Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Cold coffee is good ...

So how does stuff happen? Have you ever wondered who came up with the idea of cold coffee. I have. It happened to me this morning. I was enjoying a nice cup of hot McCafe Keurig dark roast coffee as I was working... and working... and working. A few minutes ago I reached for my cup, took a big gulp and it was cold. But it still tasted good. Something to think about as summer approaches.

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Speed cameras

So Sudbury is setting up speed cameras in half a dozens areas around the city. This is the sort of thing that will upset a lot of people but the speed cams are located in mainly residential and built-up areas as opposed to main throughfares. The locations are not permanent. The locations are expected to change every four months or so. Will be interesting to see how this all works out. The new cams go into effect on March 22. The first six locations across Greater Sudbury are: • Bellevue Avenue (between Picard Street and Ralph Street) • Algonquin Road (between Maurice Street and Field Street) • Falconbridge Road (between Donnelly Drive and Church Street) • Main Street, Val Caron (between Justin Street and MR 80) • Hillcrest Drive (between Brian Street and Mikkola Road) • Gary Avenue (between Lasalle Boulevard and Madison Avenue)

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The oddest thing.

Met a new guy in the elevator this week. It turns out that the guy was with Rock-Tech which makes the Rhino rockbreaker. That got me thinking and brought me back to my mining days. One of the first weeks I was employed in mining more than 40 years ago, my boss assigned me as a rock breaker on a grizzly on the 2800 level. In plain English I was given a track hammer -- which is a custom style of sledge hammer used for driving railroad spikes. I was to stand on the grizzly, which is a metal grid that had 16 inch openings, above an ore pass some 2200 feet deep. It was the most basic mining job I ever did that required very little skill, or so I thought. The job was to smash the hammer into large rocks and break them to they would fit through the holes in the grizzly and fall into the ore pass. The idea is that smaller rocks flow more easily through the mine ore passes on their way to the crusher, which makes them even smaller. At first I couldn't believe this was an actual job, but my shift boss assured me it was indeed. After several minutes of banging away on a large rock, my hands, wrists and forearms were aching. I remember thinking that this was the stupidest thing I had ever agreed to do. The rock was not breaking. But the money was good.
Soon enough, a more experienced miner named Al came over to explain a few things. He said the whole idea of the track hammer was that the narrow head of the hammer could hit more effectively into cracks and crevices in the rock. He showed me. He was right. After hundreds of swings and blows, I slowly got the knack of breaking rocks. It was hard work. But it was satisfying to be able to look at a larger boulder, hit it a few times and then break it into smaller pieces. Nowadays they have machines to do it. But I am glad for what I learned.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Terrible news from Bell Media

The recent announcement by BCE Bell Canada Enterprises and BellMedia to layoff more than 4800 news reporters across Canada is terrible. This is a company that earned more than $2 Billion in 2022 and had net earnings of 2.3 Billion in 2023. The company claims that running radio and television stations is not sustainable. Of course the company separates the media division from the rest of the corporation and argues that the media division is not profitable enough. Horsefeathers. I don't trust this corporate nonsense. If things are so bad, Bell should sell off the media assets to people who know how to run broadcasting companies. This is bad because the news industry is taking a hard hit for the worst reasons. This is going to hurt so many small towns and cities across Canada who will lose out on local news coverage.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Discouraged ...

Sad to see when so many people are having a rough time. The latest news (January 23) from Statistics Canada shows the number of people in debt and the money they owe is now beyond the amount of cash savings people have. And yes it is also true that the wealthiest Canadians have seen their incomes rise while the lowest-income Canadians have seen their household incomes drained by the cost of living. I am not sure where I am. I am not poor and I don't have any debt. But I am not wealthy. I am also at an age where my income-earning days are numbered. I have a few monthly bills I can handle, but I don't like to see so much poverty. This past Christmas I think I donated more to local charities that ever before. Not that I am that generous, it's just that more people, more organizations had their hands out asking for help. There was a time that loonies, twoonies and $5 bills went into the charity jar. Now it's all $10 and $20 bills. I don't know what the solutions are, but I am thinking that big business and the corporations need to be a bit more generous to their workers.

Monday, January 15, 2024

Getting up to speed again

So I found a bit of time today to write about new things. What am I saying? I always have time, I guess I just get lazy. I am a happy guy for many reasons. The company gave us a very nice Christmas bonus this year ... $500 in gift cards!! That is crazy. Crazy nice and Crazy welcome. I signed in to the company website to look at what gift cards to choose from. I figured for sure I will get one of the LCBO cards. But I didn't. One of the first cards I saw was a gift card from The Bay, also known as the Hudson Bay Company. That sealed it. I chose gift cards from The Bay, went online and purchased a genuine six-point Hudson Bay blanket. It arrived today. I love it. I have purchased one of these before as a gift, but now I have my own. It came in a special garment bag complete with a sewn-in seal of quality. I am pleased.
Also Christmas-related was a gift calender I received for Christmas. I love stuff like this. It's on my desk and yes I check it every day because it has all sorts of interesting stuff to learn. Christmas was another very nice gathering at Jenn and Scott's place.
I woke up at 7 a.m. and sat in the living room enjoying coffee and Bailey's before anyone else was up. It was nice and dark and quiet and I was pleased to reflect on how good life is. Around 8 a.m. the rest of the gang was up and it was time to share gifts, more coffee and Christmas cocktails. Some people like champagne and orange juice. I like whisky and egg nog. I think the best part of Christmas is seeing children being overwhelmed with everything. Young Ace seemed to get a kick out of having so many gifts. His parents -- Dara and Nathan -- were barely able to keep up with his excitement.
Christmas Day was perfect. The food was outstanding of course, but it was nice to head out to the garage to relax and play some games. Scott even managed to get a bonfire going out in the back, despite the drizzle. By the way, we had a green Christmas this year in Sudbury. Thanks to technology and cellphones, we were able to have a live face to face chat with Don and Denise in Florida. We missed seeing them at Christmas dinner, but it was so nice to have that chat. Jennifer and I did the same thing in a phone call with Neil on Christmas Day. It was so nice to connect with him as he and some friends did a Christmas dinner at the pub. I stayed over for Christmas night and took a leisurely drive home on Boxing Day. I mentioned to Jennifer that I sure don't miss those days when I had to drive the 300 kilometre trip from Timmins. Oh yeah, my car is still in the shop. They're working to fix an electrical problem but the good news is that this is covered by warrantly and they gave me and new 2023 Jeep as a loaner vehicle. Life is good or what eh? Finally I am trying to figure out what is going on with Blogspot, the company that sponsore my blog. Apparently Google has sold this to a company in India, yet they are still publishing. Hope to have more information soon.

Wednesday, November 08, 2023

Happy day Bro!

So it's Happy Birthday today to my little brother Ronald. Wow, time flies eh. It is amazing that he has such a cool family and a young wife :) Some guys have all the luck. Speaking of luck, I have none when it comes to my car. I was off work for a week in October and left the car parked. No where special to go. Then a week ago, on Monday October 30, the car would not start. No power. Nothing. It has all electronics and so the entire car was shut down. The tow truck guy could not even put it in neutral. Eventually got it to the dealership, where I have a warrantly. The shop was not able to work on the car until this Monday ... an entire week of my vehicle sitting in the lot. The news came Tuesday that they were able to install a new battery (3rd battery in four years). And then they found a squirrel's nest in the engine. It seems the squirrel also chewed some wires. So they got everything going fine, but the car died at five minutes. I am still waiting.

Friday, October 06, 2023

A loving tribute

Was really pleased recently to see that Neil got himself a new tattoo. Anyone who knows Neil, knows he really likes some varying styles of tattoo art and it shows. His latest addition is a very simple piece that says Thérèse, which was Terry's given name. I think it is a very nice and loving tribute.

Friday, September 01, 2023

Air Canada needs to get better

So Air Canada needs to step up and improve ... seriously. Just back from a vacation trip to the west coast, which involved six different Air Canada flights. In every case, every flight was delayed. I also noticed there appears to be a public backlash against people paying to have their luggage checked for a fee. I noticed more and more people are bringing carry-on baggage. While this could be the result of luggage fees, I also suspect it is because so many people are reporting problems with lost luggage. As one might expect, this has caused a lot of congestion when people are boarding the aircraft and trying to stow their bags in the overhead bins. You get to your seat and find the overhead bin is already stuffed with someone else's baggage, which is the same situation in the bins ahead of, and behind, your seat. Very frustrating. If you are one of the last people to get on the plane, or if a person's softside suitcase is too stuffed, you won't get a bin. On two occasions I saw the flight attendent take a persons carry-on bag, saying 'we will have to check this bag'. More frustration. Also, on two occasions -- two of my six flights -- were oversold and the Air Canada desk clerks had to appeal for volunteers to take a later flight, either in the evening or the next day! On one occasion, while flying to Comox I chose not to select a seat in advance. It's a 35 minute flight, why should I pay $19 to pre-select a seat? So the Air Canada desk clerk said I would be the one who would need to give to up a seat, because they oversold the flight. I asked why. She said because I didn't pre-select a seat. Sounds like a scam, I replied. I said I was diabetic and needed to get to my destination in order to get my insulin. I keep track of my bloos-sugar level hourly through an app on my phone. My blood-sugar was rising. She backed down immediately and said I could go on the plane.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Great visit to Vancouver

It was nice to spend nearly a week visiting Neil in Vancouver. We were pleased to enjoy a lot of locally made beers, lagers and pilsners, which there is no shortage of in that city. Neil also made sure we visited some of the best restaurants in Vancouver as well. Some of dinners were amazing. The best part was spending time, talking and getting caught up on how he is enjoying life in one of the best cities in the country ... but housing is pretty expensive there. I was also pleased to get a quick flight over to Vancouver Island and up to Comox to visit my brother Ron, his wife Leilani and their family. That was an amazingly nice time. I should really make an effort to travel more often.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

What a treat ... my blazer is at the cleaners.

I like to get out on a Friday night -- thanks Jennifer for that gift card -- at Fionn Maccool's on regent Street. It is my go-to pub. So I usually have a nice savoury meal and usually forgo any sort of dessert or sweets. But every now and then, I say what the heck, time to treat myself. So last week after enjoying the Canjun Shrimp Pasta and ordered the carrot caramel cheesecake. Oh my goodness. Yes. Sweet. Yummy. So good that i couldn't seem to get it into my mouth fast enough and I slopped a spoonful of caramel onto my blazer. Who cares right? I scooped os much as I could with my fingers and licked them clean. So I dropped the blazer off at the cleaners Monday. I told the girl there about the caramel and the stain on the front of the blazer. She asked one question. Was the cheesecake that good?

Monday, August 21, 2023

Stew!

Denise and Donald put on another family dinner this past weekend. It was amazing. It was beef stew. And everyone was there to enjoy it. It was funny that moments after we all sat down at the dinner table, things got very quiet. Everyone was totally involved in eating beaufiful homemade food, potatoes, carrots, turnits, beef and gravy, fresh bread, butter and pickles. It's funny how people seem to enjoy the very simple and nutri9tious foods like stew. I think our bodies just get so familiar with fast foods and processed foods that it is so nice to be able to enjoy a truly old fashioned meal like stew. And if that wasn't enough, Denise made sure everyone enjoyed the dessert. Fresh blueberry pie and fresh rhubard and strawberry pie. I ate so much stew I could not have pie afterwards. So Denis gave me a takehome package. And two slices of pie! OMG, so good.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

R I P Bobby Baun. What a hero.

Was so sorry to hear of the death of former Maple Leafs player Bobby Baun. He was 86. The news came out Tuesday. Baun was one of the hockey greats from back in the day when the Leafs were Stanley Cup champions. In April, 1964 the Leafs were in a playoff struggle with the Detroit Red Wings. It was game six in a best of seven series. At one point in the game, Baun stopped a shot by Gordie Howe. The puck hit right leg and a few moments later, Baun fell to the ice. He couldn't put any weight on his leg. It would turn out he had a hairline fracture of the right fibula. Can you imagine the power of a Gordie Howe puck and the pain in stopping that puck? Baun wanted to get back in the game. In the dressing room, they wrapped his leg and gave him an injection to kill the pain. The game was in overtime, a three-three tie. Baun went back on the ice, with a frozen broken leg. Unbelievably, he scored the game winning goal. What a hero. Baun kept his leg on ice for a few days and was back in for game seven. The Leafs dumped the wings 4-0 and won the Stanley Cup!
PHOTO: BBennett/Getty Images

Tuesday, August 08, 2023

Shepherd's Pie and Poutine!

So I like shepherd's pie -- like the kind they serve at Fionn MacCool's Irish pub in Sudbury which is fabulous -- and I like poutine. So I have to admit that I was so pleased to see a Shepherd's-Pie-Poutine on the menu a while back. I had to try it. Wow. It was sure a big meal! But I admit I found it a bit heavy and just a touch salty. Other than that, it was a nice combination of flavours. More importantly, I like the idea that someone in the kitchen was willing to experiment with a couple of their amazing dishes to create something new. Can't go wrong at Fionn's.

Socks. Everyone likes socks.

I got a kick last week when I was at the Ontario liquor store and saw that marketing for Jameson Irish Whiskey, one of my favourites, took a new twist. Attached to each bottle of whiskey was a pair of socks! At first glance I though it was some sort of a napkin. But as I looked closer, I realized they were giving away a pair of Bonus Socks with each bottle. That is a pretty cool bit of marketing I think. I went to the Jameson merchandise website and saw that a pair of socks is selling for $15.95. I think I have to grab a fresh bottle soon.

Monday, July 31, 2023

Barbie Vs Bobby Vs The Bomb

I am really amazed by all the hype surrounding the release of the new movies this month, one about the Barbie doll and the other about Bobby - that is Robert Oppenheimer. I guess I am pleased and looking forward to the Oppenheimer story and movie. It is such an important part of modern history. But on the other hand, I guess I get a kick out of the millions of people rushing out to see the Barbie movie. It has to be te purest form of escapism so I wish people all the best with that.
I have read tonnes of background on the history of Manhattan Project and how Canada was involved. There was even a news reporter in North Bay, Ontario who knew a bit about what was going on at the time, but he was visited by the RCMP and told he could not reveal anything. It was a hell of a good story though when World War 2 came to an end. Several years ago, I read Fred Kaplans book The Bomb. I recommend it.

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

The guy who convinced me to become a reporter

 I began attending journalism school in 1972, I was inspired by a special fellow named Mike Carmichael.

I was pleased to find a story about Mike after he died in 2017.  The story is below.

-=-=-=-=-=

Reporter Mike Carmichael was a witness to history

Mike Carmichael interviewed some of the most notable figures in the world over the course of his journalism career; he said the sixties and seventies were the best time to be a journalist.PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CARMICHAEL FAMILY

COMMENTS

During his long career, print journalist Mike Carmichael interviewed some of the most notable figures in Canadian and world affairs. The list included comedian Bob Hope, field marshal Bernard (Monty) Montgomery, prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester B. Pearson, and an up-and-coming heartthrob named Elvis Presley.

In 1957, Mr. Carmichael travelled to Buffalo for the rock 'n' roller's first concert there. In the Toronto Telegram, he observed that the singer, "was a quiet, soft-spoken fellow, not so much affected by his new-found stardom as bewildered by it." Mr. Presley, however, was savvy enough to hoist himself onto a backstage sawhorse so that, in a photo of the two men, he appeared much taller than Mr. Carmichael, though the difference was actually only an inch. The photo became a treasured family memento.

Another brush with history took place during a rare press visit to the Soviet sector of East Berlin. By this point he had joined The Globe and Mail, where he worked from 1959 to 1966. While relaxing at a night club, Mr. Carmichael chatted with a stranger named Arthur. As Mr. Carmichael was leaving, the man discreetly handed him a folded postcard. Mr. Carmichael, having enjoyed a few drinks, forgot about it until the next day when he was back in West Berlin. The card, in his overcoat pocket, was heel-shaped. Mr. Carmichael deduced that it had been concealed inside a shoe. Unfolding the card revealed a montage of images, including Mr. Carmichael's new friend alongside Hitler. An inscription read, "A remembrance of Arthur Kannenberg, house steward for Adolph Hitler 1933-1945." Mr. Kannenberg had been the last person to see Hitler alive before he committed suicide in his bunker. For Mr. Carmichael, a military buff, it was a prized – though chilling – artifact.

On the 20th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Mr. Carmichael was thrilled to look at battle through the eyes of Canadian general Guy Simonds. Together, they trudged the pathways and crossed the battlefields where Canadians fought and died in northwest Europe. It was a dream assignment from the Canadian Magazine for Mr. Carmichael.

"Dad's writing style was very personal," Colleen Humbert said. Her 85-year-old father died from Parkinson's disease on Oct. 29 at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. "He had a strong, immediate voice with great rhythm and cadence and a real flair for finding just the right word or phrase," she said.

Mr. Carmichael ended his career as co-ordinator of the journalism program at Canadore College in North Bay. One story he liked telling students and faculty was about the time he was robbed of a scoop. At the height of his career, Mr. Carmichael was nonetheless at the mercy of his editors, who decided what made it to print and what didn't.

In 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim African-American human-rights activist appeared as a guest on CBC's Front Page Challenge. The TV show, in which newsmakers were grilled by a panel, was extremely popular. Snagging the high-profile Mr. X as a guest was a coup for the network and of great interest to the press and public. When the other reporters left, Mr. Carmichael, a civil-rights proponent, asked Mr. X if they could keep talking. The two chatted for an hour about America's race war.

"There's a contract out to kill me," Mr. X confided. "I'm going to be killed." Mr. Carmichael wrote the story, but it was inexplicably quashed by The Globe and Mail's editors.

True to Mr. X's prediction, he was shot and killed three weeks later. "[Mr. Carmichael's] anger and disappointment at the loss of a byline would have been nothing compared to the injustice he felt had been done to Malcolm X," Ms. Humbert said. She added that her father always stood up to racism and divisiveness. He once refused to shake the hand of George Wallace, the pro-segregationist governor of Alabama. "I have a number of friends who are black," Mr. Carmichael told Mr. Wallace. The governor said he understood.

On another occasion, during the Quebec referendum in 1995, Mr. Carmichael called a telephone operator on Canada Day and asked for a random name and number from the Trois-Rivières telephone book. He explained that he wanted to reach out to a Quebec family to tell them how much he loved French-Canadians, and how important it was to him that their province stay in Confederation. A Québécois family subsequently got the call. Somewhat bewildered, they thanked him warmly.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT

Whether he was working for the Toronto Telegram, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Sun or the Canadian Magazine, Mr. Carmichael would frequently stay later than other reporters, or arrive early for an interview in the hope of getting a scoop.

One of his proudest moments on the job occurred while he was covering a mass murder in Shell Lake, Sask., in 1967. A man recently released from a mental hospital used a shotgun to kill nine members of one family. Mr. Carmichael convinced the RCMP to show him the "classified" file. He reasoned they did it to make sure he got all the information because much could be forgotten by the time a trial rolled around. The story was reported in two parts, something of a rarity for the magazine.

David Graeme (Mike) Carmichael was born on Valentine's Day in 1932 at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. Five years later, his parents, Marguerite and Clarence Carmichael, also became parents to twin boys.

His father, who was the president of Fabergé Canada, provided a privileged life for the family, including the services of a maid. "A lot of people on our street had a maid until the war came along and they jumped ship for higher paying jobs in the shell factories," Mike told a friend. Nonetheless, when meeting a group for the first time the friend always introduced him by saying, "This is Mike Carmichael. He had maids."

When the war ended, Mike was 13 and his imagination had been ignited by the conflict. One bonus to having a paper route was being able to devour the news before delivering it to customers. He idolized war correspondents and began collecting autographs by writing to military personnel such as U.S. Army general Dwight Eisenhower. By 1946, his autograph collection had become so extensive it was featured on a local radio show.

After graduating from Runnymede Collegiate in 1949, he joined the army and began intensive training at Camp Borden, north of Toronto. He came to feel, however, that the training involved sadistic bullying designed to break the spirit of cadets, so he quit.

A few months later, he was working as a cub reporter and living in a room over the garage of a funeral home next to the Sault Daily Star in Sault Ste. Marie. After further sharpening his skills at the Windsor Star in the early fifties, he moved to the Toronto Telegram, getting his first big break when he was promoted to Queen's Park correspondent.

While working at the "Telly," Mr. Carmichael was sent to the Toronto Zoo to cover a story about a new polar bear. He was told to take a pretty girl to pose beside the bear's cage for a photo. Mr. Carmichael selected Marie Killingsworth, who worked in the newspaper's public relations department. The assignment led to a date, and in 1956, a marriage that lasted almost 20 years. The couple had three children and eventually divorced.

Mr. Carmichael's second marriage, to Pick Seng Lu, a professor of food technology whom he met at Canadore College, took place in 1989.

Out of hundreds of assignments that took him around the world, one story evinced regret. Always a flying enthusiast, Mr. Carmichael put in a request to fly with the Golden Centennaires, an aerobatics team created to put on flying shows across Canada in 1967. The experience was to provide the basis for a feature in the Canadian Magazine. Though he was already friends with Dave Barker, one of the pilots, he decided that protocol dictated he must fly instead with the team's squadron leader. As the planes executed intricate loops and rolls in the air, Mr. Carmichael watched in horror as his friend's plane nosedived to the ground and exploded in flames. The crash haunted him for the rest of his life.

Summing up his journalism career, Mr. Carmichael said that it made him more skeptical about people but at the same time more forgiving. "It shapes you. You get to know a lot about a lot. The sixties and seventies were a very critical era and the best time to be a journalist. I've always been glad I was part of the action."

Mr. Carmichael leaves his wife, Pick Seng Lu; children, Colleen, Christi, and Ted; five grandchildren; and his former wife, Marie.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Cool advice ... no matter who said it.

 So did Anthony Bourdain really say this? Perhaps we will never know. It sure sounds like something he would say. It's too bad he is no long with us. I like like this advice.

"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a Negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride. "




Monday, July 17, 2023

Gateau Cake!

This photo was on my phone from last April. It was mine and Tyler's birthday cake that we shared, given that our respective birthdays are one day apart. Thanks to Jennifer for being so thoughtful. I told Ty this was my favourite kind of cake. He asked, what kind of cake is that.? 


"Gateau cake," I said. He grinned. 

Thursday, July 13, 2023

How cool is this?

I recently signed up with a news archive service called Newspapers.Com.  It is cool. One of the newspapers I can access is the North Bay Nugget, which is the first newspaper I wrote for.

How cool was it that I found an old photograph of my young sister Debra who was a ballplayer at the Laurentian playground many years ago?


Thursday, July 06, 2023

VIA Rail Budd Car from Sudbury

 i was happy to write a story this month about a Sudbury man who took a nice fishing trip up the Canadian Pacific line with his adult son and his 14 year old grandson. They had a nice trip to Lodge Eighty Eight at Esnagi Lake. 

I think the cool part was that they rode the VIA Canada Budd Car train, which is an abbreviated version of a local passenger train.

The Budd Car heads out of Sudbury a few times every week and runs up to Chapleau and White River. And then it comes back the next day. No locomotives. A couple of coach cars and a baggage cars. It is a self-propelled diesel machine. 

It is a real life line for a lot of people who live in tiny communities along the line or who work at the fishing and hunting lodges.

And it's also an incredibly scenic train ride.

I am thinking of making the trip some day soon. Will let you know. 


Tuesday, July 04, 2023

Where the hell have I been

 I write for a living. LOL. I am still writing and still living. That comes as a surprise to many of my friends who are now well and truly .-- and deservedly -- retired.

Not this old man. I still wander into the office every morning, to write up stories and go out on assignments. By the way I like the new company photo they took. 

I was out covering a mining conference and I wore a suit that day, so it looked kind of nice.


Part of the reason is that I took some time off, a couple of months actually back in March 2020 when the pandemic first hit. I don't know if it was the cold weather or the fact that most of us were on lockdown, but I got so bored. I was afraid I was going bananas.

There is also the money, which I enjoy. I don't spend much. I save lots. I can easily afford whatever I want  so that is nice. But I am convinced I am just really cheap. The company gave us a bunch of Cash cards at Christmas. It took me about four months before I spent the money.

So I am planning a bit of travel this summer. Nothing special. But I do owe Neil a visit.  More on that later.

I enjoyed a trip to Toronto back in April for the season opener of the Blue Jays.  It was fun to sit on a bus, drink beer, have a couple of whiskies and just enjoy the outing. 


So enough for now. I will be back here soon.

Monday, March 13, 2023

Murder case

Great discussions in the newsroom this week as we all take a bit of time during work to check in on the murder trial that is on in Sudbury. They've given us the right to listen in on the trial through a ZOOM link that focuses on the lawyers tables and on the witness stand. 

It means we are able to see the questions and answers just as closely as the jury can. So the interesting part is that we reporters discuss each item of testimony and whether we believe the witnesses. 

I was most interested to hear the DNA testimony from the forensic experts who made it clear that DNA science is NOT 100 per cent accurate. The other interesting thing is that the lawyers for the accused are presenting evidence that suggests the murder might have occurred BEFORE the accused man even arrived on the scene. 

I didn't know it before, but a body at an indoor murder scene can be still warm for a good hour after death has occurred. Interesting.

Another interesting part of the story is that both Neil and myself know the accused man. Bizarre.

Sunday, February 26, 2023

My camera is almost nine years old

 I knew it was going to happen one of these days. My old Canon 70D camera, the one I bought new in June of 2014, just turned over 10,000 activations. Now that doesn't mean the camera is no good anymore. Canon assures me the cam is good for 100,000 pictures. So that's not too bad. 

There have been a couple of occasions in the past few years, where I thought I should buy a newer and updated cam.I paid $2,500 back in 2014 for this one, and it now sells on Amazon for half price at about $1,000 to $1,200. I was thinking of selling my Canon and buying the new Sony A6 or A7 Mirrorless.

The funny thing is I was on an assignment recently and chatted with a long time photographer at the Sudbury Star who told me my cam is so loaded with features, why would I want to sell it. I think I need to go back and read the manual. I honestly don't know how to use many of the features. 

I told him my cell phone can take pictures and I can send them back to the office by email. Apparently I can do the same with this camera. I have never used the built-in wireless feature because I never took the time to learn. This camera can also operate remotely through a computer, can record conversations and record high definition video as well. 

Maybe I should stay away from camera stores for awhile.

Rest In Peace, Susan

 Was saddened just recently to learn of the death of Suzanne Campbell, Terry's oldest sister. Her death came quickly and involved emphysema and pneumonia.

I drove up to Timmins to attend the funeral. Much as it was sad to see her daughters Sherry and Cathy, it was heartwarming to see them along with all the other family members who were able to attend. I didn't want to be there, but it was far more important to see the family members and pay respects. (Click to see a larger image)

Interestingly, because of distance and winter in Northern Ontario, some family members were not able to attend. I was surprised  during the actual funeral service to see a couple of smartphone cameras had been set up to that the funeral could be livestreamed on social media. I had never seen this before but I was assured it is becoming a common thing. 

Rest In Peace Aunt Sue.  

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Better late than never ...

It's about time I post some updated photos and info eh. 

Now that Christmas is past us, I can't help but think just how nice it all was, even though everyone's work and time-off schedules didn't jive. We all enjoyed a very nice dinner at Christine's place where Denise and Don added their amazing hospitality touches.  As you might expect, the dinner was a five-star affair and the food was just too good. I can't get over how much I enjoy a turkey dinner, especially with cranberries. The stuffing the gravy was outstanding. 

Another very nice tradition was that the boys and I enjoyed a nice outing on Christmas Eve. It has become something of a nice tradition to spend time with my grandsons having lunch or brunch or whatever we can manage.

This time we settled on a really nice pasta lunch at East Side Mario's. Again, the food was amazing and the portions way too big. The best part was spending quality time with the guys just chatting about whatever comes up. I told them that as young men they are exceptional individuals and I was really proud of them. Life does not get much better than this.

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Five important words

 I was so pleased this Christmas to receive a book from my Grandson Nathan. It is A Promised Land, written by former President Barack Obama. I am a huge fan of Obama. I was just into a couple of chapters when he wrote something so important. 

Obama said throughout his younger years he struggled to find the thing to convince him that he was on the right path, or at least moving in the right direction.  He was not entirely sure. His mother had taught him the importance of thinking about others and the importance of the civil rights movement. He also experienced racism when he worked to help poor people to get ahead in Chicago. 

Then he wrote something so important. He said he came to believe in "the basic decency of people". Wow. That is a generous thought. I wish more people would see that. Thank goodness that important people still believe in things like that.

I am so happy to have this book.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Yes, winter is here in Sudbury

 I get a kick out of seeing Jennifer work so hard as your typical mom and housekeeper.


I snapped a photo recently of Jenn in her jammies cleaning snow off the porch after the first big snowfall in Sudbury. There was a time that Jenn seemed shy about being the subject of my photographs, but these days I think she just accepts that I always have a camera handy for when I see good things happening. 

The best visit

 So Christmas is approaching, but this year things seem just so different. I haven't put up a tree or anything like that, but thank goodness that Jennifer has. She has two trees up at the house; one in the living room and one in the rec room. She has also put up a tree and many decorations at the camp. It's nice.

I was so pleased that Neil visited us last week from Vancouver. It was just the best visit ever.   We spent a week laughing, drinking, eating great food and enjoying each other's company. 

Jennifer invited both of us to head to camp for an evening. I was surprised at how much fun it was, especially with a fabulous salmon steak dinner. I enjoyed listening to Jenn and Neil discussing the best ways to cook the salmon, the asparagus and the little roasted potatoes.  It is so amazing -- and entertaining -- to think about how my little kids became such brilliant adults. I take no credit. But I love seeing them, listening to them, being with them.




Friday, November 18, 2022

Penny for your thoughts :)

 What's the point of living in Sudbury if you can't brag a little bit. So yeah, here's my picture of the Big Nickel. I get out to this part of town about once a month and so last week, the weather was nicer than normal, and I snapped a photo.

I am still amazed at how much Nickel the mines in this city produce. This week, General Motors announced a new deal with Vale Canada Ltd. (formerly INCO) to provide enough nickel to GM to produce 350,000 new electric cars each year. That is mind blowing.

I remember when Neil was a schoolboy he did a class project on the popularity of nickel coins, It was fun to go through my change each week (or was it each day) to find enough nickels to put into his collection. 

Murals for $200 Alex!

I haven't been here for several days but I figure it would be nice to post this photo of a mural  of Alex Trebek, painted on the side of his old high school, Sudbury Secondary. Back in the day, the school was known as Sudbury High School.  The mural was done of course in tribute to Mr. Trebek who was born and raised in Sudbury. He died in November 2020. 

It has a lot of Sudbury folks talking and enjoying. So I am happy to share it here.



Thursday, October 20, 2022

Have my own coveralls now!

 So I was pleased last week to visit another underground mining operation in Sudbury, but this time with a difference. I visit mining properties enough that I decided to spend a few bucks to buy my own coveralls. In Ontario the law dictates that all persons going underground must wear orange coveralls with reflective striping. Cool. So now I have my own coveralls and it saves time in not having to fart around at different mining properties getting outfitted every time. 

Plus I have coveralls that fit me properly and they're easy to put on a take off.

Also, I use my own hardhat, which I wear turned around so it makes it easier to get photos when I hold the camera up to my face. That hardhat is from my early days working at the Texas Gulf Kidd Mine.  And thanks to mining photographer James Hodgins for shooting the photo. We were both there because Premier Doug Ford was touring the mine. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

My fifth vaccine dose.

 So I am pleased to say I have just taken my fifth COVID-19 vaccine. I got the shot today of new Pfizer bivalent vaccine and so it goes.
The nurse who gave me the shot said she was surprised I had not had COVID-19 in the past two and a half years. I said I wasn't surprised. I wear a mask. I take precautions. 

Of course I am not qualified to make the call because I am not a scientist, but I believe if you get the vaccine it lessens the chance of getting the disease. Just my take on things.  To me it is a no brainer.

I guess it's the same with the anti-vax types who float all sorts of theories. I say theories because they don't know either. They're not scientists.

I just feel better about my situation. Literally. I feel better than most.

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

A royal encounter

As you my expect I was saddened to learn of the death of Queen Elizabeth. At work it led to many discussions of when, and whether, any of us had seen a Royal.

 My first ever Royal encounter occurred when I was a boy in Toronto, living at RCAF Base Downsview in the mid-1960s. As a base kid, I had free run of the area near the base hangars where it was fun to go and watch airplanes coming and going.  A lot of base kids did that. 

This was the same base where the De Havilland Canada plant was located; building DHC6 Twin Otters at the time.  I became an aviation fan from my earliest days living on different bases and watching airplanes come and go. 

We had lived on a NATO base in France where they had CF86 and CF100 fighters. We had lived on a base in Manitoba where the famed Golden Hawks would train in the summer. This was a few years before the Snowbirds Squadron was formed.  We had visited Base Trenton to see the huge CP107 Argus, the C115 Buffalo and the C130 Hercules. 

So it was no surprise when I think back to the spring day when a new Hawker Siddeley 780 Andover landed at Downsview. I think I was attracted to the fact that there was a crowd of VIPs gathered in front of one of the main hangars. I was used to seeing everyone in uniform, but for some reason, the apron by the hangars was crowded with civilians.

The base MPs knew us local kids who would loiter around the hangars. And as base kids we knew you never went anywhere near a moving aircraft. 

I was hanging back away from the VIP crowd when I saw a dark sedan pull up nearby. This was surprising because nobody, but nobody, ever drove that close to the apron. I walked over to see a man in civvies open the trunk and remove several cameras. I asked him who he was. He told me he was a newspaperman and he was there to take pictures. Take pictures of who, I asked. 

Prince Phillip, he answered.

At that point I could hear an aircraft taxiing in our direction. At 12 years, I was not tall enough to see over the grown ups. But as the newspaperman headed toward the airplane, I watched as the crowd parted in front of him and let him just walk through. It was like seeing Moses part the Red Sea. I was amazed.

Just then I saw the Hawker Siddeley,  "The Queen's Flight" airplane slowly rolling to a stop, not more than 100 feet away.  Here is a photo of that moment.

(Toronto Public Library Archives / The Globe and Mail)

There in the cockpit, in the left side pilot's seat, was His Royal Highness. It was March of 1966 and Prince Phillip was visiting Toronto to make a presentation for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards program. 

I remember telling my Mom. She worked on the base and remembered seeing the crowd of VIPs. When I told her it was Prince Phillip she was so disappointed she hadn't seen him.

Thursday, September 08, 2022

Keeping good wishes for Her Majesty

A lot of people might not know that when this young lady was a teenager in London she worked as a mechanic on army trucks and was also a part-time ambulance driver as the U.K. fought off the threat of Nazis. Thank you for your service, Queen Elizabeth.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Enjoying some time at camp.

The weekend was fun. Jennifer decided that the weekend BEFORE Labour Day would be more enjoyable and less crowded in the bush. It was nice that everyone was able to get together at Camp Alexander to enjoy a few days of relaxing, great food and riding the ATVs out for a picnic and a few drinks. We even showed off our nice new T-shirts for Camp Alexander.  Don & Denise, Scott & Jen, Nathan & Dara and Baby Ace, Christine, Victoria & Alex, Tyler & Emilie and I all enjoyed ourselves. Life doesn't get much better. I brought my Kobo along for some reading and really got caught up on my sleep.

We also came across the skeletal remains of a bear that apparently died last spring. Interesting for sure. But that's a story for another day.

Click on each picture to see a larger size.











Thursday, August 18, 2022

Going for a walk ... a big walk.

 One of my assignments this week is to write up an advancer story on the Terry Fox Run which happens every September. It got me thinking about the first time I was in a charity walk. It was 1968 in Toronto. It was called Oxfam's Miles for Millions.

I can't remember what prompted me to get involved other than it was the thing to do if you were in Grade 8. It was on a Saturday in May, I think. And for a lot of young teens, it was the thing to do, to just be cool.

No one seemed to give any thought to the idea of walking 40 miles -- yes, 40 miles, in one day.  

The Toronto walk, from what I can find on the Internet, was a reaction to walks that took place in Montreal and Ottawa in 1967 as centennial projects. 

In my minds eye, I remember being down at the Exhibition grounds by Lakeshore Drive. It was around nine in the morning. There was some music, some speeches, and then we were off, a mass of humanity about 50,000 strong. It was exciting to be part of it. But soon enough, the dreariness of continual walking set in. We all had little cards to be stamped at waypoints along the route., proving we had been there. 

Thank goodness for the waypoints. There was free water, pop and food; things like cookies, bags of chips and popcorn. 

Interestingly I noticed that young teens such as myself and my cohorts had lots of stamina. Sure our feet got sore and it was a hot and sunny day, but we just kept going, because the crowd kept going. I remember commenting to my friends about the many different parts of Toronto where I had sold newspapers, a job I had for every weekend for three or four years.

As I remember the walk went from Lakeshore out to Islington Avenue, north to Lawrence Avenue, west to Kennedy Road in Scarborough, south to the Danforth and then from there to city hall. 

It was around suppertime that I began to feel the aching in my feet and legs. By that time we were in Scarborough and heading for downtown. I sat down a couple of times to rest, but soon regretted it, because I did not want to stand up again. But we did. And we plodded on.

I think the best part was as we approached Nathan Phillips Square we could hear rock music pounding away through the downtown streets, especially on Queen Street. It was around 8 p.m. Sure enough as we finished the walk by arriving at city hall, there was excitement over the fact that Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick were giving a free concert. They were a big rock band from San Francisco. 

We were also excited to have finished the walk. It was a fun time to be alive. We hung around for the rest of the concert before a terrible fatigue set in. I remember going home on the subway and buses and barely being able to stay awake. 

(Photo: MacLean's Archive)

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Bell Media bullshit

I am confused by the decision of CTV / Bell Media to part ways with well-respected news anchor Lisa LaFlamme. But I am not surprised. I have seen this over the years in my experience as a broadcaster where management interferes with the newsroom. I have worked for both CTV and CBC, in situations as a reporter and as a news manager.

Broadasting is a business. It is about selling advertising that is featured as part of regular programming. When management cannot successfully sell enough advertising, or successfully run a broadcast unit,  they turn on the newsroom and point fingers saying that somehow it is the fault of the news people that not enough advertising revenue is coming in. 

But that's not true. We need to get better sales people who can do their job. We need better managers to run the stations.

Leave the newsrooms alone. Let the news people do their job. Quit interfering.