Blah Blah Blog

Reading the fine print ...

2012-02-03T12:20:00.004-05:00

So I signed up with the online version of the New York Times last fall. And since this is the time of year I gather all my tax receipts, I sort through my credit card bills. That's when I noticed I was billed twice for my MONTHLY subscription in November... on Nov.1 and Nov.29. Hmmm. I telephoned the customer service number to tell them of the "mistake". Hmmm ... no mistake. The subscription is not a MONTHLY thing. It's every 28 DAYS! So I said to the guy, "This is not a monthly subscription then?" "No sir, we bill you every 28 days... that's what you signed up for." Hmmmm... that means they will send me 13 bills this year instead of 12. Got to read that print more often eh.

Glasses, gasses and giggling ...

2012-02-03T10:34:00.001-05:00

Things have changed at my dentist’s office. I was in twice this week and both times they gave me sunglasses to wear! I like that. Those dental lights are so bright that even with your eyes closed, there is still too much light! Instead of squinting my eyes in that bright light I was able to close ‘em and relax a bit more. Monday, I had a cleaning and check up. On Thursday I got a root canal procedure done and it was nowhere near as uncomfortable as I expected. I think the nitrous oxide gas sure helped. I have learned that the gas is not so much for relieving pain as it is used for relieving anxiety. Well it worked for me. And yes, it does make you giggle; just a bit. And because it was a one-hour procedure for the root canal, having the gas administered cost an extra $125! Oh well, it was sure worth it.

Ouch!

2012-01-30T18:39:00.002-05:00

So it was just over a month ago, Neil and I were leaving a restaurant in Timmins. We had a beer and a sandwich. It was a cold, cold night and we were leaving early to go home. As we approached the parking lot, I took a mis-step on the ice and whoopsie, took a flip. It was a rather spectacular fall, as falls go, as my head hit a truck bumper on the way down and then I banged my head on the ice. I'm no Sid Crosby... I have a thick skull. No damage there. But I did bang my teeth together and that resulted in a nasty bite on my tongue. Neil was alarmed and said I might want to see a doctor. No problem said I, waving him off. I should have seen a dentist though. I went in for a cleaning and check up today and Dr. Kurys tapped on one of my front teeth. Yow, that hurt! X-Ray! Yup, there's a problem. Abscessed root, damaged nerve. So I will be going back in Thursday... root canal time. Darn.

Stories...

2012-01-29T17:02:00.002-05:00

I remember my favourite professor from journalism school saying "everyone has a story". He wanted us to understand the fact that if we give people the chance to talk, everyone has something truly amazing about them that is worth telling. I was thinking about that today when I spent some time on the telephone with a former Timmins fellow who is now in his late 70s. He used to be a millionaire. He used to rub elbows with Hollywood celebrities. Now he's on parole after spending years in prison. He shot his business partner to death in a fit of rage. I went through all the court documents and I am still trying to get the real story of how it all happened so many years ago. These two guys, both from Timmins, both millionaires, were as close as brothers ... but then they had a falling out. What the hell happened that one murdered the other? Years have passed, but there is still a story to be told. It's going to take some time, but I am working on it...

Yes, I am glad I went...

2012-01-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it pays to answer those e-mails … you know the kind, the ones that you don’t think are that important at first, but then you figure, oh what the heck, just do it. That was the case this week when I got a note from Porter Airlines asking me to drop by their wine and cheese event Thursday night to celebrate the fact that Porter is now running scheduled flights three times a day between Timmins and Toronto. People in Timmins sure seem to appreciate the new airline, which is offering cheaper fares and connecting Timmins with New York, Chicago and Boston. I don’t normally do the wine and cheese events, but I figured it was a good chance to see Robert Deluce again and a few other folks and have a nice chat. I wrote about knowing Mr. Deluce and his connection to Timmins several weeks ago. So, when I got the wine and cheese event, I realized I had to take a few notes and a few photos, so I never got the chance to enjoy some good wine and the fabulous food. Too busy. But there was a lot of nice people to chat with, folks who I haven’t seen in awhile, so I stayed… right to the end. Well almost to the end, because CEO “Bob” Deluce was making a thank you speech to the “hometown” crowd in Timmins, saying he realized that the best advertising for Porter Airlines was word-of-mouth from happy customers. That said, Deluce told the crowd he’d like them all to become goodwill ambassadors for Porter … and then he announced that every person in the room, about 500 people, would get a free round-trip airline ticket to anywhere Porter flies. Nice eh?

Staying in touch ... NOT

2012-01-18T14:35:00.001-05:00

I have not been doing well lately in terms of staying in touch with people. I realized this about 20 minutes ago when I arrived home and found my phone sitting on the little shelf by the front door. Sure enough there were two text messages on it, from fellow reporters who were kind enough to send me info on a court trial. I confess, I didn't know I left the phone at home. On Monday I realized I didn’t have my phone with me. I searched high and low for it and finally found it in the back of my vehicle. I was on a photo shoot Sunday night at the airport and when I took off a safety vest, I placed it in the back of the truck. My phone was there. Last night, just before I was going to bed at 11 p.m., I noticed there was a text message on my phone. It was sent out at four in the afternoon. I didn't notice. I should mention that my cell phone is my only phone. I cancelled the house phone more than a year ago. The only time I do any serious telephone time is at work when I call people for news stories. Other than that, I am not a serious talker. Most months when I check my cell phone bill, I usually have 40 to 50 minutes of talking and about a half dozen text messages. I have a good phone plan with hundreds of minutes, free long distance anywhere in Canada, unlimited texting and lots of other perks for less than $30 a month. I can’t understand how people can send more than a hundred messages a month and speak on the phone for three or four hundred minutes. Even when I chat with Jennifer or Neil, a long call is about 15 minutes. The one exception is Debra. I don’t think I have ever had a phone call with her that was less than an hour. But that’s okay because it’s usually a good chat. I am sure I will hear about that. Oh, I don’t have Internet on my phone either. There is nothing that is so important that I have to know about it NOW. Now as far as being in touch, I just got a newspaper poll question in my e-mail wondering if I thought Ricky Gervais did a good job hosting the Golden Globes. Who the hell is Ricky Gervais?

Two watches and hearing loss?

2012-01-10T17:31:00.003-05:00

I have two watches. They’re exactly the same. One is in daylight saving time and the other is standard time. It’s easier to have two watches than to worry about changing the time forward or back a couple of times a year. There’s just too many dang buttons to figure out. When Neil was here a couple of weeks back he was able to find my summer watch because he could hear the alarm going off. Alarm? I didn’t hear any alarm. Neil assured me there was a distinct high-pitched alarm on the watch, which goes to prove that older fellows such as myself do indeed lose part of their hearing as they age. Neil was able to hear the high frequency alarm that I could not hear. So there is truth to the statement that one loses the ability to hear higher frequencies. If you’re wondering, you can take an online hearing test at: http://www.freehearingtest.ca/index_flash.html. I didn’t hear anything at 8000 Hz… but maybe it’s a trick! So if you're having a birthday anytime soon and you're feeling a teensy bit older, take the test.

Don't put THAT on your blog ...

2012-01-07T09:04:00.001-05:00

So here we are, entering our seventh year of blogging! Hmm….I wouldn’t have guessed. But then again, the Internet changes so many things. Who can imagine what sort of Internet we will have seven years from now? It will probably be all video. I don’t know if that is good. I have entertained the idea of Vlogging (Video logging). Well it’s not going to happen anytime soon. I think if I do video logging, I will have to be showing something far more interesting than my old face! Something like a good snowstorm. Hmmm… I do like e-mail. I think it has more people communicating with each other. I can even send silly jokes to my grandsons. Whatever the case, I will try to keep this blog as interesting as possible. Sometimes, I have to hold back because I realize that some of the things I write about are family things … and not everyone wants to have their information, ideas or issues put out here for all to see. I actually had one person tell me something recently … and then they said “don’t put that on your blog!” So I will be sensitive to that. There are even people I know who DON’T cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs, if you believe that! My Google stats tell me that people read the blog more if there are photos, so I will work on that too.
It has been an interesting week in Timmins. We are now in 2012, our official centennial year. It was kicked off Sunday with a spectacular ice skating show that featured a fellow named Elvis Stojko. I was pleased to meet him and have a brief chat (one of the perks of the news business). He’s a very pleasant fellow. The best part was seeing him skate. I have never seen a professional figure skater perform before, in a live situation. It blew me away. Television cannot match the speed and energy these people have. So that was good.In another story our local police will be patrolling the ice road on the James Bay coast, the one that eventually leads to the De Beers diamond mine. I might go up and check it out. It will be a few weeks yet before the weather is cold enough to completey freeze the road. Interestingly, you don’t need a driver’s licence or insurance on that road.
Speaking of weather, we have plenty of snow here in Timmins and this week it has been a very mild minus-ten to minus-twenty. I was out hiking twice yesterday and it was perfect.

It has been a good year ...

2011-12-31T18:06:00.003-05:00

Where did the year go? This was a good year in a lot of ways … maybe the best part is that everyone in the family is okay. The other highlight this year was visiting Scotland and the village or Morar where my paternal ancestors came from back in the 1800s. And maybe I have some regrets that right now I am not in Edinburgh. It is said, that Edinburgh is the best city in the world for New Year's Eve celebrations. This past week was excellent because I got to spend a lot of good time with Jennifer, her family and my son Neil. Neil is headed back south to Toronto for a day or two with friends and then back home to Vancouver. I say home because he is quite certain that the west coast is where he wants to be. He was NOT impressed Thursday morning when the temperature was minus 35! He doesn’t even have a winter coat. He wore a heavy fall rain jacket (popular in Vancouver) and dressed in layers, and then added a scarf and toque. I offered him any coat in my closet but he said he was fine. It was a great visit. I mentioned to Jennifer this morning that I stocked up on groceries and vegetarian stuff that Neil likes, but we managed to find a lot of restaurants. It was more fun for Neil as he was able to see people he hasn’t seen in four or five years. Either way, I have a fridge full of fresh vegetables, which I suppose is a good thing.
Tomorrow, Timmins celebrates its official centennial as a municipality. I am amazed to think back to the people who built this community and how they managed to carry on and survive 100 years ago. The Northern Ontario wilderness is very unforgiving, but when people search out gold, they don’t hold back.
It was on this day in 1910 that Noah Timmins was trekking through the bush for his first ever visit to Timmins. He had grubstaked Benny Hollinger and Alex Gillies to work some claims, which eventually became the world famous Hollinger Mine, one of the world's richest gold mines. It was the next day, on January 1, 1911 that Mr. Timmins first arrived to see his new property. Obviously, his mine had an impact on the city that bears his name. Quite the history in this town.
In a couple of weeks from now, I will be marking my own anniversary of the day I arrived here back in the 1970s. I figured I would stay maybe six months. But the people here are nice. So I hung around.
So I will sign off for 2011 and wish everyone the very best in the coming year. Tonight I will think of all those I love, and I will toast you, as I enjoy the warmth of a great whisky.

A perfect Christmas ...

2011-12-29T21:49:00.003-05:00

This past week has been the best week of the year I think. In the past some Christmas weeks have been too stressful and too much of a headache. Not this time. For some reason, everything was just right and spending so much time with people was just perfect.
It was a week ago today that I arrived in Sudbury to catch some much anticipated Rest and Relaxation at Jenn and Scott’s place in the Valley. Denise and Don had arrived from Westree. Nathan and Tyler were being the best grandsons I can imagine and I was ready to unwind. I was able to enjoy Jennifer’s latest cooking effort of Chicken Kiev which she mastered. Well, that was just the beginning of a week long bash of really good food, delicious desserts, really great company and a few fine drinks. It wasn’t long after arriving at Jenn’s that we got a call from Neil to let us know he would be on the overnight bus from Toronto after flying in from Vancouver. As good as that news was, we also discovered that Victoria would be arriving on the same overnight bus. Cool. So we all went off to bed that night looking forward to more company in the morning. Don and Denise were up bright and early to get to the bus station and before long Neil and Vic had arrived for Christmas. I was just pleased to see Jennifer and Neil again. I thank God I am blessed with two wonderful children. So that Friday was just perfect. Jennifer went all “Martha Stewart” again cooking up a fabulous breakfast for everyone. Neil slipped off to grab a snooze but he was up again by noon so we could do some father-son shopping. That was good and before long we were in a pub enjoying brewski’s and having a late lunch. We even managed to get some shopping done before heading “home” to Chez Alexander. I should mention that Nathan and Tyler were perfect hosts. Nathan let me stay in his room while Neil stayed in Tyler’s room. The boys were able to sleep in the “fort” they created with furniture in sleeping bags in the rec room. And as you can see in the photo, Neil enjoyed seeing Buddy again and said he was amazed at how big Buddy has become. On Christmas Eve, the boys and I carried on what might now be a tradition. We headed off to Perkins to for pancakes, just like last year. Neil came along and so did Victoria. It was great. We all ordered huge breakfasts and really mucked out. Then we went shopping on Christmas Eve! Which every man knows is the best day of the year for shopping. We walked and shopped and shopped and walked so much!!!
I was having fun except for the fact I had twisted my knee the night before playing a bit of ball hockey with the boys. So I was limping a bit, but still having too much fun to complain.
I remember giving Vic, Tyler and Nathan some spending money so they could run off by themselves. And then they did something amazing. They came back with a fabulous photo of themselves with Santa. I nearly had tears in my eyes. I have never seen them look as perfect as they did in that photo.
I should mention that going back to the Valley was excellent. Up until this point, it looked like it was going to be a green Christmas in Sudbury. But then it started snowing. Nice big fat fluffy snowflakes were coming down and covering everything.
Back at the house it was time to wrap gifts and munch a bit. I should mention that Denise created a fabulous seafood chowder and cheese tea biscuits that are too good to describe. I won’t waste words. I wolfed down four biscuits and two bowls of chowder. As the evening wore on, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the conversation. I got such a kick out of seeing Jennifer playing the perfect hostess. You have to remember it was only two years ago that Jenn was still at the cancer centre and they let her out with a two-day pass for Christmas. She was in the wheelchair then and wearing a bandana because she had no hair after her chemo treatments. What a change.
By the way, Jennifer gets a bit stressed about the fact that she had another birthday just a few weeks ago…I would never give away her age, but being a normal woman, Jennifer frets about it. The best part is that she was at the liquor store recently and the clerk carded her! Yup, she got asked for her I.D. How nice was that? Jenn tells the story with a big smile. And she’s no baldie anymore. Her hair is long and wavy and she looks as fabulous as the day she was married.
At 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, I was able to declare that Christmas had arrived in Canada (in Newfoundland right!). That was the occasion I needed to open up the bottle of single malt whisky I brought back from the Isle of Skye in August. We kept it at Jenn’s place so I wouldn’t be tempted to open it before then. It was a litre of Talisker. It’s the only whisky made on Skye. It was warm and wonderful and so very, very, very smooth.
Anyway, Christmas morning was normal. Tyler was first up the stairs from the rec room. I could hear his feet thumping up the stairs and into the living room. So I got up and sure enough he and Nathan and Vic were all standing by the tree with big smiles. Yes, Santa remembered them. But it was 7:00 a.m. and still dark, so I told the kids we had to wait. Each year I snap a photo of the children by the tree. This year, Victoria declined. She’s a teenager now and her hair wasn’t quite right! Once we got the coffee on and cracked open the Bailey’s, the adults were ready and so it went smoothly and with great fun and joy. I was amazed at the wealth we Canadians all enjoy and I am pleased and thankful we are all so blessed. CHRISTMAS MORNING!Later, the children and I enjoyed some chocolate cake for breakfast!
Christmas Day turned out to be nicer than expected. The snow kept falling and the temperature was mild. Scott headed out with a few friends for a special tour of the Xstrata copper smelter, since there was a minimum staff on. The lucky guys got to see them pouring a million dollars worth of molten nickel from the huge ladle crane. The ladle is about the size of a house. I didn’t mention that in Timmins you can pour a million bucks worth of molten gold into something the size of a breadpan!
Scottie brought home his good friend Ritchie, who always shows up on Christmas. And Ritchie brought along fishing pal Howard, a genuine Bay Street lawyer. Howard was amazed to get such a warm welcome, but the best part was that he was a cool guy and so the warm welcome wasn’t wasted!
Before long we had a nice ball hockey game going in the backyard rink with all the men and the boys. My twisted knee ached, but the whisky was soothing and warm, and took my mind off the pain. I was goalie and took a few hard shots, but am happy to say I stopped a few hard shots. And yes, I actually have the bruises to prove it. It was a good game until poor Tyler took a slapshot in the face. He went down. We thought he was faking, but then realized he wasn’t. We put the sticks away and after a few hugs and atta-boys, Tyler was okay. He has a nice little scar near his eye to show off to the gang at school.
As the afternoon progressed, we got wind of the wonderful smells from the kitchen where Denise and Jennifer were hard at work creating the perfect Christmas dinner of turkey, potatoes, turnip, stuffing, ham and salads.
Howard and Ritchie didn’t need much coaxing as they agreed to stay for dinner. How nice was that? Vic, Tyler and Nathan got to sit at “the kid’s table” as they ate from the coffee table in the living room. Doesn’t get much more Canadian than that eh?

Too many holidays, too much housework.

2011-12-16T09:05:00.005-05:00

I have too many holidays. Really. The Boss told me this week I have more than five weeks to use up between now and my birthday next spring. Then I have another four weeks after that. Sheesh. I took three weeks in August! Now, I have to take Fridays off until I use up my extra time. I like my work. I have been doing it so long that's it's not a chore any more. Maybe that's why I don't mind being at work. I get to meet lots of new people every week. When something really important and interesting is going on, I get a front row seat. Oh well, today I have the day off. I was bored. So I cleaned the bathroom. Still bored. I cleaned the fridge. Then I vacuumed the little tracks at the bottom of the window sills. How the dirt gets in there I will never know. And they're brand new windows too. Oh well, gonna do the floors next. And it's just after 9:00 a.m. Good thing I have to do some Christmas shopping. That should take about half an hour. I chatted with Jenn yesterday and told her I will probably finish my shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve. She said "Yeah, you and all the other men!"

Minus 22 this morning

2011-12-06T12:01:00.005-05:00

Well winter has arrived in Timmins, finally. The snow is on the ground to stay and hopefully it can provide some nice trails for the skiiers and snow shoe crowd. And a local businessman is creating a public skating oval in the Hollinger Park. I also snapped a photo of my outdoor thermometer at 7:00 a.m. today and it was a pleasant minus 22. I guess I am going to have to start drying my hair more thoroughly ... it was crunchy this morning when I jumped out of the shower, got dressed and headed out the door. Had a nice phone chat with my brothers this week. Gary, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, celebrated in his 60th birthday on the weekend. And he was quite pleased there was a cake for him provided at the parish hall in Mira.
I spoke to Ronald Monday morning to get some background on a military story. He lives on Vancouver Island on the other side of the country. He should be a media researcher. He pointed me in the right direction to find all sorts of public information on the internet. There was also some exciting family news. Ron and Loni are also new grandparents! Daughter Christina had a baby girl several days ago and everyone is happy and healthy.

Sunday and the shipping news

2011-12-04T11:07:00.004-05:00

Sunday morning and I slept in until 10:00 a.m.!!! I was out last night, all evening actually, since it was the annual Christmas telethon at the local TV station. Myself and some of the other oldtimers get invited back each year to take part. So it was fun, if only to see some of the news reporters I haven’t seen for several years. Two out-of-town reporters, one from Hamilton and one from Kingston, actually drove nearly ten hours just to come back to Timmins for a visit. I thought that was fabulous. Jennifer sent me a text saying she and the boys saw me on the Bell satellite. Cool. As usual it was a good show with excellent work by so many people willing to help out some families in difficulty. The telethon provides grocery vouchers at Christmas.
It was around 2:00 a.m. when I finally got to be bed and I ignored my alarm this morning. What did awake me was a fire alarm call (I have a radio locked on the emergency frequency) in the west end. It was just after 10:00 a.m. The 9-1-1 call had a woman screaming on the phone that her kitchen on fire. So I was out of bed, dressed and ready to go out of the door when the fire commander called back saying it was a grease fire, the fire was out, the stove was unplugged. Wow, that was fast. I realized the house address was about three blocks away from the Mountjoy fire station. Good news. So I stayed home, put the coffee on and realized how glad I was not to go. I know there are always news photos of fires, but I really don’t want to see anyone lose their home or go through all the emotional trauma of a house fire.
So now for my addiction. I am a gamer! For nearly ten years, I have been playing a video game called Silent Hunter. It’s all about German u-Boats. It has great video graphics, campaigns and missions and it is a very relaxing passtime. The player, me, is a submarine commander attacking enemy ships. This year, I picked up a copy of a new updated version of the game, Silent Hunter-4. Oh my! The game is so technically improved that I couldn’t play it on my desktop computer, which is about four years old. I have to play it on my new laptop. The best part is that the game has an Artificial Intelligence feature. That means the better I get, the more challenging the game gets.(click on the pic for a periscope view) I read in a gaming website that I should expect hours of boredom in order to set up an attack. It’s just like a real submarine. It’s true. This week, I spent more than 60 hours creeping silently through the depths to complete an attack. Well, I really didn’t do the whole 60 hours, but it has taken about five days of playing to complete one attack. So everyday after work, I set up my laptop and proceed on a patrol beneath the ocean. I do other stuff, like read a book, wash the dishes, fold the laundry etc. while this is going on and if there is an alarm, I rush back to my computer to deal with it. This week I sank two Japanese destroyers and three cargo ships in the South China Sea! Sure beats watching TV!
One other thing. Yesterday was Gary's birthday!!! Happy day big brother.

Meeting nice people ... again

2011-12-02T10:39:00.004-05:00

One of the best parts about my job is that I get to meet some of the most interesting people. That came back to me this week when I had to cover a speech by a fellow named Robert Deluce. He is the CEO and president of Porter Airlines. As I walked into the hall, Mr. Deluce turned, smiled and said hello. We shook hands. He's the same Bob Deluce I knew from many years ago in Timmins when his family ran Austin Airways. I travelled quite a bit with the Austin crews up north. Bob's dad was the legendary Stan Deluce who helped bring commercial aviation to Canada's far north. Bob was in Timmins to outline how Porter is going to bring three flights a day to Timmins from Toronto to be in direct competition with Air Canada Jazz. Bob put everyone at ease in Timmins when he said "it's nice to be back home." Here's the interesting part ... Jazz was born out of Air Ontario, which was born out of Austin Airways. The Deluce family bought Air Ontario and Air Manitoba back in the 1980's and then eventually sold the whole deal to Air Canada. I like free enterprise and I like that the Deluce family is still breaking ground in Canadian aviation. I am told that Porter offers deluxe service at an everyday price. What a difference from those days of bouncing around the Eastern Arctic in a DC3 or a Twin Otter eh?

Where did November go?

2011-11-29T19:47:00.003-05:00

For a guy who writes for a living, I have to learn to be a bit more faithful to this blog. Especially since I am one of the loudest critics of twitter. If you’re going to broadcast a thought, I think it should be something a bit more substantive than 142 keyboard characters long.
Anyway, here we are in the last week of November, and as I ramble along through the days of the week I am amazed that I am still wandering around without a toque or heavy mitts here in November, in Timmins.
When I first arrived here back in the 1970s, this place was c-c-c-c-old. Now it seems winter is only a tease. I have to admit I am a cold weather person. I like winter. I can’t wait for a big blizzard and two week long deep freeze.
Then you go for a walk in the forest and you hear the snow squeak and the twigs crack and you just know how good it feels to be alive. The air is cleaner and fresher than you can imagine and when you get home a cup of hot tea tastes excellent. Hmmm… maybe it’s just me.
Anyway, some news. Jenn called this week to let me know she had a wonderful time out with Scott last weekend at a fancy company dinner. They both got all dressed up and had a lovely time, with dinner, wine and the company of friends.
As they were heading home, Jenn had a mis-step with her high heels. Her left foot rolled and OUCH! Did that ever hurt or what? That’s what she told me. High heels and icy sidewalks don’t mix. But it seems her sore foot was a bit more than a sore foot. Sure enough, she went to the emergency room the next day because it was so painful. Sure enough, a broken foot. Jenn now has a cast on her left foot.
That got me thinking. It was this time of year (October 5, 1981) some 30 years ago, that I got a broken foot! I was working in the mine then and had a little accident. So I can empathize with Jenn.
Had a nice chat with Debra last week and we got caught up on family stuff. She and her men are all well, which is good. Deb and John are planning a big trip next summer… Europe! They will have a great time I’m sure. They’ve been to all the popular “southern” places, so I am sure the tour of Europe will be so enjoyable for them.
I am pretty sure I will be hanging around Timmins all next year at this city celebrates its official 100th anniversary. The people here are fun and apparently a centennial event is something worth celebrating. I will keep you posted.
In the meantime, we are all planning for Christmas again. Jenn will be celebrating in Sudbury with her guys and the Alexanders and I am told that Neil will be joining us. Woohoo!

Yes, I am watching TV!

2011-11-11T22:15:00.001-05:00

I was so pleased today to see so many citizens attend the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the cenotaph in Timmins. Today was the first really cold day of the season and I was happy that more than 200 people showed up. Of course, the old WWII veterans were there too, but there are now less than five local vets who attend the ceremonies. Still it was a good day to remember. Of course I was thinking of people like my Dad, Danny Gillis and my brother Ron Gillis, both of whom have served in wartime.
On another matter, I have been enjoying some great television shows lately. I tell people I don’t watch TV. That’s kind of a lie. I don’t watch regular commercial TV. But I do watch good television programs when I find them. HBO, an American production network, has produced some excellent television. In recent weeks I have watched a series called The Wire, another series called Rome and now I am watching a series called John Adams. If you can get your hands on those programs, you will be amazed. Americans are masters of serious television drama. The writing, the acting, the producing is so damned good. How good? So good that tonight I put aside a book to watch television! What does that tell ya?

Can you believe November is already here?

2011-11-06T12:32:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe November is already here. I wasn’t planning it, but I have already begun Christmas shopping and thinking of how much fun that will be again. I guess it’s different because there really has not been any big change in the weather yet this season. I have seen Octobers in the past where we were whipped by snowstorms. Oh well, I am NOT complaining.
This was a busy week and I got out on the road, up north towards Kapuskasing this week. There was an interesting convoy bringing some heavy mining and milling equipment all the way from the Port of Thunder Bay. It was a sight to see as those oversized trucks were hauling a superload to the Bell Creek mill in Timmins, which is owned by Lake Shore Gold. The equipment was purchased in Europe and it’s interesting because the company is rushing to expand the gold mill and refinery at a cost of roughly $80 million. That’s NOT a lot of money for a gold company, especially when you consider the price of gold is more than US$1750 per ounce. The company wants to produce as much gold as fast as it can at those prices. Everyone is enjoying the high gold price here in Timmins and wondering when the bust is going to happen in the old boom and bust cycle. Canada’s economy is doing fine, but as long as the economy in the US and Europe keeps crapping out, people will want to buy gold. That’s what the experts say!
Had a nice chat with Nathan this week... He was feeling a bit under the weather on Monday and didn't really get a good run for Halloween. Jenn took him out for a bit, but she said he must have been feeling poorly because he quit early.
Also had a nice chat with Jenn and she is doing quite well. I am very proud of her for her new volunteer work. Jenn goes to the Sudbury Cancer Centre each week and helps out processing new patients that arrive. I think it's a very nice way to give back considering the excellent treatment she got there in 2009 and 2010.

2011-10-24T21:21:00.001-04:00

I don’t use normal whiskey glasses anymore. I have discovered that many of the bars and most of the distilleries that make good whiskey use the newly designed Glencairn Glass, which is supposed to heighten the whiskey experience by concentrating the aroma before you sip. I don’t know if I have mastered the art of concentrating the aroma, or whether there’s enough time before I sip a whiskey, but I am learning. The “new” design came out only ten years ago, which is an innovation considering that most good whiskies on the market today were laid down even before the first glasses came out. So I haven’t really risen to the occasion because I have not been able to find a proper Glencairn glass in Timmins. But I was at Winners last week and I saw these stemmed glasses which are quite close in design. So I bought them. They will make do until I am able to find a set of the right glasses. In meantime, I am going to sign off so I can practice my sipping.

Whisky, whisky and me ...

2011-10-19T20:08:00.001-04:00

I was absolutely delighted today to learn something new about whisky and about my own taste in whisky. I have a new textbook on the history of world whiskies and how various forms were developed. People who know me know I am not a whisky snob. I don’t stick to single-malts, only. I like some very nice blended whiskies. Two of my favourites are J&B and Cutty Sark. Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered that both brands were developed more than 80 years ago by master blender Charles H. Julian. As the story goes, Julian created Cutty first, for the U.S. market. It was such a hit that he was hired by Justerini & Brooks to create a similar blend for the U.K. market. Well that just blew me away because I remember the first time I tasted both ( a couple of years apart) and thinking what a nice whisky it was. Tonight I will drink a toast, or two, to Mr. Julian. By the way, that photo is from the blog posting I first entered here on August 3, 2006. Go ahead and check the archives over there on the right side of the page. Soon, I will explain why I have changed my style of whisky glass.

October weather is strange this year ...

2011-10-11T12:42:00.001-04:00

Almost two weeks into October and this is my first posting this month. I have been busy and I am glad to say the Ontario election is over. I am not glad with the result. Interestingly, Northern Ontario rejected the Liberals. It was also the lowest voter turnout in Ontario since Confederation! I guess people are just fed up with politicians. Back at work today after spending a few days with Jenn and Scott and Tyler and Nathan. It was so good. I was glad to spend a lot of time with them, but we missed other members of the family. Don and Denise were in Arizona. Christine, Dimitrios and Victoria had to stay in the city. We still had fun. We got a few cases of warm pop, set them up as targets and shot them with pellet guns, making them explode. Yes, it's silly … but still a lot of fun.
Jenn and I called up Neil and had a nice chat with him. He is making plans for a visit at Christmas. Maybe by then we will have some seasonal weather. The weather this past weekend was bizarre because it was so much like July! The high temperature Saturday was 28. Who would believe it. And there was a forest fire up near Westree. They had to close highway 560 near the sawmill for two days. Some finished lumber and some heavy equipment was destroyed in the mill yard. This is definitely not normal October weather. The sun is still shining brightly today and the weather is so warm. Not going to complain at all.

And that's the kind of day it has been...

2011-09-30T21:16:00.002-04:00

Well here we are on the final day of September and I am happy to say Timmins had one of the best summers and one of the nicest fall seasons I can remember. It was cool this morning. Cool enough that I had to wear my Cowichan sweater which was nice. But really it was a nice day overall. That got me thinking about the west coast and Neil. It seems that Neil, according to my sources, is having some second thoughts about moving back east this fall. That’s okay, but I sure do miss him. Maybe he will be able to get away for a bit this coming winter.
Some friends of mine from Timmins are on the VIA rail train to Vancouver this week and I insisted they drop in to see Neil. So just before they left on Wednesday, they called to get his info so they could drop by. Then on Thursday, cousin Valerie was the guest of honour at a lunch at Casey’s. Marie and Moe called to make sure I dropped by. Val (actually she is my neice) is on her way to Arizona for a job with a mining company. So she will be away for awhile. Her man Dennis, a mining engineer, is on his way up to Vancouver next week, so we are insisting that Dennis drop in for a beer with Neil. Lunch at Casey’s was nice as I got caught up with a lot of the family. Speaking of family, I have been chatting with Jennifer and we will all be together for Thanksgiving. But we are not sure whether it will be at camp, or in Val Caron. Either way it will be nice to spend time with the boys again. The boys are all excited because they’re gearing up for hockey season. They may be doing some bird hunting and Jennifer said it’s okay to have a pop shoot! That’s what we did last year and it was a hoot. So I will have to grab some ammo and a few cases of really stale and warm cream soda. You’re gonna love the pictures.

Is it really news?

2011-09-24T09:09:00.002-04:00

Poor Mr. Einstein is probably spinning in his grave... maybe spinning faster than we can imagine. There was news this week that scientists clocked a burst of sub-atomic particles travelling at a speed FASTER than the speed of light. Mr. Einstein's Theory of Relativity calculations many years ago said nothing could travel faster than the speed of light... roughly 186,000 miles per second. It seems that swiss physicists determined that the sub-atomic particles were travelling faster ... by roughly ten one-billionths of a second. Did you get that? Ten one-billionths of a second. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna buy some new light switches to see for myself!!!

Tipping

2011-09-17T08:50:00.001-04:00

Tipping is usually a matter of personal choice. But I noticed on my recent travels that several restaurants in the UK list a “service charge” of 10 per cent. When I asked about it, I was told it was the “gratuity tax” imposed on the credit card bill by the restaurant. When I asked if there was a choice in the matter, the waiter was a bit red-faced and explained that if I insisted, they could remove the tax. I said no, I was pleased to give a tip… but added that I usually tip more than 10 per cent. Terry, Jennifer and Neil have all convinced me that tipping is good. If one decides to go out for drinks or food, one must be prepared to offer a tip for the good service that usually follows. As my conversation with the waiter went further, he explained that the 10 per cent service charge is collected by the restaurant which takes a tiny share of the money collected and then splits it among all the staff, servers, host and kitchen staff. He admitted he didn’t really like the system. I asked what if a customer wants to make sure the tip goes to the server who provided good service. He said the customer then has to make a point of giving the cash tip to the server and deleting the tip from the credit card bill. So that’s what I did. I also noticed that virtually every restaurant I visited used the hand-held credit card device so that you deal with your bill right at the table… the waiter doesn’t walk away with your credit card for several minutes, something I am always suspicious of.

Museums

2011-09-11T11:59:00.005-04:00

I like visiting museums. On my recent holiday there was one thing I noticed about all the big museums in the U.K. They're free. Once you're inside, there is a good effort to get you to buy programs, souvenirs and such, but there is no admission charge. It's not like that here in Canada. I was pleased to be able to visit museums and once I discovered there was no charge, I was pleased to make a donation ... usually five or ten pounds, which it what I might have paid anyway. The nice thing about the no admission system is that I pleased to see lots of children and families visiting the museums. I am glad I took lots of photos. I was able to see the one of the captured Nazi Enigma code machines that British Intelligence used in World War Two. It was a huge secret, but some historians estimate that by having this little code machine, Britain was able to shorten the war by two years.

My newest addiction!

2011-09-10T08:17:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I am addicted to old news stories. I was reading a novel Friday and I wanted to check some historical facts ... so I went online and found myself looking at a website that had old newspaper stories. Here's the thing. The website gave the first two paragraphs of the story and then stopped. If you want to read more, you have to pay. So I clicked on the pay website and learned that the first month is only 99-cents and then it is $15 a month after that. You can quit anytime after you sign up. So I signed up.It was about 9:00 p.m. when i started. I got my access code and password to news stories going all the way back to 1850. The NY Times has more than a million stories! Before I knew it, I was deep into reading stories from the last 100 years by some of the world's best news writers. I was thrilled to read original stories by Ernest Hemingway. Two glasses of whiskey later I looked at the clock in the dining room and it was 2:25 a.m. I had been reading for about five hours and barely noticed it. Well it's Saturday morning. I have fresh pot of tea on and I will read as long as I can before I get feeling guilty about staying inside on such a nice day.

Little Sony cam did the job nicely...

2011-08-31T17:24:00.009-04:00

I am usually pretty darned fussy when it comes to shooting photos, especially when you want to get a photo of the oldest church in London. I try to get pictures as sharp as possible, good color, good lighting, good quality and all that. Going on vacation with my tiny little SONY shirt-pocket cam was a bit of a risk, but I told myself if I wasn’t happy with the photos I could always pick up a Nikon cheaply in a duty free shop. Well I didn’t need to do that. The little digi-cam was just right for the holidays. I was more than happy I didn’t have to lug around the big cameras like I did last summer. I took a handful of photos, about 100 in all in think, which will serve as a nice record of my trip to the UK. There were a few instances I wished I had the big cams, but overall I am pleased with the quality of photos from the little SONY.

Getting around in London

2011-08-28T03:32:00.010-04:00

One of the best things about being a tourist in London is that I have learned to use The Tube, also known as the London Underground or the subway. The taxis are good, but to go for any distance, you want to use the subway. It is amazing and it will get you virtually anywhere in the city along with a three or four minute walk. This week I am staying at The Hotel Indigo right next to Paddington Station. Yesterday I was able to ride the train from Paddington all the way out to Wembley Stadium in about 45 minutes. It is so easy. Also, I use a plastic "Oyster" card that I tap at the turnstile to gain entry. No farting around with tickets. I get a daily low rate no matter how many times I use the train.
Speaking of Wembley, it is a fantastic stadium big enough for 90-thousand people! That's twice the population of Timmins!! I was convinced by some fellows to go to the championship rugby game for all of England. It's the biggest rugby game of the year they told me ... something like the Stanley Cup for hockey. It was my first time seeing a pro rugby game. They pronounce it ROOG-beh. What a party. The teams were the Wigan Warriors in red and the Leeds Rhinos in blue. So I wore both colors. I met up with some fellows from Oxford who play rugby and also enjoyed drinking massive jugs of beer.

Leaving Glasgow on the Virgin ...

2011-08-26T10:16:00.009-04:00

Just got back into London today. After leaving the highlands, I spent a couple of days in Glasgow and it was nice. I was pleased to visit the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum. I love that kind of stuff. They’re very accommodating there and let you take photos inside. I was pleased to snap a photo of a Vincent Van Gogh painting. I also saw paintings by Rembrandt, Monet, Rubens and Degas. I never thought I would ever see such masterpieces up close. The architecture in Glasgow is also something to appreciate. I can’t get over how nicely the older buildings have survived over so many years with the sandstone and limestone. Even the train station looks like a fabulous castle. I spent some time walking around downtown Glasgow, but it was frustrating that seven or eight downtown areas were blocked off because Brad Pitt is filming a movie. I also took a walk along the River Clyde, which was famous many years for shipbuilding. In fact, it was so important that the German air force, the Luftwaffe, bombed the shipyards during World War II.
I departed Glasgow Friday morning aboard the Virgin high speed train to London which reached speeds of more than 220 kilometres per hour. I also went first class which meant I got free breakfast and free lunch. I hooked up with a bunch of fellows from Northern England who traveled to London for a rugby cup final. We plan to meet at O’Neill’s pub sometime tonight or tomorrow and they promise to teach me how to drink like an Englishman! I am not sure what I am in for.

Edinburgh to the highlands ...

2011-08-24T11:34:00.013-04:00

Following are three days worth of notes taken after leaving Edinburgh: >>>
As this is being written I am on the ScotRail train from Edinburgh to Mallaig. It’s lunchtime. I had to ride the commuter line from Edinburgh to Glasgow this morning and then grab a second train to ride out of Glasgow to the northern highlands. The weather is a bit overcast, but the scenery is very nice. The hills rise as high as the clouds and quite often we see sheep and cattle grazing on the hillsides. I am also amazed to see so many hikers / backpackers on walking trails near the rail line. The railway line follows many of the lochs and firths along the way. A loch, I am told, is a lake. I don’t know for sure what a firth is. I will be sure to find out. I bought a first class ticket for this train, but I don’t know yet, what makes it first class.
When I booked the ticket online, I was asked if I wanted a power supply for my computer and whether I wanted internet service. I answered yes to both, but neither is available on this train right now. Good thing I charged my batteries in Edinburgh before I left. The train is pretty crowded and there is very little leg room. I hope the other trains I ride are not like this. We are expected to arrive in Maillag in about an hour or so. My seat mates are a family from Spokane, Washington. Very nice people who decided to take in the scenery of Scotland. They’re pretty pleased so far. They too are heading for the Isle of Skye so we will be taking the ferry from the mainland across. I hope to get some nice photos when that happens.
THE HIGHLANDS
As the train rides deeper and deeper into the highlands, I realize I am getting closer to where my ancestors came from. It’s a feeling of amazement how they could possibly leave this place. The train rides by several old farms where there are only stone outlines in the ground of where farm houses once stood. I try to think of the sense of loss the people must have felt to have to leave this area to go to Canada. I know that some left for religious reasons, but from what I have read, the most left because of the terrible poverty and starvation that existed here so many years ago. Canada must have seemed like a paradise. The train has just arrived in Morar. It’s a tiny village on the west coast and I can see the ocean from the train stop. Wow, I can’t believe I am here. I can remember my Grandma in Mira telling me about this place. I guess I am excited and emotional at the same time. Up until now, this place has only been a name on a map. I am quite pleased that I have made it here. There is a small bay where fishing boats are moored and several houses. The train is carrying on to Mallaig, where I will get off. In the next day or so, I hope to learn a lot.
It’s just after ten o’clock Wednesday morning and I am on the train heading out of Mallaig heading for Glasgow. The past couple of days have been enlightening. I have met several Gillies families and they all assured me that Gillies and Gillis are all the same. One man explained that because the name is pronounced Gillis, with a hard S sound, he believes the English rewrote the name as Gillis for many of the emigrants who left Morar in the early days. Regardless, it was so nice to meet people who regarded me as family.I had a quick chat in a pub with Sine (pronounced Sheena) and Angus who both have Gillises as grandparents or for great-grandparents. They also have several cousins who are Gillises. Sine estimated that fifty per cent of the families in the Morar and Mallaig area are Gillises.
I also visited the old cemetery in Morar and snapped photos of several of the old headstones engraved with Gillies. Some were barely readable, but were from the early 1800’s and therefore quite likely they knew my ancestors.

It was just an amazing feeling to be there, standing among the headstones and thinking of this little part of the world.
Morar is now just a tiny village with less than 50 houses. There is a hotel, a gasoline station, a store, an elementary school and not much else. I was told that most of the villagers are Catholic.
I visited the local heritage centre and learned a bit of the history of this area. People here still talk of “the Clearances”, which is when the rich landowners cleared the land of the tenant farmers, without caring what happened to them or their families. I was told it was one of the reasons why so many Scottish families headed for Canada and the United States.
My stay here has been interesting. I could not get a room in Mallaig or Morar, but I did stay at a B&B in nearby Armadale on the Isle of Skye. I had to take a ferry from Mallaig to Skye. It was about 25 minutes to cross. The walk from the ferry terminal to the B&B was roughly two kilometres, another 20 minutes. There is a hotel in the village that served lunch and supper so that was another ten minute talk.
I enjoyed freshly caught scallops, sea bass, oatcakes, tatties and of course, more of that amazing sticky toffee pudding just oozing whisky. Supper was served in the pub and each night just after 7:00 p.m. the place began to fill up with the locals coming to see their neighbours and to `ave a pint or two. Guinness is very popular here, but so is cider.
I seemed to have passed the test with respect to drinking Scotch. Everywhere I went I ordered it without ice, and then I learned that one is expected to add just the tiniest drop of water to the whisky to bring out more of the flavour.
I took the three-kilometre hiking trail from Morar to get back to Mallaig. Hiking and backpacking seems to be a very popular pastime in Scotland. Anyway, while I was on the trail, I took time to stop and create a small Inukshuk, a figure of a man made from rocks. It’s my own little way of leaving a bit of Canadian tradition in Morar. A woman at the hotel assured me it will likely stay for awhile since it is considered bad luck to knock one down.
The scenery here is pretty cool. The highlands are definitely highlands. They’re not like the Rocky Mountains you see in Alberta, but they’re certainly high enough.
Arriving in Glasgow this afternoon for a couple of days.

Sadness for Jack

2011-08-24T11:28:00.002-04:00

Just got reconnected this afternoon. I was in the highlands and deliberately away from phones, television and the internet. Sadly I have learned of Jack Layton's death. I didn't always agree with his politics, but Jack was a good guy who really cared about the country. I had a beer with him two summer's ago and we talked about about his canoe tripping in the North West Territories. It was nice to just chat with the guy. Sad for his family.

A lot of freaky people here... : )

2011-08-21T17:01:00.002-04:00

Okay, they're not that freaky... let's say creative. The Edinburgh International Fringe Festival is on, so there are a lot of very "unusual" things to see here. I spent the past two days touring the downtown, seeing the sights of the Royal Mile and the castle. I will try to put up some photos here tomorrow. It's Sunday night and I am pooched. I walked so much I have a nice little blister on my right foot. I will blame the new hiking shoes. But it is all very enjoyable. I plan on getting a good night's sleep and getting up early to pack. I will be riding the train the Morar, the tiny community in the northwest of Scotland where the Gillis family left from when they traveled to Canada a couple of hundred years ago. I will have five hours on the train, so that should be enough time to upload the photos and update this blog. Cheers for now.

Travelling in the UK

2011-08-20T05:48:00.006-04:00

Finally on vacation again. Not that it was urgent, but it is indeed pleasant. I think the best part was being able to spend time with Jennifer and her family again. Scott is also enjoying some holiday time and of course that means there is some serious golfing underway. Not only that, but his mens’ soccer team enjoyed winning their division championship. Jennifer and I got caught up on all the good gossip that is around so that was fun… thing is, there’s not a whole lot of gossip these days.
But Jennifer is well and that’s the good thing. It was around this time of year, two years ago, that her whole episode with leukemia began … so thank goodness she is beating that.
Jenn is also becoming something of a chef and is trying new recipes all the time. Her caramel pudding cream cake was the hit desert on the week.
Jenn and the boys dropped me off at the Sudbury Airport Monday morning, EARLY on Monday morning. We all managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 4:00 a.m. so we could be at the airport by 5:00 a.m. for the flight departure at 6:00 a.m. I was happy they all came out. I was surprised that the early flight from Sudbury to Toronto was full on a Monday.
The flight to London was long. I dozed on and off a bit, read a lot of watched some of the movie channels on the little TV screen. I was pleased when we finally landed at Heathrow about seven hours later.

The room at the Sheraton was nice and it had a very comfy bathrobe. There is a mini-bar, but the prices are ridiculous. I am NOT about to pay $10 for a shot of Jack Daniels, so I picked up some Scotch at a grocery store for about 15 Pounds. I got the hotel room at a huge bargain thanks to Expedia and booking early. I guess the hotel hoped to make extra money from cheap Canadian tourists. When I booked in, the pleasant desk clerk asked if I want to “upgrade” with a service that would give me a free breakfast each day, along with free tea and coffee throughout the day. The cost she said is only 48 Pounds. I figured that might be a nice perk for the three days I am here at this hotel. But she said it was 48 Pounds per day! That’s nearly $75 a day. NO WAY!
Tuesday was fun. The thoughtful concierge at the Sheraton told me there is a free bus that stops in front of the hotel that connects with the London Underground, the “tube” subway system.
My only mistake was that I headed out a bit too early, around 7:30 a.m. and got caught in the crush of daily commuters. Regardless, it’s so easy to get into the city.
Right away I went to King Cross station, got out, grabbed a coffee and sucked up some of the morning air in that massive old train station. So I recommend the idea of getting a hotel near the airport, at a much lower rate, and commuting into downtown London each day. The cost is well worth the transit pass.
Getting around downtown is easy. Before I left Timmins I bought one of those expensive tourist books that have all the maps and attractions. But the same thing is free on big maps posted at every Tube station. The maps show everything that is available within a five minute walk, and then it shows a circle on the map for everything within a 15 minute walk.
The walking is great, but a couple of times, I stepped onto the street thinking there was no traffic … only to see a bus or car rushing at me from the left. I am too used to checking to the right to see if a car is coming. And there are soooo many people here. It’s like leaving the McIntyre Arena after a hockey game… and there is a crowd in front of you and around you… only this is ALL THE TIME.
My first visit was the world famous British Museum. Wow, it is a beautiful massive building and the admission is free. But as much as I liked it, I am still partial to Canada’s Museum of Civilization and the Royal Ontario Museum. Still, the antiquities in the British Museum are amazing. I saw stone axes and arrowheads more than half a million years old. I saw Egyptian mummies nearly 5000 years old. I saw the ship’s logs detailing the voyages of Captain Cook, written in his own hand.
I also got out and about around the city and took in the sights … the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, Piccadilly, Westminster … I actually got a blister on my right foot from so much walking. But a few pints of Guinness took care of that.The stonework at Westminster cathedral was incredible. I loved it. Especially the flying buttresses. If you've ever read the book Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett, you will know what i mean.
Acting on Ronald’s advice, I also visited the Imperial War Museum, which was pretty amazing and well worth going across town on the subway. It was an added treat that I was in the Lambeth North tube station, which was one of the many bomb shelters that was used during World War II.
The architecture here is stunning. I love the older buildings. London is filled with them. But there are also ultra-modern buildings everywhere too. As the train rolled through some of the older parts of the city, built at the height of the Industrial Revolution, there were rows and rows and rows of the old town houses, crammed side by side. I call them Mary Poppins neighbourhoods. The incredible thing is that the homes have been retro-fitted with plumbing and toilets and the pipes are all located OUTSIDE of the houses. It was amazing to see.
I arrived in Edinburgh Friday. The overnight train ride was so nice. The train left Euston Station at about midnight and I sat in the lounge with a few fellows drinking whiskey and having great conversation. Got to bed at 2:00 a.m. and up at 6:30 for a quick scrub up in my roomette and then down to the dining car for hot tea and croissants. The train arrived at Edinburgh Waverly Station at 7:15. I taxied to the B&B and dropped off my luggage and went exploring around town. It was great. It was amazing to see the castle early in the morning, have breakfast and enjoy the city.
Friday night I headed out to see the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo. But first I had supper at a local pub. It was brie cheese with raspberries, smoked salmon on crusty bread and then a dessert of warm toffee pudding drenched in whiskey. Yum yum.
The Tattoo was an amazing show and the music gave me goose bumps. I have never seen so many pipes and drums.
One of the features of the show is the performance of a lone piper who stands atop the castle ramparts and plays a sad lament in honour of all the Scots who have died in the wars. The crowd went absolutely silent as he played. The piper was a young fellow named Stuart Gillis.
Just finished breakfast in the kitchen at the B&B with the owner Kirsty and a couple of nice ladies from Ireland. Great early morning conversation. Another day awaits. Keep smiling.

A bit of a holiday eh ...

2011-08-17T02:45:00.002-04:00

I hope to be able to post more info and some photos here in a couple of days. I am on vacation in the UK. Arrived Monday night and it has been busy ever since. Jennifer and the boys made my day by driving me to the Sudbury airport at 6:00 a.m. Right now I am on a business computer in the hotel lobby but I will be online with some photos in a day or two. The people here are nice... but I find some Brit accents are throwing me off. I don't always understand what people say. The food is a bit bland, but the beer is good and the whiskey is better. Keep smiling eh.

Seeing a memory

2011-08-08T20:52:00.005-04:00

They say smell is the sense that triggers our most long-forgotten memories. I had a different sensation tonight when I was outside, reading. Now, reading is my great addiction. I am deep into a new book and I lost track of time and suddenly I noticed that I was barely able to see the page because it was getting dark. I was enjoying the sounds of the evening, the smell of fresh air and the whisper of breezes through the leaves. It all came back to me that the last time I experienced that was when I was on a two-week canoe trip up north on the Abitibi River more than 25 years ago! I remember the evenings sitting by the river and relaxing with a book until darkness came. Well now I am inside. Going to play a Miles Davis album, pour a whiskey and get back to the book!

Roaming in the bush . . .

2011-08-06T08:27:00.005-04:00

Having tea this morning instead of coffee. A couple of friends hauled me out last night for drinks, and although I was home early, I find tea is better on those mornings after the night before. I did sit out a bit last night before bed and was treated to some splendid Northern Lights just before midnight. I have been scratching a bit this week thanks to a trip into the bush Tuesday. The bugs got some good bites into me. It was a quiet Tuesday around suppertime and there was a report of a minor derailment on the CN mainline near Foleyet. I was told there was road access through a couple of very old bush roads. So I grabbed a map, topped up with gas and headed out. Well the map shows a road, but the reality is a narrow trail better suited to an ATV. I did my best to find the derailment... without success. Regardless, I snapped some photos. After three hours of driving around in low gear, so I wouldn't get stuck, I called it quits. But it was still a busy, busy week for news. I will put that all aside next week ... Next Saturday morning I will be packing my bags for a holiday. I plan to drop in to see Jennifer and her boys before heading out. Later.

Weather is nicer ... finally.

2011-07-29T06:58:00.001-04:00

Friday morning and I have had enough sleep so I figured it was a good time to update the blog. This month has been busy, but the heat has been way more than I expected. It just fries my brain and slows me down. I was able to spend more time indoors and got caught up on my reading. The best part of the month is the fact that I have spent more time with Jennifer and her family. Last week I got over to Foleyet where Don and Denise set up their camp for a week. Had a fabulous day playing texas horseshoes and seeing everyone. It was close enough to Vic’s birthday that Denise made an ice cream cake. Wow, was that ever good. It sure didn’t last long. The kids had fun in the trailer and there was a couple of gifts for Vic. So that was all good. The weather in Timmins cooled down this week and I got out to do some hiking. It was sure nice out last night.

Wasnt that a party ! ?

2011-07-17T23:43:00.010-04:00

Back home Sunday night after having a few days off and spending time with Jennifer’s family. I was totally relaxed with no phone, no internet and no TV. It was nice to see the boys again, but the real purpose of the weekend was a celebration of Don and Denise’s 40th wedding anniversary. Scott, Jenn, Christine and Demetrios pulled it off perfectly and the surprise was complete. Nathan, Tyler and Victoria were also part of the planning and were fabulous helpers too. Scott actually headed out from Sudbury early Saturday morning, drove to north Westree and convinced his Mom and Dad they had to come back to Sudbury. The ruse was that the roof needed more work. So Don agreed to go and help and Denise agreed to come down and spend time in Sudbury as well. It was only at the last second when they saw the cars, the decorations and then all the people that they knew there was a party for them. Victoria, Tyler and Nathan gave “Grammie” Denise a nice bouquet of roses. There was also a huge chocolate cake with a nice funny photo of Don and Denise. For the cake cutting ceremony, Don pulled out his bush knife and did the honours. Along with all the guests from the Sudbury area, it was really nice to see so many of the Westree friends who made the trip down to Sudbury. How nice was that?! By the way, the food was so good that on Sunday morning, we all had hamburgers and cake for breakfast. This family knows how to celebrate. So from 2:00 p.m. to midnight, we all had a very good time with lots of food, cake and one or two beverages.

Canada Day with the boys and Jennifer

2011-07-03T17:09:00.010-04:00

... have been putting off my blogging for a few days as I was pleased to have Jenn and the boys for company. They arrived in Timmins just in time to celebrate the long weekend. One of our first stops was at the Gold Mine Tour where they got all suited up for their trip underground. I remember bringing Jennifer down to the 4700 level at Kidd Mine when she ten years old.

It was nice for the boys to visit a real gold mine, in this case, the world famous Hollinger Mine. The boys got to see some real gold pieces and I was amazed to see a new vein of gold recently highlighted in the tour. As I looked at it, I was thinking how amazed the first prospectors must have been when they saw the gold veins in Timmins back in the early discovery days 100 years ago. Either way, I think the boys had a good time. I know Jennifer was pleased to look so glamorous in the mining clothes! Actually, her hair looks pretty fantastic. I was also pleased to show the boys around the Shania Twain Centre, and one of the awards on the wall was the Can-Pro award from my team at MCTV. We won a national gold medal for a documentary on Shania back in the 1990s and I was able to give her the award in 1998. After that we took in the Ribfest celebration where the boys had fun doing everything imaginable in a busy, busy afternoon. I just know I had more fun this weekend than I've had in a long time.

Cams and kids...

2011-06-21T22:41:00.003-04:00

Wow, busy week, so busy I forgot Sunday was a special day... Father's Day. Jennifer and Neil both called and we had grrrreat chats. Jenn called in the morning as I was rushing out to cover a plane crash. Good thing it was only a minor crash, pilot rescued from the lake, no injuries. But I had to cut Jenn off, wondering "Why is she calling on a Sunday morning?" In Ontario, we are no longer allowed to chat on a cell phone while driving. But it was all good when we connected later in the day. Then Neil called around suppertime and we had a nice chat. Good news is, he is coming back to Ontario for a couple of years. He and Nolene will be settling in Toronto as she continues studies at University of Toronto. So that will be nice. And Jenn and the boys and I will spend time together on Canada Day weekend! So I have lots of housework to catch up on. I finally got my new camera today. It's a nice compact little SONY that I will take on my holidays. I was dreading the thought of lugging my big Nikons around so I figured it was time to get something I can literally tuck into my pocket. So today was summer solstice. Longest day of the year. From this point on, the days get shorter! Ahhhh... I just know that spring is on the way!

The Great Porcupine Fire

2011-06-13T22:20:00.012-04:00

It will be this time next month that the people of Timmins will stop and remember one of the worst forest fires in Canadian history. It will be the 100th anniversary of the Great Porcupine fire of July 1911. It's called Porcupine because back then, this whole area was known as The Porcupine Gold Camp. It's amazing to think not so much that people endured the fire, but that they continued on in spite of it. Back then, there were no warnings, no special firefighting airplanes, no evacuations. The people who came to Timmins were taking part in one of the great gold rushes ever recorded. Fire devasted the towns, hundreds died, but the people carried on in spite of the great sadness and loss of life. There was even the story of the mine manager who rushed to bring his family down into a mine shaft to escape the flames ... but the firestorm sucked all the oxygen out of the mine. They were found dead days later, without a scratch, without a burn. They had suffocated. There was also the story of the train rushing into town, without knowing of the fire. Sure enough, as the story goes, the train was carrying a shipment of dynamite for the mines. It caught fire and exploded, causing even more death and havoc. Archives Canada has saved many of the photos showing the fire, the people on shore at Porcupine Lake trying to get away, and then days later carrying the bodies out to Deadman's Point, which still exists as a cemetery today. (Photo Credit: Library and Archives Canada)

I like cookies and prospectors too

2011-06-05T07:09:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning, tea and cookies. Yeah, I know it's not the healthiest breakfast, but it will do today. Wow, hard to believe June is here already. I was thinking about that this week as nearly all of my photo assignments have been outdoors. I am okay with that. Well the new computer is all set up to my liking. It is working nicely and very fast. I have removed all the files from the old laptop and will be handing it off to the boys next chance I get. I have a full Rubbermaid box at the front door of all the clothes I did NOT wear this past winter. I will have to drop it off at the church. It's too easy to get too many clothes. I also put my second last suit in the box. I have not worn a suit since Jennifer's wedding, so I figure it is time to get rid of one and keep one. I thought about suits about a month back when I was covering "a gala dinner" for the prospectors association. Sure there were a lot of suits there, but there were just as many guys without suits, wearing dress pants and a checkered shirt! If you've just found a new gold mine, people don't really care whether you're wearing a suit.
That reminds me. It was at that dinner that I met several people from across Canada and we talked about how we all seem to like prospectors. They're some of my favourite people. We agreed that they're a cheerful and optimistic group. I know one fellow well. His name is Dave. He's around 60 and I have known him since his twenties. There were a few times I saw him with a new truck and I knew things were going good. Then one day I saw him walking home from the grocery store, carrying his groceries. He had to sell the truck. So I knew things were hard for him. A couple of weeks ago, I heard Dave had staked some new ground on the big gold play west of Timmins. I sure hope this is "the big one" for him. He's a good guy.

A new toy for the old boy.

2011-05-31T23:36:00.003-04:00

Just enough time to squeeze in one more posting in May. It will be June in about 20 minutes. I was at a meeting at city hall last night when my laptop crapped out and died on me. I was upset... for several minutes, until a colleague reminded me the laptop was six years old. And I have dropped the old laptop on occasion... I am content that I got my money's worth out of it. So today, I had to go out and get this new machine. I am quite pleased with it. It's an HP 2000 and it cost less than $400. It is superbly fast and has half a terrabyte of RAM. I had the option of using the MAC G4 from work, but I need to know I have a computer I can count on. I have spent the evening uploading all my programs and enjoying this nice little toy. I will have to strip down the old laptop and get it ready for Jennifer's boys... I am sure they can find a use for it.

It went Ka-Boom! But nothing happened ...

2011-05-28T13:38:00.007-04:00

Friday was an interesting day at one of the local mine properties. Goldcorp was demolishing a headframe ... by blasting it down. That's always fun to watch. (Click the photos to see full size. In the first photo, look for the worker with his hands covering his ears toward the bottom left.)
The only thing is that once the blast has gone off, the headframe is supposed to fall over. It didn't. It seems one of the steel support beams didn't break and it held the whole thing up. So they went and got another box of explosives, set the fuse and it went down ... like it was supposed to.

The search for my brother ...

2011-05-21T13:46:00.012-04:00

The search for my brother began one freezing morning in 1981 when Ronald and some friends decided to drop in at Earlton, south of Timmins. The temperature was minus 42. Ronald was with about 950 other soldiers doing a parajump. Since I knew he was visiting Northern Ontario, I knew I had to be a good host and find him. So I drove to Earlton, but believe it not, as I approached the area where the jump was, I was stopped by soldiers in an armoured vehicle. That’s my tiny little Dodge Omni in the photo. Once I explained what I doing, they let me proceed.
Before long, there were dozens of C130 aircraft overhead dropping people and material on parachutes. One of them was Ronald. He was out there somewhere. So I began walking along through the drop zone, where there were hundreds of soldiers getting their gear together and forming up into groups. I kept asking if anyone knew Ron… many did. And they kept pointing me in various directions. Sure enough, I eventually found him… he was outside his tent making tea. So we chatted a bit and then decided to go into town for a beer. The problem was that Ron was not allowed to leave the drop area. No worries. He laid down in the back of the car and we drove out. We had a beer in the local tavern, but Ron’s main mission was to find a grocery store, so he could buy a few extra things and junk food. I am sure his buddies wondered where he got all the extra stuff.

Just a few old photos...

2011-05-19T22:14:00.005-04:00

I had the chance to go through some older photographs this week and I have scanned them and saved them to a digital format. They sure bring back some nice memories. These photos are from the late 1970s!!! I just know people will be e-mailing me and asking for copies.Click on the photos to see them larger.

The media table . . .

2011-05-16T09:20:00.003-04:00

Part of my job involves covering political speeches. This past week was a doozie ... three days of speeches by mayors and visiting cabinet ministers. And it involves evening work too. That's not so bad, because the people putting on the meetings always feed the news reporters. This was the media table Thursday night. A nice roast beef dinner. What you can see on the table though are notebooks, cameras, beer glasses, empty wines bottles and double servings of crème brûlée dessert! All in a day's work eh?

Woohoo for Neil!

2011-05-15T11:24:00.003-04:00

I want to put a plug in here today for Neil. There was a vote-in contest in Vancouver for the best restaurant, best bar, best staff etc. Sure enough, Neil got short-listed as one of the five finalists as best restaurant manager. So if you have Facebook, log in and vote! Here is the link: Vote for Manager of the Year! I am sure Neil will appreciate it.

25 years . . .

2011-05-08T12:47:00.002-04:00

Just noticed that it has been 25 years to this very day that I quit smoking. I was lucky. I was able to just stop. I think that's a good thing. Some days though, I wish I could enjoy a nice cigar.

The funny thing about facebook . . .

2011-05-07T11:38:00.006-04:00

Some things are not politically correct, but they're still funny. And this Facebook inspired image fits. The funny thing about the Facebook chatting process is that if you LIKE what somebody has written, you give a thumbs up. Enjoy the image.(click the pic) As for political correctness, it gets tiring. With Osama's death, I think I might know how my parents felt when it was revealed that Hitler was dead.

A crazy week eh

2011-05-04T19:13:00.005-04:00

Wow, what a crazy week eh. Locally in the federal election, our MP Charlie Angus, was re-elected. I snapped that photo at his victory party. I have to say I am surprised at the outcome of the election, with Jack Layton in the opposition seat. Although I do remember somebody in Westree telling me that the NDP was coming on strong. I honestly didn't expect Michael Ignatieff to take such a beating, but such is politics in Canada. The Liberals have a special way of killing off their own. I remember it happened to Pierre Trudeau after his famous "walk in the snow" back in the mid-80s. The other crazy news is the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It sends out the message that if you really upset the American people, they WILL get you and kill you. It's a cold message, but lots of people have learned it the hard way. The Americans rarely go looking for fights, but they often finish them, and win. And those who win get to write the history books.

Westree weekend

2011-04-24T16:21:00.006-04:00

Easter weekend was pleasant at the Alexander camp in Westree, where I drove to meet with Jennifer and her family. Of course it’s always nice to get away and totally tune out. My phone was off for nearly 48 hours. The weather on Friday was perfect spring weather, with the sun shining and the temperature around ten Celsius. Along with Jenn’s family being there, Christine, Demetrios and Victoria had driven in from the Toronto area. That night we had a fabulous buffet supper put on by Denise and then it was outside to enjoy the evening air, have some drinks and enjoy the great bonfire created by Don. We laughed and talked till midnight. I was pleased that I was assigned to sleep in the Westree Penthouse, which is Don and Denise’s fifth wheel trailer. That was very nice and great for a nice peaceful night’s sleep. Who would have guessed that the next morning that winter would come back? It was mild out, but it snowed all morning. The photo of Portage Road tells the story. I remember thinking about the drive down from Timmins and noticing that almost all the snow in the bush had melted. Saturday morning, there was fresh snow everywhere. After lunch some of us decided to take a walk down to the landing by the lake to throw rocks in the water. I was so impressed that Jennifer came along for the hike, rubber boots and all. Believe it or not, we had to climb a steep hill and Jenn managed it. I was simply amazed, considering her condition a year ago. (See the posting on this blog on March 14, 2010). Jenn’s struggle to beat her cancer is inspiring. I am so proud of her inner strength and resolve. She also looks pretty nice with all that curly hair! The other nice part of the weekend was watching the hockey game Saturday night. I was the only one who cheered when Boston scored the winning goal. I couldn’t help myself, thinking of all those smug Habs fans across the country who had to sit there chewing their tongue. Ha ha ha ha. (click on the pics to see large size)

Things are good.

2011-04-18T21:33:00.003-04:00

Well I haven't dropped in here for awhile, but some exciting things are happening.
One is that I am seriously considering a vacation trip this summer to Scotland. I have submitted the time off request, which is the first step, so we will see where that goes. I am also seeking out some genealogical information on the Gillis family and its connection to the village or Morar in northern Scotland. Several people are helping including my cousin, Glen MacNeil, who is on assignment with Canadian Forces in Jerusalem right now. I may have to wait until he returns to Halifax to get some fresh information.
Secondly, right now there is excitement in Timmins. The price of gold is nudging the $1500 per ounce mark. That will be the highest price in history and a huge milestone. Timmins is one of the few cities in the world built on gold. Mining exploration here is at a fever pace. If we top $1500, I am betting we will see a huge rush on for claim staking and drilling.
Best news for last. I will be spending Easter with Jenn and the Alexanders again in Westree. Sounds like we're going to have a wonderful time. Stay tuned.

Hi, I went to HAWWWW-vud!

2011-04-05T21:25:00.004-04:00

First posting in April. I figured I should wait a few days so no one would think the lawnsign photo from Harvard was an April Fools joke. LOL. Okay, okay, it's a joke but I figured I would put it there to irk my favourite sister Debra. We had a fabulous phone call this week and got right into politics. Oh my goodness, it was fun. We also have a $20 bet going on the outcome of the election. I think it's worth 20 bucks just to get a rise out of her. Anyway, you know all about Michael. He's very big into WINNING. Maybe he should go on tour with Charlie Sheen!!! LOL

A very nice, very fun day

2011-03-31T20:48:00.004-04:00

Well it has sure been a fun day. I was planning to take the day off work, since we get our birthday as a floater. But I was awakened at about 5:30 a.m. ... there was a fire call at a remote logging camp south west of town, so I headed out there. That was a challenge, but it's so quiet in the bush on a winter morning that I was able to shut off the truck and listen for the sound of the fire engine motor off in the distance and was able to find the camp. It was still dark and I didn't see smoke until the sun rose.
Got back into town around 8:15 a.m. just to catch the first e-mails from my EARLY April Fools gag that I put on Page Three and the website. What a hoot. We reported there was a new tax on text messaging and twittering. Well, what a commotion. The switchboard lit up at city hall and even the mayor took angry calls. A company rep from Bell Mobility called and asked up to pull the story since their call centre was backed up with angry callers. Then city hall put out a news release asking the other media in town to report that it was all a joke. So... that was fun. Even though the folks at city hall are mighty Peed Off at this fellow.
I called Jennifer but she was AT WORK today... yes, she is working! She has a temp job at the Revenue Canada tax centre in Sudbury.
Then my cell phone died, which was a good thing because I was getting phone calls and voice messages from friends who enjoyed the gag. Some were not so nice! LOL
But the nicest part was all the nice birthday wishes from people i got in emails today and on Facebook. Even my little bro Ronald left a message here on the blog, in a comment with the black and white photo right below this posting. Ha ha funny guy! LOL. Tomorrow will be another nice day. Hard to believe that Tyler is going to 11 years old! OMG...before we know it he will be a teenager!!!

Winter is still here.

2011-03-26T14:35:00.003-04:00

I was out in the bush this morning. The sun was shining beautifully and thank goodness I remembered to put SPF on before heading out today. It was just a really nice day to spend time outside and appreciate the clean, fresh air. I have this photo in colour, but I like the black and white version as well. I think it convey's the message of pure outdoor fresh air in the winter.

A big March moon.

2011-03-19T22:03:00.003-04:00

I noticed earlier this evening there was a big old March moon in the night sky, so I snapped a photo. Apparently, this was a super moon tonight because for some reason the moon is much closer to Planet Earth than normal.

Staying in touch...

2011-03-19T08:28:00.003-04:00

Apologies for not dropping in here sooner. I have no excuse other than my own laziness, but March so far has been a busy month. I was hoping to spend some time with my grandsons, and take time off during March break. But the company cut those plans short. Last week was nice. I got a call from my friend Fay who I haven't seen in four or five years. She was visiting Timmins and so we were able to spend time together. We keep in touch via the Internet, but it's always nice to see somebody. The weather earlier this week was outstanding. The temperature was actually two or three degrees on Wednesday. Of course, I left the parka in the closet and pulled out a spring jacket. My fault. Today we have snow and minus 20 in Timmins.
I covered an interesting story this week where a local firm is now producing mining trucks, brand new ore haulers, and shipping them out to the U.S. It's a first for Timmins. Gold mining is still king in and around Timmins. We reported recently on how Detour Gold Mine is buying new trucks from Caterpillar. A lot of people don't think that mining contributes much to the economy. For new trucks alone, Detour is spending $125 MILLION dollars.
On the other hand, I also covered another mining death. I hate it when that happens. Timmins has been mining now for 100 years. In that time, there have been more than 600 miners killed in our mines. That's terrible! The funeral mass for the dead man is today.
I went out this week to celebrate St. Patricks Day. It was fun to run into the usual suspects that I only see once or twice a year. I hooked up with Colin Kilgour, a fun Irishman if there ever was one. I think I have seen Colin about ten times in the past ten years, and it's always on St. Patricks.
I got over to the bookstore again this week and picked up some new novels. Reading is one of my guilty pleasures. Last night I put on a pot of tea and zipped through about 160 pages. I also had time to play some Wii Tennis. Finally, I broke through the 2000 point mark! Whew, that was an effort.

Quinzhees and Kraft Dinner at 35 below

2011-02-27T11:31:00.003-05:00

It's almost lunchtime, but I am back in the office after spending some time in the bush this morning. It was a beautiful Northern Ontario morning with the temperature at about minus 15 and the sun shining so nicely. I was out to snap some photos of the Timmins Porcupine Search and Rescue providing winter survival training. It brought back some great memories of when Neil and I were involved with Scouts Canada about 20 years ago and spending winter weekends at the Windy Lake camp north of Sudbury. I remember one day we went on a 10K hike in minus 35 weather. We built a quinzhee shelter and even cooked up Kraft Dinner over an open fire. Those were fun times. It's just amazing how nice it is to spend time in the bush on a winter day. Today was good in another way. I topped out over 1700 points playing Wii tennis this morning. Woohoo. I can't wait to show off for Tyler, Nathan and Victoria. Had a nice chat with Jennifer on Friday to get caught up on things. The boys were in another hockey tournament. I had to laugh because the boys figured they would have Friday off to play hockey. But once their game was over, Jennifer was at the rink to pick them up and drive them to school! She is such a good mom.

Instincts

2011-02-21T17:15:00.003-05:00

Funny how instinct works eh. I was in a bookstore about a month ago and picked up a stack of novels. One of them was by Leon Uris. I read a lot of his stuff years ago, but not recently. He always wrote excellent stories. Acting on instinct, I bought the book. So I started in on the novel and for some reason it didn't click. I just couldn't get into that book. It was disappointing. Last night, I finished reading the last of my other books and I felt a funny panic because I was suddnely out of books, on a Sunday night and today is a stat holiday in Ontario. No book stores are open. I actually laughed because it felt like I had run out of food or something urgent. So I went back to the bookcase and found the Uris novel I had put away and began reading it; actually forcing myself to get into the pages. Well whattya know? It's a good read. I'm really enjoying it. Funny eh?

Things are booming ...

2011-02-20T12:52:00.007-05:00

Another busy week is zooming by. Friday was stressful since the company came in and installed a new publishing program on the MAC. This was the third Friday in a row to attempt this and now it seems to be working! Woohoo. I have to learn a new program and it's not too different from other desktop publishing efforts so I am sure I will get used to it.
Today is Sunday and it was fun to watch as Goldcorp, one of the local gold mining companies blasted away a headframe to make room for a new pit. Yeah, so things are booming in Timmins. Ha ha ha. Thank goodness for gold!
So I took a few photos and got the story up on the website right away. See it here.
I also noticed this morning that the odometer on the truck turned over at a very evil looking 66666. So of course, I had to snap a photo. I don't know if the number is evil or not, but it was gone about one kilometre later!I almost forget to mention I was feeling silly Saturday morning, thinking of the fun I have when Tyler and Nathan are around. I had a bunch of icicles hanging outside a window ... so I got a tray of ice cubes and my slingshot. I had fun shooting down the icicles. Sure wish the boys could have been here!

It's all good.

2011-02-12T09:26:00.003-05:00

Well what the heck is going on? I have ignored this blog for two weeks now. I blame my new Nintendo Wii game. Playing tennis and frisbee golf is addictive. So life is interesting these days. Winter Carnival begins in Timmins this morning and I will soon be out and about enjoying it. Had a great chat with Jennifer this week. She and Scott got down to Toronto to see a Leafs game... and to their great surprise, they got seated at ice level between the player's benches. Jenn and Scott loved it, especially since the Leafs won. When they got home, they were pleased to hear that Nathan and Tyler had seen them on national television. Life is busy at work. Had another MAC failure this week and had to bring the terminal into the shop. Our sales department is getting new PC laptops. No more MACs for them, lucky bums! I have to stay with the MAC because the company isn't willing to get new program licences or new machines for the news side of the operation. There is so much news going on around mining. Gold continues to dominate exploration in this area and now there is all the excitement over a massive deposit of chromite north of here... Chromite is what you need to put the "Stainless" in stainless steel. It looks like several BILLION dollars will be spent developing the property and Timmins is hoping to cash in on some of that action. Interesting days and months ahead. Anyway, the sun is shining and I know that spring is on the way in a matter of several more weeks. I will get some snowshoeing in this weekend and I will have to remember to put some SPF on my face. I got a bit too much sun last week. Keep smiling.

Could Spielberg coach the Leafs? :)

2011-01-31T13:13:00.000-05:00

I should have known. I enjoyed watching a good movie last night. True Grit. It was the newer release, the one with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. A real good shoot-em up western. As the credits rolled, I was pleased to see the name of producer Steven Spielberg. I should have known. He has that golden touch. Whatever he works on is usually a great movie.
Speaking of good things to see, Jennifer and Scott are off to the Air Canada Centre next week to see the Toronto Maple Leafs play. Hmmm … I wonder if Spielberg knows anything about hockey?

Minus 46 in Timmins

2011-01-23T08:03:00.002-05:00

This is what minus 38 looks like at 8:00 a.m., minus 46 with the windchill. There is ice fog over the city. I was hoping the get a photo of "sun dogs" but the sun is not cooperating this morning.

Happy day Deb!

2011-01-16T07:46:00.001-05:00

I think I mentioned earlier how I feel about my new coffee mug. It’s the best. And it’s not the Tim Hortons thing at all… it’s just that it’s a nice big ceramic mug and it has a rounded lip on it, just like the paper cups do. For some reason I enjoy drinking from it more than any other. So I have thrown out three other mugs. Like most people I have several coffee mugs in the cupboard, but since I am using just one, I figure why bother with others. Oh, I kept several mugs. You know, the ones that friend’s give you that have your name on them or some logo from a special place. They all still in the cupboard. I am confident that at some point they will become pencil holders. Today will be a good day. We’re some expecting some nice cold temps and some sunshine. It is still dark now, but I am planning some snow shoeing.
I mentioned that to Debra last night. I called to chat and wish her happy birthday…. Shhhhh! she said, since she doesn’t want anyone to know she has reached a “milestone” birthday. So you won’t hear it from me that she’s not 29 anymore.
At this stage of life, it’s always nice to enjoy little treats. I always get cravings for sweet things, but I don’t always make the required effort for something special. I had a couple of pears sitting on my breadbox yesterday, so I went online in search of a good recipe for poached pears. I was going to do the traditional red wine poaching, but I found another recipe for sherry and whiskey poaching. Well, lah dee dah! I was pleased with the result, except that I didn’t have any whipped cream to top it off. Regardless, the pears were sweet and the nectar of sherry, whiskey, brown sugar and spices was amazing. I ate two halves last night. The other two halves are still in the fridge. Maybe I will go out and pick up some whipped cream. Yes, it’s going to be a nice day.

Good things happening...

2011-01-08T08:07:00.000-05:00

About time I got in here for a few words. The first week of 2011 has been good and busy. I was so pleased to celebrate the New Year with company in my home. Victoria, Tyler and Nathan were my guests. We all had a good time by first going out to dinner and then back home for an evening of Wii. I actually went out and bought the newest console so now I am such a gamer. It’s fun and whew, some days it’s a good workout too. The kids celebrated the actual new year by rushing onto the balcony and shouting out a countdown and then blowing their little paper horns. It was so funny to watch them. Those kids make me laugh. What a joy they are.
My treat last night was to sign up with Netflix. That’s the movie and TV service that suits my needs perfectly. I didn’t want to go with Cable TV. I don’t have time to sit down and watch scheduled TV. Netflix lets me pick and choose movies or TV shows that I like and then watch them whenever I feel like it. It comes through on my Wii, takes about 30 seconds to download and it is excellent quality.
One good part is that the first month is free so I get to see if I really like it. After that it’s only $7.99 a month and there is no term contract… so I can quit whenever. I just hope I don’t become a TV junkie! Oh, and there are about 100,000 movies and TV shows to choose from. I will keep you posted.
Right now I am enjoying one of my Christmas gifts. I got a Tim Horton’s ceramic coffee mug that is so perfect I don’t use any of my other mugs. I keep using it and washing it and using it again.

Expecting company...

2010-12-30T08:00:00.003-05:00

Such nice mild weather this week. It was zero last night and only minus four this morning. This is a good day for a hike in the bush. Snowshoeing sounds good. I am enjoying some time off and getting the place ready for some company. Jenn, Scott, Tyler, Nathan and Victoria will be arriving tomorrow. Wooohoo. Got to pick up some of that American bottled water ... I think they call it Budweiser.

Another really nice Christmas!

2010-12-27T21:56:00.009-05:00

Finally back home in Timmins after three wonderful days with Jenn and her family. We sure had a full house, but Christmas dinner was nice because we had TWO dinners. One at Jenn and Scott's place and then a Boxing Day Dinner with the extended Alexander family at a rented hall. It was perfect. I had time to snap plenty of photos. There is one of the children on Christmas morning, just moments before they were let loose on the gifts. On Christmas night I went for a walk in the yard and snapped a photo of the house. Scott and Jenn live in the country and it's a beautiful setting. Tyler and I were playing in the yard Sunday and he had fun getting buried up to his neck in snow. He is very entertaining.

On the way home today, the forest looked amazing with all the frost and snowflakes clinging to the branches. So I snapped a few more shots. In one photo, if you click on it, you can see the individual snowflakes. And I even snapped a photo of the truck in the snow on a sideroad... A really nice winter day in the North.

What a change eh?

2010-12-26T08:37:00.005-05:00

Several of us noticed it at the same time. It was Christmas morning in Val Caron and there was Jennifer standing at the sink doing dishes after our Christmas breakfast. What a wonderful change from this time last year when Jenn was sick and had to be brought home from the hospital to spend Christmas with the family. Last year she was in a wheelchair and several times during the day, Jenn was in bed regaining her strength. And so it goes and the world is a better place today. At dinner last night, Scott made a very nice toast to family and good health. Very aprorpriate. Christmas in Val Caron was excellent. Scott, Jenn, Tyler and Nathan are hosting Victoria, Christine, Demetrios, Don, Denise and myself. It is really a full house. The coffee and Bailey's tastes nice this morning. The Weather is mild and Tyler is winning the hockey game on the Wii system. Don just arrived back at the house with a big order from Tim Hortons, so it's time to enjoy breakfast. Cheers to all.

A shaggy dog story!

2010-12-18T14:53:00.006-05:00

Every now and then, while working in news, there is a happy story. I had one Friday when firefighters rescued a little dog at a fire scene.

The dog was unconscious, overcome by the smoke. It looked dead. The woman who owned the dog was clearly overcome with grief. But several minutes later, after giving the dog oxygen and CPR, firefighters presented the woman with a very alive little dog. I smiled all day! The full story here is on my news website.

(Click on the pic to see it larger)

Funny comments!

2010-12-16T22:52:00.004-05:00

If you check the comments at the bottom of the Dec. 13 post, you will see the following:
"You forgot to mention the highlight of one of the Christmas parties was the pulling fire alarm and the arrival of the fire trucks at the base gym, and better yet was that once we all saw Debra the first time we did not believe she was a girl as she had a buzz cut for a haircut."
Well the only other person who would know that would be little brother Ronald, or big brother Gary. Gary doesn't own a computer. Ha ha ha.
Well I do remember both incidents. Although I honestly cannot remember who pulled the fire alarm, I do remember that Dad was quite embarrassed to discover it was one his children. That means it was either me or Ron. And it was at the airbase in Portage la Prairie. Gary would never do such a thing. But it was sure a lot of fun from a kid's perspective. I remember some years later when Dad mentioned that the base brass was terrified for a few moments at the thought that a fire had broken out in the base gym where hundreds of children were inside meeting Santa Claus. And as for the comments about Debra, I absolutely remember the first time we saw her. She was as bald as could be, and we brothers could not understand how a little sister could not have hair. Ronald was the first one to mention it and we laughed and laughed.

I'm confused about this one ...

2010-12-16T17:02:00.002-05:00

NASA this week reported that the spacecraft Voyager-1 has reached the edge of our solar system. I have to admit, I think space travel is kinda cool. It has taken 33 years. Voyager was sent out to gather data that is supposed to help scientists determine how our universe began. Okay, I'm confused. So let's say they do figure out that the universe began one day billions and billions of years ago. Okay... so what was there the day before? And what about the day before that? I think this is one of those things the human mind just can't figure. (Photo Credit: NASA JPL)

Christmas memories woke me up!

2010-12-13T06:06:00.002-05:00

It’s early Monday morning, 4:25 a.m., and like any writer I am rushing to get these thoughts down because they woke me up and I don’t want to forget them. Besides, I can’t sleep now because all these memories of Christmas have come pouring back. Actually it was pipe tobacco that woke me. I was dreaming of Christmas when I was a child. It could be the fact that my own place is in the midst of getting “Christmassy”… I don’t have a tree up, or any decorations, but my dining room table is covered with wrapping paper, scotch tape and there is a big Rubbermaid box full of gifts that I will be taking with me to Sudbury in about ten days time. I am sure I will share some memories with my grandsons.
But I was dreaming and as I gradually began waking, all these thoughts rushed in so here goes with some good memories of Christmas.
These go way back to the days when it was just Mom and Dad and Gary and me. We were living in Sydney, Nova Scotia. I can barely remember, but I do smell pipe tobacco. Both my grandfathers smoked pipes and I remember that Christmas was a time of seeing “grandpa and grandma” a lot more than usual. In our lives, there was Archie, who was grandpa on my Mom’s side. He didn’t like being called grandpa, so we called him Archie. Then there was Grandpa Gillis, on my Dad’s side. His name was Neil, but everyone called him Papa or Neil D. He always had the fragrance of pipe smoke, which I came to enjoy. Pipe smoke and wool sweaters. His tobacco was different than most. It was a stick that reminded me of a big piece of licorice. He would take his pocketknife and carve tiny slivers of tobacco off the stick and then put them into his pipe. I remember once he put his knife down, and like any nosy little boy I picked it up. Well! Neil D. growled at me. I swear it was a growl, but as I think of it now, it was probably because he had the pipe in his mouth. He said something I could barely understand, but he had fierce eyes that would stare you down. I do remember Christmas in the country, in Grand Mira, smelled different. I think it was the wood smoke smell. Freshly cut balsam or spruce. And cinnamon. I know that Grandma Gillis liked to make cinnamon rolls and that was always a nice smell. And the woodsmoke smell came from the big stove in the kitchen and there was another stove, just for heating, in the “front room”, which was the sitting room at the front of Grandma’s house. When we kids were sent to bed upstairs, there was a bedroom directly above the front room. The bedroom had a hole in the floor, under the bed, designed to let the heat rise. I remember crawling under the bed and putting my face in the hole and listening to all the grown-ups chatter and laugh down below. The other thing about the house in Mira was that it had no indoor bathroom and we got to pee in the snow a lot. The women used the outhouse beside the big tree.
The house in Sydney was different because it was on a street packed closely beside dozens of other houses. I could never figure out how my parents knew how to find it among the hundreds and hundreds of houses in Sydney, but once we pulled up to the front of the house, I knew right away it was where Grandma (MacLean) and Archie lived. Archie’s tobacco smelled sweeter than Neil Ds. Also Archie did not wear wool sweaters as much as Neil D. Archie wore flannel shirts with wide suspenders. He also talked more, but I could rarely understand what he was saying. Every now and then he would shout, Tina, Tina! That was Grandmas name. She would bring him tea and cookies. He drank the tea. I ate the cookies.
The Sydney house at Christmas smelled different. It had more of a smell of baking. I remember the smell of tea biscuits. And the smell of butter melting on the biscuits hot from the oven. And it was warm, very warm. I think it is because there was a coal stove in the kitchen. In the basement there was a big coal boiler. The men would spend time in the basement talking, while the women would spend time in the kitchen and the dining room. Archie’s basement was big, well; it was big from a little kid’s perspective. It had a concrete floor and massive wooden beams. Beams that went from floor to ceiling and then beams that went across the basement ceiling. It was dark too. There were a couple of bare lightbulbs. But the men would go there to smoke and drink. I remember asking my dad what he was drinking. Archie said it was buttermilk and all the men laughed. It was moonshine of course.
The house in Sydney also sounded different. There was music. There was a piano in the living room. Usually Gary and I would pound on it just to hear the keys, but other people would play and sing. I cannot remember who.
The next Christmas I remember was in France and those are my first memories of Santa. I don’t think I quite understood who Santa was except that all the children had to go and sit on his lap. I do remember not being too excited about that. I know Gary was excited. So I guess I went along with it. If it was okay with Gary, then it was okay with me. There were hundreds of children. We were all in a massive building, which I realize now was a hangar on the airbase. I can remember the faint smell of jet fuel and it is likely one of the reasons why I still like that smell. It was always one of those comfort smells for me. I can pick up the smell aviation fuel anywhere. I think it comes from living on airbases.
The other Christmas memory from France was my first ever memory of snow. I think it was special because I was told that snow was not always common where we lived, but getting snow that first year caused quite a bit of excitement for people. I remember Gary teaching me how to slide on it with our shoes. We didn’t have snowboots in France. Another memory is that my Dad would take out an Oh Henry bar, put it on the table and cut it up into bit sized pieces for us with his pocketknife. Dad wasn’t being nice. He was just being cheap.
My next Christmas memories after that were in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. We went to two big Christmas parties that year, one at the church and one at the airbase. I couldn’t figure out why the Santas were different, but they were.
That is the Christmas I learned about Eaton’s. Mom ordered a whole pile of stuff from the Eaton’s catalogue and one winter day a massive cardboard box was delivered to our house. I remember Mom opening the box and taking out all sorts of things. There were dishes, pots, pans, snowboots, winter coats, pants and shirts and socks … it was overwhelming. Apparently, that same box brought our Christmas toys, but I didn’t know it then.
The other thing about Portage la Prairie was the cold. Our house was always warm, but whenever our big front door was opened, there would be a blast of frigid winter air that rolled right into our kitchen. That was also the Christmas I remember learning about Christmas trees and that they were somehow special.
I was the first person to wake up Christmas morning. I knew that I was supposed to go to the tree. So I did. It was great. There were all sorts of gifts. I couldn’t read names very well, or maybe I didn’t want to read names. Either way, I opened most of the gifts and started playing with the toys. When my brothers (Ronald had been born in France) awoke and came downstairs, I was quite protective of all my new possessions.
Once Mom woke up and came downstairs, she set things straight and I discovered I had to share all these new toys with my brothers. Our house always smelled of turkey stuffing at Christmas. That is still a comfort smell for me.
Some days later, Gary and I were playing outside when we discovered a Christmas tree in a snowbank. Wow, what a find. We knew that Christmas trees were special for some reason, so we decided to drag our prize home. It was an effort for two boys to drag the tree. You can imagine our delight when we discovered more and more of these prized trees discarded all over the neighbourhood. It took us a few hours, but before long, Gary and I were the proud owners of about 25 Christmas trees which we stashed in our back yard. Mom and Dad laughed about it, but insisted we take the trees back out to the snowbank on the street. Somewhere there is a photo that Dad snapped of Gary and myself with all our trees.
That's the same winter that Debra was born. It wasn't long after Christmas, but I remember Dad saying we all got a new baby sister for Christmas. I also remember the hospital was next to a lake and Dad drove the car out onto the ice so we could see the hospital and wave at Mom in the window.
Some years later when I became an adult, I had more interesting Christmas memories. One of the best was bringing my own family to Mira for Christmas. I enjoyed that. Grandma’s old house was gone, but we all had dinner at Sadie and Allen’s house. I remember my children being amazed that Grandma would save the Christmas wrapping paper, carefully folding it and putting it away for another year. I also remember playing a game of Trivial Pursuit with my cousins. The best part was when we got stumped on some answers; Grandma would give us the right answer. We all thought we were so smart, but Grandma would amaze us.

Happy Day Jenn

2010-12-12T07:50:00.004-05:00

Today is Jennifer’s birthday. It doesn’t matter her age, I will always think of Jenn as the prettiest little girl who grew into a beautiful young woman with a fabulous family.
Even though she is a grown-up now, it’s always fun to chat with her because her ideas are usually fresh and different and young.
One of my favourite singers wrote a song many years ago when Jenn was a baby. You can hear the song on You Tube.
Here are the words.

FOREVER YOUNG
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

~Bob Dylan, 1974

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

2010-12-11T07:58:00.002-05:00

Talkshow guy David Letterman likes to make fun of the fact that he is losing his hair. That was certainly brought home to me this week when a friend sent me a photo be snapped last week while I was at a munching away at a buffet. Pretty soon I won’t need a comb, just a polishing cloth!

Enjoying December

2010-12-05T21:55:00.005-05:00

It's a nice winter night in Timmins. I am wrapping gifts and enjoying the warmth of Tennessee ... in a fine crystal glass of course. I am wrapping some stuff for the kids and it's fun to imagine how much we will all enjoy Christmas morning. It has been snowing all day here, but that's to be expected in Timmins. Winter is certainly settling in. I think I will be out snowshoeing soon. The past few days have been nice. I had a good chat with Gary on Friday. It was his birthday, so that was nice and we got got all caught up. On Saturday I was on the local Christmas telethon, which was broadcast on the Bell satellite, so I talked with Neil and Jennifer to let them know. So that was good. We went late into the evening, but it was fun. I slept in today to 10:00 a.m. Wow. I decided to do a bit of gift shopping late in the day to avoid the crowds. The roads were in rough shape and it took about 20 minutes to drive to the mall. But when I got there I got out of the truck and realized I left my wallet in another coat! Nothing to do but laugh about it, drive home, grab my wallet and head out again. Only this time, I gassed up and grabbed a few groceries. I bought some President's Choice crab cakes. Wow! They were excellent. Maybe good things happen for a reason.

A canoe and a cigar?

2010-12-01T07:29:00.003-05:00

Welcome to December. Today is my first anniversary of apartment living. I think I am okay with it. I don't always remember dreams, but today I did. I was paddling a canoe on the Amazon River in a gentle rainfall and smoking a really, really good cigar! Wow, where did THAT come from? All I know is that it's two guilty pleasures I can't enjoy right now. So there I was paddling along and enjoying a wonderful cigar when my radio alarm-clock blasted me awake to the sounds of CBC World Report. So I hit the snooze bar and enjoyed another nine minutes in dreamland. I am awake now enjoying coffee and adding to the blog ... at least I think I'm awake.

Footwear

2010-11-28T07:11:00.005-05:00

The new 2011 Timmins phone book is out. For the first time in more than 35 years, my name is not there or in any other phone directory. I took the advice - or it might be more accurate to say I followed the prediction of a friend - and I got rid of my home phone some time ago. My cell phone is all I need and it's way less expensive than having a landline.
Another milestone of sorts came and went without much fanfare. No big deal really, but this week I pulled my heavy duty winter Sorels out of the closet, put 'em on and was out the door. We had a good snowstorm this week and it was time for the heavy boots. Usually I wait until there is a really big blizzard or extreme cold. Maybe I am just getting lazy, but my Sorels fit like an old pair of skates and it's so easy to wear them.
That's another thing. Maybe I should buy a new pair of skates. I haven't had any for some time. But skating has always been something I loved. Neil grabbed my last pair about about ten years ago. Comfort is an issue for me. My left foot has never been quite right since that accident in the mine when I got a steel bar through it. It's had to find a pair of skates that I can wear for more than an hour or so.
By the way, it's a nice Sunday morning here. Coffee is good. Had a nice chat with Jennifer last night about her trip to Mexico. She said it was great and she said the best part for her was just getting away from it all and spending time with her guys and relaxing. We didn't chat long. She put me on the phone with Tyler for a while... I should have known, there was a hockey game on! It was great to chat with Ty. He is a cool ten-year-old who notices a whole lot more than you'd think a kid his age would see. It's like getting a fresh view of the world. Coffee needs a refill...

Snowflakes, shopping, China, Mexico

2010-11-27T07:28:00.004-05:00

Winter has settled in nicely in Timmins. I was out last night and enjoyed walking downtown to see the nice lights and watch the snow falling. I have to admit that longjohn weather has arrived as well. It's not that I don't enjoy the cold weather, I just think that I feel it more than when I was young. As for shopping, I had no desire to go to the mall. Wayyyy too many people. This week I did some online shopping with a company in Maine. I don't feel bad about that. The prices were good, the products were good and the U.S. company promised free shipping anywhere in Canada. Canadian online sales companies don't do that! Plus, I am trying to find fewer and fewer items made in China. It's just a political thing for me. I will likely chat with Jennifer soon as I expect she and the boys will be back home from their holiday in Mexico.

Yup, winter is back.

2010-11-20T09:09:00.004-05:00

Another Saturday morning, but today it is all white and bright outside the living room window. Timmins finally got slammed with snow yesterday and this time I think it will stay. Scott, Jennifer and the boys will sure miss it. They're spending a week in Mexico! Scott sent an e-mail mentioning that he and Jenn were sitting on the balcony of their suite, enjoying margeritas, warm breezes and a fabulous view of the ocean while the boys were playing in the pool. I just know that he would rather be driving the plow up and down his driveway this morning!
I was in North Bay Friday and I had the option of spending the night, but I got out of my meeting early so I decided to head north and drive home. It wasn't too bad until I got north of Kirkland Lake. That's when a few mild flurries became a white-out. So it was white-knuckle driving for about three hours at 45 to 55 kilometres per hour. There were three or four minor auto crashes along the way. No reports of anything serious occurred. At one point, I couldn't figure out why everything was so dark behind me. Then I realized that the back window was caked in frozen snow. Things finally cleared up in South Porcupine, about five kilometres from the front door.

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T18:30:00.000-05:00

A sad situation

2010-11-08T23:00:00.005-05:00

I don't often let my work cross over into my blog stuff, but today was different. I had to be in court to cover the bail hearing of a young woman who is accused of faking cancer to collect money to finance cancer treatments. I have to be careful what I write here, because the court issued a Ban on Publication, meaning one must obey the court order and not publish evidence, ... even on a blog. I photographed the woman as she was escorted from court and back to jail. I wasn't happy being there. Somebody mentioned that after all the suffering Jennifer endured in the past year, I must be feeling especially angry to see somebody faking cancer. Actually, it wasn't anger. It was just sadness to see a young person having to resort to faking illness for whatever reason. I don't think anyone who truly knows what a cancer patient endures could possibly think about faking it. For some unhappy reason, the young person in court did what she did and it's all quite sad. I sat in court and watched at she looked up at some friends and then burst into tears, covering her face. I know this sounds like I am a softy, but the important thing is that Jennifer has recovered her health. Nothing else matters, not even the fact that some misguided young person has done something stupid.

Deadwood

2010-11-03T22:20:00.002-04:00

I have downloaded Season One of an award-winning TV series called Deadwood. It's a semi-fictional account of life in a gold mining camp back in South Dakota the 1870s. Some of it is quite good, but some of it is not. Each episode is about 55 minutes long, but if they took out the cussing and swear words, an episode might be 30 minutes. I know the writers want to keep things authentic, but this is just silly. But I'm at the point where I've watched eight episodes, so now I have to see it through to the end. It's still a good story.
Speaking of good stories, don't rush when you're in the book store! I zipped into The Book Bin last week to load up on six new novels. I glanced at the names of the authors and bought the books. At home this week I discovered that I had read two of the books already; one of them as recently as August!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T01:31:00.005-04:00

Had some fun this weekend. I was able to put on some really gross make-up and get out to a couple of Halloween parties. The first was a fun get-together at my apartment building where everyone met in the lobby for some drinks and a few treats, Saturday afternoon. Something in the wine made me sleepy, so I had a quick nap and then went out to another party hosted by Martha Dillman and Amanda Dyer, a couple of local radio announcers, who are both from Nova Scotia! They throw the the best parties. Great food, great company, great fun . I guess I am one of those people who believes Halloween is about being scarey ... and not just a costume event. Even the cab driver said I looked horrible! Woohoo : )

They're having fun eh...

2010-10-30T08:57:00.002-04:00

Funny Stuff. Neil and Nolene are in Peru.... they're both busy with text messages as well. Yesterday I laughed when Nolene wrote: "How many Peruvians does it take to change a light bulb? .... Just Juan!"

Neil wrote: nmgillis nmgillis
made it to Lima! yesterdays hike to Laguna69 was killer, getting pumped for Machu Pichu. quick stop in Nazca tommorw then straight to Cuzco!

Keeping tabs on the Neil!

2010-10-27T19:01:00.003-04:00

Actually, I am joking. Neil is keeping tabs on himself for me using that Twitter thingy. He and Nolene are traveling these days in South America. So Neil is sending out messages via Twitter so that he can keep in touch. I guess it's kind of cool and sure saves on the phone bill. I am saving the messages ... here they are in their raw form:

nmgillis nmgillis: awesome curry, great hospitality, good friends & an endless supply of rum! thanks for the great times @chilledperu wish i could stay longer!26 Oct Favorite Retweet Reply

» nmgillis nmgillis: good morning from Peru! border crossing went fairly easy, saw some amazing ancient ruins yesterday. they have a god named Crab-man! so cool.25 Oct Favorite Retweet Reply
swimmin´in the ocean, workin´on my sunburn, suckin´back cervezas.... life is so hard. where to next?16 Oct via web Favorite Retweet Reply

nmgillis nmgillis dear Latin America.. your music is not that good. after an 8hr bus ride with one CD playing ALL NIGHT LONG, give it a rest. for real.15 Oct Favorite Retweet Reply

» nmgillis nmgillis Breakfast in Baños - amazing! getting ready for a 12hr or so overnighter to the coast. what to do this afternoon? maybe hit the market? yup.14 Oct Favorite Retweet Reply

» nmgillis nmgillis first official south of the equator sunburn - check! great bike ride today, will be sore tommorw, thank gawd for thermal hot baths!13 Oct Favorite Retweet Reply

OCT.12,2010 - hey guys! just a quick note to let yà know that i made it down safe and sound! as for day one all i can say is the country is beautiful! flew into Quito late last night & Nolene picked me up at the airport (thank Gawd) and we stayed at this super neat hostel named the ´`Secret Garden¨... after a 3hr bus ride this morning we made it into Baños, a small touristy town with hot springs, mountains & waterfalls.. dinner and a couple beers tonight then off to do a 60km bike ride (down hill at least - c´mon now!) into another small town named Puyo. after a few days here we gonna make it to the coast then back then down to Peru for the 22nd or so.. so yes.. all is good, we are alive and awaiting more adventures... will send pics a lil later when we have time to upload them.. prob will be updated my flickr acct which has been lonely for the past few years... will be updating twiiter so keep an eye on that! twiiter.com/nmgillis twitter.com/nolsonline until then, Ciao! much love! talk soon!

Great television.

2010-10-20T21:44:00.003-04:00

I have not been a big fan of television in recent years. Too much trash on TV. But I have spent the past few weeks totally absorbed in watching the last two complete seasons of a fabulous, award-winning political series called The West Wing. That is 44 one-hour episodes!
If you haven't seen it, buy the DVD. It's the best television of the last ten years. I am not much of a critic of acting, but I liked the actors. Martin Sheen was an excellent President of the United States. What was really good was the writing. It made me think. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me cheer. It's one television program that I believe is better than reading a book.

Here's a good quote from the show:
"The problem with living outside the law is that you no longer have the protection of it."

Here's a funny sample of one scene:
Leo McGarry: We spent millions of dollars developing a pen that could write in space.
Do you know what the Russians did?
Josh Lyman: Used a pencil?
Leo McGarry: Used a pencil.

A hike in the woods and Neil's is heading to Peru

2010-10-16T18:46:00.012-04:00

Fall is certainly settling in and it won't be long before old man winter arrives in Timmins. I took a nice walk through the forest today and was amazed at all the colors you can still see. It won't be long before everything is white. I am going to enjoy a nice big steak for dinner tonight so I figured one hour hike was just the thing to help my appetite. I am spoiling myself. Last night I had pickerel for dinner. (Thanks to Denise!) It was perfect.
Anyway, the hike was nice and I found lots of colorful things to photograph. I even found an old claimpost with a brass tag. There was moss growing on top of the post and I couldn't read any writing that would indicate the date. I figure it has to be more than half a century old because there hasn't been any claim staking in the Hersey area for more than 50 years. This was at Hawk Ridge, which is just north of the old Hollinger Mine tailings area, so I am guessing every claim around this area is patented and locked up by Goldcorp.

I had a quick chat with Jennifer today and she is well. I actually began my Christmas shopping so I had to check up on some stuff for her boys. Speaking of boys, my own son is off to South America these days. Neil met Nolene in Ecuador on Monday. Last e-mail I got said they were off cycling, staying in hostels and working their way towards Peru. He will be spending 30 days on vacation. Must be nice to be young and adventurous eh.

Grrrrreat Thanksgiving (grreat photos too)

2010-10-11T14:18:00.006-04:00

I am thankful for much in my life.
I have the best family. And that’s not just my children, but all the fabulous people in my extended family. I am so pleased when I think of all the great people that shape and influence my life. It’s funny that it takes a while to fully appreciate them and the special way each person contributes to my world. But I am sure thankful.
Had a great conversation with Debra this weekend as she was hosting Thanksgiving for the Curtis clan in Cambridge. Her boys Alex and Scott were at the wedding in Mira. How nice is that. Both boys are now living on the East Coast, attending university.
Just got back home from the Alexander’s camp where we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. As usual, the food was great and the company was perfect. Don and Denise were the perfect host and hostess. Christine and Victoria were there and so was Scott, Jennifer, Tyler and Nathan. It was a nice time considering that there was hunting, fishing and ATV quad-riding for the kids. Nathan and Scott went out Sunday morning and bagged two partridge. Tyler and Scott went out this morning and shot four more. I was able to catch a couple of pickerel! Truth be told, they came from Denise’s freezer, already filleted and ready for the frying pan.
One of the fun things we did this weekend was to have a silly shooting contest with two cases of warm pop. We shook the cans, set them up on a stump and then used pellet rifles to blow ‘em up. It was fun and I amazed at how good the kids are at shooting. Tyler, Nathan and Victoria are amazing sharp-shooters. And nothing blows up better than warm pop!

More good news from Jenn

2010-09-29T14:52:00.004-04:00

Had a good chat with Jenn last night. It amazing the things we talk about. The best news was that Jenn's results came in from her latest bone marrow test for her leukemia. And the news is good. Negative results. No cancerous cells found. This is her fifth successful test in a row. I am a happy fellow. Keep smiling all. Next test is in January.

Stew!

2010-09-26T19:57:00.002-04:00

Today is a stew day. After all, Fall has arrived and the temperature was one Celsius when I woke this morning. I was also out hiking in the bush for a couple of hours before Noon today, so I figure I am entitled to something more than Kraft Dinner for Sunday supper.
There is something ceremonial about making stew. I zipped out to a local grocer this afternoon to get all fresh ingredients. The butcher guy gave me a bunch of beef loin cuts for stewing beef. Then I got mushrooms, onions, carrots, turnip, celery and red potatoes. I started searing the beef with a chunk of garlic in olive oil and then added half a glass of dry red wine and fresh ground pepper. The kitchen smelled great. I let the searing go on for about twenty minutes before I added onions and celery, and than after awhile, I added a few cups of beef broth with the turnips and carrots. I let it all simmer for a couple of hours before I added the mushrooms and potatoes. Then I made some garlic bread and pulled out the Royal Doulton china for the first time since Jennifer visited. I was thinking of enjoying it all with a glass of wine, but then I realized I had some Guinness!

It's like Christmas came early ...

2010-09-25T08:17:00.008-04:00

Saturday morning, it's rainy and overcast in Timmins, but the coffee is good with rye toast and a dab of peanut butter. It's all good. I think I have to get my mind around the fact that the cooler weather is back in Timmins. I pushed my luck on my holidays. I did not pack a jacket or anything with long sleeves. Not even a sweater. Luckily I didn't need it. But if I did, Neil would have come to the rescue. He had a gift for me to take home that I sure didn't expect. It is an Olympic jacket from the 2010 Vancouver games. I don't know precisely how he got it, because the jackets were not for sale to the public. I think he helped out somebody that was involved in the games, and they returned the favour. It is one of the blue jackets that was worn by Olympic volunteers. I was quite pleased with that. I think because it's not the sort of thing I ever expected. It sure is cool ... but's it's also warm too.
Speaking of warm, I got myself a gift while on the west coast. I was window shopping in Victoria when I saw the Cowichan Trading Company. For years I have admired the knitted sweaters made by the Cowichan Indians on Vancouver Island. Renee, the salesperson, explained that Scottish settlers taught some celtic knitting techniques to the Indian women in the 1800s. As I looked as the prices, I thought they were a bit expensive, but then I figured they weren't going to get any cheaper. This is not the sort of sweater that will end up at the Salvation Army store in couple of years from now.
Ronald chipped in on the gift wagon too. Of course there is that special bottle of 12-year-old Scotch. That's certainly something that will wait until Christmas, or the New Year. When I mentioned that I had to go shopping for a duffle bag to carry some extra stuff back to Timmins, Ron rushed to his garage and came up with a brand new Forces duffle bag from Afghanistan. He even threw in a velcro 'GILLIS' name tag. Very Cool stuff!
When I got back to Ontario, there was another neat little gift waiting for me. Cousin Victoria picked up a nice coffee mug for me from her trip to Las Vegas. That's pretty darn nice eh.

Finally back home in Timmins

2010-09-19T21:59:00.003-04:00

(Written on Friday) So this is it. Last full day on the train. If it all runs on schedule I should be arriving at Sudbury Junction around 2:00 a.m. Saturday and daughter Jenn will be there to greet me. I am not sure if she knew what time the train would be arriving when she agreed to pick me up. I know I didn’t. But since trains travel day and night, they have to stop somewhere when they run at night.
I was up early today and in the dining car by 6:30 a.m. I knew I was back in Northern Ontario just by the scenery, the rocks, trees and lakes. And in this part of the country the falls colours are already evident. The prairies are far behind us. Many of the travelers are commenting that they enjoyed seeing the prairies, but after 18 or 19 hours of the same thing, they were pleased to welcome the rocks and trees here in the North.
I am skipping lunch today, because there is just too much food on this journey. I will make a point of being in the dining car for supper. I skipped supper last night because I knew we’d be in the Winnipeg. I was told I missed out on a fabulous prime rib of roast beef dinner. The chef and cooking staff on board are very good at what they do. I know the food is fresh because when we stopped in Winnipeg I watched as several baskets of fresh fruit and produce was loaded into the kitchen car.
Several of the travelers and myself have discussed whether this is the sort of thing to do again. My answer is Yes. Maybe the next time, it would be fun to do it in the winter or travel east to west instead of west to east. I know I want to travel across the United States by train as well. Maybe that will be another trip. One of the fellows from Holland has convinced me that I should travel across Britain and Europe by train. Some of the trains travel as fast as airplanes at 300 kilometres per hour. I don’t think I could enjoy that at ground level.
One of the things I will research when I get home is how the light systems work for trains. You can see them in the distance when you sit in the dome car. You know those tall light fixtures that look like traffic lights beside the train tracks. All I know is that we seem to run a lot of red lights.
It is now 6:30 p.m. Friday and we have passed through Hornepayne. I was able to find a payphone to call Jennifer and let her know when I would be arriving, after midnight. The train will have a service stop in Capreol about an hour before Sudbury Junction, so I will get off the train there and save Jenn some sleep time.
During the stop in Hornepayne, I found the LCBO and was able to treat some Americans and Aussies to a few nice tall cans of Canadian Beer.
It will be nice to get home in a few days, but I know I will miss the fun of being on holidays. I have a lot of new e-mail addresses and several new friends.
It’s now 11:30 p.m. and the train is rolling slowly through Northern Ontario. We’re making way again for freight traffic. I left the Park Car minutes ago after chatting with Steve from Seattle. Interesting guy with all sorts of insights on U.S. politics and even his days of fighting in Vietnam. I got his contact info, shook his hand and he headed off to his cabin. I am back in my cabin. The bags are all packed and in a couple of hours the train should be in Capreol. I am impressed that the crew is doing a great job of looking after the passengers and the engineer is doing his best to keep the train on time.
Dinner tonight was an excellent baked pickerel dinner with scalloped potatoes, vegetables and a fish chowder. Dessert was an amazing caramel chocolate torte. Seating is assigned by the headwaiter in the dining car and tonight I was with three senior citizens. Sylvia from St. Catharines on her way home and Roger and Kathy are from New Zealand enjoying a cross-Canada holiday. All three wore hearing aids, so I had to speak loudly during dinner. I felt kind of silly about that, but after a couple of beers, I was speaking loudly anyway. We also had a wine tasting event this evening. That was fun. Well I have finally drained my flask of the whiskey I filled it with in Vancouver. So I am sipping that as I wait for the train to carry me into Capreol. Time to shut down the laptop and pack up the computer bag with the best of my luggage.
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Jennifer met me at the train at Capreol right on time. We got to the house and boys woke up to give me welcoming hugs. How nice was that? Jenn and I sat and chatted till 3:00 a.m. before we finally called it a day. I was up at about 10:30 a.m. and Jennifer had a fabulous breakfast ready. After relaxing with a nice cup of coffee and getting caught up on all the gossip, I hit the road north for Timmins. Got in just before 6:00 p.m.

Another long day in VIA Village

2010-09-16T21:43:00.007-04:00

It’s 7:40 Thursday morning and I am guessing we’re in Saskatchewan. I know we went through Edmonton last night and the land is now vast and flat. The Canadian prairie. I have decided to skip breakfast in the dining car. Supper last night was delicious baked halibut with wasabi slaw and baby potatoes fried in butter with red peppers. Then there was a fabulous slice of raspberry covered cheesecake. The Aussie gang bought me a beer and then I enjoyed a nice warm whiskey.

As I write this, (Thursday Morning) I am in the dome section of the Park Car at the very tail end of this train. As we round a curve I can see the loco, wayyyy in the distance. It’s so far ahead that I can’t hear the horn sound as the train approaches road crossings.

I haven’t skipped breakfast entirely. This is a great place to enjoy a cranberry muffin and hot coffee, watching the scenery roll by.

We’re going slowly right now, which means another freight train is approaching. We often pull off to a rail siding to make way for the freight trains heading west. Some Europeans travelers I met last night are a bit miffed by this. They said the passenger trains in Europe have dedicated rail corridors for passenger traffic only and that it is much more efficient. I explained to them that aside from the St. Lawrence seaway ports, Canada has two major seaports, Vancouver and Halifax and all the cargo has to be hauled to those ports, and from those ports, by train or truck. Because Canada is so huge, trains are vital. One European woman was from Holland. I asked her how big Holland is compared to Canada. She said it’s about the size of Vancouver Island.

I slept a bit better last night. The occasional slowing down and speeding up the train didn’t seem to bother me. I do remember waking sometime around 4:00 a.m. and noticing that the mountains were gone. I could see lights of farm houses in the distance and the land was flat, flat, flat in all directions.

The sky is overcast this morning, but I can see the clouds slowly moving south. There are clear skies and sunlight in the northwest, over my left shoulder.

I am thinking today will be an interesting day. This is the third day all of us have been couped up on this rolling village. I find that more and more people are getting up to walk around and explore the full train. I think I will try to visit the front of the train today and then come back and count all the cars. All the faces one sees now are becoming familiar. Everyone knows the train staff by their first names and they’re all pleasant people.

It is amazing how comfortable train travel can be if you book a cabin. Each cabin has its own toilet facility and I have learned that certain things are so much easier to do sitting down. There are individual shower and change rooms down the hall. The shower is good and hot, but not very high up. I am not a tall fellow, but I had to crouch a bit to wash my hair.

Later today, there is a crew change in Winnipeg. That means we will have three hours of free time to enjoy off the train. … away from the rolling “VIA village”. I met new people at lunch. Gary, Carrie and Steve are all from Seattle and they're traveling across Canada to Halifax. Very nice people and I sure hope they have a good time. I told them they will likely love Halifax. It's a port city, much like Seattle, and the people there are welcoming and friendly.

Now in Winnipeg 8:40 p.m. local time. I could not post anything until now because we were crossing Alberta, Saskatchewan and halfway through Manitoba. Not only was there no wireless Internet, but there was very little cell phone service anywhere near the VIA Rail line. I was in Portage la Prairie before I could send a text out to Jennifer and Neil. Portage is where Debra was born XX years ago! I got off the train about 20 minutes ago and found a nice pub close to the station here in downtown Winnipeg. It’s called Earl’s Restaurant… kinda like Caseys and Boston Pizza together, but much bigger. There is a huge Thursday night crowd here so Winnipeggers are like everyone else, - - - they like to enjoy themselves. And thank goodness, Earl’s has free Internet access in the restaurant. I am sitting at the bar with beer and pizza instead of pounding on my laptop in the main dining room.

The pizza is a nice change from the very exclusive menu aboard the train. I have enjoyed some fabulous meals and wine, but right now my taste leans to the brew and pizza!

By the way, for Neil's sake I am learning to enjoy local beers. Tonight it is Fort Garry India Pale Ale. I will get some extra photos up here soon. It's just that right now it is difficult to edit and post a lot of photos so that will likely happen next week.

Eastbound Train for Sudbury

2010-09-15T19:04:00.005-04:00

Posted Wednesday afternoon in Jasper:

(Tuesday evening in Vancouver)This train thing is so new to me in so many ways. I haven’t been on a real passenger train across the country since I was a kid traveling with my Mom. So it begins in The Grand Pacific Station in Vancouver where all the other travelers wait in an outdoor lounge beside The Canadian. That’s the name of VIA Rail’s cross country train these days. Scores of people, most of them older than forty, are sitting listening to “lounge music” performed by some old guy… we hear tunes like Folsom Prison, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad and The City of New Orleans. All train songs. It’s not too bad. I cabbed over here just minutes ago from Steamworks, the pub where Neil works. Had a nice supper there, a couple of beers and a Scotch. Neil and I said our goodbyes and I was on my way. The old music guy is now playing Jazz. It’s all good. The train crew is loading our baggage on the train and this west coast weather is amazingly mild, warm, breezy and easy to take. Neil and his friends assure me this is the sort of weather they experience year round out here.

I found it too easy to promise that I would be back out here in a year. I am dying to take a trip to Europe, but I can really enjoy this sort of weather and laid-back lifestyle again. Not that the lifestyle in Northern Ontario isn’t easy. It’s just that for a bigger city, Vancouver is very easy going. The people don’t act like they live in a big city. They’re going to work at the same time that Toronto people are taking their first coffee break of the morning and so it’s easy to understand how they’re not in any big rush.

There are a lot of the older crowd on the train platform. That is evident by the fact that the music guy has announced that people may want to “get a ride” out to their train car on the “people mover” which is some sort of a glorified golf cart. A lot of the grey-hair blue-hair crowd take up the offer. I am definitely in the over-40 crowd, but I am way too proud to get on the people mover!

(Wednesday morning. 9:20 a.m. local time, somewhere east of Kamloops. BC.) We boarded the train last night and got rolling just after 8:00 p.m. I was pleased to be assigned to a single “cabin” on car 220, just three cars from the Park Car at the end of the train. There are nearly 30 cars on the train. Because I am near the back I can see the locomotive, more than a quarter mile ahead when we’re moving around curves.

Once we began moving, there was a champagne cocktail party in the Park Car. I sat with John and Maggie from Devon, England and Kees and Irene from Holland. We also met about a half dozen Aussies on vacation as well. Rosa the barmaid was pleased to empty several bottles of champagne for us, and when that ran out we began drinking Kokanee, a popular BC beer. Last call was around 11:00 p.m. and we headed back to our cabins.

I didn’t sleep well last night, but that’s the excitement of being on the train. I laid in my bunk and watched the stars and nightscape roll by. It doesn’t matter. My cabin is all mine and I can nap any time I want. I was awakened at 7:00 by my cell phone ringing. I thought it was bizarre, but it was the doctor’s office in Timmins calling to confirm an appointment for October 8^th. I apologized for sounding tired, but explained I was just waking up somewhere in the BC interior aboard the transcontinental VIA.

I’ve just have breakfast in the dining car, with linen tablecloths and napkins, real cutlery and china. I sat with a Michigan couple, Jim and Colene, and Doreen from White Rock, BC. It was nice to eat and chat and find out about other people from other places. We all agreed that we like trains.

The internet service I was expecting on this train is not available. I am told it will be available when we stop at larger stations. That’s the only time I will be able to update the blog. In the meantime, there are two shower rooms at the end of this sleeper car. I think I will have a nap, a nice hot shower and then get caught up on some reading up in the Dome car.

4:00 p.m. and we arrived in Jasper. It's raining. Our view of the magnificent mountains out here has been obscured by fog and overcast. I sent a text to Jenn and Neil to let them know I was arriving in Jasper. Neil told me to check out the Whistle Stop Pub, across the street from the train station, so I did. I joined up with the Aussies, Dean & Bink and Peter & Jenny for a cold brew and a nice chat. And believe it or not, I ran into a girl from Timmins who works there at the bar!!! How cool is that? So as I write this I am with about 100 other passengers waiting to get back on the train. The VIA crew does a service stop for roughly an hour in Jasper and we cannot board until their work is done. It is foggy and rainy here and many of the passengers can’t believe how long the train is. Our car is near the back of the train and we had to walk nearly two hundred metres just to get to the station.

So that’s all for now. Will write more and log in when I can.

Chillin' in Comox

2010-09-13T14:54:00.008-04:00

It's a nice morning in Comox, BC, where my bro Ronald lives with his wife Leilani and their two children, Christina and Matthew. I have been a guest here since Sunday afternoon when I rode the VIA Rail from Victoria four and a half hours north.
On Sunday the beerfest crowd from Vancouver got together for a quick brunch in downtown Victoria. Neil and I were pleased to meet up with cousin Sherry Fortais(Sue's daughter)and Sherry's daughter Tia. We had a great meal and a great chat. I never had any idea that Sherry was living in Victoria until Jennifer told me and said to make sure we got a visit in. So glad we did!
After the train ride into Comox, Ron picked me up at the train station and somehow became an excellent host. (Not bad for a little brother!) And it has been great. I am being spoiled again. Ronald outdid himself with a fabulous ribeye steak dinner last night and then Lani served up n awesome chocolate cake with strawberries for dessert! The cake was so good that I had to have some for breakfast today.
After all it would not be polite just to let it sit there! Ronald promised that Comox would be a great place to visit and he is right. This is an amazing town with great weather and everywhere you look there is amazing scenery. Looking out the kitchen window from their new house, you can see the mountains and glaciers on the mainland of BC. How cool is that? I think I like the fresh air the best. The air here is as clean and crisp as anything in Northern Ontario. And Ron drove me all around in his new Jeep Liberty, which i might add is the sister vehicle to the Dodge Nitro that I have. Today we also drove around and soon I will be boarding a flight from Comox back to Vancouver. I got a chance to say goodbye to Lani. She works at the airbase and she met us in the parking lot since I would not be allowed into her work area. But we were able to snap some very nice photos.

It was so nice to visit here. I know I will miss them all ... and the leftover chocolate cake too. But I didn't forget that bottle of Scotch Ronald promised! Tomorrow will be interesting as I will prepare to leave the West and begin the journey back east to Ontario. Keep smiling.

The people you meet . . .

2010-09-11T11:59:00.009-04:00

It's nice to meet different people in different parts of the country. I was chatting with a craft brewwer from Smithers, BC at the Great Canadian Beer Festival Friday and snapped a couple of photos. I asked his name. He said Mark Gillis. I was surprised to meet another Gillis. Sure enough his family is from the east coast. His dad is Gerald Gillis and his grandfather was Hugh Gillis, who used to run some sort of taxi service and was the first fire chief in Sydney,where they're all from.
The beer fest is fun and a bit crazy and lots of people had plenty of fun including this cute couple, Nolene and Neil. I don't know anyone else in the other photos but they were among the crowd seriously enjoying the unique taste of craft beers.

Beer festival time!

2010-09-10T15:08:00.009-04:00

Arrived in Victoria minutes ago. Neil and I were up early and out the door so he could get down to the restaurant and load up the truck with beer. Shortly after that we boarded the BC Ferry to Victoria.
Neil and his buds from Steamworks enjoyed a nice brunch on the boat. I enjoyed the fabulous scenery and some fresh air to help wake up.
Once we arrived on Vancouver Island, there was a quick stop to buy some pumpkins. This is to help show off the fact they have produced a very nice pumpkin ale. That's Neil on the left in the photo with one of his co-workers and the pumpkin.
Just got into my hotel room in downtown Victoria, the Carleton. A very nice 100-year-old hotel. Going to freshen up and head over to the beerfest. The phone rang and it was my favourite niece Melissa. She will be joining me for the the afternoon. How nice is that?

Being a tourist

2010-09-10T01:34:00.006-04:00

Thursday (earlier today) I took the train from Seattle back to Vancouver. I rode business class which was about $10 more than economy and worth it because the seats were more comfortable and we got to board the train first and then we got free coffee. That was easily worth ten bucks.

Wednesday’s visit to the Museum of Flight was great. I am an aviation nut so I spent nearly five hours wandering through the place, which is huge. Nearby was one of the Boeing Aircraft plants. I don’t know what planes are being made in there because the entire place is surrounded by high fences and barbed wire.

Some of the highlights of the flight museum included a tour of Boeing 707 No.86970 which was Air Force One during the Jack Kennedy era.

I could only imagine the conversations that went on inside that plane. It felt cool to be standing next to JFK's chair. The museum also had a British Airways Concorde, the fastest airliner in the world which would make supersonic flights across the Atlantic. A lot of the flight museum is about speed.I sat in the cockpit of the SR71 spy plane, a plane so fast that it could out run a bullet or a missile. A high powered hunting rifle will shoot a bullet at 3,000 feet per second. The SR71 flew at 3,200 feet per secont. So fast in fact that the paint would burn off the plane in high altitude flight. I was also pleased to see the museum had a Canadian CF86 Sabre in RCAF colours, which made a unique contribution to aviation history. Iremember Sabres from when I was a child in many of the airbases I lived on. Enough about nerdy airplane stuff.

I spent the rest of the day in Pike's Place market, the place where the fish mongers throw salmon around like baseball practice. It was cool.The great thing about being on holiday is you don't have to stop for coffee or bottled water if you're thirsty. Just step into one of the dozens of boutique pubs for a fresh cold glass of draught beer. Coffee is very popular though in Seattle. Starbucks began in Seattle and Neil told me the very first Starbucks was the cafe at Pikes market.

Also, one of my rules about travel is to always get the nicest hotel possible. That way, if the day is boring, you have a bad meal, or the weather goes crappy, you can also go back to a nice room. I stayed at the Seattle Crowne Plaza. I had a nice luxury suite and amazing service. And because Labour Day marked the end of the summer tourist season, I was able to get a very nice rate.

Seattle is nice

2010-09-08T10:47:00.006-04:00

Had to get up extra early Tuesday to catch the train out of Vancouver to Seattle. I didn't expect to see such a crownd at the station at 6:00 a.m. The train ride was amazingly smooth. Don't forget, my last trip on a train was the Polar Bear Express out of Cochrane to Moosonee. This was a nice trip as the train ran close to the Pacific coast most of the way. It was interesting to see the massive nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abe Lincoln heading out to sea.
In my haste to get going I forgot about one very important detail Neil had reminded me about the night before. Tuesday was the first day back to school for Tyler and Nathan. If I had remembered, I would have telephoned my best wishes. I blew it.
The train got into Seattle just before noon, and the hotel literature said the hotel was only half a mile away from the Amtrak station. NOT! I decided it would be a nice walk, but that was a stupid move. I was carrying my cams, my laptop and a duffle bag. Then I discovered that my trek to the hotel was uphill. I mean seriously UPHILL. I figured I'd give it a try, but after about three hundred metres in the noonday sun, a big yellow taxi pulled up to drop somebody off. "Thank you God!" I gasped. The driver let me hop in we drove to the hotel.
The room is fabulous with a nice view, but I didn't stay long. I had a shower, a 20-minute nap and out the door to cruise the streets. The downtown is nice with lots of boutiques, restaurants and pubs. I went on a bit of a pub crawl, enjoying appetizers and local beers in three different places. Manny's Pale Ale at the Hardrock Cafe was the best. The homemade crab cakes at the Pike's Brewing Company pub were awesome.
Today will be interesting. It's raining like crazy, but I am heading out to the Museum of Flight. After all, Seattle is home to one of the largest aircraft plants in the world, Boeing.

Getting spoiled.

2010-09-06T23:03:00.002-04:00

Neil is spoiling me again. Tonight we went out to check out of some of the restaurants in his neighbourhood. Neil lives in the area known as Davie Village, which he says is Vancouver's Gayborhood. Not sure what that's all about, but everyone is so friendly. Even the guys hold hands out here! LOL Anyway, think of Davie Street as being like Queen West in Toronto, which has so many good restaurants. We found a Greek place called Stephos. But there was a line-up on the sidewalk, in the rain. I took that as a good sign. If people were willing to stand in the rain to get in, then so was I. It took about 25 minutes but we got in and got a table. I don't know what the appetizers were, but Neil said not to worry. He was right. They were awesome. Something with cheese, and spinach and philo dough. I wasn't sure what to order, but the waiter said the roast lamb entree was popular. So I ordered it. After enjoying some Greek wine, the waiter brought out a slab of roast lamb the size of a small dog! It was amazing. Potatoes, rice, vegetables, greek salad and roast all for $9.95! No wonder there are line-ups. After supper, we walked home and dropped by the English Bay beach area. It was a bit overcast, but still nice to see the ocean. Then Neil found a liquor store. Eight oclock on Labour Day evening and we bought Scotch and Beer! You can't do THAT in Ontario. Tommorow is a new day. Going to Seattle.