understand until their free press is gone, only to be replaced by advertorial and entertainment “news.”

Bush a fascist?

2006-12-30T22:36:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting site I StumbledUpon. Is George W. Bush a fascist? You be the judge.

I'll have to ponder whether Canada's current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has these 14 criteria apply to him. There's a very interesting discussion of the 14 criteria, their origins and such. It's an interesting article.

Nobody can deny that America's democracy has been having some serious problems in recent years. Jingoism and ramping up the military industrial complex aren't going to solve them either. I'm not so sure that any country which is a potential target of the U.S. really wants a U.S.-style democracy either.

Canada seems to be following in the footsteps of the U.S. in broad policy terms. That's scary. And people wonder why citizens are so disillusioned with the whole political system and don't get out and vote. It's a really good reason for people to actually get out and vote! Also, we need good people to step up and run for office instead of so many slimy, greedy opportunists that usually run.

If you just see running for office as a way to enhance your business and your bank account, please just do us a favour and

Saddam and Rumsfeld in happier times

2006-12-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

It’s all over the news. Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is officially dead. Here’s a picture of him during happier times, shaking the hand of Donald Rumsfeld, former US secretary of defense.

I watched the CNN video of Hussein’s hanging. I thought the taunts and arguments with him just before he died were inappropriate. While Hussein may have deserved his punishment for the deaths of thousands of Iraqi citizens, a situation like this is a good opportunity for the new Iraqi government to show the dignity to Hussein that he did not show his victims.

They failed. When the state is going to take the life of one of its citizens, it should be done with a certain amount of dignity. I think this might count as cruel and unusual punishment, if it really matters. I don’t think the state should have the right to kill its citizens/criminals. War is a different story.

I think Rumsfeld’s crimes against the state are probably in line with those of Hussein. Maybe he should have been the one with the noose around his neck. The U.S. has a record of supporting ruthless dictators and turning a blind eye to crimes in progress in those countries. They’ll pay attention to those crimes after the fact if the dictator in question doesn’t toe the U.S. line. In most criminal proceedings it seems that that would be complicity in murder and you’d be subject to the same charge. In politics, evidently, that’s not the case. You can support a bloodthirsty tyrant, know what he’s up to, but you’re not responsible.

One day I’ll have to do a little writing on all the examples of U.S. involvement in mass killings in dictatorships they support. I’m sure there will be no lack of information on that.

How can they go around preaching democracy while they support these types of regimes?

Ummm, is this Safeway?

2006-12-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

Lately I've received all kinds of Safeway calls over the holidays. Yes, lucky me, my name comes right after Safeway in the phone book.

Tonight I received the funniest call so far. Somebody I know has to be messing with me. The female voice said:

"Hello, I'm actually calling for the pharmacy department. I have a really bad rash down below."

To which I just laughed. "Oooook."

Click.

I think I need call display.

Saddam dead

2006-12-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

It’s been quite a year in this crazy world of ours. Personally, it’s been a year of great changes too. I’d say they’ve been positive generally, for me.

I can’t say they’ve been positive for Saddam Hussein, former dictator of Iraq who was apparently executed today.

I have never been a big fan of the death penalty and I really don’t think he should have been executed, despite what he’s done. I am not saying that because of the inevitable violence which will flow from it. I personally just don’t agree with it.

We’ll see what the repercussions of his execution are. Will there be more terrorism? More attacks in Iraq? More Islamo-fascist attacks in the Western world? Very likely.

I am sure the Islamo-fascists would like to start a religious war between Muslims and Christians. Perhaps this is why they are attacking the West. Their way of trying to get Western forces out of the Middle East?

People like Glenn Beck on CN N are suggesting if the West does not wake up that it might be too late. He’s also comparing the rise of the Iranian nutcase/president, Ahmadinejad, with the rise of Hitler in the 1930s, suggesting the West is following the same course of capitulation the world followed then.

He may well be right, but time will tell. Ahmadinejad preaches peace to Western media, while whipping up an anti-Western, anti-Semitic frenzy in Iran. His claim of pursuing nuclear power for peaceful purposes is laughable, if it wasn’t so damn dangerous.

I suspect that nuts like Ahmadinejad will use the execution of Saddam Hussein as more fodder for their propaganda war.

My advice to the Islamo-fascists out there is to not underestimate the West’s will to fight, for the right cause. Canadians certainly are willing. We got in on the Second World War right away, because it had to be done. I guess the U.S. felt its presence wasn’t needed for a couple years. Hmmm. Now, the U.S. starts a war in the Middle East, but nobody wants in. We’ll see how that turns out, but I am rambling.

Christmas

On that note, I have to say my Christmas has been quite nice. My wife has been back visiting from Alberta. It’s nice to be able to talk in person and not just on the phone. Money has been tight of late, running two households, so Christmas was a bit of a lean one. That’s not always a bad thing though. I’d rather spend more of my time with my family than just worrying about the present tally.

CBC ran a story about the average spending on Christmas presents being around $930 per person! That really is crazy. I did a rough calculation and figured that my wife and I probably spent around $600 on all our gifts combined! Certainly not extravagant and most of it was on the kids. With the spending on extra groceries, that total might run up to around $700.

I talked to the kids about maybe diverting some of our Christmas spending next year to a charity. We were thinking we’d like to sponsor a child or two overseas, rather than spending so much on Christmas presents. Frankly, as much as I like to give to my children, they’ve got lots and they seemed to be okay with the idea. Their Christmas wouldn’t be completely bereft of presents, but maybe a little less than normal.

Any suggestions on a good charity to give to would be appreciated. I’d like to find one with minimal spending on administration and most of the money going where it belongs.

I did some interesting things for Christmas. I got a bottle of Absinthe, with glass and spoon, Neverwinter Nights Diamond edition (video game), and the Lord of the Rings DVD boxed set. Oh, I also got Mike Holmes’ book Make it Right.

I know 2007 will be a good year. In fact, for my family it should be a great year. I’m looking forward to life in Alberta.

Hopefully your 2007 is a good one too.

Christmas prep and bad drivers

2006-12-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

Tonight I decided to get caught up on my Christmas preparations. I am not the world's best present wrapper, and some of them look like Santa had a little too much rum in his eggnog, but they are now mostly wrapped. Thank God for that.

Our Christmas tree admittedly looks better than it has ever before. We had to buy some new lights. So, I bought two new strings, but do you think I bought the LED multi-function ones? No sirree! I would like to, but the price for those was double the price of the minilights. Really, they run for a couple hours a day for about a month. It won't make that much of a difference. Kind of surprising considering how much of a greenie I seem to be lately.

I'll have to post some cool photos I took of the tree.

Bad drivers

Do you ever run across people who deserve to have their license permanently suspended? I do. Almost every day. Sometimes it's even me! Yeah. I know. It happens occasionally. We all make dumb mistakes. Everybody does. But, the difference between me and the oblivious people out there is I know when I've done something dumb. You'll see the red glow emanating from my face.

Now there is a way to warn everyone of the stupidity of those drivers you run across. Go to Platewire Canada. I spotted it on CNN tonight. I wish I had thought of that one. You can report the plate number and describe the nature of the stupidity on the site. You can even report good drivers or hot ones.

Apparently some US cops are using the lists of plate numbers to keep an eye out for the hazardous morons out on the highways.

I could make a career out of reporting the idiots out there.

OJ publisher fired

2006-12-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Sure, OJ’s “If I Did It” was an offensive book. Just the idea of it was offensive.

What is more offensive is that the would-be publisher, Judith Regan, was fired recently by Harper Collins. Apparently Harper Collins is owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose companies don’t have the best reputation for any sort of integrity, journalistic or otherwise.

Had there not been so much of a public backlash, the book would have flown off the shelves I’m sure and the TV special on it would have been widely watched. People would have said they didn’t, but you know they would. People are such ghouls.

She would have been hailed in the company as brilliant as the shareholders laughed all the way to the bank.

But it wasn’t to happen. The public backlashed. I guess the idea of OJ making some bucks off the murders he committed was just too much, and well it should be. While that may be true, we do live in a free society where people have the choice not to consume what is offensive.

This whole fiasco has served to further paint OJ as a murderous clown. He should have hired a PR guy after being found not guilty to help rebuild his image. But, murderers aren’t exactly rational though, are they?

Let’s get back to Judith Regan. Apparently, she has quite a talent for causing a stir and getting blockbusters published. Look for her to be snapped up by another company. Just hiring her is worth a news cycle or two.

No, Rupert Murdoch compounded the problem by firing her as he did. There was no justification for it. Someone in his organization has no spine. Maybe it’s Murdoch himself. Maybe the whole organization. Murdoch is, of course, owner of FOX network. FOX is a constant source of bullshit and bad journalism and is just a mouthpiece for the U.S. Republican party.

Regan should be happy she’s not working for Murdoch’s media empire. I’m sure she will do better things elsewhere. It just goes to show that, while companies preach risk-taking and learning from mistakes, they really abhor them. They will also not be willing to support you if you do make mistakes and work with you to get on the right track.

Judith, sometimes it’s just better to cut your losses and move on. There will be better things for you, hopefully. It couldn’t be any worse than working for a scumbag propaganda machine.

Stress test, fridge cleaning, trans-fats and tritium

2006-12-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

I discovered today I am not in imminent danger of dying. That comes as good news to me, while a few might be disappointed.

Today was my appointment for a stress test at the local cardiology department. I have to admit to being a little worried about the whole thing, which is likely why my blood pressure was a little elevated. The conclusion? I am okay, speaking from a cardiac perspective. My ECG was fine.

Aside from not being in the greatest shape, I obviously didn’t die during the test. My chest hair is now missing in several places where they had to attach the electrodes. It’s quite a process: shave, rub with alcohol and then sandpaper the area! They even have a tape dispenser for the sandpaper. Weird! Don’t tell the Tool Man.

I had to go without caffeine for the last two days, which wasn’t too much of a problem, except for the headache yesterday. The coffee tastes even better today though!

I’ll be going for a fasting cholesterol test, which I always hate. The needle doesn’t bother me, it’s going without eating for 14 hours. I could use a few more stretches like that though.

So, while I am not going to die, yet, I think I was more likely just confirmed as a hypochondriac. I’m feeling a little chilly at the moment. Is that ebola or is it because I shave my head now? Hmmm.

That being said, I do have to lose a bit of weight, eat better and get more exercise. I have been eyeing up the treadmills at Canadian Tire. I used to joke about them. Now, I see them as a good alternative to walking in my neighbourhood.

In the summer, you can walk the streets with some worry, as there are ABSOLUTELY NO SIDEWALKS HERE. How fucked is that? In the winter, walking here is suicidal. They barely plow two lanes properly, so if you walk, you’re walking in traffic.

Our council was so concerned about pedestrians on the main road that they dropped the speed limits on South Lakeside out of concern for students. The ironic thing? None of them walk! But, when the school buses let their students out, they walk up the narrow, icy sideroads with no sidewalks and pathetic plowing. I hope to God nobody gets killed, but if they do, I hope the city gets their asses sued off. It’s pathetic.

I digress, but I’ll continue. They’re too busy building monuments they’ll be remembered by. They’re not really concerned with the safety of residents. Dumb fuckers. We’re going to have a $6 million new firehall, but no sidewalks in this neighbourhood. We’ll have a $30 million hockey arena, but no sidewalks. We have a $3 million or so new “tourism discovery centre.” But, no sidewalks. Hell, there isn’t even a park in this neighbourhood.

So, I look at buying a treadmill. I’ll set up my laptop on it and get it set up with a voice activation system. Bump up the font size so you can read while walking and you can work while walking. That’s the plan anyway.

Cleaning the fridge

Since I am not going to die, I figured today was a good time to clean out the fridge and make sure that everything in there was at least from this decade. I literally pulled out about two dozen bottles of assorted condiments, sauces and such. We tend to be spice and sauce specialists; condiment connoisseurs. Evidently, we don’t like to finish off the bottle.

My fridge is now over half empty. I like it. Soon it will be time to clean it. I don’t really want to tackle the vegetable crisper though. I know some rotten vegetable life form is lurking in the bottom. There’s always at least one. It’s easier to leave it in there so it doesn’t spill its guts all over your kitchen floor, leaving you gagging as you attempt to dispose of its carcass.

It’s a tough job, I know.

My sink is now full of empty bottles, with most of the sludgy contents in my garbage can or already down the drain. It will be a smorgasbord for the bacteria of my local sewage pipe. I need to deal with those bottles. Fortunately my sinuses are a little plugged at this time of year, otherwise I’d be driven out by the stench of vinegar, sauerkraut, pickle juice and other unappetizing odours.

That could be a good diet plan. Offer to clean out your friends’ and neighbours’ refrigerators. If you feel like eating after that, you have an iron stomach or have no olfactory nerves. Fear Factors might be a good career option for you.

Big apple = no trans-fats

Continuing on the food and health theme, New York City has decided to ban trans-fats in restaurants. Good for them. It’s about time somebody started standing up to fast food businesses. Oh, they’ll all bitch about it of course, but that’s too bad.

I suppose the city could just tell them they can concentrate their businesses in other cities and avoid New York altogether.

It’s a smart move. Trans-fats are one of the worst things you can eat. I can’t wait for this to happen in Canada, but I’m not holding my breath. We have such spineless federal governments it’s crazy.

Our governments talk a good line when it comes to looking after the health of Canadians, but there’s money involved, so they do nothing and screw the citizens of this country. They’re doing it with trans-fats and they’re doing the same when it comes to pollution.

They are fucking us all over for the sake of a few votes and mainly for campaign contributions.

Tritium pollution

The citizens in and around Pembroke, Ontario are up in arms because SRB Technologies is polluting the area with tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. They’re not doing it illegally either. They have the blessing (collusion?) of the ironically-named Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. George Orwell would be proud of that doublespeak. I don't know if the concerned citizens of Pembroke will be successful in stopping SRB, but let's hope they are.

This issue was brought up yesterday on CBC’s The Current. It’s appalling really. Apparently this company is allowed to spray its radioactive wastewater in a fine mist, into the air. The reason? So they don’t overly contaminate the area around the plant. Instead, they contaminate the entire area with low level radiation. Listen to the segment. How our government can allow this kind of bullshit is beyond me. We should be jailing government officials who make decisions like that.

I don’t know the logic that could possibly be used to justify that. And if our elected officials knew about it, we should make some space for them in our jails. It is absolutely criminal. SRB wants to dump their radioactive waste in the Ottawa River too, which they are going to be allowed to do.

It’s interesting to note that our government has determined that Canada’s “safe level” of tritium in drinking water is 7000 Bq/litre while it is 740 in the U.S. The World Health Organization’s “safe level” is 1,000 Bq/litre. Canada likes to point fingers at the U.S. for being irresponsible environmentally, but we should be pointing at ourselves. There are a number of environmental issues where the U.S. is ahead of Canada. We are pathetic. Don’t mention Kyoto.

To boot, SRB is allowed to ship tritium, in the form of lights, to Iran. Apparently tritium is used in nuclear weapons to increase their yield (destructive power). How nice. Our government must have rocks in its head. The U.S. government must really like hearing how we’re helping those crazy bastards out. Hey, maybe we should just ship them a CANDU reactor. Don’t be surprised if that one isn’t on the drawing board.

Are you Sarah Connor?

2006-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

I could comment on the underdog victory of Stephane Dion for the leadership of the federal Liberal party. I could comment also on Ed Stelmach, the underdog “nice guy” new premier of Alberta. I could, but I won’t. Not yet anyway.

No, I will be commenting on the future of warfare on this pathetic planet of ours. We spend enormous amounts of money and pour a lot of effort into finding new ways of killing each other. Too bad we don’t put the same effort into feeding everyone, curing diseases and learning how to get along.

On the bright side, my hair-trigger skills at first-person shooter video games such as Max Payne, Halo and Unreal Tournament may finally be put to good use. I sense a new career path on the horizon, maybe.

What I’m referring to is the coming of the robot army. Whose I’m not sure, but sounds like everyone wants one. Surfing Cnet, while I was interested in their missing staffer, I was even more interested in Samsung’s development of an automated killer. Scary huh? There is even a YouTube video of Samsung's scary robokiller. Check it out. It might be in Korean, but the point is clear. Eventually you’ll be at the mercy of a machine, and I’m not talking about your home computer and your MSN obsession. I just hope this robokiller is not running Windows. I shudder to think that any product with the potential to kill could be running Windows.

Apparently it’s de rigeur to make killer robots and it’s happening all over: United States, India, Korea. I would assume Arab countries like Iran are eyeing up the killer robots too. No word on whether they’ll require them to wear a burkha.

Some of the comments have made for interesting reading, with the inevitable comparisons to The Terminator. While the possibility of time travel is a slim one, the reality of a robot army is fast becoming reality. There are a number of news stories which have trickled down the newswire without much of a stir, such as this one from the Telegraph.

I laughed at the comment on CNet about the robots not being “three laws safe,” for all you iRobot fans out there. The three laws of robotics, developed by Isaac Asimov:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Yeah, that’s all out the window. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the future. No doubt there will be more than a few “friendly fire” casualties coming from this.

I’m not sure how you’d stop a robot army though. Maybe a few spike strips? Nah, too easy. Cold might work. Hell, if I can barely get my van to start at –30 C, you think a battery powered robot is going to go anywhere, let alone a whole army of them? Canada might be safe for now.

I suppose it was inevitable though. Nobody wants their soldiers to get killed in combat, especially for unnecessary wars like Iraq. It’d just be easier to send a ship full of robots over to wipe a country out and come in and clean up after.

On that note, how are these robots going to distinguish between civilians and soldiers? Hell, human soldiers can’t even do that very well these days. Insurgents and terrorists blend in. It’s called guerrilla warfare and I don’t think it’s going to get any easier because of a fucking robot. If anything, it will make things worse. If people in Arab countries are pissed off because the U.S. is invading their countries one by one, imagine how pissed they’ll be when all they are invaded by is a bunch of robots. “The capitalist pig Americans insult us even further by only sending robots to kill us.” Hmm.

I remain skeptical though. They are machines. They will be stopped by cold, sand, heat and electromagnetic pulses. Oh, sure, they can work on those problems, but they will never be perfect. It’s way easier to send a human to freeze his ass off, fry his brain, get sandblasted or whatever. It’s just a little messier when you have to send him back in a body bag and deal with the bad publicity.

Liberal leaders & "Quebecois nation"

2006-12-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

I’ve been remiss in not making some comments on what’s happening out there lately.

As you may have read in my last post, I have a new job. It’s only part-time right now, but that’s okay. It’s a sales rep job so I like it. I got started this week. It’s been interesting because the training has been minimal, but I like a challenge.

Liberal leadership

I’m sitting here at 9 a.m. playing backgammon online. I’m listening to CBC and they just read out the results for the second ballot of the Liberal leadership convention.

Michael Ignatieff stalled, which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. He’s a twit. Bob Rae, Stephane Dion and Gerard Kennedy did well. Ken Dryden didn’t do so well, and is dropping off. Sorry, but I liked him as a goaltender but he’s totally uninspiring as a politician.

I hope like hell the Liberals aren’t dumb enough to pick Ignatieff. I’d never vote for him, ever. Sounds like Dryden is going to Bob Rae. Dion might be getting Kennedy in his camp.

I actually really like Gerard Kennedy. I heard him speak on The House one morning and liked his ideas. I don’t mind Bob Rae. He seems to have recovered nicely from his bad experiences as premier of Ontario.

I could see myself possibly voting for Rae or Kennedy, maybe even Dion. Or, I might just give my vote to the Green party again. They need to have a stronger voice and voting for them gives them some cash, so your vote isn’t really wasted anymore. The Green party actually did fairly well, with party leader Elizabeth May coming in second, in a very recent byelection. I don’t know if it will happen in the next election, but they will have some MPs soon.

Frustrated with the voting process? Just remember your vote does count for something now.

I digress again. The Liberals have generally been a centre party, swaying left and right as necessary. I was not fond of the most recent incarnations of them, having supported them in my younger years. We’ll see after this weekend. They need to make a major break with the recent past. They didn’t do much in the last 13 or so years except line Liberal pockets with taxpayer dollars in Quebec. I'm not confident it will happen.

What I would prefer is a naturally centre party, and not one made up of candidates who couldn’t make it on the extreme right or left. I’d like to vote for a party that actually is in touch with what average Canadians want and not one that is only listening to multi-national corporations or big unions. Recent Canadian governments have been going the same route they have in the U.S. where they are totally divorced from reality and are not listening to the average voter. No wonder people are pissed off with the whole system and not voting. Unfortunately, by doing that they are letting them totally hijack the process so they can do whatever the hell they want.

I won’t be voting Conservative. I don’t like the values they profess. They are just out of touch with reality and seem to want to be too much in bed with the U.S. Looking south of the border, there is a lot of crazy and scary crap going on there that we don’t need to import here.

Quebecois nation?

Where in the fuck did this bullshit about a Quebecois nation come from? It’s insane. Oh, I know, it started with the Bloc Quebecois, but all the parties jumping on board to vote in favour of this? Is there crack in Parliamentary water jugs?

It might seem like no big deal, but it is the thin edge of the wedge. Harper said he thought it meant one thing, but you know damn well the separatists are going to interpret it as Quebec being a nation. What bullshit.

I can’t believe our politicians let down all Canadians by voting in favour of this outrageous motion for crass political purposes. Yes, the voters of Quebec are important, but you don’t sell out the entire country just for a few votes.

Harper thinks he’s smart, but history might paint him as the man who destroyed the country. You know the Parti Quebecois and Bloc Quebecois will interpret it the “wrong” way. Wait for the declaration of independence. Brilliant move Mr. Harper.

And since when do we limit debate on such an important motion? I’ll back up first and ask whether this is the most important thing Parliament should be pondering? I guess climate change, the gap between the rich and poor, health care, national security and other such issues just aren’t important enough to get in the way of sucking up to Quebec voters.

This is not the most important debate in the country now and it should not have been opened up again. But, they did. So, why would you limit debate? It’s obvious Harper is a shoot from the hip politician with no real plan. Did he learn from Ralph Klein? Must have. There is no question that this type of issue requires some serious thought and some serious debate, rather than mulling it over for a day in between Parliamentary naps.

It’s obvious the current crop of Canadian MPs have a flippant disregard for the future of this country, with a few exceptions. I’ll give Gerard Kennedy, Liberal leadership contender and not an MP yet, credit for not being in favour of this ridiculous motion.

Let’s hope the passage of this motion won’t affect the country, but I’m not going to bet the farm on it. People are already pissed about it and there are some already trying to take advantage of it. I think they’ve opened the floodgates and it will dominate the agenda again. Issues that need to be dealt with will be shoved aside. Good work Harper. Good work.

Long trip

2006-11-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

It was an interesting trip to Alberta on Tuesday. Not eventful, but interesting. Because I had an interview in Kamloops, I decided to take the southern route along the Trans Canada highway. My parents had recommended trying it because it might save some time too.

If you are looking at distance alone, it looks like a reasonably efficient route, ignoring traffic, weather and a road as twisted as Stephen King’s mind.

I started my trip early. 7 a.m. That ought to have been plenty of time to make it to Kamloops for a 10:30 a.m. interview, but I was still 10 minutes late! It snowed from before La La Hache all the way to Cache Creek. The driving was okay, but the drivers were timid.

Fortunately my soon-to-be employer was understanding. I had anticipated only being there for a half hour. It turned into an hour and a half. I could have spent all day there.

I’m looking forward to the job. I will be a customer service representative for the company in Williams Lake. It’s only part-time, which is a start. I like the job and the company I’ll be representing. It’s not a high-pressure sales job, which isn’t my style, so it should be fun. I have a certain measure of independence too, which is something I like. I need to work a certain number of hours per week, but it’s up to me how I spread them out. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge, but I’m familiar with the products, so it should be lots of fun!

I was on my way by noon, and headed to Salmon Arm. I had been to Chase with Auren once while we were in university, but I hadn’t been past there in quite a while. In fact, it had been so long I didn’t remember the area. I was shocked at how nice the area around Salmon arm was. Now I understand why people like the Shuswap so much. It was as if I was transported to the coast with its lush rainforest and deep fjords. I also enjoyed the funky and eclectic communities, shacks and commercial buildings. I am definitely going to be spending more time in that area in the future.

Kamloops had been sunny, but it changed to rain by Salmon Arm. The rain continued and the clouds dropped closer to the road. Revelstoke was also rainy. It seems to have undergone a lot of highway commercial development since I’d been through just after 9/11. I started climbing into the hills and the snow began.

There were points through the snow sheds where the traffic was just crawling along. It was frustrating because the roads really weren’t that bad. It was odd because normally truckers bomb along, even in winter. Had these truckers never seen snow before? I finally made it past them and arrived in Golden.

I pit-stopped at the Petro Can and grabbed a coffee. Good thing too, because I’d need to be awake for the next section. I really didn’t remember this road. It was twisty! It was rainy which turned into snow. It was foggy. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic heading east as I was.

I didn’t realize it, but I was heading towards the Kicking Horse Pass. The westerly traffic was crawling along while I was passing the timid transport trucks going east. I distinctly remember one area where there was a lot of road construction going on. It was obvious a new route was being created high and to my right. I would soon see that some sort of bridge was going up to the mountain top on my left. It was dark, but much of that portion was lit by artificial means. I was in awe of the height of the new bridge across the valley. The massive concrete towards stretched high into the air.

I felt how the characters in the Lord of the Rings must have felt when they passed those two large statues. Anybody whose read the book knows the ones I’m talking about. I’ll be damned if I can remember the names of them or what. It was at the end of the first movie, I think. How's that for certainty?

Okay, that might have been overstating it a little, but they’re damn high! It made me sweat a little thinking about looking over the edge of that bridge when it’s done.

From that point on the snow just got worse and worse. I made it into Banff National Park unscathed. The snow continued but began to abate as I neared Canmore. Time for another pit stop.

Back on the freeway towards Calgary. It snowed on and off to the turn north to Cochrane on the Cowboy Trail. At this point I was listening to Howard Stern on my Sirius satellite radio. The episode being rebroadcast was from May 13, 2004 on their trip to Las Vegas. I had a good laugh anyway. Artie Lange is hilarious. Rob Schneider was along for the ride on that trip too.

While cruising east on the freeway, I spotted RCMP vehicles in a hurry going west. I spotted probably 10 of them at various times with emergency lights flashing away. That is really odd. I wonder what the hell was going on. Heard nothing on CBC this morning.

I stopped in Cochrane long enough to put $10 in the tank. I continued north into the blowing snow. It got pretty bad around Sundre, but I made it to Caroline shortly after 9 p.m. my time. Talk about a long trip. I am so glad that one is over.

My return trip will be along the northern Highway 16 route. It’s straighter, slightly longer, but quicker. There is more freeway and I know the route very well. I might take the southern route in the summer, especially when the kids are along to see the route. I can’t recommend it in the winter unless you absolutely have to travel it. What a nightmare. I now understand why people complain about it so much.

Perhaps you noticed I never stopped to eat. In my travels lately I’ve taken to making a bunch of sandwiches before the trip so I can save some cash, eat a little healthier (okay, a lot) and save some time too. The end result is better for my bottom line as well as my waist line, and more time spent at my destination.

Boiling water in Vancouver & disaster preparation

2006-11-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

It’s always interesting to see just how thin the veil of civilization really is and just how dumb people can get. Witness the storms lashing B.C. and the resulting boil water alerts for Vancouver and power outages in other areas of B.C.

Over one million people on a boil water alert? Apparently there have been fights over bottled water too. I understand the alert was precautionary, due to the possibility of bacteria and viruses latching onto the suspended particles in the water, but this whole thing really is ridiculous.

It is ridiculous first because a modern city like Vancouver does not have proper water treatment. Second, it is ridiculous because the people of Vancouver are so unprepared for any kind of natural disaster (a wind storm?) or man-made disaster for that matter. That’s okay, they are not unlike so many Canadians. One hiccup in our power, heat or water delivery systems, and it’s a crisis.

What is blatantly obvious, but is not being picked up on by the mainstream media, is that lack of disaster preparation by the average person, let alone government. No, the media concentrates its efforts on the fistfights at Costco and government officials who should have known better.

I can solve your water treatment problems in two seconds. Visit the Mountain Equipment Co-op website. Check out their water filters. This Katadyn tabletop water filter is perfect for use at home. No need to fight at the grocery store.

That solves that problem, but it begs the question: what happens if we just don’t have any water? There area couple ways to deal with that. First, you should have some sort of water storage at home, just in case.

How much should you have though? Well, according to this site, you should have a two-week supply of water for each member of your family. The amount is one gallon per day. That’s a U.S. gallon, so four litres is roughly what you should use. That means one milk jug per person, per day. Hey, that’s a lot of water. It would be a pain to store. But, would you rather be getting into fights at Costco and undergoing the stress in trying to provide a safe source of drinking water for your family?

Make sure to read the rest of that page on water storage. It actually has some very good tips on how to store water as well as using other sources of water.

So, if you’re single, setting aside 14 gallons (or 14 4-litre milk jugs) isn’t that tough. Make some room at the bottom of your closet. Clear out some crap and send it the Salvation Army.

Power’s out?

Canada gets snow. Seems obvious doesn’t it. So what happens when the power goes out or the gas stops flowing? In most cases, panic.

This isn’t quite as easy to solve as the water problem. In a non-urban location like I am at, having a woodstove is an easy solution. Even a pellet stove isn’t bad, except it needs electricity. So does your furnace. If you live in an apartment, there could be problems.

The ice storm of 1998 is a good example of how reliant we are on big companies to feed us electricity and gas. Without it, many of those people in Ontario and Quebec were in deep doo-doo.

For someone who owns their own home, look at a woodstove. A pellet stove is an option if you have a generator to power it. Or, you might have a solar power o r wind solution to operate it. Geothermal is great for a home, but it still needs electricity.

If you live in an apartment, you’ll probably be shitting bricks (and icy ones at that) realizing there are no good options. Invest in a good sleeping bag and a barbecue. Use your barbecue for cooking, OUTSIDE. If you’re dumb enough to use it inside, well…

One possible solution is to use a gas generator on your balcony to power an electric heater inside. In the future, you might be able to use a portable fuel cell for heat and electricity. The gas generator is inefficient, yes, but if there is no other solution, it works. What happens when the gas runs out?

This points out the fragile existence most people in urban areas lead. It doesn’t take much to interrupt everyday life in an urban centre. I’m glad I don’t live in one. Can you imagine being in a food and water riot where your lawyer is grinding his heel into your face with his Gucci loafers just to get a loaf of bread? Contrast that with the non-riot example of your ex-wife’s lawyer grinding his heel into your face with his Gucci loafers just to make the next payment on his Porsche, but I digress.

Preparation

People need to fundamentally adjust their attitude when it comes to looking after themselves. It is sad that most people think it’s up to emergency authorities and government to protect them. I have news for you: it’s not. It’s up to you.

Look at most disasters. If they’re on a large enough scale, most governments don’t have the resources to react quickly. Typically there is at least a 72-hour lag time before any kind of help can be counted on to arrive. Imagine an earthquake or a hurricane in a large urban area. That 72 hours could stretch out to weeks.

Yes, you are on your own, as it has always been.

You need to provide food, water, shelter and protection for you and your family. Preparation doesn’t have to be elaborate. The first three are somewhat obvious, the last, less so.

In a disaster, crazy shit happens, and people often revert to savagery. It happens. You see it on the news. IT CAN HAPPEN HERE.

So, protect yourself and your family. Use your imagination. If you have no imagination, I’ll just tell you. Buy a gun. Learn how to use it. You have the right to protect yourself. Period. But, please do the other preparations first. I know the temptation of some people is to think they can acquire what they need when the merdre hits the ventilateur, by using a gun. Don’t even think about it. You’ll run into someone who is more prepared to defend themselves than you are. Besides, are you some kind of savage? Isn’t that the kind of behaviour we criticize “rogue nations” for? Grow up.

Searching, searching...

2006-11-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

I've always been interested in how people find me on the web. One of the services I use for hit counting is really good about locating IP addresses. It can even list the company from which the search originated. One of the latest interesting ones comes from the Calgary Regional Health Authority. That's an odd one for sure. I can't think of anyone I know who works for them.

I think my fascination with Internet searching will lead me to the next variation of my writing career, as I have mentioned before.

Life hasn't been particularly exciting lately. I'm spending part of the week in Caroline, Alberta with the kids on their fall reading break. I can still do my Internet job searching from the public library here, so that's good too.

We were in Edmonton for a couple days visiting my parents and doing a little Christmas shopping. Life can be so much more interesting in the city.

Stephen Colbert's view on the election

2006-11-08T12:22:00.001-08:00

If you're curious about Stephen Colbert's take on the election, check out his video clip.

I have to confess, I haven't watched his show. Always tough without cable, but I do remember The Daily Show quite well. When I watched The Daily Show regularly, I think Colbert was one of the regulars. Funny stuff.

U.S. elections, Rumsfeld resigns, Britney Spears divorce

2006-11-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

There’s nothing like waking up to some good news. I knew last night that the Democrats took back Congress and the Senate was a dead heat.

No, this morning I woke up to the news that Donald Rumsfeld, chief warmonger and secretary of defense for George Bush, resigned. Hooyah! The moron who was the chief architect of the disaster that is Iraq, is stepping down. Never thought I’d see the day.

Bush was going to stand by his man until the bitter end. Now we’ll see some movement on the Iraq war. I don’t know what, but I’m looking forward to it ending. I think the effects of this war will reverberate for decades though. It’s too bad the Republican administration was just too stupid to realize exactly why it was a bad idea to go in there this time.

People at that level think differently. The terror threat is worse than ever, and muslim radicalism is growing. Perhaps that is what this administration’s goal was, to make the threat of muslim fundamentalism more real than it ever has been. Who will ever be able to prove it?

Now, I’m not silly enough to think that all of a sudden the U.S. is going to be the model citizen on the world stage. It never really matters whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in control. The U.S. always acts in a completely self-interested manner. The funny thing is, the leadership of that country is always so myopic. It can never see the big picture. When they should be laissez-faire, they’re in there messing things up. When they should be involved, they’re laissez-faire. World War II is a good example of that. It took two years for them to join in, and then only after the Japanese nailed them at Pearl Harbour.

Vietnam is a good example of what should have been laissez-faire. Central America is another. So is Iran. Iraq. I agree with Afghanistan, but then, they didn’t bring in enough resources to get the job done properly and quickly.

The ‘fight’ against communism was more of a joke than anything. It doesn’t take countries to figure out it doesn’t work and a market economy is better, so let them figure it out on their own. What happens when you go in and fuck with them? It tends to unite the country and make them hate and resent you for being there. Install a puppet dictator who makes it worse and keep supporting him, and it gets worse. So America, when in doubt, stay the fuck out. When will American politicians realize they have the reverse Midas touch in foreign policy? Everything they touch turns to shit.

It’s unfortunate that this U.S. administration has only served to create the thing it claims to fear and was trying to stamp out. The U.S. is responsible for nuclear proliferation because countries are afraid the U.S. will invade them! Those countries might be right too!

Thanks to the U.S., the world has become a much more dangerous place in the last three and a half years. I could trace things back further. If I were to do that, you would actually see how earlier U.S. actions have caused many of the modern-day problems we see. Go a little further back, and it’s the British. The U.S. does have a British heritage, as does Canada, but then, we’re not out trying to change the world, at least not militarily.

On another note: It was nice to see that Joe Lieberman kept his seat. He ran as an independent after being dumped in the nomination race. He’s more pro-war than the average Democrat, but a good balance in the party. Hey, sometimes you do have to go to war, but it takes a certain level of wisdom and intelligence to figure out the right time. Conclusion: the Republicans possess neither of those two qualities. Time will tell whether the current crop of Democrats possess them.

One thing is obvious. Americans are tired of a government that does not listen to the will of the people and works only for the rich.

Canada’s reaction to U.S. elections

I haven’t found any Ottawa reaction to Bush’s election losses yet. I am curious what they think of that. It might be good for Canada on the trade front. Maybe. The U.S. is likely to remain as protectionist as ever.
Maybe our prime minister will take a hint from the U.S. rejection of interventionist foreign policy and smarten up a little? Nah.

I guess Bush now knows what it's like to be in a minority position.

Celebrity news: Britney Spears getting a divorce

I’ll file this one under: Who Cares?

Bolas de Sebo - Seu Jogo

2006-11-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Taking a break from my busy day, I decided to check out YouTube. I'm not obsessed with it or anything, but it can occasionally be entertaining.

I found this Brazilian band that actually sounds really good. I don't know what the hell they're saying, but I never let that interfere with a good song.

The group is called Bolas de Sebo, or Tallow Balls in English. That's what Babelfish says anyway. The song is Seu Jogo, which translates as "her game."

I like the relaxed sound of the song. It reminds me of stuff I heard in the 90s. Almost like Hootie and the Blowfish.

I wonder if any of the record places in Vancouver could get a hold of their CD?

U.S. election problems, Wal-Mart, Saddam Hussein & winter

2006-11-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

It’s election day in the U.S. and I’ve got my fingers crossed for the Democrats there. If they’re able to capitalize on Bush’s unpopularity, they could take Congress and the Senate.

I’m not holding my breath though. With the new electronic voting machines in the U.S., God knows what’s going to happen. Are the Republicans going to steal another one? Literally? I find it ironic the U.S. is preaching democracy all over the planet when democracy isn’t working on their own soil. CNN has been reporting all kinds of problems with the electronic voting machines.

Prediction: if the Republicans manage to steal this election, watch for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call for voting machines in Canada. We don’t need them. Paper works fine. I’ve worked as a scrutineer and the count doesn’t take that long. It is much more accurate and you have a paper trail.

Supercentres: who needs Wal-Mart?

Continuing on the American theme this morning, CBC has reported that Wal-Mart is planning to open 14 new monstrosities known as Supercentres, in Canada this year.

So-called “retail” analysts are predicting grim results for existing Canadian grocery store chains. Don’t be so quick to predict a Wal-Mart takeover of Canadian retailing. There are many in Canada who know what Wal-Mart is all about and don’t like the place. They sell cheap garbage and are not a good corporate citizen. PBS Frontline has a great investigation on the truth about Wal-Mart.

Be a smart shopper. Please realize that Wal-Mart’s deals aren’t that great. It’s called a loss leader. Look at the rest of the stuff they sell. It’s likely to be the same price or more expensive than everywhere else.

Hussein conciliatory?

After his recent conviction and death penalty sentence, Saddam Hussein is in a conciliatory mood at his next trial.

There’s not much doubt about his guilt. Being a war criminal is a chance you take when you play puppet with the U.S. government though. You can commit war crimes when you’re friends with the U.S. and you’ll be protected. When you’re not a friend, then you’re a war criminal.

Perhaps Hussein is just trying to play the public relations game in trying to get some sympathy. Is his being conciliatory genuine? God knows.

Winter?

It is 11 degrees Celsius here in Williams Lake right now. It is November 7. Is someone going to try and convince me there is no global warming?

Faith Hill: Sore loser?

I'm not a big country music fan, but I couldn't resist commenting about Faith Hill's reaction to losing. She lost last night for female vocalist of the year. The camera was on her and she was visibly upset.

Now, she claims it was a joke. Yeah, sure. We all believe you. We're well used to celebrities having no class. Is this another example of it? You just never know.

Watching the video, it looked like a genuine reaction to me, and she seemed to realize it just as she turned away from the camera. Nice.

Celebrity look-alikes

2006-11-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

And now for something a little less serious than economic stuff. Cruising through the blogs of various TRU people I know, I found a site that made me laugh. Want to know what celebrity you look like?

It missed a couple celebrities I've been told I look like. One is, if I remember correctly, and Manny would remember because he told me, Curtis Joseph. Yeah, he's the NHL goaltender, but I'm not even sure for who right now. Is he with Detroit? No, apparently he's with the Coyotes.

Now, if only I was making the same kind of salary and had the same cool job he has.

The other one I have been told I look like is Mark McGwire. You remember him? The home run king. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, who just won the World Series. I can assure you, I'm not on steroids. So, no 'roid rages for me. If you have a pile of baseballs for me to sign, no problem. :) Someone told me a long time ago that I looked like him. Hell, I think it was when I first got on the Internet back in about 1996 when I first heard that. Has it been that long? 10 years! Wow. I'm one of the old timers, at least as far as the web is concerned.

I had to laugh at some of the people I apparently look like. I have never heard from anyone that I looked like Rick James. That is a riot! Super freaky!

I also got a laugh out of looking like Henry Kissinger. I suppose I could see some resemblance if he took off those glasses.

Jean Reno and Liam Neeson are a couple of actors I look like, according to the chart. I like Jean Reno's movies. They're always really interesting actually. Wasabi was one of my favourites. I remember one night when Chris, Auren and I watched that one in the lab.

And, I have no idea who the hell Howard Shore is.

Gene Simmons

On Monday I was watching the season finale of A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels. You must know Gene, the guy from KISS?

In this last episode he is looking at getting a facelift. My daughter looked at the screen at some point to see Gene surrounded by a bunch of scantily clad blond girls at some event he was attending. She's 14 and had never heard of Gene Simmons.

She made the funniest comment: "He's just a greasy old man!" God that was funny!

The guy is in his 50s now, and I guess the comment is apropos. Still. When I'm in my 50s, I suppose I'd like a bunch of young blond women hanging off my arm. My wife wouldn't like that though. :) They say, life is too short... and I might have mine shortened by a jealous wife! :)

Income trusts, climate change and the end of Alberta oil

2006-11-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

I have to laugh at the latest stock market tumble. And why did it fall? Well, it seems investors don’t like to pay taxes. With the federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s announcement he was going to cut the tax advantages of income trusts yesterday, markets tumbled today.

Telus and Bell were the biggest companies going that route, but they might not now. With no advantage in being an income trust, why switch? Apparently it will take four years for that to fully realize.

The loss of tax revenue to federal and provincial governments from income trusts would be in the order of $1 billion a year. Honestly, are investors that stupid that they thought the feds would let them get away with it forever?

Who likes to pay taxes? Nobody. But, if we want to keep this country running, someone’s got to pay. That money from Telus, and eventually Bell, would be made up by individual taxpayers. Frankly, I don’t think they’d go for it either.

Is this change in policy a signal that Harper might be diverging, however slight, from the Bush doctrine of cutting taxes for all your wealthy friends? Don’t be so hopeful. Harper might have had an attack of conscience, or come to the realization he’s still in a minority and he actually has to get PEOPLE to vote for him.

Which leads me to something I heard on The Current this morning. A B.C. producer (I believe) of end-matched lumber who was exempt from duties under the illegal U.S. softwood tariffs, is now paying them under the new softwood “deal.” It’s weird how our federal government panders to business on one hand and knifes them in the kidneys on the other. I think our government has a split personality.

Climate change

I have been remiss in not commenting on the climate change “initiative” from our new Conservative government. So… greenhouse gases cut in half by 2050? You have to be kidding! Our businesses can’t sustain that kind of rapid change! Harper, you’re going to destroy business in this country! Our businesspeople are such meatheads, and so unproductive, they can’t figure it out in that length of time! Give your head a shake!

Yeah right. For you idiots out there who can’t figure it out, that was sarcasm. Harper will be dead by 2050, so why would he give a shit what happens after that? Best way to change things is to light a fire under someone’s ass. Do that to the business community and they’ll figure it out.

Does our government really believe all our businesses will just shut down overnight if they force them to do something? Not bloody likely. The smart business people will get it figured out and quick. The dumb ones will do what the dumb ones always do: wait to the last minute when it will cost them way more, and even then, won’t do it properly.

It’s like taking your kids to the dentist. It’s good for them but they’ll fight, kicking and screaming all they way, but after, they feel better. Everybody should just fucking grow up and do what’s right. Hell, even the British think climate change is a big problem now. WTF? The Brits? I think George “Dubya” Bush might even believe it too. Hmmm.

Stephen “Hurry Up” Harper doesn’t seem to want to rock the business boat on this issue though. Read: Alberta votes. I think all of Alberta’s oil and gas will be gone by then and it will only be oil sands left. Maybe some coal. He’ll be long gone. Big business gets its way. Harper gets some campaign contributions and a cushy oil exec job after he’s PM and everyone’s happy. Oh, except for the fucking desert from the Rockies to Manitoba. Oops!

This country needs some leaders with vision and not talking heads who’ll prostitute themselves for the biggest campaign contributions. The current crop doesn’t qualify.

Alberta Oil: 10 years and it's almost done

It’s not really easy to find figures on just how much conventional (read: easy to extract) oil there is left in Alberta. I did manage to find the figure of 1.741 billion barrels in reserve at the end of 2004. In fact, from 1999 to 2004, the average rate of decline in conventional oil reserves was 3.89 per cent for Alberta. From the figures, the annual reduction varies, in part I suspect due to additional discoveries.

So how many years of conventional oil does Alberta have left? I found it fascinating to see the production decline in Alberta since 1998. Daily production has declined from 858,000 barrels per day in 1998 to 571,000 barrels per day in 2005, or an average decline in production of 6 per cent annually. Just for argument’s sake, if we took that annual decline in production and calculated it into known reserves, ignoring the fact that as a well nears the end of its life and extracting all oil from that well is virtually impossible, what would the end date be for Alberta’s know reserves?

By my calculations, that would put the end of conventional oil in Alberta at 2015. Now, it might not be precise, not having all the up to date data and there may be some timing issues, but that might be a good date to shoot for. After that, it’s all oil sands, unless of course they find more oil. I’m guessing they won’t be finding much though.

It’s odd to think that Alberta’s boom might only go on for another nine years, at least in the bulk of the province. After that, it’s the Fort McMurray area that will continue to be busy.

I haven’t even done any calculations on the natural gas supply. That might be interesting to look at though. With reserves of 41.7 trillion cubic feet of gas at the end of 2004 and an average, and steady I might add, production of around 4.9 trillion cubic feet per year of natural gas, that would put the end of Alberta’s natural gas industry at around 2013. That is of course, barring any new discoveries, which I suspect are about as likely as new discoveries of conventional oil.

Now, I’m of course am not a petroleum expert, but I can do some rough calculations. If you think you can do better, let me know. Either way, that is not good for the long term prognosis of the Alberta economy. I’d be looking seriously at ranching, agriculture, tourism or forestry as an alternative about the middle of the next decade, or be somewhere else.

So, I guess 2050 doesn’t matter much to Stephen Harper because Alberta’s economy, for the most part, is going to be a basket case in less than 10 years. If you work in Fort McMurray, you’ll be doing okay, but I’m not sure if Fort McMurray can sustain the entire province.

I know Saskatchewan’s oil and gas industry is growing, as is B.C.’s. And here in B.C. we have offshore oil and gas, but nobody seems to know how much. I’ve heard there is oil and gas in the Cariboo region. Maybe I should be holding on to the property here? Will B.C. and Saskatchewan be the new Alberta in 10 years?

Heart attack?

2006-10-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ever thought you might be a hypochondriac? You know, one of those people who thinks they have every disease out there? Sometimes I think I am one. I think it’s partly a function of growing older and partly the fact that so many diseases have similar symptoms. Growing older means your body sends you signals that you’re not as spry as in your younger days.

Yesterday I decided to call the doctor to have a look at something that’s been going on with me for a few months. I’ve had a bit of numbness, if that’s how it could be described, on my left side. It has occasionally extended into my arm. So, is it the early symptom of a heart attack or is it my back that’s out? If it was on the left side, I wouldn’t worry about it. A month ago, my jaw was bothering me. Is that just stress? (I have been known to grind my teeth at night.)

So, I call the doctor on Monday (yesterday) to get an appointment. They can’t get me in until Friday morning. They ask why I need to see the doctor and the stress level in the receptionist’s voice goes up a notch. She suggests I go to the hospital right away, rather than wait for the appointment. Shit, not the emergency room. It takes forever in there. I resign myself to going to one place I am not fond of.

I get to the hospital at 3 p.m. and the place is empty. Nice. They took my blood pressure, weighed me and got me signed in. The computer system was down, as it had been for most of the day apparently.

I got hooked up to the monitor and they took my ECG. A little later the doctor came by and quizzed me on my risk factors. No, I don’t smoke. I don’t smoke pot. I don’t use coke or any other drugs. I’m just taking vitamins. I’m 37. I drink a couple pints a week. My cholesterol is a touch higher than it should be.

So, we established I wasn’t a cokehead alcoholic with a tobacco addiction. I don’t get as much exercise as I should though.

I was sent for a chest x-ray. I even got a ride in a wheelchair, which was kind of weird. I don’t normally feel like an invalid, unless I’ve had waaay too much to drink. It was standard operating procedure.

Then, they came along and took five or six vials of blood from me.

A little later, the doctor came by and told me my ECG was normal, my bloodwork was normal and my chest x-ray was normal. So, I was free to go. I was out the door at 5 p.m.

So, if you’re going to go to the hospital, I think Monday afternoons are probably a good time.

That was a load off my chest, so to speak. Let’s see what my doctor has to say on Friday. The emergency room doctor suggested a stress test might be a good idea.

Shit. I better get out and get walking. I’m not in the greatest shape, so I should start training for that stress test. I don’t want to drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of it. It would be a touch on the embarrassing side.

It was getting close to supper time when I left the hospital and I started thinking about what I was going to make for supper. The thought crossed my mind that I should just go to McDonalds. I must have a death wish. I did go home and make supper though. : ) And, everything seems to be fine.

Graffiti and two years blogging

2006-10-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

One of the fun parts of blogging is the reaction you get. Periodically I get people visiting my blogs who either leave interesting comments or send me interesting email. I love that! I enjoy reading them all, good or bad. If I’m right on, let me know. If you think I’m off my rocker, let me know, even though I know I’m not, really. : ) Perhaps some people don’t want to provoke me into a debate.

Today I received an email from someone in the Kamloops graffiti community. Evidently my train graffiti blog has attracted some attention there. I discovered I am what is known as a bencher, someone who takes pictures of graffiti on freight cars. Not knowing where the graffiti comes from, I guess I have taken pictures of the work of Kamloops’ artists.

I have, admittedly, neglected my graffiti site a little lately, having been consumed by other aspects of my changing life. I have a storehouse of photos I have taken and yet to post, so I will have to get to it!

I know many people don’t like graffiti, tagging in particular. As I have said on my graffiti site, I’m not always a big fan of it either, mainly because tagging invades the urban environment in a negative way. I like painted graffiti, as opposed to the Magic Marker tag, because there is a lot more effort and talent required to do it, as far as I’m concerned.

When I was going to school in Kamloops I took pictures of some of the graffiti in Kamloops’ alleys as part of one of my photography courses. There’s a lot of good back alley art there! I should scan one of my photo essays and post it. It would be nice if more people employed these graffiti artists legally in creating murals. I know murals have become quite popular all over, and Williams Lake has a number of interesting murals. This type of urban art is great, and I would like to see more of it.

I told my wife that one day when I have a nice big house with a room I can call my own (pool table, bar, etc) I am going to hire a graffiti artist to transform one big wall in it. I might even get it done on removable panels so I could take it with me if I ever move. I just think it would be a cool thing to have as part of a rec room. My wife, too, seems to appreciate the graffiti I love to take pictures of.

Blogging: starting year three

As of yesterday, I have been blogging for two years! Has it been two years already? I really have enjoyed it and will continue to blog. The fact I like blogging is ironic, considering I pooh-poohed it when we covered the topic in my Online Journalism class. I guess I was opposed to the idea that blogging will replace traditional journalism. I still believe it won’t, but it has become an important source of information and opinion. Some major political news has also broken in blogs, but I doubt it will ever replace traditional journalism. I digress.

Lots has happened to me over the past two years: finishing my journalism degree, getting married and getting to get back home, among other things. I have blogged about some of it, but there’s a lot I haven’t said about what happens in my life and what I think about it. It will continue to be that way. There’s a lot I’d like to say, but I realize it’s a public forum and I don’t always know who’s looking at it, although I have a pretty good idea sometimes.

Is that dishonest? I don’t think so. I just think there are some things that shouldn’t be revealed in a blog. If I was interested in revealing everything, I would write in a journal, not on my blog. Or, I would have it as a private blog, which I won’t do either.

That being said, I have no problem commenting on current events and letting people have it with both barrels, deserved or not. Sometimes I may be wrong, but more often I think I’m right. If I am wrong, let me know why you think so. I might just change my opinion. Yes, I’m one of these people that can be convinced by a solidly reasoned argument. I’m not an inflexible idealogue.

My occasional obsession with blogging and web technology has enabled me to learn a fair amount about web marketing, search engine optimization and related topics. It’s a very interesting field and would love to learn more about it. I would like to find a job in the field too. Solid information on these topics is not always easy find on the web without having to pay an arm and a leg for it. They’re jealously guarded secrets. I still like to search for it though. It’s worth it.

My investment in a nice digital SLR has helped to add a nice dimension to my blogging. I don’t always post my own photos in this blog, but more in my train graffiti blog. I will eventually get a video camera and might post some videos, but that is a ways into the future. I have my digital recorder but haven’t had too much interesting to post from that. I do have hours and hours of interviews I could post, but that might be a tad boring, depending on who I was talking to.

Where to from here?

Well, my intention is to keep on blogging. I like when I can get to it every day and comment on whatever is happening out there, but life intervenes. I do want to try to keep it daily as much as possible.

I would like to incorporate video and audio in my blogs in the future, and more of my own photos. I would love to see more debate on some of the topics I bring up though.

I had experimented with a new blog template for a while, but it messed up the searches somehow. Blog has a beta out now, but I’m not switching over quite yet. I’ll give it a bit more time. I understand they have some three column blog templates too, which has been my goal from day one. I’m not an expert with CSS yet, so I can’t design my own. Eventually! For now, I’ll learn by modifying existing templates.

I would like to learn more about marketing, search engine optimization and related topics and incorporate them into my blog. My dream is to turn it into a moneymaker so I can do what I love on my own terms. I’m sure my online journalism professor and chair of the TRU Journalism program, Alan Bass, would find it quite ironic that I might someday be part of the possible future hordes of journalist bloggers.

Being an entrepreneurial kind of person, I have done a great deal of thinking about how I might make money from the web and from blogging. I have come up with a number of ideas on how to do it, but I haven’t gotten to the point of testing many of them out. The future of journalism has figured heavily into my thinking and I do have some interesting ideas on how that might work in relation to the web. It might take care of the problem of media conglomerates too.

I’ve been wondering what I should do in my spare time, when I’m not looking for a job. Perhaps I should be doing more research on this topic and getting my business plan ready! If you’re interested, let me know and maybe we can discuss it further.

CBC: biased reporting?

2006-10-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's unfortunate when you see biased or shoddy reporting. Unfortunately I see both in this report from CBC. (See below for story reprint.) It is pretty sad reporting on CBC's part.

This is an excerpt of the letter I sent to CBC about it:

Your reporter has an obligation to make sure the facts are presented, which is not the case here.

The parents, obviously upset and whom I sympathize with, are saying you shouldn't be able to have a machine gun in your house and you shouldn't be able to hunt with automatic weapons.

Well, in Canada, you are not allowed to possess machine guns and you can't go hunting with automatic weapons. It would seem CBC's left wing bias is showing here by sensationalizing the reporting and not presenting the facts.

The reporter would only have to do a little checking on a government website to figure that out.

It's a good thing victims of crime are not forming public policy or sitting in judgement of criminals. We'd have a rate of capital punishment higher than communist countries we regularly do business with. Let cooler heads prevail.

While I sympathize with the parents, I don't sympathize with their views, although I understand them. If I was in their position, I'd want to lash out too, but gun control isn't going to be effective.

As I have said many times, you need to control who has the weapons. This killer had legally registered weapons. Real effective gun registry. When the shooting stops. "Yep, they were legally registered to him. Good thing we found that out."

Why did he have them? He was obviously mentally unstable. Is it politically correct to say "fucking crazy?" I think that was the clinical diagnosis. Too much money spent on the registry? Too many donuts making the lazy bureaucrats a little sleepy?

It's obvious gun control doesn't work and it won't ever work, except to disarm law abiding gun owners.

Back to CBC's "reporting." The reporter was lazy, biased or both and could easily have checked the parents statements about automatic weapons and machine guns, neither of which are legal in Canada. This kind of sensationalist reporting is atrocious and CBC should be ashamed.

I still remember Sunday Edition host Michael Enright talking about how he was for gun control when that debate was raging several years ago. I suspect this bias runs through CBC from top to bottom.

I still like to listen to CBC, but this kind of bias and occasionally shoddy reporting really pisses me off.

If CBC would like to contribute to the national debate on the issue, the least it could do as a generally-credible news organization is give people accurate information.

Parents of slain student push for tougher gun laws
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | 6:14 PM ET
CBC News

The parents of an 18-year-old student who was shot to death when a gunman opened fire at Dawson College in Montreal are calling for tougher gun controls.

"We shouldn't be able to have any types of guns in our house. We shouldn't be able to have a machine gun in our house. It's just wrong," Louise De Sousa said Tuesday.

Louise and Nelson De Sousa spoke publicly for the first time since their daughter Anastasia was shot when Kimveer Gill stormed into Dawson on Sept. 13 and began firing indiscriminately.Twenty people were also injured.

Their daughter's killer, who took his own life after the rampage, was carrying three legally registered, restricted firearms.

"I mean, you don't need an automatic weapon to go hunting. It's even illegal," said Nelson De Sousa. "So why should it be on the streets? Why should it be in your house? It doesn't make sense. There should be much stricter laws."

Louise De Sousa said she would join Hayder Kadhim, another 18-year old student who was shot at the school, when he travels to Ottawa to make his case for tougher gun laws.

"I'm definitely going to be by his side to go meet our prime minister," she said.

Won't meet killer's family

But they refuse to meet with the family of their daughter's killer. The family has publicly apologized for their son's actions.

"Right now, for us, it's inappropriate to think of that. We have to concentrate on our family and that's it."

However, Louise De Sousa said she hoped the tragedy will draw people's attention to troubled individuals.

"I hope people opened their eyes, if they see someone that needs help …help, help them get some help. There's lots of help out there."

She said the last five weeks have been "rough," but that they have a lot of support from friends and family.

"It's hard. We have our days when we cry. And we pull ourselves back together. That's what she would want, too. She wouldn't want us in the corner crying constantly. That's not the type of girl she was."

'She's up in heaven'

Louise De Sousa said she knows her daughter is in a "good place right now."

"She's up in heaven. She's our little guardian angel, watching out for us, watching everybody. But of course I'm mad. It shouldn't have happened to her. It shouldn't have happened to no one. No one in this school should have got hurt."

In honour of their daughter's memory, the De Sousas are going to use the money that has been pouring in since the shootings to create a scholarship fund.

"Helps us heal. I mean it helps everyone heal," Nelson De Sousa said. "This is not only for us. I mean students want to get involved. All of Montreal wants to get involved."

The scholarship fund will be for high achievers, students in need and also for challenged students. Louise De Sousa said Anastasia had to battle the reading disability dyslexia.

"She always overcame it. She proved to everybody she was — even though she struggled — she was able to rise above and do what she wanted to do."

YouTube, getting rich and Larry the Cable Guy

2006-10-16T00:42:00.000-07:00

I’ve been doing a little research on YouTube lately. You know YouTube, the site that doesn’t make any money that Google bought for $1.6 billion of its stock. A word to the wise to the former owners of YouTube… start selling Google stock NOW! Don’t do like the dotcom millionaires did during the bubble and believe your own hype. Start cashing out now. If you only get $100 million before Google flops, then you can say it’s been a good ride. : )

The purpose of my research is to find the next big thing, bring it to the Internet, generate a lot of interest, sell out to Google or Microsoft, and then retire. It will only take 18 months.

The other part of my research involved watching Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector. I think I’ve heard him on Sirius’ Blue Collar comedy. I thought Larry’s co-star, Iris Bahr, was kind of cute. Some odd trivia about her: she studied neuropsychology and religion and was in the Israeli military. It was on IMDB, so I’m not sure if it is true. Maybe it is. If I was on IMDB, maybe I’d make up some wild crap about me to put on there…not saying Iris did, but just saying.

Larry’s other co-star was a cute one too. Megyn Price played Jane Whitley. No remarkable trivia, but apparently she lives in Seattle, was born there, or something like that. Go Pike’s Place Market and free downtown bus rides! Love Seattle and the Space Needle too. Did I mention I lived in Washington when I was a kid?

Not sure what I expected to learn in watching this movie, but it was a good laugh. I've never believed that every movie you watch has to have some life changing lesson. Life is too short to be constantly preached to. I think that laughing is as important as anything in life and the more I do of it, the better my life is.

Videos

I’ve found a couple of videos related to the Williams Lake area. I found them rather interesting.

Where the hell is Matt?

I also managed to find a video I'm sure everyone has seen, but it was interesting, so I thought I'd share it. And, if you haven't seen it, are you an effing Luddite? Get with it man!

Matt has apparently been dancing around the world and then got to do it again on the tab of some gum company.

There's a lot to this YouTube thing. I need a video camera so I can come up with some crazy ass idea to get famous so maybe Starbucks will sponsor me to travel around Europe. Hmmm.

I also liked the logo he had on his site. Cool stuff.

Update on my van and Harper "tough on crime"

2006-10-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Kal Tire says there is nothing wrong with the bearings, but all my brakes apparently have to be replaced, along with the rotors. The rotors, for the non-technical among you, are the part the brake pads clamp onto to slow your vehicle down. The cost for this? $1150.

I knew the brakes were going, but they are attributing this to the squeaking. We shall see.

Too bad it’s not like in the Flintstones where you just stick your feet through the floor. At most I would need some asbestos shoes. : )

I still stand by what I said about not dealing with Lake City though.

I will have to look at installing the brakes myself and seeing where I can get deals on parts. A brake job isn’t that tough to do and I have done it before. Interestingly, only about $225 of the above estimate is for labour! Crikey!

Harper: tough on crime, the Charter and logic

Taking a page from the American “three strikes and you’re out” playbook, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would like to be seen to be doing something about crime, rather than actually doing something about it.

We knew it was coming, but now the Conservatives are set to bring in legislation that would have criminals convicted of their third sexual or violent crime considered automatically as dangerous offenders. The law would have a so-called “reverse onus” placed on the offenders to prove they’re not dangerous. If they can’t prove it? In jail forever, with a minimum parole ineligibility of seven years.

Aside from the obvious constitutional issue of being presumed innocent until proven guilty, why does Harper think this will actually work? Let’s not use the U.S. as an example because it obviously doesn’t work. It doesn’t reduce crime. It also will give offenders who know they’re going to be facing a life sentence a real incentive to make sure their next crime won’t be discovered. I suspect it will probably increase the murder rate, already at its lowest level in decades.

I have written about this before and discovered, thanks to Statistics Canada, that Canada’s crime rate has decreased, particularly the murder rate. I would have to check on violent and sexual crimes to see where they’re going, but I don’t expect to see huge increases. Canada does have a problem with property and drug crime (interrelated) which this bill will do absolutely nothing about.

It seems Harper is taking a page from the American playbook in stomping on the Charter.

I’m not a big fan of violent or sexual criminals and do believe we should be tougher on them, but automatically designating someone as a dangerous offender does little to stop violence. It will do a lot to increase employment and capital investment in jails though. Is Stephen Harper planning on privatizing the jails as many states in the U.S. have done? Where would the disincentive be then to reduce crime?

Three strikes laws have been a colossal failure in the U.S. and we’re looking to import that failure.

As usual, our governments want to be seen to be doing something, even if it’s totally ineffective. It’s the public relations era, where double speak rules, logic doesn’t and all that counts are campaign contributions and getting reelected. If our governments actually got something accomplished, I might die of a heart attack.

What is truly unfortunate is that our governments have never really shown any willingness to attack the root causes of crime, something that three strikes laws don’t even consider.

Trip to Alberta and van problems

2006-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

I finally got to spend the weekend in Alberta. It was a good weekend too because my kids were with me and we were able to visit with my wife, myparents and my wife’s parents. We had Thanksgiving dinner in Spruce Grove and then everyone came to our new place, that I won’t live at for a while yet, in Caroline.

The place needs some TLC. I told the kids that the “handyman” that worked on our place was like Bob Vila on crystal meth. The kids were pretty happy with the place overall, and especially the town of Caroline. They liked being able to walk to the store and library. They both found a toy at stores in Caroline that they had been searching for, fruitlessly, elsewhere.

We stopped at the Athabasca Glacier on the way back. We stopped for quite a while, walked up to the glacier’s tip and later threw rocks on the ice on the lake further down the valley. I was surprised the kids didn’t complain at all about the hike. The weather was beautiful, sunny and reasonably warm, for that time of year. The sky was a nice blue too.

For supper we stopped in Valemount at L&W Pizza. It was excellent! Surprising for a small town to have such good pizza. I’ll have to make a point of stopping there on later trips. Not as good as Bella Pizza, but pretty good anyway!

Van problems… again

My van is back in the shop at Kal Tire. The front wheels are squeaking again, indicating the wheel bearing problem is back. Unfortunately the work was not done by Kal Tire, but subbed out to Lake City Auto Care because their mechanic was unavailable.

LCAC could not separate the spindles and steering knuckle and said I needed new ones. They found some used ones, but the bearings were shot in them too. They found another set and said the bearings were okay. I told them to call me when the last set came in and we’d decide whether to put new wheel bearings in or not. Well, they failed to do that, and just installed the steering knuckles. They also didn’t put the old parts in the back of my van as I’d asked.

Fast forward a week and a half and my squeak is back. My van is back at Kal Tire so they can have a look at it. We’ll see how to proceed next. I just don’t want to dump any more money into that van. I was told the used parts have a 30 day warranty. I'm glad I'm in under the 30 days. I'm willing to pay for the new bearings, but the real issue is going to be who pays for the labour. It would have been far easier to put in the new bearings while everything was apart.

I can't really recommend the services of Lake City Auto Mall. They did not listen to me. Once my van was in their shop, I also began hearing things about them that weren't very flattering. Nice. Not much I could do about it then.

What makes this situation difficult now is that Kal Tire is looking after work they didn't do, but are ultimately responsible for. I hope they get the situation sorted out. I am quite sure the situation would have turned out for the better originally if they'd done the work themselves. Unfortunately I was in a hurry at the time. C'est la vie. I'll definitely blog about the results of the situation.

The case for suicide

2006-10-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Life is a precious thing, yet some people in society have no appreciation of how precious it is. The recent school shootings in Amish Pennsylvania, Colorado and Montreal are a testament to that fact.

If your life is so screwed up you feel like you want to take yourself out and several others, please just commit suicide and leave murder out of the equation. That being said, you can get help. I’m not sure what people think they’re going to accomplish by killing themselves and others. By killing others, you will have entrenched infamy and hatred of your memory. At least by committing suicide, you will only have saddened those that love you.

What do you do about small-minded copycats that do these things? It seems the latest “trend” in murder-suicide includes sexually assaulting the intended victims. Do they do it because after they’ve done it, they know they’ll feel so bad that it will give them the courage to commit suicide because they won’t want to face up to what they’ve done? Or, maybe it’s some kind of twisted revenge? I’m not sure how sexually assaulting and/or murdering innocent victims is going to succeed in achieving revenge, but then, I’m not mentally ill and thinking the same way.

I am also curious if these people are religious or not. Suicide, in the Christian religion, apparently means a one-way ticket to hell. Do these people believe it? Maybe they think they deserve it. If so, send yourself there and give your victims the life and choice to choose where they will go.

And, if these people don’t believe in heaven, hell or any kind of afterlife, well, it will be as I said before, they will only entrench the infamy and hatred of their memory. Maybe they don’t care. I guess if you’re prepared to go as far as sexually assaulting and murdering innocent people, what’s the big deal if people have an eternal hatred for you after?

It seems sad to say it, but maybe we should be relieved when someone commits suicide and didn’t take anybody else with them. That being said, society needs to do a better job of treating people with permanent or temporary mental illness and not stigmatize them, which only drives it underground. Anyone admitting to suicidal and/or homicidal tendencies in the current climate can’t help but be stigmatized now. What to do?

Gun control

Apparently the relatives of victims of the recent Montreal shooting are now banding together to call for keeping the gun registry and possibly institute tougher gun control measures.

It would be a hollow gesture, and an ineffective one. Canada’s gun control lobby is going to use this as a political football and try to whip everyone in to a frenzy. What they’ll succeed in doing is nothing. If, by some faint chance gun control laws are somehow strengthened, it will not save anyone.

Gun control will not ever work to stop these things. Having a legal gun is not a predictor of murder, and really, neither is owning an illegal one. If you completely outlawed guns today, there would be millions of outlaws in this country, and it would be no safer.

Looking at the list of people on the Coalition for Gun Control’s website who speak in favour of gun control, I’m not surprised at their stance. Many police chiefs advocate for gun control. Police chiefs also consistently call for more and more resources to be put into policing, even in the face of declining crime rates. They would have us living in a police state, if they had their choice. We’d have cameras everywhere, but they claim we’d be safer. We'd have no guns, but they claim we'd be safer. Who'd protect us from the police?

It’s not unlike the military calling for more military spending. Insular groups like the police and military are simply self-interested groups incapable of seeing the broader picture. Thankfully we don’t live in a police state ruled by a military junta. After 9/11 though, Canada has taken many steps to trample on our civil liberties, but I digress.

Did the gun control measures instituted after the Marc Lepine/Ecole Polytechnic shooting years ago stop the recent Montreal shooting? Obviously not.

I sympathize with the relatives of the recent Montreal victims, but they are not going about it in the right way. Banning guns altogether or just certain guns will do nothing. What needs to happen is people control. There are obviously certain people out there who should not own guns. They should also not own knives or have an Internet connection to get bomb recipes, but how would you stop that?

It’s a tired old saying, but it’s true: guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Take away their guns and they’ll find another way to do it. But, in reality, the vast majority of legal gun owners do not commit crimes with them.

If you want to stop gun violence, you should work to stop it at the border. The U.S. is where most of the illegal guns come from and gun control would do NOTHING to stop this flow of illegal guns from the U.S. Sure, gun control will make shooting victims and bleeding heart-types feel better, but it won’t do a damn thing.

Past governments had the right idea in bringing in the Firearms Acquisition Certificate as one measure to attempt to stop mentally unstable people from owning guns. That process has to be strengthened and more extensive checking should be done to make sure these people don’t get their hands on legal guns. If they want illegal ones, they will get them, unless our government really tries to clamp down on the border. Forget the little old ladies and their hairspray. Get the guns, drugs and potential terrorists.

Perhaps people need a little history lesson about gun control. Hitler was one of the early advocates of gun control. He used it to effectively disarm European Jews so they could not defend themselves against him. Look at the result of that. And what do some Jews think of gun control now? Not much.

On banning Harry Potter

2006-09-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Have your kids read Harry Potter? Are they casting spells yet? Did they turn your dog into a frog?

If so, maybe you should have stopped them from reading the Harry Potter books and seeing the Harry Potter movies!

According to the American Library Association, the Harry Potter series suffers the most attempts at having it banned. Keep in mind, this story is coming from the U.S., home of the "religious right" (only referring to their place on the political spectrum, not the validity of their ideas) and the ironically named "moral majority." Am I in the immoral minority then? This author had an interesting take on Harry Potter, and it was written before 9/11. Here are some ideas from the other side.

What it really boils down to in banning books is control. The religious right would like to have us only reading the Bible, or books which somehow support it. The Taliban, Al Quaeda, etc, would have us only reading the Koran.

I prefer living in a society where I have the right to choose and so-called religious leaders keep their noses out of my business. When I don't have the right to choose, I am a slave. I would choose death over slavery. If I choose to only read the Bible, well then, that was my choice, and at least I had the freedom to make it.

Our so-called religious leaders should recognize the value of freedom of choice and also recognize that children are far more intelligent than they give them credit for. Only letting them read "acceptable" books does not produce a well-rounded individual, nor does it promote intellectual freedom.

As for whether these books promote witchcraft, that is bullshit, as is witchcraft in the first place. Anyone who believes you can cast spells is a few neurons short of retarded. My kids have read the books and haven't become Wiccan. There are millions of others who are the same. Any kids who might are probably the same kids who might listen to a heavy metal CD and blame it for why they went on a shooting rampage. Besides, we do have the freedom to choose our religion, don't we? Maybe the religious right would like to take that right away?

If your kids can read Harry Potter, you should be happy about that. There are many children who are weak readers, if they can read at all. The future is brighter all around when kids are reading, so let's not stop them.

New house, new habits & chasing dogs

2006-09-28T00:34:00.001-07:00

I’m sitting here, sipping my homemade beer, contemplating the next chapter of my life. It should be an interesting one, and the province of Alberta will feature heavily in it.

I’ve already got a bit of a glimpse into the future. My wife started her new job last week and has just moved into our new home there. It’s not quite as palatial as what we have here, but in the overheated housing market of Alberta, you take what you can get. And what we did get was a trailer on its own lot in Caroline for between $50 to 60,000.

I know, a trailer is not ideal, but when rent runs you $800 to 1,000 per month for a half-decent two or three bedroom apartment, you don’t complain. Our place is three bedrooms and we own it and the average-size lot it sits on. It’s not one of the new postage stamp lots where we’ll put a monster house either.

It’s little ways from Rocky Mountain House, in Caroline. It will mean a bit of a commute, but what the hell? When a mortgage on a $150,000 house (the bottom end of the market in the area) will run you about $1,000 a month compared to $350, trailers don’t look so bad… unless there’s a tornado.

My daughter wasn’t so impressed with the place but I told her we’ll be able to do a little more stuff with the money we save, like do some travelling to places we haven’t been able to so far. Although we'll technically be in Caroline, about 40 km southeast of Rocky Mountain House, RMH is about 2 hours from Edmonton, 2 hours from Calgary and 45 min from Red Deer. Jasper and Banff National Parks are less than two hours away. We'll be able to find A LOT of interesting things to do.

Living cheap does have its benefits. Although, being Alberta, we’ll probably spend all the money we save on gas and electricity. We have been spoiled in B.C. with lower gas and electricity costs, and with our home in Williams Lake being much newer and very well insulated, we’ve had extraordinarily low energy costs. First thing we’ll do in our new place is replace all the lights with compact fluorescent ones.

Once I get there, I will be doing some renovations on our new place as well as building an addition. I’ve done it before and I enjoy construction work. I can’t wait!

When will I be moving? Jury’s out on that one. Depends on the job situation. Otherwise, it will happen after this school year.

Diablo II: Or, Obsession II

Last week, my good friend Pat suggested I join him and his friends in an online game of Diablo II. I had bought it a while back and hadn’t installed it. I’ve been busy, so I figured I’ll get to it. I installed it and have been playing regularly since.

Now, some obsessions are okay, but I don’t recommend Diablo. It will suck you in like crystal meth, without the sores. I did the same thing when I got the original Diablo about eight years ago. I played very regularly until I completed it. I haven’t touched it since.

One good thing about playing Diablo II lately is that it has broken up my dull routine and now I am doing some different things, aside from surfing. Life is better when you mix it up.

It’s a good thing my wife is out of town right now!

The Juggernaut, bitch

I’ve always enjoyed warping the lyrics to songs, giving videos a new soundtrack or generally spoofing almost anything. I might be late to this one, and it is hilarious. I have vague recollections of the Juggernaut from my childhood. Not sure if I ever saw the cartoon though. I may have.

While surfing, I found a Juggernaut video on YouTube, with an alternate soundtrack. A word of warning: if you are offended easily, don’t watch it. In fact, you shouldn’t even be on the Internet.

Random tidbits

Global warming fight in California: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican no less, has brought in a bill mandating industries to cut greenhouse emissions. Wow. A Republican? In the U.S.? I hope Stephen Harper is watching. I am not sure he has the balls to take on anyone in Alberta though, or the brains.

B.C. & Alberta bigger than Quebec: So, our population in the two westernmost provinces of Canada now exceeds Quebec, the whiniest province in Canada. (Hey, I can criticize, I’m from Quebec.) I am not sure how much of a difference it will make. I think Quebec and Ontario will still command the lion’s share of attention from Ottawa.

Late night chase: The other night I was laying in bed reading. I heard some thumping outside. I debated staying in my nice warm bed with my interesting book. Thump, thump, thump. Damn. I have to check. I poked my head out the front door in time to see a very large dog running away with a bag of my garbage.

I debated letting him take off with it, when I thought, “Damn dog, it’s my effing garbage.” I didn’t want it strewn all over the neighborhood either.

So, at 1:30 a.m., I threw on a t-shirt and shorts and ran out the front door, after grabbing a handy piece of 2x4 sitting by my deck. I ran down the street and could see the dog off in the distance. It had stopped under a street light, in the middle of the nearby intersection, looking in my direction. I was in the dark and running rapidly toward him. I knew he could hear me, but I don’t think he knew what the hell was going on.

I almost caught the bastard, but he dropped the bag and took off like a demon was after him. I grabbed the bag and walked back home. I doubt any neighbours were up and looking out the window, but I would have been an odd sight carrying a 2x4 in one hand and a torn garbage bag in the other. I secured my garbage can and he never came back. I haven’t seen him since, but I have my eye out.

I wish people would keep their dogs in their yard or on a leash. It really pisses me off.

On going to hell...

2006-09-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Random thought: am I going to go to hell if I think the lady on the DVD Bible commercial is kind of hot for an older lady?

Random thought #2: I'm feeling a little lazy at the moment, and I don't want to get up and check my dictionary or anything online (yeah, that lazy. I'm almost too lazy to type. I bet you wish I were a little more lazy.) but I wonder if I should capitalize hell? If I did, would I go to hell because I'm ascribing more importance to it than it really should have? Hey, they say God is a jealous god.

Random thought #3: Why such a close connection between Santa and Satan? Coincidence? I think not. I think Santa is trying to lure us to hell by lusting after consumer goods or the new Tickle Me Elmo Extreme? Will I go to hell if I smash the new Elmo?

Random thought #4: Am I going to go to hell for always wondering if I am going to go to hell? Talk about a catch 22 huh? I don't know about me, but Mel Gibson's wife might be going to hell, and this is straight from him. Too bad.

Random thought #5: Will I go to hell if I get suckered into one of those work at home commercials? I dunno. They say it's easier than you think to work from home... and rip off unsuspecting suckers. (I added that last part.) Hey, their logo says "posterus securus." Isn't that an attempt at Latin to say "cover your ass?" Good advice guys. Hire a lawyer. You'll need him one day.

Random thought #6: If I laugh at Hugo Chavez's ridiculous antics on his trip to the U.S., will I go to hell? He's in New York pissing off a bunch of people and helping others. He's nuts. He was critical of the U.S. on a number of topics, but I had to laugh when he talked about America's history of genocide related to natives and blacks and how they actually own America. Well, while he's brushing up on history, he might begin to appreciate the irony of his statements, especially considering his mixed heritage which includes Spanish blood. Hmm, didn't the Spanish slaughter many of the native peoples in Central and South America?

Ridiculous repair costs & criminal cops

2006-09-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

My planned trip to Rocky Mountain House has been a disaster. The kids had a couple days off of school due to professional development days, so we figured we'd go see Alberta.

No such luck. My van has been grinding a bit up front lately, so I got it checked out. Need new bearings. Cost: over $600. Good god. So, next day, order the work, no parts. Next day. Today, got a call. Mechanic: family emergency. Can't do it, but they got me in somewhere else. Another call. That's not your only problem sir. Cost: $450 more in parts. Holy crap!

So, the work might get done tomorrow, in which case, I'm not going. Will have to be Thanksgiving. Sometimes, I hate my van.

Criminal cops

This Winnipeg cop has been charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. It got me wondering. What do you do when a cop tries to assault you, sexually or otherwise? Is there a protocol? Who'd believe you if you said you had to defend yourself and in the process seriously maimed or killed the cop? Certainly not the police! And they'd be the ones investigating. Good luck.

Or, maybe the cop tries to shoot you in the back of the head. What then? If he misses, you might be able to complain. Hopefully he does miss.

More and more lately you see crooked cops being uncovered. Hate to say it, but there's probably more to come.