Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. I got lovely and thoughtful gifts from my wife and son, phone calls and cards from various family and friends, and a day much to myself, with only a single service call to detract from total relaxation.

Today, I received more "gifts". First, for those familiar with my geek status, you'll know I have several robotic vacuum cleaners (Roombas) in various areas of the house. For the past few months, I've had my eye on a competitor's model - one that promises to do a better job in a fraction of the time. A few days ago, I broke down and ordered it (they even took one of my old Roombas in partial trade), and today it arrived!

I'm trying to exercise patience as it sits on its charging base, but I'm really anxious to use it myself.

The other "gift" I received today is news from the surgeon who broke her arm a month ago. It seems she's up and around, and I received a call today to reschedule my surgery. It should take place two weeks from today! I'm a bit nervous, but otherwise looking forward to the results.

That's it for now. I've got to run and watch my Neato charge...

A call from mom

When the phone rang, I saw from the caller ID that it was my mother - calling from her Assisted Living facility in another city. I'm usually hesitant to answer calls from my mom... her dementia being sufficiently progressed to the point where conversations are nonsensical, but not in an amusing way.

Still, I thought that she might be calling to wish me a happy birthday, so I answered.

I was wrong.

After ranting for nearly twenty minutes about her care (or lack of it) and a host of imaginary slights, she finally paused long enough for me to say "Hi", and "I thought you were calling to wish me a happy birthday."

She followed with a half-hearted "Happy birthday" before continuing with her rant.

The sad part of this story is that she's at a stage where she would respond really well to a particular medication. However, this medication takes the form of a distinctive capsule - and the one thing my mother still recognizes are her usual medications. Try to give her any pill she doesn't recognize, and she refuses to take it. She doesn't trust doctors (probably because of the medical foul-ups that ultimately contributed to the premature death of my father). While I share her disdain for certain doctors and hospitals, I wish she would allow us to make her life more enjoyable and her mental health more stable.

Sisterly Love

My birthday is just around the corner. In honour of my birthday, my sister Linda decided to sponsor a "kiddush" after the upcoming week's synagogue service.

She had intended to surprise me with this kiddush, but I guess she didn't realize that I'm the webmaster of the synagogue's website, and all requests for kiddushes come across my desk so they can be included on our website's honour roll!

Despite her disappointment, I was still surprised (and grateful) to realize how thoughtful it was for her to make a donation to my synagogue on my behalf. In addition to all that, she also sent me a personal gift, enabling me to enjoy a birthday dinner with my wife.

Seeking a clear vision

My last eye exam was in February. Since then, I've been trying to get a pair of glasses. The first attempt ended prematurely when the optician called with news that the lab had cut my lenses to the wrong size, and they were too small for my chosen frame.

Next, after a wait of more than two weeks, I got a pair that had the grinding done to the wrong part of the lens. I would have had to walk around with my chin buried in my chest to be able to see through the focus point in the lenses.

Nearly a month passed before the next pair were ready, and I had high hopes for a perfect fit. While my right eye was correctly accommodated, the left eye's vision left much to be desired. I instantly felt very dizzy - to the point of nearly bringing up my lunch - and the optician suggested I may want to go for a vision re-test to confirm the prescription.

So, yesterday, I went for the re-test and was told that the original prescription was correct. This time, my optometrist wrote a note on the back of the prescription form, hoping to help the optician choose the correct "base curve" for my needs.

I've been told that this time, the glasses will be completely manufactured at the main lab, rather than having the lenses cut and transferred back to the local office for final grinding and polishing. Here's hoping these finally do the trick.

I survived!

Well, sort of. Surgery was scheduled for 9:00AM, and I checked into the hospital at 7:00. Things went smoothly during preparation (although they had to try twice to get an IV line in me), and I was wheeled into the O.R. a few minutes before 9:00AM.

I got to see the surgeon before being put to sleep... and then I remember waking up.

The surgeon was standing over me, crying! Then I found out that she had slipped on something in the operating room, fallen down, and broken her arm! Thank goodness she fell before starting to cut! Her tears were tears of pain - I don't know if she had already been to the doctor to have her arm set (I was too groggy, and without my glasses, so I can't recall seeing a cast or sling) - but I think she also felt sorry for me. She was so apologetic.

After all the preparation, and my wife having to use a vacation day on very short notice to accompany me to an out-of-town surgery, nothing happened. The surgery has been postponed indefinitely.

Surgery Required

I've had a weak eye for as long as I can remember. Unless I concentrate, it tends to drift off to the side. It makes it pretty hard to focus on small print. Driving is also a pain, since my brain sometimes processes two simultaneous images that can confuse me.

Monday, after years of procrastination and months of waiting for a surgical opening, I go under the knife. The plan is to loosen one eye muscle while tightening the opposite one. This should allow my eye to "naturally" drift into the centre position.

I've been told there will be double vision (of a kind my brain is not used to dealing with) that will last two weeks or more. Stitches will come out ten days after surgery, and vision should return to a "new" normal within four to six weeks.

Because of various risk factors, doctors say the general anesthetic will be more dangerous than usual, so I'm hoping there are no serious complications. But nothing is for sure.

When I post again, you'll know the surgery was successful.

A Hoi, matey!

Those who see me, know I love food. Those who know me, know I love sushi. Last Monday, my wife attended a lunch date at a restaurant near her place of work and when she got home, she told me it was a sushi restaurant. It's called Hoi.

I hadn't known there was a sushi restaurant in that vicinity. My favourite sushi place is several miles from my home and relatively expensive (but worth every penny). This one is much closer to where I live. So, on Tuesday, I stopped in for lunch to give this new place a try.

I'd rate the portion size of the maki rolls at about 80% of what I'm used to. The quality is about the same. What really tips the balance for me is the price... it's all-you-can-eat, so for about half of what I pay at my favourite place, I can gorge myself.

On that first visit, I limited my consumption to sushi and a few of the appetizers. Miso soup, fried dumplings, a salad, two spring rolls, two cans of Diet Coke (no fountain drinks at this place, and even canned refills are free!) and 36 pieces of delicious sushi (6 Maki rolls) all for under $15.00 (with tax and tip, the bill came to $20.00).

The next day, I decided to try dinner. Pricing was $6.00 more than lunch. I ate pretty much the same things; in addition to some other items such as chicken skewers, beef skewers, and chicken fried rice. With tax and tip, I paid $27.50.

Thursday, I took my wife with me for dinner, where we both feasted for $55.00 total. I've been back twice since Thursday. Hopefully, my obsession with this place will run out before my money does!

More good news


Job Reclassification

My wife learned earlier this week that her attempt to have the job reclassified was successful. What this means is an immediate and significant bump in pay (retroactive to the date when the reclassification request was made). Not only will this improve our living situation, it will also have a very positive effect on her pensionable income, since her pension will be based on her highest five years of earnings.


New Clients

When I started this latest business venture, I didn't expect my clients to have a need for my services again if I did a good job. But, I hadn't factored in that satisfied clients come to you for other services, not just repairs, once you've earned their trust. So, I've gotten used to having a relatively small, but loyal, base of repeat clients.

That's why it's particularly gratifying when my advertising and word of mouth referrals result in new business. This week has been particularly good, with two brand new clients, and a repeat client from more than two years ago needing my assistance.

Today in the news

Whether it's because of April Fool's day or not, the news lately has been nothing short of bizarre.


Gas Prices

There was an article in an online newspaper on April Fool's day that spoke about a 30-cent per litre increase in the price of gasoline. Thankfully, that turned out to be just a gag.

But four days later, it's certainly no joke that the price of gas has actually risen by 10-cents per litre. That works out to rise of 45.5 cents per imperial gallon, overnight!


Privacy Concerns

The Epsilon Corporation, responsible for much of the bulk email sent on behalf of large and respectable corporations, suffered a security breach this past weekend, resulting in the unauthorized release of client names and corresponding email addresses for many of the people in their vast data banks. Although they are quick to note that no passwords or other information was compromised, just having access to a valid list of matched names and addresses will give spammers the luxury of sending you PERSONALIZED spam or phishing emails... not just of the "Dear Customer" variety, but rather "Dear Jack"...

I have already received an apology from Best Buy - one of Epsilon's clients - advising me of this breach, and to be aware of any unauthorized emails I may receive that refer to me by name. The fallout from this breach will last for years, as those people whose email addresses will remain unchanged will continue to fall victim to phishing attempts for years to come.


Car Prices

The situation in Japan following the March 11th earthquake is starting to affect our local industry (automobiles) here in Canada. The price of fuel-efficient cars is rising across the board, partially in response to rising prices of Japanese cars (caused by the reduction in supply). That doesn't bode well for my plans to replace my older vehicle this summer.


Scams aimed at greedy currency collectors

Snake-oil salesmen are alive and well. There was a "story" that took up a full page in our local newspaper today. Consumer protection rules require that advertisements masquerading as news articles are identified appropriately; but if anyone missed the very small print disclaimer at the top of the page that identifies the "story" as an advertisement, it would seem that the US Treasury had released some rare, uncirculated $2.00 American bills for purchase by a lucky few Canadians who lived in very specific postal areas. In fact, as the story went, only people who lived in areas matching a pre-printed list of postal codes were eligible to make their purchase. From what I could see, every postal code in Canada was listed except for Manitoba and Nunavut, although there may have been one or two missing zones - I just couldn't tell. For only $58.00, you could own TWELVE, uncirculated $2.00 bills. These bills would be delivered as three sheets of four bills each. In more small print, the ad stated that the company "World Reserve Monetary Exchange" was not affiliated with the US Mint.

The image above shows the full page ad. The image below shows a portion of the ad. Note the very small print at the top, and the "very official looking" security detail, partially obscuring a crest that looks remarkably similar to "official" government crests.

As the world turns

When taken day-by-day, not much had been happening worth writing about. But, as I look over the past 30+ months of inactivity, I see there have been some significant changes.

In summary (and in no particular order) ....

The death of my grandson in June 2006 had an incredible impact on the lives of my step-daughter and her husband. Many couples report that anger and blame creep into a relationship after the death of a child, and this family was no different. In the intervening period, that marriage has been officially dissolved and there is no love lost. Both parties are now in new relationships. In the case of my step-daughter, marriage plans are underway.

My mother finally got to the point where she could no longer live alone. Last summer, she moved to an assisted living facility in a different city; where she can be closer to her grandchildren and to my sister, who is her legal guardian.

The business I started in 2006 continues to grow, albeit slowly. Back in 2009, I was honoured with an award as "Coolest Computer Tech", and I continue to reap the benefits of that positive press.

Various pets have come and gone over the past few years, but we're still a pet-friendly household, which, quite frankly, limits our options for apartments or condos as we plan to downsize within the coming year. Our most recent acquisition, a female cocker spaniel, is still in the "potty training" stage, but shows promise as a loving companion for my wife and I as well as for our other dog.

A daughter was born to my nephew and his partner nearly two years ago. They just became parents again today. Twins born this morning will make them a family of three children.

My wife, who has been working for a wonderful employer for the past four years, finally got moved to a new facility earlier this year after spending the past three years in a dilapidated building away from most of her co-workers. Now that she's joined her co-workers in the newer building, her work load has increased, and she's anxiously waiting for news of a job classification review that could see her receive a bump in pay and job classification.

My synagogue saw a change of guard, with the departure of our long-time rabbi, and the hiring of a new rabbi with lots of zest and charisma. I served as a member of the board of directors for a two year term that ended this month.

My wife and I became empty-nesters earlier this year when the last of our "children" left home. Unfortunately, my son chose the worst possible time to move to Southeast Asia, having arrived there only two days before the Japan earthquake. Add the fact that his teaching assignment was in a town very close to the North/South Korean border (where there is still a remarkably scary buildup of military presence), and the stress was too much to bear. We are no longer empty nesters!

My last post was nearly three years ago. It came on the fourth anniversary of my father's passing. What better time to resurrect this blog than on a birthday.

This morning, my nephew and his partner welcomed twins Evangeline Amanda Nova and Griffin Ezekial Lazarus into this world.

My understanding is that Ezekial was born with a cleft lip that may need to be corrected with cosmetic surgery, but other than that, both babies are healthy.

An anniversary remembered

Four years ago, I lost my father; a dear friend and good man. Though I don't cry for him and seldom think I'm missing him, I do experience something special and deep when I visit his grave site. Today, on this sombre anniversary, I visited the grave with my sister, and listened as she read two beautiful, moving poems.

On a day as beautiful as today, I wish he was here, sitting in my backyard, playing with the grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and dogs. He would have enjoyed that. Lord knows I would have too.

Who knew?

For those who don't know, I provide computer security services for a living. I cringe when I run into people who insist on using Internet Explorer because it's conveniently bundled with their new PC - and I do the best I can to convince them to go with Firefox. No browser is perfect, but I certainly have more faith in that choice.

Anyway, this morning, I was trying to get my wife converted to Firefox. It was only when I told her how much faster the browser was that she relented and gave permission for it to be installed on her PC.

After it was installed, and IE favourites had been converted to Firefox bookmarks, I tried to load her standard homepage - a customized iGoogle page with various gadgets. Everything worked properly except for one gadget, a pretty flash presentation of an aquarium. Even after downloading and installing the latest flash plug-in for Firefox, the video would not play.

Finally, I right-clicked in the empty black box and viewed the properties. I was absolutely shocked to see the flash plug-in on Firefox asking for permission to connect to the laptop's webcam and microphone. I have no idea how long my wife had been using the aquarium under IE, but suffice to say it is no longer installed on her iGoogle page.

Score yet another victory for Firefox's superior security.

Mother's Day comes and goes

Mother's Day this year was pretty decent. We had a family lunch at my sister-in-law's home, and the company was pleasant. Perhaps the only sour note to the weekend (though not the actual day itself) came when I discovered that I had lost my hard-to-replace sunglasses.

I've begun to retrace my steps from the weekend, though I don't hold out much hope of finding them. It's a real bummer, because they were manufactured as a matched pair for my glasses and I really have a difficult time driving in daylight without them.

On another front, we're nearly completed with renovations to our home. This set of renovations was my big "mother's day gift" to my wife. She's been wanting to do it for quite some time, but I had resisted until this month. By the end of this coming week, the renovations should be completed.

Hardy Heron is hardly worth it

I've become quite partial to Ubuntu over the past year or so, having initially installed a copy of 6.06 LTS that had been in my possession for a dog's age. When 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) arrived, I waited a while to upgrade, but eventually took the plunge.

I liked what I saw, and eagerly upgraded to 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) very soon after its release.

So this week, when I heard the call of the Heron, I dove in head first. It took a while to do the upgrade, what with the swarm of early adopters hogging the download bandwidth. Two nights ago, I was finally able to make a good connection with an authorized mirror, and let the installation process proceed overnight.

Boy, was I sorry!

The first clue that I was in trouble was when my system got stuck on a plain background screen (the cream coloured screen that shows up when you're logging in). I thought the install was just slow, but nope; it was definitely a crash.

The message I got was that the video driver firmware was not capable of dealing with the new version. But I at least thought I'd be able to proceed to a stable operating system. No such luck.

After much fussing, I abandoned any hope of being able to recover my 7.10 installation. Since I didn't have any important files saved on the Ubuntu box, I decided I'd just do a clean install. So, with much reluctance, I did a clean install of Ubuntu 8.04.

Nothing went wrong during the installation; and it completed with no troubles or error messages at all. Then upon rebooting after the installation, that's when the trouble started.

I again received a message that my video drivers were not acceptable, and Ubuntu threw me into limited support mode. Maximum screen resolution was a miserable 800x600, and Ubuntu was unable to identify my graphic hardware or my monitor.

What's worse, is that when I booted from the 7.10 Live CD, Ubuntu was able to start up in 1280x768 resolution - which is the resolution I used when Ubuntu 7.10 was still on my computer. Why a newer version of Ubuntu would be unable to recognize my video hardware and monitor when a prior version had been able to do so is completely beyond me.

You'd think I had learned my lesson, but it gets much worse from there. I'll wait until tomorrow to post that story.

This is MY KIND of news!

Obesity aids in illness survival

Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, March 10, 2008

Fat people have a survival edge over skinnier people in the face of critical illness, new research shows.

In the latest example of the phenomenon known as the "obesity survival paradox," American researchers found that while critically ill obese patients spend more days on mechanical ventilators and in intensive care units than thinner ICU patients, they're more likely to survive.

And there are several theories as to why: One holds that an abundant supply of fat tissue acts like a factory, churning out chemicals called adipokines that help fight inflammation and infections such as sepsis -- overwhelming bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in an ICU.

In addition, during severe illnesses, the body breaks down muscle protein and glycogen, the body's primary source of stored energy. Obese people may be better able to cope because of greater nutritional reserves.

"With the increased rates of obesity, we're seeing more and more morbidly obese patients in the intensive care unit," says lead author Dr. Folu Akinnusi, of the University of Buffalo's division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine.

"We thought, if they were at increased risk and likely to die, we needed to do something, we needed a different kind of intervention to try and reduce or stem that wave of increased mortality."

Instead, they found the opposite to be true. Akinnusi hopes the findings will make doctors think twice about "subconsciously writing off the obese."

"A lot of times, people have less of an expectation" that they will survive, he says. "If we know they're not at greater risk then you're very likely to give them as much of a chance as everyone else and do the most you can for them."

The study is the latest to show how the very condition that causes multiple health problems -- including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes -- may protect people during serious illness or injury.

Other researchers have found that obese people with kidney failure, heart failure and chronic obstructive lung disease do better than skinnier patients.

No one is suggesting obesity is a good thing, Akinnusi says.

It's been a bad winter

I don't get sick very often. But when I do, it's usually a doozy! This winter, I've been seriously ill twice with flu-like symptoms. I say "flu-like" because like every year, I got the flu vaccine before the bad weather started. In January, I had a period of nearly three weeks when I was either completely incapacitated, or in various stages of recovery.

Now, this past week, I visited a client who was sick, and three days later, I've come down with it myself. Yet another bout of serious congestion, vomiting, inability to sleep, and inability to enjoy food.

In three days, I've dropped nearly 8 pounds of weight (water weight, most likely) and feel like hell. I've missed a day of work, and those days when I did bother to work, it was a substandard effort.

Finally, I was planning to have my mom over this weekend to celebrate her birthday, but the way I'm feeling (and the likelihood that I'll be passing it on to my wife and son), I don't think I'm going to follow through on that plan.

Happy New Year

January is nearly over, and I'm just getting around to my first post of the new year. In my last post, I mentioned that I had taken on a new challenge in designing a new feature into my synagogue's website.

That project has been successfully completed, and it runs flawlessly without any human intervention. In fact, some people have been so impressed by it that they've suggested the idea be commercialized. A new domain has already been registered in anticipation of this, and a partnership of sorts has been formed between me and someone who is better at the marketing end of things. Commercializing the product and some initial concepts about how it could be done was actually his idea, so it seems fair that he be included in any potential gain.

On other fronts, my son has completed his first semester at University, and his marks were promising. Also promising was that his portfolio of work earned him a spot in the university major of his choice. We're very proud of him.

Our daughter in Hamilton has been accepted in a college program designed to upgrade her current professional designation, and she started classes this month. She has shown a great deal of initiative getting into this program, and we wish her success in her quest.

Switching focus yet again, we've had significant changes in the family dynamic, vis-a-vis pets. For the past year, we have been living in sin, having made a conscious decision to defy the local bylaws by keeping more than two dogs. Around Christmas time, we took a trip across the border and saw a beautiful little dog that we wanted to adopt.

But, I opened my big mouth about having more than the legal number of dogs, and our adoption request was denied. For more than a year, we had anticipated the imminent death of our oldest and frailest dog. In fact, when we got our "third" dog, it was in anticipation that the oldest dog was near death. Anyway, about three weeks ago, she came down with another serious ailment, and that was the last straw. She was euthanized earlier this month. Immediately afterward, we visited a local breeder and put a deposit on a cocker spaniel puppy.

This would have brought us back to the three dog level, and one of those dogs, our beautiful purebred Black Lab, was deemed too large to be retained. We tried to sell her, but there were no serious offers, so we ended up surrendering her to the same no-kill shelter from which we had gotten our third dog last January.

So now, we're down to the legal two dog limit. We are left with smaller dogs than we've had in a while - the cocker/lab mix that we got last year, and the cocker puppy that we've had for the last two weeks.

Well, that brings us up to date. Any bets on when I'll post next?

Where to begin

It's been a while since I blogged. I guess when you wake up, do the same stuff, and go to bed, every single day; there really isn't much to talk about.

Since my last post, the most significant happenings are that our daughter visited from Hamilton (twice, actually -- once on the way over to the U.S. for the Thanksgiving holiday, and once on the way back), and our son has delighted us with his amazing progress as an adult-student at the local university.

Also related to our son, he decided to sell the car he's almost never driven, to help finance his computer and textbook acquisitions. The car sold over the weekend, and has yet to be delivered to the new owner, although it has been paid for.

On the personal business front, I continue to make progress. Revenues are consistently ahead of expenses (which wasn't always true during my previous year in business), but it's nowhere near the critical mass level yet.

I'm making an effort to get back on better terms with some people in my life. Life is too short to be angry all the time. It's difficult for me to make this effort, so it's too early to say how well it will turn out.

I own a few web domains, as well as owning and managing the one used by my place of worship. They've asked me to take their website to the next level, by not only providing a public service for our members, but also to try to actively recruit additional members and create a revenue stream. This should be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.

Well, that's about it. Nothing much to tell, but just enough to prove to the two readers who noticed not much was happening, that I'm still alive!

Bat Mitzvah day

My cousin's daughter is celebrating her Bat Mitzvah today. We were invited, but decided not to attend the actual ceremony. I attend a very small synagogue, and it's always touch-and-go whether we have enough men to do the entire service. Today, I'm glad I chose to stay local, because we didn't have any extra men show up.

The party is tonight, and we will be going to that. It's taking place somewhere I've never been before, and normally, I would be "mapquesting" in preparation. Tonight, I'll be relying on my GPS. Hopefully, it won't let me down.

Moving day

I didn't tell anyone I was moving, because until yesterday, I didn't know it myself. I had been living at the same home for two years now (26 months actually) and thought I was happy.

Then, I had a problem and had to ask the landlord for assistance. He totally ignored my problem and basically accused me of being a bad tenant! What's up with that? I'd never broken the rules, never asked him a question until yesterday... I thought I was the perfect tenant.

Then he had to nerve to imply I could be thrown out at any time, so I did what any self-respecting person would do. I moved out in the middle of the night.

So it's official. One of my websites has a new home today. And as soon as I can figure out how to redirect the mail from my old place, I'll be able to start getting that again too (along with all that lovely spam!).

Stay tuned for more details.

September has almost passed me by!

It's been a good month, with very few glitches of any kind. Things on the business front are going well, and mostly good things are happening on the personal front. Last week, we celebrated my wife's birthday. That's about the only occasion for the month.

Fall has begun, so of course, the weather started to improve after we closed the pool for the season. This week (and the next) are pretty much taken up with various Jewish holidays, and then we'll head into what I hope will be a nice October.

Time flies when you're having fun!

School's back in session

It's the end of the first week back at school. It's an exciting time at my daughter's house, with her youngest starting Junior Kindergarten this year. And my wife is facing her first fall semester registration crunch at the local university. I don't think she's ever been as swamped in her life, although she confesses to feeling somewhat like a mother figure to the young students. She's enjoying herself at this position more than she ever has at any previous employer.

There's nothing that makes me happier than seeing her beaming face each night when she returns home from work. It's a far cry from the days when she'd get home weeping and despondent over goings-on at the office. I'm so glad she's found herself a wonderful place to call "home".

With school back in session, I'm expecting my business call volume to increase after a somewhat slow summer. Although this summer was much busier than last year's, it still wasn't what I would call "great".

That's it for now.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Happy anniversary, happy anniversary, happy anniversary, haaaaappy anniversary!

It's true. My wife and I have been married a very long time! And today marks the end of yet another year together.

I wish us many more!

Jesse Imeson caught, and other important news!

International news

A high profile killer (I don't have to say alleged killer, because I'm not a reporter) who fled the Windsor area almost two weeks ago has been caught and will now be returned to Ontario to be put on trial.

It's a shame he didn't get caught earlier, before he had the opportunity to kill two more people while on the run. There were missed opportunities -- a witness that didn't come forward in a timely manner. Thankfully, that was not the case with the latest person to spot Imeson, and he was caught shortly after the report.

This isn't the type of story I normally write about. In fact, I rarely write about anything of real substance. I suppose I'm mentioning it because I was one of many people who came forward to police with information about Imeson. I don't think it had any effect in helping track him down, but it was important enough to have merited mention in the local press.

It will be interesting to see if the planned feature on America's Most Wanted will still be aired this weekend. The producers of the show had been in the area filming background material for this weekend's program. Since I normally don't watch the program, I have no idea whether their policy is to shelf footage if the crime has already been solved prior to air date.


Click the picture for a larger image


Family matters

With July over, there's only one more month of summer vacation. My son will be starting university come September. He's always wanted to go, and now, at age 23, he'll finally get his chance. He's really excited, and so am I! And I'm very proud of him for taking this step.

All-time best

I don't think I've ever seen a more riveting video in my life.

Where has the time gone?

It's amazing how quickly time passes. My birthday has come and gone, as has Father's Day. For the most part, things are as they've been - progressing at a snail's pace, but progressing nevertheless.

I took part in a bit of a dog-and-pony show this past week, electing to sponsor a table at the annual Convention and Visitor's Bureau annual meeting. This is my first year as a member of the Bureau, and the opportunity to network and present my "message" to a table of potential clients was a lure I could not resist.

It was billed as an opportunity to present for up to an hour (one half hour scheduled, and another half hour flexible). The half hour of "flexible" time was a ruse - it didn't even appear on the official schedule sheet. And the half hour of scheduled time (which did appear on the official schedule) was cut dramatically short when the business of the day went far beyond the alloted schedule. Rather than extend the event, the original break-up time was observed. This left me with a grand total of seven minutes to present a half hour presentation.

As if that wasn't bad enough, most of the people in the room (thankfully not just those at my table) decided to leave immediately after the keynote addresses, not even affording the courtesy of an audience to those of us who sponsored their SWAG.

Was I pissed? You bet! Did I make a shortened presentation anyway? Absolutely. And of the three people who heard my presentation, one has already become a new client. I won't recoup my investment in time and money, but I did meet some new people.

And I was able to reinforce some impressions I have about people in general. More on that when I have more time.

It's been a good May

May is nearly over. My birthday is tomorrow, and I've already received my gifts. From a business perspective, this has been my most productive month since I began the business, and I'm anxious to see whether this was a blip or a trend. Regardless, I will take things in stride.

I've reached a balance in my life. I'm happy with who I am, what I have, and what is ultimately in store for me. Overall, my relationships are the best they've ever been. While nothing is ever perfect, I am comfortable with the state of things.

For the past few months, I've been trying out various combinations of devices to combat my obstructive sleep apnea. I think I've found a combination that works effectively. Next week, I'll be purchasing the equipment I need. I believe this equipment has helped me achieve a more restful sleep, and in the process has helped me lower my overall level of stress.

That's it for now.

It worked great!

I was off at work during the first "scheduled" run on the Roomba. I came back too late to see whether it had actually gone to work (it was docked and recharged by the time I saw it). But the proof was in the dustbin. Full of dirt and dog hair, I'd say the run was a success.

And, compared to the results from the original brush, I'd have to say the pet brush did a better job holding on to the hair. Transitions from linoleum to carpeted areas were not showing traces of dropped dog hair.

Pets beware

My new pet attachment has arrived from Roomba. I've already tried the enhanced brush cleaner (it's AWESOME!!!), and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when my first "hands off" cleaning session will take place.

By "hands off", I mean that the Roomba will turn itself on tomorrow, while I'm not at home, and hopefully do a good job before returning to its charging base. Until now, I've been manually starting the Roomba, and monitoring it to make sure it doesn't get itself into any tight spaces (so far, it has managed to stay pretty much clear of obstacles).

Tax season's over

I dreaded filing this year's return. Having "officially" started a new business in 2006, there were extra forms and procedures that needed to be completed, and the bill from my accountant was higher than usual.

After all was said and done, I owned the government more than I expected, and had to dig into savings just to pay them!

Luckily, things are beginning to show improvement on the business front, so I'm hoping that next year at this time, I'll have better things to report.

w.bloggar - RIP

I have been using the w.bloggar tool to create my blogspot entries for about five years. The interface was clean, advanced, and a real pleasure to work with. The work of the author was good enough that I sent a donation shortly after I began using w.bloggar.

Now, however, with Google finally forcing me to convert my blog to the new format, I found that the w.bloggar tool no longer works. I have no choice but to abandon it, since moving to a different journaling system is definitely not a viable option.

Part of the family - please help us name him/her

Our Roomba is part of the family now. While it prefers to hunt in seclusion during lazy afternoons, feasting on dust bunnies and dog hair, it has been known to occasionally hunt during evenings when other members of the household are out and about. I've become convinced that its voracious appetite for dog hair can only be adequately satisfied by equipping it with the specialized pet brushes available from iRobot. Said brushes have already been ordered.

Having joined the user community forum for Roomba owners, I've discovered that many in the community have chosen to name their cleanliness-obsessed companions. Not yet having named ours, and having no idea what to name a robot (except for names heard on movies and TV shows - like 2001, Lost in Space, and the Jetsons), I've decided to invite public comments. If you'd like to suggest a name, please leave a comment. And if we choose to use it, you'll receive a personal email, photograph, and credit for your submission.

21st century begins now

I've entered the new century. Today, I bought a Roomba Discovery robotic vacuum cleaner. It was on sale at Canadian Tire, and I simply could not resist. The Discovery comes with a Home Base for charging the vacuum. After completing the initial charge, I activated the vacuum while the dogs were in the living room. I thought there'd be more commotion, but because the vacuum is relatively quiet and relatively small, the dogs were not intimidated. On the contrary, Buddy was initially aggressive, refusing to yield ground when the Roomba approached. Once he saw that the machine meant him no harm, he allowed it to run without interference.

I was eager to see the Roomba seek its home base, so I activated the "dock" command and watched the Roomba navigate its way back to the Home Base (charging station). It sat there for a few hours charging...

Later in the evening, when the dogs and wife had been put to bed, I activated the Roomba for an actual cleaning cycle. The main level of our home has a front part, and a rear part that is just slightly lower (about 1 inch lower). The Roomba has a sensor that detects drops that are too large to navigate, and the 1 inch drop was sufficient to trigger this detection. Unfortunately, there was one damaged linoleum tile on the lower level that stuck up just enough to fool the sensor into thinking the lower level was not very far away. So, during one of many approaches from the "high" ground towards the "low" ground, the Roomba decided to make the jump. It got hung up on the broken linoleum tile and had to be manually repositioned. At that point, I put up a baby gate to stop the Roomba from approaching the back of the house.

With this path plugged, I was anxious to see whether the Roomba would be able to manouvre itself through all the rooms on the main level (excluding my office, which has far too many loose items - clutter - scattered on the floor). To my surprise, the Roomba did a remarkable job cleaning the area. It found its way into every room during the 45 minutes or so that it was running, and did a decent cleaning job (needing to have its dirt bin emptied three times during that stretch). Being that this was the first time I had tried the Roomba, I was unclear what would happen when the "Power" indicator went from Green to Yellow. I assumed that the unit would start looking for the Home Base to dock itself to, but the unit was busy cleaning an area of the house that was nowhere within sight of the Home Base. On this occasion, I used the remote control to steer the Roomba back into the living room. To my surprise, as soon as it detected the InfraRed beam from the Home Base, the Roomba went into survival mode - totally ignoring my remote commands, and instead finding, then mating with, the Home Base.

The next time I clean, I'll be more patient and see whether the Roomba can actually maintain enough juice to find its Home Base regardless of where it is within the house.

By the way, it did a decent cleaning job, though I wouldn't have been too upset if it hadn't!

I found a video on YouTube that pretty much shows the vacuum in action. While our environment is much more challenging (more furniture, and nothing to stop the Roomba from wandering room-to-room) this video still is interesting. Enjoy.

Windsor, Ontario on review

Yes, I'm from Windsor. It's a small-ish large city (ranked 20th in population in Canada) best known for its strip clubs and its ties to the automotive industry. While the auto industry is in a tailspin, thankfully, the strip clubs have seen their business increasing!

Windsor occasionally makes the national and even international spotlight. Last year, we were featured as the "Sin City" of the north during the Superbowl XL festivities in neighboring Detroit, Michigan. Most recently, Windsor was mentioned on a popular alternative news program. Click on the video below to see what I mean.

I hate computers

OK, it's not computers I hate. It's MICROSOFT. This has been a particularly unhappy week for me thusfar, and it's only Monday! I could have let things pass, but I just suffered a browser crash of monumental proportions, and that was the last straw. Earlier this week (yesterday to be exact), I found that Microsoft's TZEDIT utility is useless. I had used it to update several clients' machines for the Daylight Saving Time situation. It seemed to work as advertised. When I edited the timezone files on various computers ranging from Windows 98 to Windows Me and Windows 2000, the rules seemed to change, and I had confidence that all systems would click over with no issues.

Well, that didn't happen, and I heard from every one of the people whose systems I had "fixed". This made me look incompetent, and I don't like it when someone else makes me look that way.

I also happen to be a dues-paying member of IMDB, and take great pride in contributing many of the episode/cast/crew/plot details for the shows on their website. Today, I was entering information about the episode of Cold Case that was on last night. There were lots of guest appearances on that particular episode, and I was busily entering information for more than 30 individual items. For those not familiar with IMDB, when you submit information, there is a validation process performed by the website. When you enter an actor's name, for example, and there is more than one actor with that name, you are prompted to select which one is the "right" one.

In order to do this, and to ensure that I could quickly alternate between the input screen and a secondary screen used for my internal validation searches, I had two copies of a browser open simultaneously (as opposed to using tabs within a single instance of the browser). During validation, I was informed that one of the names I had submitted as a cast member was not already in the actor database. Rather than saying "Yes, add this person to the database", I decided to do some research to see if this was indeed a brand new actor with no previous credits - as opposed to simply a typographical error on my part.

It was during this search process that Windows decided to crash the browser (whether it was the browser, or Windows task manager that caused the problem is really moot - the bottom line is that the browser window just closed and a system error was displayed). That wouldn't have been so bad, since it was not my data entry browser that suffered the error. But when the browser closed down, BOTH INSTANCES (both independent windows) were terminated. All my work - already completed and saved but just in final verification - was lost. Because this was a web session, and the session was terminated, there was no way for me to resurrect the session cookies that may have been used to control the editing process. My work is out there, somewhere, floating like an orphan in space, but there was no way to get it back. The experience left me so frustrated, I decided not to redo the work. Someone else will have to be the one to record the details of that episode.

And I'm left with a real urge to murder anyone I can find that is somehow responsible for this intolerable piece of shit called Windows.

Congratulations Lancers

The University of Windsor Lancers Men's Basketball team captured it's first OUA (Ontario University Association) championship in nearly 30 years last night. After spending much of the past ten years firmly at the bottom of the pack, a newly hired head coach vowed two years ago to have the Lancers back in the hunt for a championship in only five years. He's three years early on that promise.

Going into last night's game, the Lancers had already made the improbable run to the finals by beating the best ranked teams in its division, including the defending OUA champion in last weekend's semi-final game. Their opponent last night was the Carleton Ravens, ranked #2 in the country, and defending national champions.

Like the March Madness tournament in the U.S., eight teams meet in Halifax to play for the Canadian national championship. Windsor had already been guaranteed a spot in that tournament with its victory last weekend. Last night's game was to determine seeding in the tournament. Even after Windsor's impressive rise to the Ontario finals, they had only been ranked #8 prior to last night's game. It will be interesting how they are seeded in the Halifax tournament.

Happy almost-Daylight-Saving-Time

No, you're not hallucinating. DST comes early this year. Next weekend, in fact. If you're still using an old version of Windows (anything before Windows XP with Service Pack 2 - i.e. Windows XP-SP2) then you will need to tell your computer about the new DST rules. For users of up-to-date operating system versions, the Microsoft Update site takes care of this on its own.

For those of you who are net-savvy, you can find instructions or even utilities to help you update your older operating system without my help. For those of you who don't know how, or want my help anyway, just send an email to DST[at]safe-and-secure-computing.com and I'll send you a return email with a small utility and detailed instructions.

Getting busier

From the standpoint of work, things are getting busier. I've been fielding calls from all over, and even was called by a local radio station to offer advice to those who might experience problems with the Daylight Saving Time coming into force earlier than normal this year. People with relatively new computer operating systems will not have to worry, but if you have portable devices that do not synch to a central server (such as wristwatches, PDAs, some cell phones, home appliances with timers, etc.) or if you are using an out of date operating system or scheduling software, then you will need to take some action.

I've been working on artwork for a new rear-window banner for my business vehicle. I thought I was ready to take it to the sign maker, until I received some very important feedback. It looks like I'll need to reconsider some elements of the artwork before I commit it to vinyl.

We got a new dog at the end of January and that's working out really well. He's fully integrated into the family now, and has a personality all his own. Despite having him for nearly a month, none of my family members have seen him yet. I'm looking forward to the inevitable introductions sometime soon.

Tomorrow, I return to the sleep clinic for my next sleep apnea test. I'm already using a CPAP machine based on the result of my first sleep study in December. But the doctor thinks I have a more serious condition that might require a Bi-PAP machine. We'll see how things go...

Dad would have been proud!

My father grew up in Europe during the depression. He was a big believer in conservation, and never throwing anything away that could be used again. For his 84th birthday, two months before he died, my wife and I had baked him a birthday cake and placed two candles, an "8" and a "4" on the cake. We joked with him that we would save those candles for my wife's 48th birthday, which was to take place four months later. To honour his memory, we kept those candles, and did, indeed, use them for that occasion. Fast forward nearly three years...

I've blogged before about the coincidence of both my grandchildren being born on the same date, four years apart. Today is their birthday. They turn 8 and 4 respectively. And we plan to use those very same candles for their cakes.

Dad would have been proud.

Nothing happens around here

It's not that I don't enjoy keeping up this blog. I do, really! But what the heck are you supposed to write about when absolutely nothing is happening? Every day seems to be like every other. I don't do very much of anything... interesting or otherwise. If I try to focus on any one day and try to recall something memorable, I fail. If it wasn't for the written log I keep for business expense purposes, I wouldn't be able to remember anything distinctive about any recent day.

So, I choose not to write when there is nothing to write about. The only reason for this post is so I can say I posted in January.

That is all.

Happy New Year!

The new year will be happier for some than others. Today at lunch, we went to the same restaurant we always go to on Saturday mornings... the same one that hosted my wife's surprise 50th birthday. Nothing is weird about going to this place on Saturdays. What is weird is that on Friday night, we couldn't think of anywhere to go to dinner, so we went to our usual Saturday spot. As we prepared to go again for lunch today, we even toyed with the idea of going somewhere else, until I mentioned that the owner might have a heart attack if we didn't show up at our usual time to sit at our usual table.

So we went. And it wasn't there. I don't mean the business had closed overnight. I mean the building (or at least most of it) wasn't there. The owner was standing in the deserted parking lot, along with what seemed to be half the Windsor Fire Department. But the building was gone, except for some cinderblock facia. This restaurant has had a sports theme, and there was a ton of priceless memorabilia inside -- signed jerseys and rare photographs of deceased sports legends, and the like.

It will take some time to determine the cause of the blaze, and the owner has indicated he intends to rebuild and reopen (thank goodness!), but for now, a lot of good people will have been thrown out of their jobs, and the owner will have to live with second doubts about whether there was any way he could have foreseen this circumstance. Early coverage of this event is already on the internet and will probably appear in the next issue of the local paper.

I wish him, and all you readers out there, the best of new years.

Merry Christmas

Sure, I wish there was world peace. But in lieu of that, this is the next best thing.

The Funeral

Max's funeral was today. It's mid-December, and the weather was wonderful. There was a bit of condensation from the previous day, but otherwise, the weather was agreeable -- not even cold enough to see your own breath in the air!

The funeral services were well attended, and the procession to the cemetery was long and very impressive. Max was truly well-liked. At the gravesite, the earth was soft and easy to shovel, and many took part in the honour of heaping dirt onto the casket. Back at the wake, there was much food and many people available to do the prayers. It remains to be seen how many men show up this week for the twice-daily prayer meetings, but today, there was a lot of respect shown for Max's memory.

Moratorium on Florida and California Death Penalty is stupid

This post is not about whether the death penalty is justifiable or constitutional. It is about the laughable state of affairs currently existing in Florida and California, two states that currently have the death penalty. It seems that there have been recent botched attempts to put inmates to death in these states, and because of the possibility that the inmates' constitutional protection against cruel or unusual punishment may have been violated by these botched attempts, executions in general have been placed on hold.

Let's examine the insanity of these claims. If we assume that the only people who are actually strapped to the tables are those whose appeals have all been exhausted (and I'm not speaking of guilt or innocence here -- that's fodder for another debate entirely), it seems clear that by this time, it is the state's intent to kill these people. At the rate of something less than 10 executions per year, and no way to do "dry runs" on real people, it's understandable that some procedural errors are going to occur due to lack of practice. After all, when you're trying to stick a hypodermic needle into the arm of someone who doesn't want it there, you might make a mistake caused by stress or personal discomfort. And those types of errors, while not intentional, may cause distress to the inmate when the chemicals start to enter his/her system.

So what constitutes cruel or unusual punishment? My opinion is that to qualify as "cruel", these infractions must be intentional in nature (i.e. wanton torture, either physical or emotional -- which is intended to harass or degrade the inmate). The lawful application of a final judgement, to me, does not constitute an intentional infraction, even if a procedural error occurs in the process.

When you examine any punishment that requires that an inmate be prepared prior to execution, either by being strapped to a table with hypodermic needles inserted, or strapped to a chair with electrodes affixed, there is a possibility that the preparatory procedure will be botched. It is indeed possible that lethal injection, death by hanging, and death by electrocution are prone to a greater degree of error in the preparation. I believe the only process that makes sense is death by firing squad. Human firing squads can practice on dummy targets without a great deal of preparation, and the skills required to deliver death by firing squad are not any different from the skills required to kill in combat, making the act less "unusual" than that of hanging, electrocuting, or injecting someone. However, in this day and age, I don't believe it is fair to place the psychological burden on a human firing squad. The introduction of robotic "marksmen" with laser sighting technology that could home in on a target patch affixed to the inmate over a vital organ would allow for virtually instantaneous death.

If states wish to repeal their laws authorizing executions, let them do so. But while these laws are on the books, the use of a firing squad as a means of execution should allay everyone's fears about cruel or unusual punishment.

Mixed feelings

The last 24 hours have been strange. It started yesterday morning at the daily prayer meeting. One of the guys was holding the latest version of the Jewish Community Centre news magazine. It's published three times a year, and the Chanukah issue had just hit the streets. I have an ad in that publication, so I took a look. My ad had been professionally prepared based on a concept I had sent to the artist, and it looked perfect. It was also in a great location within the publication. If that didn't brighten my spirits enough, my friend Max had come up to me, that perpetual twinkle in his eye, and commented on how nice my hand-writing was. I had sent Max and his wife a card thanking them for their patronage, and wishing them a happy holiday.

Among the thoughts in my note was how I appreciated his efforts in organizing the breakfast that is served to members of the congregation that show up for Sunday morning prayers. I had been thinking about donating some food to help out with that breakfast, and after weeks of procrastinating, I finally decided to take the plunge for this Sunday's meal.

I tried to call Max to find out when I could deliver the frozen food to him but his line was busy, so I tried someone else who I know has a key to the synagogue. He told me that Max had passed away during the night.

You never know when you, or someone you know, will leave this earth. I'm so glad that the last words I had with Max were kind and pleasing. And though I'm saddened that he won't be around anymore to help brighten each day, I know that his time on earth was wisely spent, and that he will now be honoured for his efforts.

Keeping busy

Yeah, I've been keeping busy, but that heading isn't about me. Right now on TV, there's a movie called After the Thin Man. There's a bit player in the movie who I think is named Lee Phelps. He reminds me of Ed Asner. In fact, I thought it was Ed Asner, until I realized that in 1936, Ed Asner wouldn't have looked that old. I looked up Lee Phelps on IMDB, and discovered that this actor had been cast in nearly 600 movies during his career. Which got me to wondering whether any other actor in history has been in more movies. If anyone wants to do the research and let me know in the comments area, I'd be curious to know.

Blind Hatred

I want to start with a statement of fact. I don't watch political commentators on TV, nor do I listen to them on radio. Such commentators, regardless of their political views, are on the air to get ratings. Without ratings, they have no platform. Therefore, I believe, specially during "sweeps week", the shows that would be broadcast are more inflammatory in nature than you would normally find.

That being said, there is no denying that there are places in the world where blind hatred is taught to an entire society, beginning with the children. As a Jew, I have experienced personal persecution during my lifetime. Sometimes, the persecution was the result of child peer pressure ("he's a Jew, it's alright to pick a schoolyard fight with him -- we'll back you up"), sometimes it was the result of "innocent" remarks ("I went to a store to buy something, and I Jewed the guy down a few bucks").

The thing about being brought up with blatant persecution is that you develop a thick skin. You weigh things carefully, trying to determine whether a particular person's actions are the result of ignorance, or hatred. At a recent prayer meeting, a friend of mine asked whether I had seen the Glenn Beck show about Radical Islamic Fundamentalism and the hatred that is taught to their children. I had not seen it, and took some time today to search for a replay on YouTube. I found a video and watched it. It was disturbing. I wanted to post a link to it here, but instead, found another copy of the video with the ability to "embed" the video on a website.

I have chosen to embed that second recording, even though it is not the exact copy I watched. I'm telling you this in case there are problems with the video. If there are, I urge you to go to YouTube and search for "Glenn Beck Exposed". That should result in a suitable video link being delivered. In my original search, I found many show snippets of a few minutes each. There were only two links I found that were at least 40 minutes long (the actual play time, minus commercials).

Here's the embedded link:

Updates

Though each event on its own merits little mention, as a whole, things are moving in a positive direction. Having suffered through a slow October, November is starting out in a positive light, vis-a-vis business. I've had enough service calls during the first two weeks of the month to match the previous two month's revenue (that's not necessarily a major accomplishment, just a fact). I've also been approached to possibly provide a business service that might generate recurring revenue.

Speaking of recurring revenue, I've taken a couple of baby steps forward on one of my pet projects. Having acquired some much-needed research material through ebay, I'm making real progress towards bringing one of my other website ideas to fruition. It might take some time, but I'm hoping things will work out in the end.

On yet another front, I was cruising ebay a couple of weeks ago when I got the crazy idea to check out automobile GPS units. I happened across an auction with less than 1 minute left, and the current price was ridiculously low. I tried to snipe a bid, but by the time I had logged in and done everything necessary, the auction had ended. I was a bit annoyed (though I had no real reason to be), and started looking through some of the other GPS auctions, coming across one that had about 6 minutes remaining.

There was barely enough time to finish reading the product details and place a bid. I won that auction, and three days later took delivery of the GPS unit. It's been an absolutely wonderful toy, helping me navigate to a couple of service calls to obscure side streets that I would have otherwise had to print mapquest details for. I particularly enjoy watching it reroute itself when I purposely make an incorrect turn. With my wife planning to travel out of town this weekend, it will be a perfect navigation companion.

Well, that's about it. You're now up to date!

It's over

I guess I'm a bit disappointed there won't be any hoopla this weekend now that the Tigers have lost the World Series. But I'm also happy that television can get back to normal. The playoffs always last too long for my liking.

The one really bad thing for Fox TV is that the ratings for this series were miserable, and since it was a short series to boot, the network is going to lose a lot of money on this year's deal. Oh well...

Ouch!

Our neighbors in Detroit are stinging from the spanking handed to them in Game 1 of the World Series by upstart St. Louis. All those lovely pictures of the Detroit skyline that you may have seen on the broadcast were taken from across the river - right here in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Hopefully, some time during the series, the people at Fox might turn the cameras the other way and catch a glimpse of our side of the river. Fair is fair...

Baseball Fever

Just across the river, baseball fever is going strong in Detroit. Our cities hosted the Superbowl earlier this year, and now, it's time for a World Series. I'm glad Detroit won their game today, because if they had to play tomorrow, there would be three professional sports teams playing within a 1 mile radius, with the Tigers and Lions occupying adjacent stadiums, and the Red Wings playing at Joe Louis Arena, less than a mile away. Traffic won't be so bad now!

If the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets, the World Series will be a rematch of the 1968 Series. That year, Detroit came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals. Baseball fever is growing.

Go get 'em, Tigers!

An unpopular opinion - on the record

I think the crash of Cory Lidle's plane into a New York building was a suicide. After a horrendous pitching performance in the deciding game of the Detroit / New York playoff series - a performance that allowed 3 runs to be scored by four consecutive hitters in the fifth inning, I think Cory was unable to handle the pressure of facing his teammates and management. Some witnesses to the crash indicated that the plane was acting erratically before the crash. My guess is that Cory was trying to crash the plane, while the instructor accompanying him on the flight was doing all he could to prevent the crash.

Maybe investigators will be able to shed some light on the root cause, but with such a small plane, I'm not sure there is the kind of tracking equipment that would allow such an analysis to be carried out. We'll just have to wait and see.

Who said cats don't like water

My sister sent me a link to this video, which should dispell any idea that cats don't like water.

Vrroooommm

I'm a Dodge Viper!

You're all about raw power. You're tough, you're loud, and you don't take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Surprise!

Today is my wife's 50th birthday! So to surprise her, we celebrated two days ago. And when I say "we", I mean every relative and friend I could lay my hands on with the short notice required to maintain secrecy. There were twenty-one guests at the party even though invitations had only been issued a maximum of five days before the event. There was even one guest who received an invitation at 12:10PM (guests were to arrive by 12:15, with the party beginning at 12:30). That was because my wife generally spends time with this person on Saturday mornings, and I didn't want any possibility of a leak. When I explained why the invitation was issued so late, the guest acknowledged that the secret might have slipped out.

Anyway, I've included a couple of pictures from the event... one of my wife about 10 minutes after the surprise was sprung (note how she still hasn't recovered), and one picture showing the group of people who gathered to honour my wife on her special day.

Still not recovered from the shock	Both families (and friends) showed up for the occasion

Need feedback

I have just read that filelodge.com, the site I have been using to host some of the photos on this blog, has become a site that employs questionable tactics to get people to pay for previously-free file hosting.

In my post of August 13th, I have pictures of two houses. Can anyone who reads this blog please leave a comment as to whether you can see these houses directly on my page, or whether you are presented with an ad or link of some kind?

Thank you.


P.S. I have some pictures to post, once I locate a stable picture-hosting site.

Crocodile Hunter meets his match

While filming a special on dangerous underwater creatures, Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, was fatally stung by a stingray.

Although I always thought he took far too many chances, his programs were always interesting. I'll miss him.

I wonder if they'll ever air the fatal episode. It would be a good reminder to people to respect the dangers of the deep.

Is that funny, or what!

I can think pretty quickly on my feet. Though no rapper, I can bust a rhyme on the fly as well as anyone I know (I don't know any professional rappers), and occasionally, I can come up with a completely original joke. Today was one of those occasions. The kids had come down for the holiday weekend and we all went out to lunch. On the menu was something called Fried Pickles, and my daughter ordered it. When the order arrived, the pickle slices resembled lightly breaded potato wedges. As I looked at them, I turned to my daughter and asked:

"Do you know what they call the breading that surrounds the pickle?"

She looked at me like I was nuts, and said she didn't.

With a smug smile, I replied: "Dill-dough"

Thank you... thank you very much!

Nothing happening

I've not been feeling too well lately. My sugar levels have not been too good and it's affecting me profoundly. I'm almost always sleepy, which makes it difficult to concentrate for any length of time on anything I'm trying to accomplish. Consequently, I haven't felt too much like posting to this blog. It may be a while until I do so again.

Mentos + Diet Coke = A blast!

I hadn't seen this before today. How about you?



P.S. Make sure your speakers are on to get the full effect of the accompanying soundtrack.

One degree of separation

A month ago, not many people I know had ever heard of a small town called Kipling, Saskatchewan. It became a recognized destination courtesy of the internet when a guy from Montreal ended up finishing his year-long quest to trade a red paperclip for a house. Now, less than a month later, Kipling has remarkably made it's name back into the headlines. Peter Whitmore, a convicted sex offender holding two young boys hostage, was tracked to a farmhouse near (you guessed it) Kipling, Saskatchewan.

Kyle MacDonald's House (photo by AP Photo / Brad Kearns)

Farm where Peter Whitmore hid with his two young hostages (Photo by CP / Troy Fleece)

Ain't it a small world!

I'm just fine ... thanks for asking

I've been away from my blogging for a while. It's not that I have nothing to say. Just the opposite, actually. I've been so busy, there's almost no time to stop for a breath.

I've spent most of my spare time for the past few years working on a "secret project". Very recently, I was able to overcome the last remaining technical roadblock which was stopping me from offering my product to the marketplace. Since then, I've been slowly unveiling it to a select group of friends and relatives. I don't really want the website associated with this blog, so I'm not assigning a link to the picture. Hope you understand.

Your assignment for today

I've got a few websites hosted through a particular free hosting service that, when they are accessible, is fantastic. Totally free, no limit on the number of domains that can be hosted, no banners, great tech support... what could be better. Unfortunately, either their servers are frequently down, or the backbone they're on is not very stable. It seems like load times for my pages is quite slow - and that's when I can reach them at all.

So, for the few people who read this blog on a regular basis (you know who you are), please use the comments to suggest a free hosting company. I don't need (but wouldn't say no to) CGI scripts, databases, etc. For that kind of service, I realize I'd have to pay something. But for HTML pages, images, etc., I think I need to find a more reliable host. There are lots of "free" hosting plans that require the display of a banner. That's not acceptable. I don't want to show any content that is not completely under my control.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Amazing progress

I've had the most productive 48 hours, vis-a-vis my baseball project than I've had in any other 2-day period in over four years. I don't know whether the online resources I've recently discovered were always there but lay undiscovered, or whether the baseball gods smiled down on me and provided me with the missing link I've been searching for. I've written a program that has been generating remarkably accurate game predictions more-or-less in real time for the past two baseball seasons, after having back-tested it on historical data from seasons 2000 through 2004. The only stumbling block that has kept me from trying to sell the predictions was a technical issue that just may be solved before the end of this month. I am so excited I can barely contain my enthusiasm. Check out the prior years' "paper betting" results here.

Dare to dream

There is no idea under the sun that is too stupid to be tried. A year ago tomorrow, a man in Montreal got the idea to trade a RED PAPERCLIP for something more valuable. His goal was modest - to keep trading up, until he finally got a house. Tomorrow, exactly one year after he started his quest, he gets his house. Here's his story.

Pirates!

Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest debuted this weekend, and we decided to see it on opening weekend. That's usually not a good idea - crowds being what they are - but we went to a matinee during the World Cup Soccer match. This city has a large population of French and Italian citizens, so I was betting that the theatres would be relatively empty. My gamble paid off, and we were able to get good seats for this movie.

I won't talk plot, as I have this thing about giving/receiving spoilers. I'll just say I enjoyed the movie, and look forward to the next installment.

On a loosely related note, it seems like a number of unscrupulous business owners have decided to keep the 1% GST rebate voted by the federal government. Some are blatantly saying they won't return it. Others are claiming that it reflects an increased price to cover increased costs!! Still others (usually restaurants) are simply adding this message to their receipts: "includes 1% mandatory gratuity". In the latter case, I pity the wait staff... since I have a policy of not adding a tip to any bill where I have been charged a mandatory minimum gratuity. I'm curious to know what other people think about this move by retailers. In fact, I'm so interested, I've registered a domain to collect opinions, create a blacklist of offending retailers across the country, and perhaps grant space for complying businesses to advertise their establishments. It's just parked at the moment, but be on the lookout for real content coming soon!

Not much going on

There isn't much going on these days. Not much positive anyway... Business growth has been extremely slow, despite ongoing marketing. Something needs to happen soon, because I'm starting to get a bit depressed.

Other than that, there's not much happening. Being very low on cash, there isn't much to do when I'm not working. And that's another cause for depression. I don't think it's reached the critical stage, but I'm keeping my eye on things.

How I spent Father's Day

It was a Sunday not much different than any other, except when I got home from morning prayers, my wife greeted me with Father's Day gifts and a card. The gifts were very appropriate, as they normally are, and the card was quite apropos. Afterward, she went to church, and when she got home, we enjoyed lunch together before heading out to a campers' trailer park to celebrate her father's birthday/Father's Day. Normally, I don't like being out in the woods with all the insects, but today, for some reason, the insects were less annoying, and I managed to enjoy the afternoon out by the lake.

While there, we met up with my wife's brother and sister-in-law. After leaving the campground together, we ate an enjoyable supper before going our separate ways. So now, it's early in the evening, and I get a chance to relax with no distractions.

I hope all you other fathers enjoyed your special day as well.

Unbelievable

Tonight, that give-away goal in overtime, allowing the Edmonton Oilers to score while shorthanded to avoid elimination is looming quite large. Let me begin by saying I am NOT a hockey fan. Except for the last 10 minutes of the aforementioned game, I have watched NONE of this year's playoff games.

I did watch the end of that last game, because it happens that Peter Karmanos, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, also is the founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Compuware, a company I used to work for. Since I'll be visiting their head office next week, it seemed like it would be a good time to catch everyone in a great mood. Now, I'm not so sure what will happen if his team loses its third game in a row, and is robbed of the cup by the 8th seed in the playoffs. I imagine he will be quite inconsolable, and that several of his hockey management will suffer the same fate as those that disappoint him at Compuware.

I've got to hand it to the third-string goalie on Edmonton's team. After getting hacked apart in games 2 and 3, he has really settled down and is playing inspired hockey.

Living vicariously

I was there the day it all began...

The year was either 1977 or 1978, I can't remember for sure. I had recently been divorced, and was angry. Very angry. I figured the best thing I could do that was legal was to join the army and learn to kill people. To join the regular army would be foolish. I didn't want to die myself, I only wanted an outlet for my aggression. So, I decided to join the reserves. Living in Ottawa at the time, I had two choices: the army reserve or the navy reserve. I chose the army because I had discovered during my teen years at summer camp that I had a knack for shooting rifles accurately. I also didn't want to take the chance that I would become sea-sick on a ship somewhere in the ocean.

I found out very early in my training that the army is not a place for wusses. The guys who join these units are very gung-ho, and many come here as the first step in a planned military career progression. I was not cut of that cloth. Although I enjoyed marching, drilling, shooting, and learning all I could about the history of the forces and the tasks to be performed by members of the army, there was something I absolutely did NOT like doing - still don't like doing - and that is walking out front of a large group of people and taking command.

During the five years I served in the reserves as a junior officer, there was NOT ONE TIME when I led the parade procession. It was not by accident that I either scheduled other activities, or simply played hookie on the nights when I knew I would be called upon to lead the parade. Yes, I was embarassed. Yes, there were probably many soldiers who snickered behind my back for these antics, but I didn't care. I wasn't there to learn to lead an army. I was there to shoot stuff.

One day, a young (20 years old, I think) university student walked into the officer's mess and was introduced to us. He said his name was Andrew, and he quickly became the focus of the entire regiment. Andrew was a lad of many stories, all of them about the military. Within weeks of his arrival, we all knew that he was the son of a general, and whose father was also the son of a general. He told us that he would continue the family tradition and eventually become a general. Despite the gung-ho nature of his audience, there were probably less than a half-dozen people in the room who had aspirations to be fighting soldiers. We listened to his prediction with a large grain of salt.

During my tenure with the 30th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery, I saw Andrew leapfrog me and several other more-dedicated officers in his ravenous quest for knowledge. Yet, he remained very personable - never making anyone feel like he had "climbed over" them. Rather, we watched him with the growing knowledge that this young man was destined for greatness.

Anyway, I left the reserves in 1981 and didn't really keep track of any of my ex-buddies until about six years ago. Using the power of the internet, I had decided to look up my old commanding officer. I actually managed to locate him (he was a government employee, but a civilian reserve officer - not regular forces) and we reminisced about old times. I then tried to recall as many names as I could and asked what had happened to them. When Andrew's name came up, I was told that he was a general in the Canadian Armed Forces.

A general at age 43? Could that be possible? I have continued to follow Andrew's career since then. In six short years, he has progressed from Brig-General to Maj-General and now to Lt-General (the equivalent to the American 3-star general). Typically in the Canadian Forces, you need a minimum of four years TIR (time in rank) to progress to the next step. And as you get to the top of the pyramid, your progression typically slows down, because there just aren't that many places ahead of you to grow into. In the years since I began following his career, Andrew has been the commanding officer of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan (among other postings), second-in-command of all NATO forces, and has seen much combat. He also has progressed through the highest levels of military college strategy training - arguably attaining a level of military thinking that rivals the best of today's commanders anywhere in the world.

So we come to today's newspaper, featuring Lt-General Andrew Leslie taking over control as the leader of the entire Canadian Army. At age 49, he finds himself in the second-most-senior position in the armed forces. I imagine he has a counterpart on the naval side of the fence, but I can't imagine anyone with more experience, breeding, and enthusiasm. I don't know how old the picture is that accompanied the news piece, but it's hard to imagine him looking much older than 30-35 in that picture. If it is a more recent picture, then Andrew has aged quite well.

I'll continue to follow Andrew's career, and expect to see him as a full General in charge of the entire Canadian military when General Hillier (the current head honcho) is ready to retire.

1-5-7

This will probably be the last post about my grandson's funeral and followup events. At the funeral home, we left a guest book out for mourners to sign. I know for a fact that not everyone at the funeral home signed the book. But when all was said and done, there were 157 names in the book. That's at least 157 people who knew our families and thought well enough about us to attend and actually sign the book. We (i.e. my wife and I) have also received a great many cards from various individuals and families. I can only imagine that my daughter received at least as many herself. Thank you all for your expressions of support.

Also, through the generous donations of friends and family, I can report that my daughter was able to purchase a proper memorial stone for the grave site, and also received enough cash to enable the family to make their first-and-last rent payment to the landlord of the home they had hoped to move into. Come July, they will be out of the place that reminds them of their son, and will start fresh in their three-bedroom home, with a porch and backyard. I wish them well.

For anyone reading this blog who wishes to check the obituary and perhaps leave a message of condolence, please use this link.

Mixed bag

There are so few of us in the world, we barely rank a blip on census meters. Information on the internet suggests about 14.6 million total worldwide population, or less than 1/4 of 1 percent of the total world population. Only a small handful of countries in the world have Jewish populations that amount to more than 1% of the nation's total: Argentina, Canada, France, United States, and of course, Israel. I guess if the world was a school playground, we'd be the ones everyone picked on, because there just aren't very many of us to fight back.

While it is true that, as a people, we do our best to become educated and strive to attain the highest level of success possible within our capabilities, I don't see how that's different from the goals of any group of people. I know few people beyond certain religious orders that aspire to poverty. What few people know is that, as a group, a very large percentage of us still live below the poverty line in our respective countries. In Canada, for example, nearly 20% of Jews live below the poverty line.

With nearly everyone else in the world blaming us for everything that goes wrong, it's easy to form a persecution complex. So, I relish those times when people who have been particularly vocal about our destruction get their just desserts. Thursday, on the whole, was a good day. Both the U.S. and Israel bagged some really bad guys on the terrorist list; and that's a good thing. In Canada, on the other hand, a native-Canadian leader of the Assembly of First Nations tribe who had been convicted of spouting hatred against the Jewish people had his conviction overturned. Ahenakew will possibly face a new trial.

The Funeral and Beyond

We had the funeral today. Starting with a parents-only viewing before 11:00AM, it segued into the family viewing at 11:00AM, the public viewing at noon, the actual funeral service at 1:00PM and the funeral procession at 2:00PM. Interment followed at a local cemetery with a dedicated area for infants. Needless to say, the entire day was filled with emotion. The facial tissue boxes were emptying faster than a theatre where someone yells "FIRE!", and I saw the most grizzled of veterans bawling their eyes out. The death of a very young child will do that to you. My son-in-law delivered an inspired eulogy which made me very proud.

Following the funeral service, many of the people chose to continue to the cemetery; and of those, the majority came back to the church for a meet-and-greet. By the time all was completed, it was past 5:00PM. No one went home hungry and there were heartfelt displays of emotion and support from the most unlikely sources.

The hard part begins now... Trying to return to life as usual is not really an option. You can't unring the bell. But you can learn to cope, and that's what lies ahead for the young family. Grief counceling within the school system has already been arranged for the eldest daughter; and the younger daughter will learn more about her brother and his premature death as she gets older herself. Dad and mom will need to support one another, and perhaps seek professional support at some point. For the time being, however, they seem like they should make it.

My wife, too, has shown marked improvement over the past few days. Today, of course, was her day to grieve, but I can already sense that she's over the worst of the shock. She's already concentrating on ensuring that she focuses on the living, without dwelling too long on our grandson.

As for me, my task is much easier. Because of his youth and the limited contact I had with him, I never really got the opportunity to bond with my grandson to the same extent as my wife. His death saddened me. I cried very openly during the synagogue memorial service the day after his death. And I've sobbed a few times since, including during today's funeral. But I think I'm now over the worst of my loss, and will be strong for my wife, daughter, and son-in-law.

I'd like to publish a small headshot and memorial for my grandson on this blog, but I'll only do that with the permission of his parents. I have yet to ask for that permission.

An update

People can be so cruel. Despite being outgoing and previously respected, my step-daughter and son-in-law have had to endure accusatory glances from neighbors as police sealed off their apartment for the standard investigation that is done when a young one dies. It's been a depressing, horrifying, and degrading experience for everyone for the past couple of days. But now, the coroner has officially ruled the death as not being caused by any malicious activity. The funeral arrangements, which had been completed except for the availability of a body, can now proceed as planned. And the neighbours have again started coming forward with condolences and offers of financial assistance.