Wrapping up 2007

Pardon me if I nod off while I write this.  The absence of any personal mail in my “In Box” tells me that the few people who would normally write are busy doing Christmassy activities.  Having lived a solitary life for over 40 years I am accustomed to keeping my own company; but this is the first Christmas I have spent entirely by myself.  Today’s the last day of 2007 and as the last few hours count down I find myself in a fey mood.  Tomorrow marks the last year of my working life.  Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine Days to go and counting.  If I’m in the write mood I’ll do my letter of resignation tomorrow.  I’ve always made it a habit to apply for my annual leave at least a month in advance so applying for retirement in the next couple weeks seems about right.  Let the writer’s cramp begin. 

 

Started this tome over the weekend but sort of ran out of steam along the way.  I’ve been neglecting my personal journal as well.  As my Book Blog attests I’ve finally finished reading the Collected works of Derek Walcott and launched into Robert W. Service.  When I picked up his Collected Poetry a few years back I thought 700 pages was a lot of doggerel about the Arctic until I realized that there are two additional volumes one of nearly a thousand pages and another of nearly 500.  At least his verse is infinitely more accessible than some I’ve read of late. 

 

Years in which Christmas occurs mid-week make the holiday period strange.  Many businesses shut down between Christmas and New Years but the one I work for does its biggest business at this time of year.  By this point I’m really not sure what day of the week it is.  Dropped into East Side Mario’s for supper and made it in the door just before they closed it to prepare for their New Year’s Eve festivities.  It’s homey to get hugged by your waitress and feel like family.  We all need our support networks. 

 

There was a light snowfall overnight Sunday; and the promise of five to ten inches for New Years Day.  Today’s deposit was just sufficient to make walking miserable.  As usual we here in Southern Ontario panic over the kind of snow that in the Maritimes is taken in stride.  Mind you even Florida is fussing over a wind-chill forecast. 

 

I’ve made the rounds taking down my calendars and to date have only picked up one store-bought calendar for 2008.  Since I don’t plan to be around for at least half of 2008 I may just put pictures on the wall where I once had calendars.  These days I keep track of the day of the week by checking my medication minder.  Since I’m allowed to come and go as I please I don’t even set my alarm lately.  After over 35 years my internal clock gets me up and I’m lucky to be a morning person. 

 

My partying neighbours make me feel like Malvolio in Twelfth Night appearing in his night shirt in the middle of their revels.  They were probably out on the balcony smoking; at least the walls keep the racket from seeping into my apartment otherwise.  I’m for bed and it’s doubtful I’ll be awake to see the New Year in. 

 

PEACE AND JOY TO ALL IN 2008

You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch

Perhaps it’s because I have no family nearby and in particular I’m not around any children.  Or perhaps it’s because Christmas has become so commercialized and divorced from the event it celebrates.  It may be the fact that in my profession Christmas is the busiest time of year.  Even the soggy weather we’re having outside may have something to do with it.  In any case I’m feeling in a distinctly Grinchly mood this morning.  Even MS Word is in a disagreeable mood, it claims that Grinchly isn’t a word. 

 

Since my Mother died I’ve given up on flying back East for Christmas.  It seems a dreadful expense particularly when I have only two days off and I’m too played out to enjoy it.  To fly these days is to be treated like a criminal and flying at Christmas time has its own pitfalls.  I’ve had my share of landing on icy runways and wind-shear.  Given our mobile society most of the friends I would visit with this time of year are also far away and when one reaches nearly sixty one shares with Dickens’s Scrooge the ghosts of so many one formerly knew who are no longer with us. 

 

It is with interest that I read that sales are actually down this year because people are truly becoming tired of the sales hype associated with the season and switching to charitable donations and handmade gifts in lieu of lavish giving. 

 

After nearly 40 years at Canada Post I’m looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy next year without hearing about all those parcels that didn’t make it in time and looking at the addresses people use when they spend up to $50.00 to mail something—if they spent even a fraction of the time it took to earn that money to get it right our job would be so much easier.  Who taught those people to write anyway?

 

Outside this morning daylight has barely scratched the nimbus of night as we are deluged with steady rain and the promise of gale-force winds.  Never fear, today’s warm temperatures will give way to frigid, wind-driven flurries tomorrow.  There is a chance that we’ll get sunny weather by Boxing Day. 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The blizzard I wrote about last weekend blew in from the South-East and therefore from my vantage-point looking North-West the south side of our building took the brunt of the gale-force gusts that blew the snow into huge drifts.  By the time I left for work Monday morning the main roads had all been ploughed even if they were still sloppy; those unlucky enough to live on non-priority streets got to take another day off as even four-wheel drive vehicles found them impossible to navigate.  Unfortunately when people are held captive by the weather they find time to complain and our phones rang off the hook all day. 

 

On a positive note on Tuesday our boss took the office staff out for a Chinese Buffet and on Wednesday a continental breakfast for which I made coffee was laid in for Santa’s Helpers.  Dropped into East Side Marios on Wednesday after work for Caesar Salad and Chicken Cacciatore managing to find parking at Oakville Place—they owe me a mug as they’d run out.  Wednesday evening, after my late afternoon nap settled in and wrote 4 letters.  Thursday I made a house-call to do first aide on a friend’s computer.  By the time Friday rolls around I’m ready to kick back and relax in front of the TV or this laptop.  I’ve been listening to Pipedreams episodes from November—I need to catch up—and am presently auditing Music and the Spoken Word from Salt Lake City.  I have two sets of comics yet to read and the Austin City Chronicle and I should make something for brunch. 

 

Blue Christmas--Definitely White

The temperature drop has arrived; not quite the deep freeze originally predicted but  cold enough to turn toes into ice cubes nevertheless.  The snowfall predictions, on the other hand, just keep getting deeper and deeper.  Be warned, if you don't find your shovel; your mailman won't be finding you.  Having the worst storm in half a decade coincide with the heaviest mail of the year is going to be devastating; walking through heavy snow tires one quickly and there is always the next day and the day after that to be thought of.  

 

What can I say about the week that was?  I began it feeling fatigued and disaffected.  Dined out at East Side Mario’s on Monday and Swiss Chalet on Wednesday.  Being slow on the uptake I was slow to react when someone from the kitchen at Swiss Chalet came up to shake my hand—I’m also not totally comfortable with being called “Sir.”  Turns out it was one of my fellow workers moonlighting as a chef—too bad this happened to be the day my chicken was overdone and my fries soggy.  Tuesday is new release day for DVD’s and I picked up the latest Harry Potter and Bourne movies.  I figure when I combine a ten mile drive to the nearest movie theatre, a $15.00 ticket, $10.00 pop corn, and the aggravation of sitting through half an hour of advertising that buying the DVD is cheaper in the long run and I can watch it as often as I wish, when I wish, and put it on pause or finish it later as the whim takes me.  Unfortunately I’ll have to watch both movies a second time before I can truly evaluate them as I fear I may have napped through sections of both this week.  What can I say?  This was also Microsoft Patch release day and Redmond obliged by releasing its usual basket of updates—one wonders why they  even bother; at least this week I haven’t noticed any major problems with those updates. 

 

Visited my bank on Tuesday after Future Shop challenged my VISA Card and was nonplussed about being informed that I would get faster service if I placed a call to their call centre.  From there attempted to do some grocery shopping at Longos and was once more reminded how much I detest having the aisles in my favourite store rearranged so often.  So much of what one picks up weekly one grabs because one is familiar with where one has picked it up in the past.  When it isn’t there one tends to arrive home without key shopping needs and this is particularly true when one is dog tired in the first place. 

 

Got to go out and do a couple emergency lock changes this week; on Thursday I had the distinct pleasure of navigating back streets during a snow squall that turned them into skating rinks and coated every street sign with wet snow.  In those circumstances finding one’s way becomes a challenge.  On foot I’ve been known to brush the snow off to be sure I know where I was taking the mail but behind the wheel in traffic it’s another matter.  The joys of winter in Ontario—joys we could all have done without or at least have gladly delayed until after the Christmas rush was over. 

 

As well this week my body has been giving me irrefutable admonitions to inform me that my hours spent behind this keyboard have left me out of shape for tasks such as shovelling snow.  I need to get out and get active again to get back in shape—both in terms of my physical form and general fitness level.  Apparently use it or lose it is reality. 

 

 

 

Waiting for a Train Wreck

Before Modern Communications put the world at our fingertips 24/7 farmers predicted the weather by watching the sky, the birds, and their livestock and by listening to the aches and pains in their joints and sinuses.  Knowing that a blizzard is on the way is equivalent to being on a train headed for a wreck you are powerless to avoid.  Tonight the thermometer is headed for the basement with a clear, calm sky leading us to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures.  Tomorrow the temperature will rise and so will the winds as a winter storm that began life in Texas roars across the Great Lakes collecting moisture and dumping drifting snow over Southern Ontario—the meteorological equivalent of a train wreck.  Our fore-fathers would have made sure the wood-box was full; the cattle well-fed and watered; their oil lamps trimmed and full; and settled in for the inevitable.  If the drifts were too high to be shoveled they tunneled to the barn to care for their animals or the buildings were inter-connected.  In the days before million-dollar snow ploughs it could be weeks before the outside world became reachable.  Heading into the Christmas Season at the Post Office I have a similar feeling; however modern cities don’t normally shut down because of weather and when Christmas volumes coincide with heavy snow hardship ensues. 

 

 

The Winter of My Discontent?

So much for global warming; we have now had more snow and a longer period of cold than we had all last winter here in Southern Ontario.  Those forced to work out of doors are feeling the effects of this weather.  The dangers inherent in walking on icy, slippery surfaces and exposure to cold and frostbite are obvious but it is the less obvious effects that are more insidious and lasting.  Hands exposed to long periods of drying cold become chapped, crack, and bleed.  It becomes necessary to remember to use gloves when washing dishes to preserve the natural oils in one’s hands and to slather them with moisturizer on a regular basis. 

 

Long exposure to cold is fatiguing and the effects don’t become readily apparent until one returns to normal room temperatures.  Exposure to extreme cold can cause the body’s core temperature to drop and from personal experience I’ve learned to suspect this condition when I find myself making mistakes I would not normally commit and at that point getting inside to warm up becomes imperative.  I’ve been cold enough that the battery-operated watch on my wrist stopped working.  Other effects are no less significant but not normally discussed in polite society.  If you were to be on the work floor just before letter carriers are leaving to spend 3 to 4 hours walking up to 8 miles you would know that before departing the station a trip to the washroom is an essential last step.  Going, even if you don’t feel the need is an essential part of every letter carrier trainee’s education.  It’s something they probably don’t teach in “Posty School”.  What they also don’t teach is that exposure to cold can cause the bladder to spasm and force a search for the nearest rest room—it is at this point that being on good terms with one’s customers is important.  I have personally knocked on a few doors over the years. 

 

So far the Christmas rush is most apparent in the number of parcels we’ve had to process; the gang will work this weekend in an attempt to clear up the backlog.  In the previous week there was an enormous dump of admail—junk mail to those on the receiving end.  Thursday I made coffee for a United Way Sponsored Breakfast held at our station.  We have been most fortunate in that no one has been hurt despite the adverse walking conditions this week. 

 

On a more personal level this was a quiet week for the most part.  On Monday I patronized Swiss Chalet before going to Shoppers Drug to pick up medication.  I dined out at the Coach and Four, a decent local pub/restaurant in Bronte on Friday after work.  The rest of the week I managed to find something to eat at home.

 

Got brave on Tuesday and took my laptop along to take minutes during the Trafalgar Community Policing Committee Meeting.  We had a talk from Jackie Brennan on Identity Theft.  Among her recommendations:

 

1. Carry only one credit card and eliminate all unnecessary documents from you purse or wallet.

 

2. Photocopy the contents of your wallet.

 

3. Reduce your exposure by keeping your credit card limit at the lowest minimum practicable.

 

4. If you plan to travel call your credit card company and advise them to expect unusual purchases from unusual locations or you may have your credit frozen—for your own protection.

 

5. Change PIN Numbers regularly 

 

Most of us find it sufficient challenge just remembering Interact PIN’s and most never change them.  We are also advised to conceal our fingers while we enter that pin at the grocery checkout or at our auto-bank teller. 

 

Being the victim of Identity Theft is an alarming prospect.  Learning that once victimized the process of recovering will take a minimum of 1000 hours and leave one’s credit record forever problematic is nightmarish.  For more advice go here:

 

http://www.phonebusters.com/english/index.html

 

I will say that it was pleasant to leave that meeting with its minutes already complete.

 

On Wednesday I settled in here in front of my computer screen and watched an entire episode of the CBC series, The Tudors:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/tudors/fullEpisodesPlayer.html

 

I must say that seeing old ‘Enery the Eighth as a lustful, handsome, young stud is a novel idea.  This being CBC his bedroom exploits are tastefully handled. 

 

Thus, the week that was in my life.  Today I’m taking a relaxed approach to browsing, catching up on the world, and recuperating. 

 

 

What Happened to November?

Did anyone notice what happened to November?  Seems just yesterday I was wandering around my apartment changing all the calendars and now it’s time to do it again however this time they will be on their last pages.  One way or another it feels like November was lost in a haze of cloud, fog, and gloom.  Sounds like I was as well; doesn’t it?

 

The above was written Saturday Morning and at that time I had thoughts for its continuance that have since scattered to the wind—or got lost in a snow drift—somehow I lost steam.  Did I mention snow drifts?  Overnight the weatherman quit fooling around and decided to give us a full blast of winter.  There were at least 4 inches of drifted snow on the ground when I looked out this morning.  Well, at least it brightens up the joint somewhat.  I did, however, decide there weren’t any groceries I needed so badly that a trip on those unplowed roads was necessary.  Believe I’ll let the demotion derby that is attendant upon the first major snow-fall work itself out before I get on the road.  Hot mulled cider anyone?

 

 

 

 

Another Daily Another Rant

Even allowing for the fact that Microsoft is a huge target it never ceases to amaze me as to just how stupid their programming can be.  Take today.  I refuse to allow Windows to automatically install updates and I get queasy when I see unexplained internet activity for which I cannot account.  Therefore when I received word today that there was a necessary update ready to be installed I was quizzical.  My suspicions were heightened when the update failed to install three times.  Turns out it was an update for Net Framework 1 and there was a very plausible reason for the failure—I didn’t have it installed on my computer.  In fact there was even a previous update called Service Pack 1 that needed to be installed before the update worked and Windows finally shut up about the update.  

 

On another topic entirely when did it become acceptable to invite a friend for lunch and spend most the meal talking on a cell phone to other people?  That’s the sight I witness today at a local pub I occasionally drop into for supper when I feel too exhausted to cook.  The pair in question were two men and as is my wont it occurred to me to wonder what my father would have thought of the situation.  As I expect I’ve already recorded somewhere in these ramblings the telephone did not enter my Father’s life until he was well into his fifties.  I have no memory of his ever using it to dial anyone up—if he absolutely had to use it my Mother probably dialled it for him and he would only have answered it if there was no one else available to take the call.  Somehow I don’t believe he truly trusted the technology; if he wanted to talk to someone he got into his truck and drove to see them in person.  Returning to the pair in the pub; what does it say about the importance accorded a relationship when you demonstrate that talking to other people during a meal together is more important than concentrating on the person in front of one?  Personally I find the practise rude as I do when a store manager abandons the transaction we are about to consummate to answer the phone and makes me stand there and wait interminably.  I just don’t understand this obsession with being constantly in touch in such an impersonal way especially when it interferes with face to face contact. 

 

                                                                                                       

Returning to the Stone Age

Winter has settled in to stay here in Southern Ontario.  After two years of mild winters including last year’s non-winter we’ve been spoiled but it would seem that long, dreamy, warm days full of sunshine and fall leaves are not to be ours this year—Indian Summer has passed us by this year.  The snow squalls that blew in on gale force gusts stripped the last of the brown leaves from our trees yesterday and mightily rattled my bedroom windows during my afternoon nap; even the oak outside my window has a distinctly skeletal look about it.  Bad news it may be but the silver lining, if there be one, is that snow on the ground should encourage Christmas Shopping and gladden the hearts of retailers everywhere. 

 

In the last couple days I’ve been rapidly returning to the Stone Age.  When I got home Monday my desktop computer refused to boot; the fan came on but I didn’t even get a bios DOS screen.  The good news is that I’d just done a complete backup of that computer and transferred many of the programmes including my E-mail to my new laptop.  Do you suppose the desktop was suffering from rejection?  Tired after a long day at the office that began at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM I turned everything off and went up for my nap—I had neither the stamina nor fortitude to deal with the situation.  The CPU is still under warrantee but since I now have an alternative the matter can wait. 

 

When I got home yesterday, Tuesday, my Vista Phone’s warning light was glowing red and the screen was showing me the Check Phone Line Message.  Every phone in house was not just lacking dial tone but utterly dead.  By some unknown means my internet account which is attached to the same phone line was still functioning but at 3% of capacity.  Again I was too tired to cope at that point and since the preponderance of calls I receive are telemarketers I wasn’t overly concerned in the short term and went up for my nap again. 

 

This morning, early, (5:30 AM is early for most people), I called Ma Bell’s service department to report my problem.  I’d looked out my window yesterday and was aware that one of her minions had a tent erected over the local phone node and had seen them elsewhere on my way home so I had a distinct impression that Bell had disconnected my line in error but the agent I contacted aggressively attempted to sell me their phone insurance to protect against the $75.00 service charge that applies when the problem is caused by the customer’s own equipment.  She was not only persistent but obnoxious. 

 

I returned home today to find things status quo, the bell repairman was not scheduled to arrive until 5:00 PM at the earliest.  I was pleasantly rewarded with a working phone when I came down refreshed at 4:00 PM and called Ma Bell to report same.  Took the time to discuss my future plans with a business agent while I was on the phone.  Of course service is so fragmented these days that a land line agent cannot discuss Bell Mobility and knows nothing about Internet Service let alone WIFI.  Calls for the future or a visit to the Bell Phone Centre if it still exists. 

 

That problem resolved I decided to drive down to my local RPO and pick up the package for which I’d just received a DNC—delivery notice card.  While I was out decided to pick up a battery for my non-functioning underground garage clicker—the local drug store didn’t carry them.  A drive to Oakville Place was in order and I had success at Shoppers Drug.  After all that I’m happy to report the unit works.  Apparently I’m to return to the Twenty-first Century after all. 

Slandering Mulroney

Few Canadian Politicians can stimulate passion in the same manner as Brian Mulroney.  The following diatribe is inspired by an episode of Cross Country Checkup discussing Karl Hans Schrieber and the Airbus Fiasco. 

 

There is no question in my mind that the Jaw that walks like a man is guilty of every crime he is alleged to have committed.  That millions of our tax dollars were expended in recompense for the supposed slander done his reputation is a travesty that still gives indigestion.  That he was not charged or found guilty is testimony to the ineffectiveness of the RCMP and not to his innocence.  Lyin Brian is the scum who got elected on a promise that he would not implement a Goods and Services Tax and then proceeded to do just that mere weeks after he assumed office.  To me it’s still the Mulroney Tax and those quarterly stipends sent the poor are the GST Bribe Cheques. 

 

Someone should have the guts to call Schrieber’s bluff and send him back to Germany post haste—who would want to believe the word of one crook over that of another.  A biography of Mila Mulroney sold so badly even as a remaindered book that it was sent back to be pulped—in other words recycled.  The same should be done with Mulroney’s ill-gotten legacy.  His portrait in the halls of Parliament should be ripped from the wall and taken out to be thrown on a bonfire—more’s the pity Guy Fawkes day is past. 

Winter Arrives Early

Winter arrived mid-week amid the squealing of tires, the crunching of fenders, and a veritable demolition derby on our highways.  Bread and butter for tow-truck operators and auto-body shops; a nightmare for police services and commuters.  I went to work early Thursday expressly to avoid getting stuck behind someone with bald tires unable to make it up one of our hills.  My first act was to spread some salt on our walkways.  During the week there was much scurrying around to find winter clothing that had not been needed for at least the last year and a half due to the non-winter we enjoyed last season.  It has quickly become quite apparent that we are not to enjoy another sub-tropical winter.  We are not likely to find any hummingbirds during this year’s Christmas Bird Count. 

 

Finally made it to Future Shop to discuss the problems I’ve been having with Windows Vista and was given very little advice other than the standard wipe your disk and restore it to factory condition.  Apparently I didn’t go back far enough in attempting to restore my computer and the option no longer existed so I did end up reformatting my OS Drive and re-installing Vista.  Since Wednesday I’ve been spending my spare time at re-installing software.  The good news is that I have been successful in getting Streets and Trips to work.  I’m still attempting to get the New Yorker to run on Vista.  This morning I’ve been working at updating Windows, Office, and all the other support programmes needed to run other programmes and browse the web.  With all that software to install I haven’t even confronted the updates that will be required for my anti-virus programme; I find it wiser to do the other installs first to avoid conflicts.  It’s frightening just how many updates need to be installed on a brand new computer and the number of times it must be rebooted to accomplish this.  Of course it was expecting all these challenges that prompted me to buy my laptop almost a year before I’ll actually need it.  Now I have to hunt for all those software keys and unlock codes yet again. 

 

On Friday got invited to the home of one of our supervisors for a Lasagna Dinner.  You’d think when a group of supervisors got together they’d have better things to discuss than their fellow employees and in particular the worst behaved of their associates.  Except for the lack of a good dry wine to accompany dinner the food was excellent. 

 

Last evening I finally got around to screening Pan’s Labyrinth.  See my sister blog for a longer review but suffice it to say that declaring that this is not a fairy tale for children is an understatement. 

Contemplating the Future.doc

An old man was lying on his death bed, wishing for one more pleasure out of life. Suddenly, he smelled the scent of cookies coming from the kitchen. With all the strength left in him, he made his way to the kitchen, where his wife was busy baking. It took all he had to reach out for a cookie. Just when he got his hands on one, his wife slapped him on the wrist. "Leave those alone," she said. "They're for the funeral."

“The Holy Catholic Church will be truly universal when a Black Pope is pregnant in the Vatican.”

 

 

 

 

Just a little humour and provocative philosophy to begin.

 

Outside my window the sun periodically makes a week attempt at breaking through the cloud cover; the thermometer sits barely on the plus side of freezing.  Got ambitious earlier today and walked down to the local RPO to pick up a parcel from Amazon.com that was being held for me there.  I had the forethought to take a backpack with me as it was quite bulky.  My get-up-and-go persisted and I now have a batch up Lemon Poppy-Seed Bread set up in my breadbaker; pork chops marinating in the fridge; and creamy scalloped potatoes simmering in the slow cooker.  Guess we know what I’ll be eating this week. 

 

Just finished doing data entry for my latest purchases.  When you own as many books, DVD’s and CD’s as I do the only way to keep track of them with an aging memory such as my own is to record them in a database of some kind.  I began by using a Works Suite Database but I now use Collectorz software to automate the task somewhat.  Unfortunately I haven’t taken time to convert the thousands of previous entries so I now have two sets of records. 

 

I continue to plan for a gypsy like existence after retirement and to prove I’m serious about an RV Lifestyle I’ve invested in RV Vacations for Dummies.  I’ve also ordered a copy of Woodall’s North American Campground Guide for 2008. 

 

Just another observation.  To judge by the number of pizza flyers that get dropped in my mailbox someone must be of the opinion that the world lives off pizza.  It is conceivably that this is true for some of the student residents in my building who lease from absentee owners but personally, if I eat pizza I make it myself. 

 

 

 

The Nimbus Days of November.doc

Well, at least we don’t have to shovel it…yet.  November has been dismal; cold, dank, dark, brooding.  Unfortunately we can’t stamp the weather “Return to Sender”; as much as we’d like to.  Sure we public servants got Monday off in observance of Remembrance Day but the pile of mail that assailed us in the remaining four days this week makes one wander if it was truly worth it.  I continue to work on special projects but I’m well aware of what goes on in the trenches. 

 

At home I finally got ambitious enough to go shopping and picked up a set of fleece bed sheets and even got them washed and on the bed later this week.  The feel is luxurious.  Also put together a beef stroganoff and pronounced it good.  I’m still reading John Jakes Crown Family series having just gotten Pauli to the home of his uncle in Chicago, the story has finally begun to pick up.  Finished the second season of Numb3rs and just started watching the BBC series Planet Earth on DVD.  See my movie blog for details. 

 

As I slowly work my way toward a planned odyssey across North America after I retire I have set up a web page to record my travels:

 

http://grmailman.tripod.com/

 

Not much there but plans to date but keep tuned.  I’ve been exploring places to spend next winter and have settled on Austin Texas as a pleasant location to while away a few weeks at least.  Reading the Austin City Chronicle has peaked my interest.  Otherwise I don’t have much knowledge of the place except to observe that their weather is an improvement on ours at this time of year.  The Lake Travis area looks interesting as a place to park an RV. 

 

Adjusting to Windows Vista continues to be a challenge.  My latest misadventure has been the discovery that my laptop refuses to run Microsoft Streets and Trips—a major problem that, for one who plans to use it to aid his travels.  Ironic as both Vista and Trips are Microsoft Products. 

Changing Times

Last evening I spent some time adjusting the time pieces in my home. Tomorrow morning I’ll have to see if I still remember how to change the clock in my car without getting out the owner’s manual and I have yet to change my VCR but otherwise I believe I’ve fallen back. When it comes to a striking clock that is rapidly approaching its third century the only practical option is to stop the pendulum and try to remember to restart it an hour later. Mind you, a glance to my right reminds me that I still have to finish changing my wall calendars to November.

If you’ve ever seen the Great Red Spot of Jupiter you’ve seen a hurricane that is more than three times the diameter of Earth. By Earth standards hurricane Noel is massive but by Jovian standards it’s a pin prick. If you’ve ever been to Niagara Falls you have a concept of the power of water; just over a century ago the Canadian Falls were beside the American Falls. Along the Nova Scotia coastline Noel will kick up waves over 30 feet high and the storm surge will raise high tide well above normal maximum levels. Receiving over 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours can have a devastating effect on any drainage system and winds that gust to from 80 to 100 miles per hour wreak havoc on trees and power lines. No matter how prepared you are depending on candles and oil lamps for light, cooking on a camp stove or BBQ if it’s safe to go outside, drinking water from pails and jugs as well as using it to flush the toilet, boiling water to wash dishes or even your face, and wandering if the power will come on before the precious produce in your deep freeze melts; all these add to the stress even if you are well prepared and safe indoors. Worse is having no ability to establish contact with the outside world. My sister and brother-in-law live in an electrically heated home outside Halifax—I’m certain the wood stove in their rec room is well stoked.

This morning I set up my humidifier for another year’s service. I’ve owned it for over a decade so I suppose it doesn’t owe me anything but never-the-less I was still grateful to discover it still works. On the other hand the fan on my electronic air cleaner appears to have permanently seized.

From today’s news; well recent news anyway. St. Mary’s Health Center in Scotland issues appointment cards which feature an ad for an undertaker on the flip side. Think ethanol is eco-friendly; think again. Those government subsidized ethanol plants are buying up corn that would once have become fodder for cattle and diverted production from varieties grown for human consumption driving up the price of corn 60% in one year. The old argument about elitist education has reared its ugly head again, this time in Germany. Universal Education is geared to mediocrity, aiming for the least common denominator. All students except the profoundly mentally challenged are lumped together; for the truly gifted this makes classes an exercise in utter boredom. I know; for one week in grade 8 the four classes were split according to academic aptitude and the class I attended progressed further in one week than the classes we were dispersed to for the second week managed in the next month. Apparently recognizing academic excellence was politically incorrect—or our teachers resented the fact that they’d have to prepare two distinctly different classes on the same subjects. Ironically I still remember that week 45 years later.

Fall Type Weather.doc

[This post was composed over the weekend of October 27-28 and I didn’t get around to posting it.]

 

This past week has featured typical Fall type weather with the exception of near tropical heat Friday afternoon.  Unfortunately it also led to gale force winds and more rain later in the day.  Not that it mattered to me as I didn’t get out much. 

 

Last Sunday I went out and picked up a Hewlett Packard Pavilion Entertainment PC Notebook.  Not only am I now attempting to adjust to a Laptop keyboard but also Windows Vista which means finding new software to do the things my favourite programmes, that are incompatible with this new OS, used to do.  I’ll need a laptop if I plan to go traveling so now’s the time to start adjusting.  While my efforts were otherwise engaged I managed to allow 104 E-mail to build up in my inbox. 

 

Whereas Friday was tropical overnight Saturday it turned cold leaving me chilled in my bed but that was followed by heat that led me to switch on my A/C today, Sunday.  Until you’ve set up software on a new computer you have no idea how many installation files have to be found, install disks located, and registration codes retrieved.  Then if you’re anything like me and refuse to accept the default choices every programme needs configuring.  The process seems never-ending. 

 

Yes!  My mind is wondering and I’m a mite incoherent.  I’ve had my first misadventure with Windows Vista.  Used Disk Cleanup and discovered that if you clean up the Hibernate Files it removes the possibility of getting your computer to go into hibernation—it doesn’t just clean up the files, it destroys the folder completely.  Unlike past versions of Windows there is no way to access hibernation through power options.  After a serpentine search on the Microsoft Site I discovered that to restore hibernation it must be done as an administrator at the command line—in a DOS Prompt:

 

1.	Click Start, type command in the Start Search box, right-click Command Prompt in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue.
2.	At the command prompt, type <powercfg /hibernate on>.

 

It’s that simple or difficult.  Click enter and then type exit and click enter again to close the box.

 

Using a laptop teaches one new skills.  Conservation being one; the speed at which the battery meter descends when a laptop is not plugged in is scary.  I haven’t actually timed mine but it’s rated at 2 hours.  Another challenge is working without a mouse—I find myself continually reaching for the mouse that isn’t there; remembering keyboard shortcuts certainly helps.  Confusion rains when I use my desktop and laptop side by side and find myself reaching for the desktop mouse to work the laptop.  When I used PC Pitstop to check out my laptop aside from discovering that the computer’s various security devices didn’t much like it I also discovered that the wifi connection I’ve been using is 2½times faster than my high-speed modem. 

 

 

Autumn's Here Indeed

If there was any doubt that the fall season was upon us it was dispelled last night when the outside temperature dropped to almost freezing levels.  For the first time since last April I switched my furnace from Air Conditioning to Heat mid-evening when I started feeling chilly in bed.  It was when I awoke in the wee hours this morning feeling cold that I realized that the furnace fan was still running but the burners had not kicked in.  Time to break out an extra quilt.  This morning I fiddled with the gas valve and the burners kicked in.  Makes it more comfortable taking a bath when the temperature’s above 68º F. 

 

Although rush hour at funeral homes is Christmas and Early Spring there have been a lot of notable deaths lately.  You may have read of the passing of the ultra-realist painter Ken Danby.  I’ve always questioned why one would want to do what a camera does but having seen a Glen Loates original of a hawk with its wings spread I know that no camera could capture the amount of detail a skilled artist is capable of generating.  In the case of the hawk every barb on each feather was visible and the mystery of how Velcro works was plainly visible. The second recent death, at 88, is that of the TV evangelist Rex Humbard.  Credited with building the first church dedicated to the promulgation of religious programming on TV he boasted that his program was the most widely broadcast program in North America.  If religion be the opiate of the people televangelists prey on the aged and infirm fleecing them through requests for donations of moneys they can ill afford to waste. 

 

For those who may be interested in how computers are built here is an excellent to building a PC:

 

http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/print.aspx?report_id=12472

 

Just in case reading this makes you curious remember that opening up the case of your computer before the warrantee has expired voids that warranty. 

 

Here’s a tip from a Post Office professional.  If you’ve filed a change of address and haven’t been successful in persuading all your correspondents to change their records remember that to extend that change of address you must renew it at least 10 days before its expiry date.  The expiry date is 6 months to the day from the date the change became effective and is located on the top line of each and every yellow sticker that is used to forward your mail.  The day after a permanent change expires every piece of mail that arrives will be returned to sender.  The exception is a temporary change which upon expiration will send the mail to the original address. 

 

Once again I’m thankful that Bill Gates doesn’t build cars.  Tuesday was Microsoft Update day and as usual Redmond issued a new series of broken fixes in its continuing attempt to keep its operating systems afloat.  I believe it was Thursday I discovered a problem when I started typing in my browser’s search bar and with the entry of the first letter my browser promptly crashed and did so each and every time.  This morning Maxthon had a fix for the classic version of my browser; the new improved version 2 unfortunately crashes upon loading without exception.  Apparently they’re still working on it. 

 

This afternoon I will be making a drive to Mississauga as there was a faulty menu on the first disk of the Series, Jericho, I picked up on October 2—my local store still doesn’t have any in stock so I’ll have to make the trip to Hazel’s City.   While I’m there I’ll probably have a look at laptops.  When I begin trekking next fall I’ll need to have one so its time to start looking.  I may also look at a new backup external hard drive; my present drive is almost full and with 600 GB of drive space I need more backup space.  Who’d a thunk that I’d be thinking about a Terabyte of disk space—that’s 1000 Gigabytes if you weren’t aware.