The end is nigh

I have seen the future, and it sucks! The euphoria of Christmas has already passed, and now the reality of life is creeping back. My wife is up from home to visit Toronto and get a look at the housing here. She also had an interview at work. The interview went well. She was offered the job. Starting date is two weeks hence. Three months, six months, that could be do-able - considering that notices would be required; a house would need to be sold, packing and moving would need to be arranged. But two weeks?

Did I mention that "affordable" housing in the Toronto area requires far more than our combined family income? It's all so depressing.

This pessimism might be partly caused by an incident at work. We arrived together, yesterday morning, after a week's holiday. When I got to my desk, and saw that my computer was gone, I realized the place had been burglarized for the second time in a month! The first time, I had been lucky - my computer, and all my hard work, had been spared. I think that the installation of security measures gave all of us - the boss and myself included - a false sense of security. While I had initiated a practice of "centralized" storage for my work, I had only been backing up current work - the "critical" files (after all, unless the process is automated, backing up EVERYTHING on your computer on a daily basis is just too tedious and space consuming).

Long story short... I lost a host of stuff that had taken me weeks to accumulate, but was no longer on my current radar. Since it hadn't been deployed yet, my "local" copy was the only one in existence. And now, all that stuff is gone. Considering I had just finished a very demanding assignment in record time, the sting of losing even a portion of that labour took the joy out of the fact that 95% of my work had been saved.

I felt so sorry for my boss yesterday. When I told him the bad news about my loss, I detected a "I wish you had backed up EVERYTHING" look on his face. He reserved most of his scorn for the poor representative from the security firm - the one that installed all the high-tech security gear after the first break-in.

I think things will change early in the year. We'll probably get steel bars on the windows - or better anchors for the computers. During this break-in, anything that was anchored with high-strength steel chains was left in place. My computer was gone, one of two that had been installed without the chain.

I'll try to put all this out of my mind as my wife and I spend New Year's Eve and following day together. Though it may feel like the end of the world, I guess it's really just the end to a very troubling year. Here's hoping next year will be better.

The presents have been opened and set aside. In a few minutes, the Christmas brunch will begin.

I have to say that today's Christmas has been the most joyous to date. Having all the children together, laughing at gag gifts, smiling with the anticipation of opening presents... having our granddaughter help with the delivery and unwrapping of gifts... and having the wrong people open the wrong gifts (that's what happens when two people at the party have the same name!)... all contributed to a wonderful experience.

There were many moments worth mentioning, and to do so would mean I'd forget some. I have to mention one... my daughter's engagement to her soul-mate. They'll make a wonderful couple, and I wish them well.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas morning, and we're waiting for the rest of the family to arrive so we can open presents. It's a Christmas tradition that our children, as well as some of my wife's family come to our home for Christmas morning breakfast and gift-opening. This year, with us being in a smaller house, the Christmas brunch will be a challenge. Hopefully, we'll be able to find enough room to set up the dining table in the living room.

Before leaving Toronto, I had decided to buy one last gift (a PC video game) that could be shared by my wife and son. I purchased it, but then thought that my wife might not approve (our standards for violence in games is more strict than many parents). So, I gave her a call. Thank goodness I did. Turns out that not only did she approve, but she had the same idea, and had herself bought the very same game at the last minute!

With so many PC games on the market, and our general disdain for the genre, what are the odds that my wife and I would have bought the same one?

Even money!

Shades of "The Contender"

I enjoyed the movie "The Contender", but thought the meat of the movie could have been summed up in a 1 hour TV drama. Not that the movie seemed overly long - just that the punchline was drawn out over more time than was required. But this post isn't about the movie. It's about one line from the dialogue "Not guilty, but responsible".

It seems Exxon Mobil is "not guilty, but responsible" for screwing Alabama taxpayers out of royalty money for wells drilled on state property. In overturning a conviction, the state Supreme Court ruled that the trial judge shouldn't have allowed jurors to see "internal documents" of Exxon corporation that essentially pointed to their guilt.

There may be a second trial, and hopefully, the government will find a way to find the company guilty WITHOUT the damning internal evidence.

Honey, I'm done!

How ironic that the only person in my family that doesn't read my blog is my wife. She got turned off blogs during the not-too-distant blog wars, and hasn't been back. Not that she doesn't find out what's on the blog - she simply learns it second-hand from her daughters or from in-laws.

Well, I just want to announce that I've completed my Christmas shopping. That's right, there won't be any late-night trips to the 7-11 for last minute gifts. And I won't have to go back to Wal-Mart on Tuesday either. I found another retailer that was better stocked.

As always, I discussed most of my gift ideas with my wife ahead of time (if there's anything worse than not being surprised by what's under the tree, it's being disappointed by what's under the tree). Still, I managed to find a couple of unexpected gems that will be a true surprise (hopefully a pleasant one).

And, to keep the secret for as long as possible, I've even decided to do my wrapping before I travel home. So, the gifts will be ready for the tree the minute I reach the house.

No more hints here. After all, I wouldn't want my wife to find out!

The community welcomes Ezra

In a ceremony fit for a king, young Ezra was welcomed into the community. The hundred or so onlookers was the most people I had ever seen gathered for a bris. My father (Ezra's great-grandfather) had a beaming smile on his face that was indescribable. My only regret was that I was unable to capture the moment on digital film, being that the ceremony was held on the Sabbath in a strictly orthodox synagogue.

Ezra's father took time in a beautiful speech to explain in detail the reasons for bestowing this name on his first-born son. All in all, I'm glad I decided to spend the weekend in Toronto so that I could attend the ceremony.

Lately, there's been a lot of talk in the news and in blogs about the multi-billion dollar judgement (reduced to only $28M - the nerve of some judges) against Philip Morris. Discussions have been pro and con, with some people comparing the ludicrous nature of the suit to a similar suit brought by someone who claimed McDonald's food caused his obesity.

Well, all that is peanuts compared to the suit I've been considering. I've got a beef with Wal-Mart. To be fair, Wal-Mart is a cool store. The old people who greet you seem to be a lot more fulfilled than many seniors I see elsewhere, and they have some really cool stuff at reasonable prices. But lately, their ads, specifically their Christmas ads, have caused me irreparable damage and emotional distress.

These ads play on the emotions of procrastinating Christmas shoppers like me, offering the promise that last-minute trips to the store will result in the successful acquisition of whatever I'm looking for. Though I realize it's a bit early to start my Christmas shopping, I was nevertheless intrigued with the thought of fully-stocked shelves, pleasant seniors, and eager sales people waiting to serve me.

So this morning, I ventured into a Wal-Mart nearby where I work. I was running early for a change, and had some time to kill. The store was pretty empty, and I had no trouble finding the correct department. And there were several clerks available, practically throwing themselves at my feet. I knew exactly what I wanted, and asked for it by name.

"Sorry, we're sold out" came the immediate and knowing response. So confident was the tone of voice, I had no doubt that a shelf-by-shelf search would prove fruitless. I was fuming as I left the store. I thought of the millions in damages I would be able to rightly claim.

And then, it hit me! What was I thinking! I'm shopping too early!

I'll check again on Tuesday.

I hate when that happens

I fell asleep on the couch last night in front of the TV. At 2:30AM, I woke up, groggy, to a very noisy infomercial. Normally, this would not be too annoying. I'd just turn off the TV and sleep some more. But today, I felt badly, because, after all, I'm living in someone's basement and (though I don't have to try particularly hard) have not been doing anything that could be considered annoying.

Anyway, after turning off the TV and heading off to bed, I couldn't fall back asleep. As I lay there, tossing and turning, I realized that I had not yet read my email this evening. With a new grand-nephew on the scene, and my parents having arrived in the city tonight, I thought there might be a message waiting for me. My cell phone (the only phone I've had since arriving in Toronto) was low on juice. For all I knew, it could have run down it's charge while I lay sleeping, making contact by phone an impossibility. So, I got out of bed to read my email.

That was over two hours ago... and I haven't read my email yet! Instead, I've read blogs - lots of blogs, not just the ones on my daily reading list. For whatever reason, the people whose blogs I read had interesting links, or comments from interesting people, and I found myself wandering around heretofore unvisited reaches of cyberspace.

About 10 minutes ago, I finally realized that I was starting to feel sleepy, and headed off to bed - only to realize that I still hadn't read my email!

So, I got up again, and wrote this blog entry. And now, it's time to read my email and go to bed.

I promise.

We've all had dreams so vivid, so real, that we almost can't tell they were dreams. Sometimes, my "dreams" are so vivid, they become part of my reality - part of my recollections. And it's only when someone tells me that my recollections are inaccurate do I realize they must have been dreams. But I don't let go of them easily, preferring to believe that my recollections are correct, and the "other person" has merely forgotten.

One such recollection was of an afternoon TV program that featured beautiful young women that were competing to be the "best". I only have two specific recollections of this program...

1) This was a low-budget program, and the judges had been sitting at a standard bingo-hall style table. The camera, facing the judges, had a view not only of their upper torsos, but also of their legs under the table. One of the female contestants was so overtly sexual that a couple of the males judging the contest got boners on-camera. During a hastily called commercial break, the producers of the show added a table cloth to the table.

2) As a 15-year old, I was fascinated with this program. It was very suggestive, probably crossing the border of what could be shown on daytime TV. During the final moments of one particularly exciting competition, I remember a news bulletin cutting in - announcing hostilities and the beginning of a war in Israel.

On and off for the past 20 years or so, I would remember this program and try to figure out what it was called, but no-one seemed to know what I was talking about when I tried to describe it. I couldn't remember anything about the show except for what I said above - so it's not like I was being helpful in spurring anyones' recollections.

Last night, on IMDB.COM, I was looking up the acting credits for Karen Valentine - a regular on Room 222. You guessed it... unbeknownst to me, she had been associated with this "mystery program", and it appeared in her credits. As soon as I saw the name, and saw that this show was on the air during the "Six Day War" in June, 1967, I realized that my recollection was true.

P.S. Looking at the credits for this program, I noticed that a couple of the male game hosts were replaced in June 1967. Could this have been fallout from the incident above?

First Baby Picture

He's bundled, he's sleeping, and he's cute. Here's the first picture of the little tyke, being held by my sister (a new grandma).

The picture is 120K, so it might take a while to load on dial up modems

I found this link at Brian's site. You'll have to visit Brian to find where he got it.

It's a boy!

I became a great uncle at 8:52PM last night. Next Saturday, I'll be at the bris, and will see my parents (who are coming home from Phoenix for the occasion). Though they won't be here for long, I'll still get the opportunity to show them my new apartment.

If you haven't already seen this one making the rounds, check out a new entry in Comic Relief.

And now, she's gone! My wife is on her way to Union Station, and her train is due to leave at 4:00PM. The next time I see her, I'll be in Windsor for Christmas.

Such a glorious weekend. Our trip to the museum was really enjoyable, although we were told immediately upon entry that we could not use the camera. That's OK. I intend to post some of the pictures provided in our tour guide. I only hope Laurie emails a few good ones (the scanner is back in Windsor). In addition to that adventure, it's possible I spotted a couple of shoplifters on our subway trip back to the suburbs after our museum trip. There was a young woman who removed a brand new coat (all store tags still on) from a garment bag, then put her own old coat into the bag. Then, while she sat fidgeting in her seat, I noticed a wig in her purse. It was a completely different colour and style than that of the waist-length blonde hair she was sporting. She was traveling on the subway with a companion - perhaps her mother.

I used my camera to take a picture of them, and I showed it to them. Then, I asked for an email address to which I could forward the file once it was downloaded into our home computer. As a bonus, they got off the same subway stop as us, and they proceeded to the same parking lot. And their car was parked less than 20 feet from mine! So now, I have a picture, email address, and licence plate number. If they are shoplifters, their ass is grass!

Last night, Laurie attended my company Christmas party, where my coworkers got their first chance to see her. The meal was fabulous (and I found out later that it wasn't "luck" that no disallowed food made it onto my plate - the company-owner's wife had been aware of my special dietary requirements and had personally supervised the delivery of meal plates), and the companionship felt warm and natural. This is truly a great goup of people I work with.

Although the boss didn't have the opportunity to talk with Laurie directly, he'll get that opportunity later this month when Laurie is here again.

Earlier today, Laurie got an opportunity to visit the church she would be attending after moving to Toronto. And afterward, we stopped for a short time to investigate a new housing development that would be within our budget. Then, my sister joined us for lunch before I took Laurie to the subway station. We had a great time, and now I'm already looking forward to my visit to Windsor.

But now, I'm tired, and have an overwhelming urge to take a nap...

Good morning! All is well with the world. My wife is here in Toronto!

Today, we visit the exclusive Lord of the Rings museum exhibit. She's such a fan, I hope they allow us to use our digital camera. If so, you'll see pictures.

Tonight, we go to the company Christmas party, where it's expected my wife will be interviewed for an available position. I'm so excited!

More later.

It's been quite a while since I've added a new blog to my read list. Today's entry was found while reading comments on Eric's site. If you haven't already, take a look at Eagle Eye View.

This is an unsolicited plug for YACCS commenter and its very helpful author, Hossein. I mentioned in an earlier post that Mike had discovered a failure in my comment system. I had speculated that it might be due to a buffer overrun, and just to be sure, I reported the problem to YACCS.

A few minutes ago, as I was scrolling through old posts, I noticed a comment on that post (and like I said, I knew that comments absolutely would not work there). It turns out the comment was from Hossein - asking me to verify that all was working properly.

Now, that's the kind of person (and service) I don't mind contributing to!

Man, was I zonked!

Stayed awake barely long enough to eat dinner. Headed for the bedroom, turned on the TV and didn't even get to change channels!

Now, nearly 8 hours later, I'm awake at almost 4AM!

I should get back to bed before I screw up my sleep pattern.

This could almost get me to try gambling.

My sister and her husband in Windsor sent me a beautiful card for Channukah. I guess with the proliferation of broadband, the email cards you can send these days from sites like Hallmark include real video - not just animated gifs and computer-generated images. It was a really nice treat. Thank you Miriam.

Miriam also forwards a lot of email. I once got on her case about indiscriminately forwarding the stuff, but now, even though she forwards lots of mail - it always is interesting and often thought provoking. Just the other day, she sent me a couple of articles that addressed the issue of terrorism against Israel and Jews.

One dealt with Muslims and their attitude towards Jews. The message was that although the great majority of Muslim individuals are not terrorists, the fact that Muslim states (and their citizenry) condone acts of violence places them in the same historical context as countries like WW-II Germany (whose citizens, by and large, were not terrorists either). The message - what you accept from your leaders is what you would do if you were the leader.

The second email addressed Palestinian claims of being "thrown off their land" and being denied the right to self-determination (statehood). The author of that piece (a non-Jewish author, just like the previous piece) challenged Palestinians to offer proof that they were ever a nation in their own right - by asking for the most basic proofs of "national" existence - a common currency, national anthem, etc. The piece basically labeled these people as throwoffs from neighboring Arab states who refused to accept them as citizens.

I generally try not to be too emotional about politics. But these times are trying. Where else in the Middle East would a freely held party nominating election take place (an election that offered more than one "real" candidate). And where else would the winning candidate be the less-hawkish of the two rivals. With Ariel Sharon defeating Benjamin Netanyahu for the leadership of his party, Israelis on the right-wing are still saying that attempts at peace should be made. And today, a suicide bombing in Kenya (yes, KENYA) destroyed a hotel owned by an Israeli. Elsewhere in Kenya, terrorists tried (and thankfully failed) to shoot down an airliner bound for Israel.

Jesus - can you imagine what the world would say if Jews around the world started behaving in a similar fashion?

Talk about fucking hypocrites.

I hope all my U.S. friends had a good Thanksgiving.

Happy Channukah to all Jews, whoever and wherever you are.

Now it's off to work, where I can finally calm down.

My new loveseat reminds me of home. When my wife was last in Toronto, we shopped together and bought it because it matched the pattern of the furniture back in Windsor. The idea was that when our two households are remerged, the furniture won't look out of place. Fair enough... but in this small apartment (I didn't think it was small until the loveseat arrived) the loveseat proportionately looks like a massive couch - completely dominating the room it's in.

Another thing that reminds me of home was a short video postcard I received from my wife when she got her computer fixed the other night. The microphone is working now, and she recorded a short video. That video reminded me of one we recorded together earlier this year. It's so funny it makes me laugh - and cry. I wanted to post a link, but my personal web space is too full so I couldn't upload it. If anyone knows of a FREE site for hosting my video (AVI format), I'll post it. But I warn you - if you watch it, you'll fall in love with the woman I married.

Can you believe it? Stefanie has her license! What happened to that little baby girl who was born to my baby sister in Israel just yesterday? On Wednesday, I picked her up after dance class and she was much more gracious than usual. Having lived with her and her mother for that month, I got to see their day-to-day interaction. It was a picture of a mom who would do anything for her daughter, to the point of sometimes taking shit I couldn't put up with. Israelis have a reputation for being more forthright in their opinions and actions than the average North American, and watching those two go at it when neither wants to back down is entertaining (to say the least). Still, I think of my sister as my "baby" sister - and think of her daughter (the youngest of my nieces) as practically a new-born. And now she's driving. God, I'm getting old.

God works in mysterious ways. Today is the day I was supposed to receive the last of my new furniture. Yesterday morning, my sister had sent me an email urgently requesting my assistance Wednesday evening - she needed to be elsewhere and had not been able to arrange for her daughter to get a ride home from night school. I told her I would try to arrange for my landlord to be present for the furniture delivery, so I could help her out. Unfortunately, my landlord had other plans and would not be available to help.

I had a bit of a dilemma. I didn't want to say "no" to my sister (who had graciously opened her home to me when I first moved to Toronto); but I also didn't want to miss the delivery and have to fork over extra for a second delivery attempt. I went to work this morning not knowing what I was going to do.

The day was beautiful. I was feeling good, and my progress at work was phenomenol. Everything I tried was working perfectly. Then, around 12:00PM, I started to get a bit of a headache. It wasn't the normal "needs food" headache. The pain was dull but persistent, and I was beginning to get a sore neck as well. I've had my flu shot, so I didn't suspect that, but as time went on, the pain was getting worse, and I also felt feverish. By 1:30PM, I was feeling so ill, I couldn't continue, and asked to go home.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. At 5:15PM, I was awoken from a deep sleep by a phone call from my sister. She wanted to know whether I would be picking up her daughter. Before I could answer, I needed to know when Sears was coming for their delivery. My "delivery window" was 6:30-9:00, but I was hoping Sears could give me a narrower timeframe. When I hung up, I saw that I had missed one call. It had been from Sears, a half-hour earlier. Calling them back, I asked whether they could give me a better idea of exactly when the delivery man would be coming. No sooner had I spoken the words, than my doorbell rang....

So now, I have my furniture. The delivery men came more than an hour ahead of the delivery window. In fact, had I been healthy and at work, I would have missed their call (it wouldn't have been my fault, but I still would have had to reschedule the delivery). Instead, I have my furniture, and I have plenty of time to make it to the school to pick up my niece.

James Bond! When I was a teen, I loved him. OK, I loved him throughout the past 40 years, but mostly, I enjoyed Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, and now Pierce Brosnan. I never could get into Roger Moore's interpretation. He went from being a dangerous Simon Templar to a comical Bond, and I really never appreciated the transition. This installment of 007 goes back to basics, with Bond being more sinister and less comical than recent versions. And having Halle Berry portray his "equal" is really a nice touch. Sure, there have been recent attempts to make the Bond girl more brainy and less dependent, but only with this version do they really create an intellectual and physical equal.

This past week, I discovered a long-lost friend. My sister had spotted an article in the University Alumni Magazine that made mention of someone she thought I knew. She was right, and a quick internet search yielded an active email address. For the past week, we've been exchanging emails, catching up on nearly 30 years of our lives. We've both experienced significant ups and downs during that period, but the seeds of our friendship seem to still be intact, and it's been pleasant corresponding. She's living in Wisconsin now, and is a University professor. I've told my wife about my contact, lest she find out elsewhere and put the wrong interpretation on matters. I'm actually hoping that at some point she will meet my friend (should my friend come back to Canada to visit relatives). There are probably some funny stories they could share behind my back.

In other news, we're returning the McAfee Virus Scanning software to McAfee and going with Norton (which, I hope, will work out better). I've finalized plans for New Year's Eve. My wife and I will be going to Medieval Times for just the second time ever. We so enjoyed ourselves the first time around, I'm looking forward to this return visit.

And in Grey Cup news (the Canadian Superbowl), Montreal won the cup for the first time in 25 years. This was the 90th year the cup has been contested.

Mike sent me an email to say my "comments" section is not working. Actually, it is working - just not for the previous post. You see, I was the beta tester for YACCS new "post within a comment" feature. It really works well. But apparently, that last post of mine - huge as it was - seems to have overrun some buffer. So, if you'd like to comment on the previous post, please do it here.

I like Windows XP. Over the weekend, my wife and I decided to replace her computer - it had been a lemon since almost day 1. We are still on a very tight budget, so we decided on an e-machine. There was some reluctance, having previously purchased TWO e-machines - which both had to be exchanged within the first two weeks of life due to hardware failures - but the price was right. If first impressions are worth anything, this machine is going to be great. The hard drive runs silently, unlike our experience with prior machines, and the e-machine-enhanced version of Windows XP includes a system backup (i.e. file backup) utility and self-healing diagnostics built in.

In fact, the only less-than-satisfactory experiences we had setting up the machine occurred when we tried to install McAfee Virus Scan 7.0. Prior to purchasing the software, we verified that it was XP compatible (according to the box, it is). But when we tried to install it, Windows XP informed us that the application was not XP compliant, and warned us not to attempt the installation. Hey, we live dangerously. We ignored the warning and proceeded. So now, the program is installed, but I'd swear it's sucked up OVER 50% of the CPU's processing power. The computer used to snap to attention any time we clicked on any icon. Now, it sort of non-challantly thinks about whether to comply with our requests, and finally decides to coax a meek response out of the CPU.

I only wish there had been some way to capture the output from the Java-chat session with McAfee's tech support representative. I haven't decided yet whether she was actually human, or a bot programmed to respond to key phrases.

Here's a paraphrased version of my session with tech support. The tech rep's name was Kathy...

Kathy: Thank you for calling McAfee Security Systems online chat helpline. My name is Kathy. How may I help you today.

Me: I'm having trouble installing McAfee VirusScan 7.0 on a Windows XP system. The operating system is issuing a message indicating the virus software is not XP compliant and warns me not to install it. Since the box says it's compliant, I ignored the warning and installed it anyway. Now, my computer is running at less than half the normal speed. Can you tell me why XP issued the warning, even though your software says right on the box that it's XP compliant?

(long delay)

Kathy: Sir, you say you're having trouble installing VS 7.0 on an XP system. What message are you receiving?

Me: The operating system is issuing a message indicating the virus software is not XP compliant and warns me not to install it.

Kathy: I see. Was there a previous version of VS installed?

Me: The computer is new. There was an icon on the start menu offering a trial version of VS 6.0, but we didn't click it. So no, there was nothing installed.

Kathy: I see. You're saying you did not uninstall VS 6.0 before installing VS 7.0.

Me: NO. I DID NOT INSTALL V6.0.

(long delay)

Kathy: Based on the information provided, I am now ready to answer your questions.

(another long delay)

Kathy: I will send you instructions on how to manually uninstall VS 6.0 so you can proceed with V 7.0.

Me: I told you I never installed V6.0.

(A new window opens up on my screen with very detailed instructions to remove VS 6.0)

Kathy: Follow these instructions and let me know what's happening.

Instruction 1: Open Settings, select Add/Remove Programs, and select McAfee Virus Scan 6.0

Me: Kathy, I'm trying to follow instruction 1, but there is NO VS 6.0 SHOWING UP IN THE LIST - I TOLD YOU IT HAD NOT BEEN INSTALLED

Kathy: I understand sir, but you have to remove all the remnants of V6.0 before V7.0 can be installed.

Me: (I'm ready to throw in the towel). OK, Kathy, I'll try following these instructions (5 pages printed) and get back to you if there are any problems.

Kathy: If you have any trouble following the instructions, please contact us again. I will issue a call tracking number for this call. Please use it if you have to contact us again for this same problem.

Me: OK, what's the number?

(long delay)

Kathy: Taking into account the current call and service issue, would you say that you have been completely satisfied by the response you have received from me on this matter?

Me: To be honest, I think it's too early to say. Why don't you give me the tracking number, and I'll get back to you after I try these instructions..

Kathy: In 2-7 days, you may receive an email from McAfee asking about my performance on this call. (I can't remember the rest of the message, I was laughing so hard).

Kathy: The tracking number for this call is XXXXXXXX ....

Kathy: Do you have any further questions at this time?

Me: Not at this time (hopefully in my head and not verbally... How did you get this job?)

Me: (sarcastically) Have a great day.

Kathy: (no response)

Me: (terminates chat)


Yup, I guess I'll have that anti-virus program up and running in no time!

Where has the week gone!

It seems it was only yesterday I posted my last entry. I was surprised to see it had been an entire week!

Work has been hectic. There's lots to be accomplished in a very short time, and the level of anxiety is growing. I had previously asked for last Friday off, so I could go back to Windsor for a previously scheduled doctor's appointment and get an early start on the weekend. Seeing my wife after nearly two weeks apart was wonderful, and it was so difficult leaving her to go back to Toronto. I ended up staying in Windsor until 10:00 PM Sunday night before making the nearly 4-hour drive back to Toronto.

When I got back, having driven through some snow squalls, I was white knuckled and anything but sleepy. By 5:00AM, I was still awake and realized I would be in no shape to get up for work, so I tried to send an email to the boss explaining the situation. My cable connection was down (maybe due to the storm?), so I couldn't do that. After sleeping in, I contacted my boss at 10:45AM to say I'd be late. DUH! So, it's off to work soon, with nothing to look forward to except four days of overtime to make up for lost hours. And I don't get to see my wife again until the December 7th weekend.

It's almost a cliche. Ever seen one of those movies where the bad guy's right-hand man screws up and he's executed on the spot. Then the new guy gets called in to take his place? Well, that happened today. And I'm the new guy. Around 4:00PM, I got called into the boss' office and was told that one of the employees had been dismissed. He was the only one working on a particular project, which is due in six weeks, and now the project has been given to me. I'll learn more about it tomorrow, but for now, I'm supposed to be on this thing full time until it's completed.

And the deadline (Dec 31st) is set in stone, because this is a payroll application that needs to be delivered before the beginning of the new year. In a perfect universe, the application would already be in final trials (after all, there's got to be time to ship and install the application at the end-users' sites) but this isn't a perfect universe. At this point, I really don't know how far along the project is, but I do know that I'll either be a hero or unemployed come January 1st.

I waited 'til later into the evening, then tried talking with my wife last night using Intel's Video Phone software. We had done this before while I was staying at my sister's place, but with my sister's "Lite" internet hi-speed service (about twice the speed of dialup), the picture was choppy, and I would get constant hints that things might go better if I reduced bandwidth requirements (a euphamism for turning off video).

Now, with real hi-speed service (though still crippled), I thought I'd try again. It went much better, though there were still occasional hints. As the speed improves I should be able to manage a real conversation. There is a slight problem while using Video Phone. I have to drop my "shields" by turning off ZoneAlarm. Unfortunately, that means that while I'm on the phone, my computer is buffeted by "successful" attempts to locate my machine. I find that each time I use the software, there are days, if not weeks of increased attempts to hack my machine - because the bots determine that my IP address is a live one.

I've been toying with the idea of experimenting with ZoneAlarm - by adding my wife's IP address to my "local zone". I think that would allow me to use the Video Phone software while still keeping ZoneAlarm running. I'm just not sure whether there is any chance that my Windsor IP address could be multiplexed by Cogeco - and be shared by some unscrupulous user who would then be able to penetrate my firewall. I'll need to give that some thought, and perhaps decide that a configurable firewall is more to my liking.

On another digital front, my digital cable TV package was installed at the same time as the Internet, and it too had some initial problems (the cable company's installer recorded the serial number on the set-top box incorrectly, and when I went to authorize it online, they thought I had a stolen box). Luckily, the number was off by only one digit, so they realized it wasn't my fault, and after a couple of days with technical difficulties, I was able to receive acceptable service by 11:30PM last Sunday - literally minutes before the Sopranos encore broadcast I had wanted to watch.

I have the weekend to myself, probably for the first time since coming to Toronto. I've spent a weekend alone before, but I was still busy getting things settled, so I had lots to keep busy with. This weekend, I don't have much to do, and I'll probably be bored out of my tree. Next week, I'll be back in Windsor for the weekend. Maybe I should just concentrate on those positive thoughts.

There have been all sorts of things I've been wanting to photograph and post, but the digital camera is back in Windsor with my wife (who technically owns it, since I bought it as a gift for her). And it's not like she's not using it - she's the designated photographer for all work functions, and she never misses an opportunity to take pictures of our grand-daughter. With another grandchild on the way, there's really no way I can justify taking the camera with me to Toronto.

It's not like I don't have anything to say. I just wish this "high-speed internet" service worked! I had it installed last Saturday, and only today am I getting it going well enough (i.e. continuously, and with more than just a dead snail's pace) to make any headway.

Rogers had been completely down in this area for more than 24 hours. And that was a relief, since it was less frustrating than the surfing speed I had been enduring for the previous four days. This is cable modem service. In Windsor, that translates to 1500-2200 kbps. So far, the best I've experienced (i.e. right this minute) is just over 300kbps. Yesterday, my speed test registered 17kbps - that's right, about 1/4 the speed of a telephone modem. I knew no-one would believe me, so I took screen shots of the results and brought them to work. That got a lot of laughs, but it's really not funny! Needless to say, I've not been too crazy about the idea of paying premium rates for this "service". And Rogers seems to agree! They've told me they'll credit the entire period between November 2nd and whatever date I call to say service is acceptable! I think that's very big of them. Let's see if they actually come through with that promise.

Work this week went extremely well. I'm getting used to Toronto, and my wife has begun shopping (over the internet) for houses. She'll be coming to Toronto soon for my company Christmas party. If she gets an offer of employment from my boss during that visit, we may decide to accelerate the timetable for her move.

I finally got the box spring for my bed tonight. When the bed first arrived last Friday, the box spring wouldn't fit down the basement stairs. I had to return the original one for a split box spring. So tonight will be my first night in a real bed since moving to my new place. I never thought I'd get excited about sleeping in a bed, but I really am. And in two weeks, I'll take delivery of the loveseat and kitchen chairs. For now, I'll continue to eat my meals on the computer table and watch TV from a very uncomfortable hard-backed chair.

Alright, I guess it's time to sign off. Have a great weekend!

It's Monday, and I've completed my first weekend in my new home. I've rented a basement apartment and moved in on Friday. And to make things even better, my wife took the train up to be with me for the weekend. We shopped mostly for apartment furnishings this past weekend, so I didn't get an opportunity to shop for food or do laundry. Today, I had hoped to do laundry and shopping, but only managed the latter. I'm running pretty short on basics, and even though I shopped tonight, I forgot some things I really need (like dishtowels). Tomorrow, I'll try to complete my "first shop".

I got my car on Thursday night and promptly parked it. On Friday, after work, I drove back to Windsor for the weekend to visit my family and return the rental car. Then, Sunday night, it was back to Toronto. Monday was my first full day driving the new car. It's really a fun little car, and though I'll miss the power of a more substantial engine, I'll get used to it.

The job is going well, though the past week has been somewhat frustrating. The task I've been assigned is one that cannot be completed quickly; and both my boss and I have an expectation that I can do anything at the speed of light. I knew this task would take some time, but that doesn't mean I don't get frustrated.

I move to my own apartment on Friday, just in time for my wife to visit this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to having the freedom to watch TV later into the evening, and to keep the volume turned up higher.

Anyway, I don't really have much more to say, so I'll call it a day.

An update

I have yet to hear from Toyota about when my car will be showing up. Hopefully, it will be by Thursday. The dealership closes too early on Friday for me to go there, and I have to return my rental car to Windsor on Saturday.

Work has been fun, but I got my first taste that things are not all rosy. Despite my best efforts, there is no way to cram 80 day's worth of programming effort into 10. According to my best estimates, a task I have been assigned should take 80 days to complete. I've been told the client is willing to pay for 10 days worth. I've used up 5 days already, and have barely put a dent in the project. I know I can't pull this off, yet all my strong hints to management are going unheeded. The more proof I furnish about the complexity of the task, the more I am told not to worry - while being chastised at the same time for falling so far behind!

I found a place to live. And there's a funny story there. I'll skip the details and get to the punchline. It's on the same block as my sister's house (where I'm staying now). The owner of the house seems like a very nice guy. I think I'm going to enjoy staying there.

"Ohohohoh what a feeling!"

Back in the '70s, that was the jingle. And now, for the first time in my life, I'll be the proud lessee of a Toyota. Sure, my wife already leases an Echo. And sure, the car I just leased is also an Echo (barely a Toyota). But hey, it's great on gas, and the Toyota people apparently believe I'm creditworthy (just got the call 2 minutes ago). So, with that out of the way, I just have to finalize arrangements for a place to stay.

Now, to find a movie theatre. It's been too long since I've been to a movie!

Weekend in Toronto

A weekend in Toronto is like a weekend without family. How depressing. This is the first weekend that I will be away from my wife, and I don't expect it to be any fun at all. For the past two weekends, there were reasons to be back in Windsor. But the cost of such travel, and the lack of a valid reason to be there this weekend means that this will be the first weekend spent in my new "home" city. I don't have many plans, although it appears my search for permanent housing may be over. And, assuming I can pass a credit worthiness check (having a new home and a new job looks bad when you apply for a car loan), I should have a car by next Friday.

Work is going extremely well. I'm doing a really good job, and the boss is recognizing that. I've been quite surprised that he's taken me into the inner circle as quickly as he has; asking that I sit in on important strategy sessions that (I thought) were only attended by the most senior staff. All in all, I take these as very positive signs.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. For the second weekend in a row, I found myself travelling back to Windsor - this time to be with my family for Thanksgiving Day dinner. It was good to be home, but at the same time, I am finding it tiring to do this much travel each and every weekend. Next weekend, I will stay in Toronto - looking for a new car and an apartment. Staying with my sister is a real blast, and we are getting to know eachother quite a bit better. She's the baby in the family, and I really didn't get to spend much time with her growing up.

I haven't had the time to spend blogging (and reading other blogs), doing so only sporadically since arriving here. Perhaps when I get my own place, things will fall more into a routine. Work is going quite well, and I think I'm beginning to really impress my bosses. They had been making some noises about also wanting to hire my wife, but I think we'll slow down there and not put all our eggs into such a new basket.

To all my Canadian friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving.

Work is progressing well. I hadn't forgotten as much of my skillset as I had feared, and it took me less than a week to get back to full speed. Orientation has been cut short, and they have me doing meaningful work. My first assignment, meant to ease me into the business, was completed in a day (they had budgeted five days), and today I was assigned two more issues. I think the bosses are impressed so far.

I've been using the Video Phone software that shipped with the Intel PC Pro to communicate with my wife. I was having limited success with NetMeeting, and this software is working well. Since my bandwidth here is slower (I think it's Cable Lite), there are some issues, but overall, seeing and hearing my wife free of charge is a real hoot.

The only really disappointing thing is the apartment situation. While I'm currently staying with my sister, I don't want to wear out my welcome. Tonight, I visited an apartment complex that I had hoped would accommodate my needs. It was a real dive, and in a rough part of town. Tomorrow, I'll be checking out another area, further afield, but hopefully in a nicer part of the city. Wish me luck.

I'm back

I just finished installing a router on my sister's internet connection, and I'm now sharing the line. Hopefully, I haven't introduced any "bad" things to the system. Time will tell.

Signing off

It seems like only yesterday, I was signing off this blog to pack up my belongings for a move. The unpacking went so slowly, I ended up being off the air for far longer than I wished.

Today, I feel the need to disconnect now, before I can get absorbed in more surfing and working. I need to disconnect so I can find the will to pack for my move to Toronto. This time, the packing will be far more limited. I'll just be taking clothing, toiletries, my computer, and a few required computer manuals. When I return home in two weeks for the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, I'll be sure to bring some more things down with me.

Now, however, I must disconnect my computer so that I can reconfigure the remaining computers in the house to work without benefit of my server.

Until next week, so long!

Reluctant but ready

I don't fear change, as much as I fear the effects of separation anxiety. By choice, I've not spent more than two nights straight away from my wife in the 13 years since we've met. We truly enjoy eachother's company, and even when we're not on the best of terms, it's clear there's no one I'd rather be with. I've found myself sobbing out loud these past two days, as the realization that our tender moments will be far too infrequent starts to take hold.

I love my step son too, but we're not too close any more. Long gone are the days when we played together... when he laughed at my jokes and my comic expressions; when he was interested in my opinions and was willing to at least listen to my advice. Last night, when I said "I'll miss you" while trying to suppress sobs, I'm sure he thought I was putting on a show. He's a young adult now, following his own path, and in the way that only youth can explain, will probably be glad to see me go. Whether he's still living at home when it comes time to move the rest of the household to Toronto is anyone's guess. Whether he chooses to follow his mother is up to debate.

So, this weekend, I start the next, scary chapter of my life. I'll go kicking and screaming to my new home, my new job, my new life. And I pray to God that I can keep it all together for the good of the family.

It's Official

OK, so now we have an agreement we can both live with. Toronto, here I come!

3 days

I feel like those end-of-season ads that try to get you to do something you'd rather not do - spend money. I don't want to leave. I'll miss my wife, my sister, my parents, my step-children, my in-laws, my grand children and my dogs. I'll miss the quiet of the small town I was born in, and lived the majority of my life in.

I won't miss the polluted air, horrible summer humidity and insanely high gas prices. But, for the most part, I will miss home. I've become accustomed to working from home on projects of my choosing - going to bed late (or not at all) and sometimes waking up late (or not at all). The rigours of a 9-5 existence and the prospect of numbing rush hour traffic are things I dread. But it's got to happen. Eventually, I have to have meaningful employment.

After I accepted the job, they sent me the "standard" employment contract. I don't know what zombies usually sign this document, but it seemed clear that virtually all the perks promised during the verbal negotiation were subject to withdrawal by the terms of the written agreement (which, of course, supercedes all prior verbal commitments). So, I politely wrote back that the employment agreement was unacceptable. I included suggested revisions. As of now, the revisions have not been incorporated into the agreement. I may be unemployed and dealing from a relative position of weakness. But, if I sign the agreement in its current form, I might soon be unemployed again and no longer the legal owner of those copyrighted materials I have previously created.

So, I'll stand firm. If the company in Toronto truly is not after my prior creations, they should have no problem compromising on the wording of the employment agreement. And if they don't want to compromise now, I really don't have any reason to believe they'll be any more cooperative later.

I've made arrangements to rent a car for the next month (instead of committing to buying or leasing a second car). That should give me enough time to decide whether I'm secure in my new job. And, my sister has agreed to put me up for the first month. So, I don't have to commit to a one-year apartment lease right away.

Am I having fun yet?

Getting ready to move to a new city with a week's notice is no fun at all. I don't have a car, and don't have a place to live. I'm hoping to stay with my sister for a short while, but ideally, I'd like to NOT commit to a car lease or apartment lease without at least a month of employment under my belt. Whether I can afford a rental car for a month, and whether my sister can tolerate me under the same roof for a month has yet to be seen.

I'm no fan of long distance romance, and am definitely NOT looking forward to being away from my wife for so long. Even if things go well and I get an apartment in Toronto, it means I will only see my wife for the equivalent of 7 weeks out of the next year. Even if I spent my entire vacation in Windsor, that would only bring it to 8-1/2 weeks. That sucks!

I'm Employed!

I took the job. I'm still scared that things won't work out, but I took the job. I start Monday.

Sold!

Having spent much of the afternoon looking at property in the Toronto area (try www.mls.ca and see for yourself!), I had almost given up hope. Then, I tried some of the CLOSE suburbs. I had assumed they would all be expensive, and those far enough away to be inexpensive would leave me with an unbelievable commute.

Then, we looked further afield to Guelph and Kitchener. The homes were a lot less than Toronto, but still not cheap. I guess lots of people have decided this is the place to live. But the commute was over an hour! Ironically, we hadn't considered any of the close-in suburbs. When we started looking around, we stumbled upon Brampton. The housing is more in line with what is available here (maybe a 15-30% premium over Windsor). But the commute time is under 30 minutes, and avoids most of the busy freeways.

I still want to find a place to rent for the "honeymoon period" before selling my home and moving my family up - but this just might be do-able! I'm leaning toward saying "Yes" on Monday!

Could it be???

Someone wants to hire me! I'm at once giddy and cautious. After all, my last job was supposed to be my last job. The company was big and diverse. There was room to grow in the organization, and enough variety to keep me interested. Now, another company thinks I have what it takes. It looks like a fun place to work. Sure, it was dress-down Friday, but still, people inside looked reasonably happy. I just have questions about the long-term prospects with the company. I'd classify it as a startup with lots of years experience. In business for over 20 years, these guys still are very small. They've bounced from one product to the next, one development platform to the next. Their current product/platform is one I am familiar with (hence the opportunity). It's not a technology that's well-known, so this might be my last opportunity to find work anytime soon.

So what's the problem? Small company = small payroll. The owner readily admits he pays far below the "average" payscale for Toronto - the second most expensive city in Canada. Windsor (where I am now) is something of a contradiction. We have one of the highest per capita incomes in Canada, with one of the lowest cost-of-living indexes. It's a one-industry, union-ruled town, with highly paid blue-collar workers making up the bulk of the population. IT job opportunities are scarce here - scarcer during recessions. And the situation in Detroit doesn't appear to be getting better any time soon.

But, this company wants a commitment from me without offering the level of income that I think I'll need to sustain me in Toronto. Housing (my biggest issue) is from 3-5 times more expensive in Toronto than it is here. And I'm being asked to take a salary nearly half of what I've become accustomed to. You do the math.

Meanwhile, my unemployment benefits run out in a month.

I told them I'd give them an answer on Monday.

Catching up - Part IV - Laurie's Birthday (Part 2)

Well, with all the contractors mulling around all day, there wasn't much I could do with my wife during the afternoon (she had taken the afternoon off work). Instead, we were still hanging around the front yard when the backhoe driver finished filling in the hole around 7:00PM. So, when the backhoe driver found out it was my wife's birthday, he offered to let her pose for photos with the backhoe.

I'll post them here when I locate a freeware jpg compression software...

Update: My sister-in-law located a jpg compression utility (rudimentary, but functional - and free)





Finally, Laurie, her son, and I went out for a birthday dinner. It was a wonderful meal. I had decided to buy a smallish gift (rather than none at all) since we're on a tight budget. Apparently it was the perfect gift, since, after opening it, she reminded me that I had already bought the same gift for her for Christmas! I guess I'll be trying to find an appropriate replacement this weekend.

Catching up - Part IV - Laurie's Birthday - Part 1

Wednesday was Laurie's Birthday. My wonderful wife has had a difficult year, what with my unemployment, her job stresses, and the burden of being such a caring mother for her three children who have unique problems of their own. Today was her day to have some good done for her. While she was at work, the electricians came to the house, and were able to complete all the outstanding issues, including installation of the new under-counter Microwave Oven/Hood Fan. This installation had been dreaded (and delayed for over a month) for a couple of reasons... first, the installation was not part of the electrician's contract, and I really couldn't afford to pay extra; and second, the wall space where the oven/fan was to be mounted was three inches narrower than the width of the oven. On this day, I was able to convince the electricians to mount the oven in exchange for services in the original contract that they claimed could not be completed due to the age of our home (and an inability to access existing wiring without damaging the walls). To overcome the problem of the wall being too narrow, I had suggested that they cut away a portion of the doorway frame. This added about 2.5 inches to the width of bare wall. It was sufficient to hang the oven with only about 1/2 inch overhang into the doorway.

But, even with that problem solved, the oven couldn't be hung because we don't have a cabinet over the stove onto which to attach the oven. Let me digress... Before buying the oven, we made it clear to the salesman that we needed a wall-mountable unit (as opposed to an over-counter unit). Having trotted out the instruction manual for this model, the salesman indicated that it was clear that the oven came with a "wall mount template", and instructions on how to mount the unit to the wall. Sure, the box also came with under-cabinet mounting instructions, but we thought that part was optional.

Bottom line, when we actually tried to mount the oven, it was abundantly clear that it would not be possible to simply stick it on the wall like a fridge magnet. After much discussion with the contractors (who offered to build/mount some kitchen cabinets for us - yes, these "electricians" were also our carpenters), we decided that the most cost-effective solution would be to mount some L-brackets to the wall, above the location of the stove, and then screw the L-bracket into the top of the microwave (as if the screws had been applied through an over-the-stove cabinet. This solution seems to have worked, though we'll need to keep a careful eye on these brackets to ensure they don't come loose over time.

Moving on... during the morning, I received my last digging clearance from the utilities. Now, it was time to call the plumber who I had selected to install the front-yard cleanout. To my surprise, he indicated he could come over that same afternoon to do the job. He arrived earlier than anticipated, getting to the house at about 11:00AM. And with him, was his backhoe operator. I had opted to forego hiring the guy with the underground camera, because I had located the digging location by sound echos when our house had been electric eeled. Confident in that information, the backhoe operator started to dig. And dig. And dig. He had gotten down about 4 feet when we all started to have some doubts. After all, the echos had been SO CLEAR it was unlikely the sound could have come from so far down. We thought we'd go down one more foot... All of a sudden, we hit a water line (thankfully not the main line, just the one leading to our house)!

How could that be?! We had received all the clearances, and the path of the water line had been clearly marked on my lawn - the backhoe was nowhere near that line. We had to call the city water department. When they came to shut off the water, they put their special "key" into the shutoff valve and tried to turn off the flow. Nothing happened. They tried again, this time using a cutting oil to loosen the valve. Still no stopping the flow. Finally, one of the city workers had a brainstorm. He used a metal detector to follow the break backwards from the hole to the shutoff valve. In so doing, he discovered a SECOND shutoff, obscured by some topsoil. It seems the original clue came, saw the exposed valve, and assumed it was ours. It turned out to be our neighbor's, and we had ended up digging right over our water line.

It took a couple of hours to repair the damage and restore water to my home. Then, we started to move the backhoe a bit further from the original digging spot, looking for the sewer line... Fast forward two hours, and half of my front yard is gone. We've been following a parallel path to the original dig site, and have still not located the sewer line. In desperation, I finally give in and place a call to the underground camera guy. Within a half hour of his arrival, he's got a camera going through the underground piping, and the video screen is showing a mass of tree roots obstruction the pipes. In fact, it gets to the point where the camera runs into roots so thick, the camera cannot proceed further down the line. It is blocked about 12 feet short of where we think the proper dig spot should be. According to the magnetic locator mounted to the head of the camera, the operator indicates that we should be digging IN THE ORIGINAL DIG LOCATION!!!

The backhoe now positions itself over the original hole, and as it carefully avoids the now-repaired water line, we continue to dig deeper. At about the 6-1/2 foot depth, we finally locate the sewer line.

Once the line was located, we used an electric eel to find its way back towards our house. And we find that as the eel is withdrawn, it has picked up fresh clay on its head. That means that somewhere underground, at about the same place where the video camera had run into thick roots, the undergound sewer line has been broken. We think it was broken by tree roots that had made their way into the pipe. We used the eel to cut out the overgrowth of tree roots, but decided it was well outside our budget to fix the entire length of broken sewer line. It will stay as it is until the previous owner agrees to pay for its repair.

So now, we have a cleanout installed on our lawn, but we got more bad news on the plumbing front. The internal drainage pipes are galvanized steel, and the feeder pipes that empty the kitchen/bathroom sinks into the main line are so clogged with rust that they are virtually unusable. Although the toilet and shower no longer back up, it is impossible to use the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, or dishwasher without causing water to back up for hours (6-8 hours on average). No amount of cleaning of pipes seems to help, and this part of the plumbing will need to be repaired within the next few days.

Catching up - Part III

Tuesday, it was time to re-enter the daily ritual. The electricians who had taken the previous week off to work on another job site returned to my home. There was a bit of work that needed to get done, and they made good progress. Unfortunately, there were a couple of additional items I needed taken care of, which meant they would need to return on Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday, I had a telephone interview with a company in Toronto that might be interested in hiring me. When I hadn't heard from them by the scheduled time, I sent an email. A few minutes later, I got the call, and the interview was held. I had a good feeling about the people I was speaking with, and I think they must have felt the same way. I've been invited for a face-to-face interview in Toronto this Friday morning.

Catching up - Part II

Monday's fast was particularly difficult this year. Normally, on Sunday night, I "bulk up" on a carbohydrate-rich meal, hoping to store away enough energy for the coming day's prayers. This year, I "accidentally" prepared the "normal" low-calorie, low carb meals that have been mandated by the doctor to control my diabetes. By 11:00PM Sunday night, I was already hungry. That's not good news, considering the fast would go until Monday evening at 8:40PM. My biggest hunger pangs came around 7:00AM and 2:00PM on Monday. Then the headache set in. A dull ache that would stay with me throughout the afternoon and evening, and would interfere with my enjoyment of the after-fast family gathering.

During that Monday in shul, I realized how important religious observance is to me (that's not to say I'm completely observant, just that when I am observant, it really feels good). I found myself immersed in the text of the prayer book, following each word - sometimes straining against the background noise of people who were chatting with friends they hadn't seen since the previous year's services.

Catching up - Part I

I've been finding "real life" quite hectic lately, to the point where this space has been ignored. But I see from my viewing history that there are still friends and family that return regularly for updates and they are also entitled to be kept up to date.

Sunday evening was the start of the Yom Kippur observance. I think that this year's spiritual reawakening may have something to do with the fact that my parents are aging, and beginning to complain about their aches and pains. It's gotten to the point where, for the first time, I'm not taking their continued existence for granted. My dad is 82, my mom, a few years younger. I consider myself lucky, at the age of 50, to still have both my parents. Sitting in the synagogue, playing the games we used to play in my childhood (interlocking his fingers with mine, comparing hand sizes, administering discreet therapeutic back massage during the boring sermons), it occured to both of us that these memories were still fresh, pure, and liberating. For the hours on Sunday and Monday, I actually forgot that my house is a wreck, and I'm unemployed. For those hours, I was a little boy again, sitting in shul with my father, and celebrating my Jewish heritage.

:-)

Huh?

Random Thoughts

on Chrysler
My hometown is/was considered the Automotive Capital of Canada. Sure, it was easier to claim that title in the 60s and 70s, when Chrysler's world headquarters was located here, and each of the "Big-3" had massive numbers of plants in the area. Our economy is still very much dependent on the auto industry, though there is some diversification into feeder industries (tool and die, as well as chemical). Perhaps we will reclaim that moniker with the completion of Chrysler Canada's new headquarters.


on BASF
One of the secondary businesses located here is BASF. They own a large paint manufacturing plant here. After reading about the "accident" at a BASF plant in Texas, it leaves me wondering whether security will be heightened here.


on terrorism
Now, there's talk of an al-Qaida affiliated terrorist cell discovered in upstate New York. The discovery of this cell was linked to the recent upgrade in the nation's terrorist alert status. I'm wondering whether this has anything to do with information being supplied by John Lindh as part of his plea agreement.


on friendly-fire accidents
Now they're talking about trying the pilots who bombed a contingent of Canadians who were training in Afghanistan. Four soldiers died. This accident was a classic case of screwed up planning, but clearly, had the pilots known those tiny dots of light were being fired by friendly forces, they would not have attacked. In typical Canadian form, the family members of the dead have indicated they do NOT wish to see the American pilots prosecuted. They simply want administrative procedures improved to avoid future accidents.


on the West Nile virus in Canada
The West Nile Virus made it to Canada last year. Ours was the first community affected. Now, it makes sense that, a year later, ours is one of the worst-hit.

Dream Cruise

Have you ever been on one of those romantic cruises you see advertised on TV? You know the one... where everyone onboard is a covergirl model and you can eat 24 hours a day while still losing weight. I've never been on one of those cruises, but once in a while, when I allow my fantasies to take over, I imagine myself there...

I've always been very much an anti-social nerd (you know, the kind that never gets the girl), so when I dream about going on a cruise, it goes something like this...

Thanks to Jodi for pointing out this site.

Three men and a lady

So, have you heard the one about the three men who were stopped in Florida after a woman in a restaurant overheard them talking about possible terrorist activity on Sept. 13th?

Well, it turns out the whole thing might have been a hoax, perpetrated by the three men in response to suspicious looks they were getting from another patron in the restaurant. So here's my question... will they still be prosecuted? Political correctness indicates they shouldn't, as it would simply reinforce the profiling stereotype for people of middle-eastern descent. But there are laws against screaming "FIRE" in a crowded theatre, and alluding to terrorist threats like this in a public forum must be akin to the former offence.

Hoax aside, I am trying to come to grips with ALL the prior news reports that claim that bomb-sniffing dogs, called to the scene where the men were detained, reported positive hits on both vehicles!

Does that mean that the overzealous press contributed to this fiasco by reporting false information about the dogs? Or is there more to this story that has not yet surfaced. If there truly was no trace of explosive material, does that mean that the dogs can be "tricked" into registering false-positive indications, perhaps in response to the scent of fear or apprehension or (God forbid) culture-specific odours present in the vehicles?

This last point seems repugnant to imagine - that dogs might be doing their own form of "profiling". Let me share a short, loosely-related story... Prior to buying our house, my wife and I had occasion to visit several open houses. The homes were generally clean, with no clue as to the types of food normally consumed or the origin of the occupants (who were absent during the viewings). Yet, in a couple of homes owned by Indian (i.e. people from India) families, there was a distinct odour of curry in the home. Since there was no visible food, I had to assume the odour came from the carpeting, furniture, or other fabric that retained the scent. So, back to the dogs... Might it be possible that the dogs were reacting to a scent in the car's fabric that, while not being "explosive material" per se, may have been reminiscent of scents that were present in other vehicles where explosive material had been located?

I guess it's time to start training police dogs to be more politically correct!

More on 9/11

So I'm watching the Tonight Show on 9/11 and Jay's guests are Senator McCain and actor James Woods. The last time James Woods was a guest on the Tonight Show, Leno tried to ask him questions about a rumour (confirmed by Woods) that the FBI had been talking to him about something. Woods would not elaborate at that time.

This time, Leno asked again, and Woods was in a position to answer his questions...

It seems that James Woods was a passenger on an airline flight a couple of months BEFORE 9/11/01. On that flight, he noticed four suspicious-looking people of middle eastern background. They looked so suspicious to him, in fact, that he feared a hijack attempt and decided to KEEP the knife that was put on his dinner plate. Furthermore, he reported the suspicious persons to one of the flight crew. Supposedly, the standard paperwork was filed with the FAA, and the report (which was indistinguishable from all the other nonsense reports that get filed by passengers every day) went unnoticed.

After 9/11, when the FBI learned of Woods report, they interviewed him. At that time, he was able to confirm by picture identification that TWO of the people on his flight were among the 19 hijackers who died. Speculation was that Wood's flight was a dry-run to case the plane, the flight procedures, etc. The post-9/11 paranoia of passengers is understandable. But, prior to 9/11, can you imagine just how blatantly dangerous these people must have appeared to arouse the suspicions of a well-known person who would obviously not wish to appear paranoid in public?


And, earlier that day, Tom Brokaw aired a documentary about the air controllers who were the first to realize that planes had been hijacked and that something terrible was about to happen. During that special, it was mentioned that nearly 5000 planes were IN THE AIR over North America at the time of the four crashes, and the air controllers brought them to the ground so quickly, it was impossible to determine whether any of them had also been intended as missiles of terror. The implication is that some terrorists had been foiled by this quick action, but that they are still alive and able to carry out future plans.


And finally, how freaky is it that the New York lottery 3-digit pick of the day was 9-1-1. There were 15,000 people who decided to play that number on the anniversary of 9/11, and they shared a $5,000,000 dollar purse.

911

I cannot find the eloquence to add to the tributes and heartbreaking stories written about 911. If you're interested, please read the words of those whose weblogs I follow.

Rosh Hashana - Day 2

I had insomnia last night. I finally got to sleep around 4:30AM, but woke up at 8:00AM when my wife woke up. I wanted to go back to bed for an hour before getting ready for my dad. He was due to pick me up at 10:00AM for shul. When I woke up, it was 9:55AM! I hurried to throw on a pair of pants and shirt, and quickly sponged off my face to get out the cobwebs. When my dad arrived at the door at 10:02AM, I was ready to go.

It was another good day at shul, very much a continuation of yesterday. There were fewer people than yesterday, but I still felt like I was "home". The high-holidays are traditionally the time when Jewish people are bombarded with messages about charity (specifically the UJA campaign in support of Jewish activities here and in Israel). And, for the first time, there were pamphlets available for the taking. They were published by the Canadian-Israel Committee and contained background information concerning the current situation being played out in Israel. Perhaps this year, I will become a bit more politically active, but the high-holidays is not the time to start.

After the service, I again was taken back to my parents' house, where I was again treated to a meal (though not of the same proportions as yesterday's). My dad was very sleepy after the meal, so my mom ended up driving me home. I got home to an empty household, and am taking the time to post this now, before my wife returns.

A spiritual day

I had decided to go to shul this year for the high holidays, even before my sister suggested it. Seems she and her husband were going to be out of town this weekend, and they were hoping I could accompany my father. He came around to pick me up this morning, and it was the start of a marvelous day.

I could tell my dad was happy that I had decided to worship. Growing up, I had been quite devout. After my failed first marriage, I lost faith in my religion for quite some time, and had stayed away from synagogue in protest (yeah, I guess I really showed Him who was boss). It's important to note that I have always felt spiritually Jewish, and throughout this difficult period of my life, I still followed through on the trappings of Judaism (kept kosher to the degree I was comfortable doing it, etc.)... I simply refused to set foot in a synagogue.

All that changed several years ago, and for a period of almost two years, I was going to shul regularly (every sabbath, as well as holidays). Then, just as suddenly as I had started going, I stopped again. I think that was about four years ago. Today was my first time in a synagogue since that time.

It's like I had never left. Everyone took the time to say hello, greeting me in a friendly, non-judgemental way. The regular chazan nodded his hello, and I joked with him: So, where have you been all this time. There were also a couple of fairly well-known people with roots in Windsor who were in town, attending shul with their fathers. I had known them in my youth but had not stayed in touch. I was surprised they remembered me, and came by to say hello.

My father and I played a game where we each hold up our hand and place our palms together. He was thrilled to see that this time, it was my hand that was the bigger of the two. As I affectionately put my arm around him and rubbed his back, I could see him smiling with love and pride. What a wonderful way to start the new year!

When the service was over, he drove me to his house, where my mother was waiting to greet me with open arms. And she had prepared a feast fit for a king. It's been years since I've had her matzoh-ball soup. I swear, of all the soups I've ever tasted, there is none to compare to hers. I hope she's passed the secrets of that recipe on to my sisters, because it would be a shame for it to be lost for eternity - it's that good!

I wished I could have stayed longer, but I really wanted to get back to my wife, to tell her about how wonderful my day had gone, and to prepare for an evening with my brother-in-law and his wife, whom we had not seen since before we moved. They're really nice people, and I looked forward to seeing them. We ate dinner with them (as a bonus, my step-son came too); then went back to our house to watch a DVD. And when the DVD was finished, we turned on a movie on cable

On Sunday, I go back for Rosh Hashana - day 2 - with my dad. I'm looking forward to it.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to my family and Jewish friends. This is one year when I will need to ask forgiveness for all the selfish, hateful, and angry feelings I''ve expressed throughout the past 12 months. I could try to blame it on stress, but that would be copping out. I've just been less human this year than usual, and I will strive to make some changes in the year to come.

Things we take for granted

I showered last night - for the first time in nearly two weeks. I also flushed the toilet three times. That's three times more than I had been able to flush over the long weekend. The plumber was here yesterday, soon followed by the electric eel. Nearly $500 later, we have working plumbing; but we've been warned that the eeling was only a temporary fix. There are tree roots in our drainage system, and it won't take long for the problems to reoccur. At least we have some breathing room and a clean shower stall!

Happy Birthday

My introduction to the world of chat and blogging came within the past year or so. Though we are no longer in touch, I still want to wish the person who got me started a happy birthday.

Turning point

Today should mark a turning point in our experiences with the new home. The holiday weekend having ended, I have been able to again contact the plumber that examined our plumbing last week. This afternoon, he will work his magic - creating an access portal in the plumbing that will allow us to eel our local plumbing. Only then will we know whether our problems are even more severe. As far as any changes to the property (to add outdoor cleanouts), my lawyer has advised that most times, the previous owners of a property will try to side-step responsibility for issues like we are experiencing.

I have a very comprehensive (and very gross) collection of photographs that I would be prepared to take to small claims court, should it get that far.

Eric is back. His new link is on the left...

Sean Dickson, a teacher convicted of lewd conduct in requesting some of his underaged students to pose for snapshots while suggestively sucking lollipops, was sentenced yesterday to four months in prison.

In my opinion, the sentence should have been longer, but that is what the prosecutor requested, and that's what he got.

House of Horrors - an update

Well, it's been three weeks now since we moved. The stove is still in the living room, and we haven't eaten a home-cooked meal yet. Our 100 amp service has finally been installed (so the stove will soon have a new home), but we've just noticed that the kitchen wall where the stove will go is only 27 inches wide (ever measure your stove?). I don't really mind that the stove will stick out the doorway some (that's a small annoyance compared to some). What I do mind is that there are NO stove hoods on the market that have less than a 30 inch width. Dodging the stove with my hips as I go through the doorway is one thing. Dodging the hood with my head will be quite another.

The plumbing still doesn't work... we're limited to one toilet flush per half-hour... fine for a single occupant, but woefully insufficient for a trio of occupants with similar bedtimes and waking times. Here's a picture of our BRAND NEW WHITE BATHTUB shortly after flushing our toilet or doing a load of laundry...

New entry in Comic Relief

After a lull, there is a new entry in the Comic Relief portion of the weblog. Thanks to my sister for sending this one.

New York calling...

Yesterday, while my parents were here visiting my new home for the first time, I received a phone call. Since I was nowhere near a phone, my race to get there before "voice-mail" kicked in was unsuccessful. Later, I tried to retrieve the voicemail, but it was blank. So I retrieved the caller's number... it was someone in area code 718. I tried to look up the phone number using one of the internet's "Reverse Lookup" tools, but that failed. So, either the number was bogus, or it belonged to someone with an unlisted number.

If one of the people reading this weblog called to wish me a happy anniversary, then chickened out at the last minute, thanks for the sentiment.

Happy Anniversary to me! And good luck to Michele!

August 23rd, 1990 was one of the happiest days of my life. Despite my being unemployed, the woman of my dreams had decided she would marry me anyway, and the drunken preacher (and I use the word preacher loosely) lost his place and made me say "I do" TWICE. My wife is always teasing me about my obligations being twice as binding as hers - just as I tease her that I'm not sure we're legally married.

The past twelve years have seen us raise her three children as a family, become grandparents once (with another on the way, I just found out yesterday), and go through some of the most exciting career progressions (low to high to low) imaginable. Through it all, we've remained committed to our love, faithful to each other, and thankful for what we have. We have been blessed with reasonably good health, both for ourselves and those we hold dear, and in balance, we can't really complain about much.

I deeply love and cherish my wife and hope that we will have many more beautiful, wonderful years together.


To my friend Michele who will be marrying Justin tomorrow, August 24th, 2002, I wish you luck, love, and success.

About the move

We had tons (literally) of stuff to move, and the movers had estimated that a crew of 3 men could do the job in 12 hours. That's one heck of a large move. Well, they goofed. Their truck was pitifully small (it was a big truck, but no match for our accumulated belongings). It took FOUR truckloads to move us, and by the time we were done, the owner of the moving company had called in reserve crews. In the end, it took SIX people 14 hours to move us. They tried to charge us the whole shot, and I was open to some compromise (after all, their estimate was not binding). We settled on a revised figure that both of us could live with.

I want to keep the rest of this post short. If I don't, I will get too depressed. The new home is what I expected it to be, but not what I had hoped it would be. It was priced very low. That should have been a clue. By the time we're done, this house will cost us more than what we had budgeted for a home.

The good thing is that I'm now debt free. Equity from the sale of the prior house was sufficient to pay off my long-standing debts. Even the mortgage on the new place is less that what we owed on the old house - and the interest rate and monthly payments are significantly less. But the house itself is a nightmare.

The only things that do NOT require upgrading are the appliances and paint. In just the past two weeks, we've already completed extensive upgrades to the structure of the house, floor coverings, fencing... and will soon complete an overhaul of the electrical systems. What we don't have the money for (at the moment) are nice-to-have upgrades like reliable plumbing, heating, and air conditioning. Those things will just have to wait until I find a job.

I won't get into the gory details of everything that doesn't work. I can tell you that the pool (which was sight-unseen prior to making an offer on the place) turned out to be in excellent condition. This (and the quality of work done by the contractors we hired to spruce up the place) is the only saving grace.

That's it for now...

I'm Back!

Just this minute finished reconnecting my personal computer. Now, before I can post more, I have to catch up on two weeks' worth of emails and stuff. Be back soon.

I'm still alive - barely!

No time to post right now. Just wanted to tell you all that the move went horribly. Even Murphy would have been pissed off. My personal PC is still in boxes. I just finished setting up the internet gateway server so my wife could get on the internet to see if our bank account still has funds.

I will post all the gory details, anecdotes, and a summary of the past week's activity in the next few days. Until then, keep healthy.

Happy 55th - take 2

My parents celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last month. My sister decided to give them a surprise anniversary party. What better surprise than to hold it a month after the fact. Today, all my out-of-town relatives showed up to surprise my parents. Just as I had done yesterday at my wife's family's party, I decided to be unofficial photographer. After filling the camera with 74 pictures, I did a quick on-site edit, freed up room for about 10 more shots, then filled the camera again.

Tonight, I was able to post the majority of the pictures on a private website for my family to view.

Starting tomorrow, we've got three more days to pack. The schedule is: Monday - finish packing the storage room; Tuesday - pack up the Home Theatre; Wednesday - pack up my office (and take down this internet connection). Thursday, we move. And Friday, the cable guy is supposed to hook me back up.

I'll be too busy to post often until Friday, and I won't have much time to read many of the sites I normally visit daily... so I'll apologize in advance to anyone whose site I don't get to.

Happy Anniversary, Edna & Bob!

I just got back home a few minutes ago, having attended the 50th wedding anniversary of my wife's aunt & uncle. They're really wonderful people, and the extended family was there in full force. Unfortunately, at that age, minor aches and pains (as well as more serious ailments) can keep you down... and two of Edna's sisters (whom we had hoped would be visiting from out of town) were unable to make it. Despite this, the event was well attended with representations from four generations present.

It was an opportunity to see people I hadn't seen in quite some time - to renew acquaintances and catch up on news. A few months ago, I had decided to try the newer NiMH batteries, because they were supposed to be much better (i.e. longer lasting) in digital cameras. Tonight was the acid test. Although we had two sets of batteries with us, we only needed one set to take 72 pictures (that was the limit on the camera's memory). If I had had more memory, we could have taken more pictures - the batteries held up quite well.

Anyway, I may post a few pictures featuring my wife, kids, and granddaughter. Now that the freebie jpg crunchers are no longer available, I will have trouble posting low-bandwidth pictures. If anyone knows of any FREE ones still available, please let me know in the comments.

The Chair

The following anecdote was in my email today. Thanks, sis, for the terrific piece...


An eccentric philosophy professor gave a one-question-final-exam after an entire semester dealing with a broad array of topics.



The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on his desk and wrote on the board:

"Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."



Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over 30 pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair.



One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.



Weeks later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have gotten an A when he had barely written anything at all.



Here was his answer:: ---         "What Chair?"           --- (drag your cursor over the area between the --- marks to read the student's answer)

We've got Bees

My son pointed out a few days back that there seemed to be an inordinate number of bees entering a crack at the seam separating our bricks from the vinyl siding. I already had a can of hornet/wasp/bee foam, which had been used earlier this season on a new hornet's nest. Instructions on the can indicated that the treatments should be applied at night - when the bees are less likely to be active. So, several nights ago, I carpet bombed an 8' long portion of the seam (to quicly seal off any escape routes), then, as per can directions, I penetrated the outer foam layer with the enclosed wand and tried to find the main point of entry. I then blasted a large amount of foam into the crack.

The next morning, I noticed two things... one, there were lots of bees entering and leaving the crack; and two, the place where I had inserted the wand was incorrect. That evening, I decided to try again. This time, I made a mental note of where the entry crack was BEFORE I carpet bombed... then I went for the kill. The difference from the previous night was dramatic. When I inserted the wand, there was no resistance - it just seemed to go into a vast cavity. Then I let loose with the foam, and it was several seconds (maybe 5 or 10) before foam started pouring back out the hole from which I had entered. Contrast this with the previous night's attempt, where foam started pouring out of the crack as soon as I pulled the trigger.

This time I was supremely confident. The next morning, I looked out the window, only to see bees... lots of bees. For each bee that entered through the crack, there was another one leaving, carrying what appeared to be remnants of the foam. The damned bees were cleaning house! I've decided not to try again. First, I'm not even sure whether the bees are spending the night inside the cavity (there's no way to see inside to find the nest). Second, if they are there, I'm afraid I may cause them to become more adverturous and look for other potential places for a hive - like inside the adjacent vent (which leads to our bathroom), or inside the dog houses, or even through the dogdoor (that's only two feet away) and into the house.

We'll be out of here in five days. I'll just have to suppress my immense fear of bees, and try to endure. Let the next owner deal with it.