Priorities ...

Last night, I was thirsty. I figured that a nice cold beer would hit the spot.

I didn’t have any at home. Just water, wine and whisky.

But I didn’t go out to get any beer. Water was fine.

This morning at breakfast, I noticed my groceries were getting a bit low.

No eggs, no bacon, no juice, no bread, no fruit. 

Oh well, it’s not like I’m starving.

Today was going to be a good day to veg out. Just stay home and relax.

Then I realized I had just finished reading a book

I bought three books three weeks ago. I finished the third one at lunchtime.

Hmmm…

I showered, shaved, got dressed and went out … to the book store.

By the way, I gassed up the truck, got some beer and picked up a steak.

It’s going to be a nice evening.

Good news eh ...

Every now and then I get to write a news story I feel really good about. This week it was the rescue of a dog that fell through the thin ice on the Mattagami River. Fellows from the fire department did the rescue.  It felt good to see the little pooch brought back to shore. I was lucky to be nearby to snap some pictures. We put the photos online Tuesday on our website, and on Facebook,  and the response has been amazing. I have to always remember that people like it when there are good news stories. I couldn't help but think how much Tyler and Nathan would have been pleased to see this.

Arse over teakettle!

Today was a nice and relaxing, although overcast, winter day. I slept in. That’s because I got home at about 2:45 a.m. I guess I didn’t realize how much fun I was having last night after the CTV Telethon wrapped up. As I was leaving the party, I stepped outside to see a couple of fellows standing by the back step. One fellow cautioned me to walk carefully. The freezing rain had made things slippery and his buddy had just fallen. Luckily he had a few drinks in him and may have been a bit “relaxed”.
The fellow said his chum had fallen “arse over teakettle” and was still hurting. That got me wondering about where that phrase came from. I knew exactly what it meant. And I was understandably sympathetic for the poor fellow. Seriously, no one wants to fall arse over teakettle. It happened to me last winter when I slipped on some ice. When my head slammed down on the ice, it snapped my jaw upwards; I broke a tooth and paid $600 for dental work!  (See January 30^th 2012 on this blog).

But arse over teakettle is just one of those sayings most people understand. I remember hearing it from my Dad, when I was a kid. There is another saying I remember hearing from my Mom.  She would say: “You kids are running around like (Get this!) A fart in a mitt”. Okay, I have no idea. WHO would fart in a mitt and what the heck does it mean?

Different Worlds.

The United Nations has given Palestine the status of a Non Member Observer State. Hmm.  This is like Romans claiming they’re still entitled to parts of Scotland. No wonder thinking people have lost respect for the UN. It’s almost laughable. The sad part is, the violence will continue in the Mid East. Some people there still think it’s okay to kill Israelis because of ancient history. I was reading the Jerusalem Post newspaper today… reading the comments of Israeli citizens who are worried about more rockets being fired on them from Gaza. Amazing how different our worlds are. I think the most I worry about is icy road conditions. I don’t know if I’d want to sit in the line-up at Tim Hortons if high explosive rockets were being fired at me.

Great Reading ...

I just finished one of the best novels I have enjoyed in a long, long time. Armageddon by Leon Uris. I remember seeing it on the coffee table when I was a kid. Dad was also a reader who liked to devour book after book. The reason I remember this particular novel is because I had no idea what the title meant.  By the way, it has nothing to do with the movie of the same name that was made several years ago, about an asteroid.

 This novel is amazing … one of the best novels of the 20^th Century. This is the same author who wrote Exodus, Topaz and QB-VII.  Uris is a brilliant writer of historical fiction. I should have known … his other books were fabulous. I have to warn you, Uris does incredible research. The book might seem slow at first, but he sets you up with all the details and research you will need to know.  Wow, what a story.

So now I am in some sort of withdrawal. This book consumed me for the past two weeks. Every page was like a treat, but I knew, with pending dread,  that as I turned each page I was inching closer and closer to the end of the book.

The story is a modern tragedy set in post war Europe, mixed in with several love stories, adventure that will get you cheering, along with anger and sorrow at our human weaknesses. The characters drove me crazy. Some were incredible, others I hated. And I was devastated when some of the characters died … it was like a personal loss.

So I dare you … grab the Kleenex, a fresh bottle of whiskey, and TRY to read Armageddon.  I say try because it will overtake you.

Armageddon, Leon Uris.

672 pages.

Doubleday and Company, Inc.

New York, NY - 1964

It's really not so cold anymore ...

Today was an odd day. It was cold, sure, but I am used to that. It was cold enough this morning, minus ten, that I decided it was time to wear my winter parka. I pulled it out of the closet and took off the plastic. I had it dry-cleaned weeks ago. As I pulled the parka on, I realized how warm it was … it seemed too warm. But when I got outside, it was just right. But then, as I was driving through town and running errands, it became too warm again. But my other coats seems a bit too cool for this weather. Or I have to wear a bulky sweater.  So I compromised by walking around with this big bulky parka, but I didn’t zip it closed.  I kept my toque on though.

The weather is definitely changing. I remember November from years ago, back in the 1970s as being much colder. Back then I would chum along with the fellows from Austin Airways on their flights up north to Hudson Bay and beyond. On a few of those flights, we were in the venerable DC3, those twin-engine workhorses that kept the Canadian North open. And once we got into the Eastern Arctic, we would always land on the ice. There were several airstrips close to coastal villages … the thing is, there was always ice from early November through to early April.  Now I am told that in some places Hudson Bay doesn’t freeze over until January.

I have some of my own photos and slides of those flights, but they’re packed away in boxes. This photo is from Archives Canada. I am not sure, but I would bet the DC3 in the background is an Austin plane.

 By the way, for some reason I still prefer propeller planes. I just find them more comforting… and I was always able to sleep comfortably with that incessant droning noise of a prop engine. The whine of a jet engine doesn’t seem the same. Airplanes now are far more reliable than the old birds like the DC3, but I still enjoyed them.  I will have to dig out photos from my last DC3 flight from several years ago.

Here’s a little reminder from this blog from back in 2009.

http://scoopgillis.blogspot.ca/2009/02/celebrating-flight.html

I talk too much ...

Talk a lot or what? I had to get a prescription renewed today. I went to the grocery store to drop it off – because the supermarket has a pharmacy. It usually takes about ten minutes. But today, the pharmacy assistant said it would be about 30 minutes. He pointed to a stack of prescriptions and said there was a backlog today. Oh well, I could always go sit in the truck and read for a bit. Or I could turn on my phone to see if there were any voice mails. In the meantime, I grabbed a grocery basket and decided to pick up a few things. Suddenly I was bumping into people I had not seen in awhile. So I had to chat. Move on, grab some laundry detergent. Oh, there’s the guy who owns the store. More chat. Business is great he said. He moved to Timmins just a few years ago and can’t believe how strong the economy is. Nice to hear. Then we talked about the new gold mine. Things sure are looking up.  Then we talked about the tourist outfitters doing great business because the drilling crews are staying in all the tourist lodges. Then a former mayor walked over to the aisle we were in. More chat. That new gold mine is really going to change the look of the downtown eh. Break away. Pick up some lettuce, but I don’t like the tomatoes. Oh there’s whats-her-name … a lady I used to date. So howzit going? It’s all good. Yeah, the weather sucks right now... but hey, it's November. Spring is on the way! Time to check out. Neighbour lady is there at the cash counter. I left my debit card there once. Now every time she sees me, she says loudly “don’t forget your debit card eh!” I just smile and nod.There's sister-in-law standing outside the store with some groceries. Need a ride home? Nope, hubby's on the way. Okay, keep smiling! Put my groceries in the truck and look at my watch. Sixty minutes! I spent a whole hour in the grocery store … time to pick up the prescription. Yeah, I talk a lot... but that's one of the nice things about living in Timmins. You can talk to people.

Do you remember?

I remember.

St. Phillips School. Toronto.

Mr. Marshall’s class. Grade 4.  Just before lunchtime.

November 22^nd, 1963.

Suddenly the P.A. came on the classroom.

The principal, Mother Mary Agnes said all students had to go to to chapel to say prayers.

President Kennedy had just been shot...

Lighter phone book; fewer names eh ...

Just got in the front door when I noticed something. The new phone directories were sent out in Timmins today. Did you notice the change? Yup, the books are lighter. So I pulled out last year’s directory. Here are the stats. White pages for last year 217 pages; for this year only 192 pages. Yellow Pages last year at 145; Yellow pages this year at 107.

I think I know why. I am meeting more and more people, myself included, who have cancelled their landlines and are now using cellular phones.  It’s not scientific. But I will snoop around this week and get the right answers.  By the way, Steve Zuzic is still the last name in the white pages.

Live and let live (what a rant!) ...

I really try not to worry about international politics. I have enough on my plate right here at home. But I am indeed getting worried about all the crap going on in Israel. It bothers me even more to hear people commenting on it, and getting it wrong.  People like to change history when they talk. But history doesn’t change, just the perceptions change.

And so we have Israel all set to take on another aggressor that plays to the world stage. I am talking about Hamas. They’re a group of racist killers who are intent of forcing Israel into a war so they can try to win world sympathy. Prime Minister Harper won’t talk to Hamas, neither will President Obama. Thank Christ for that! Hamas is a Palestinian word that translates as Terrorist Assholes.

    So here’s the thing about Israel. It won the right to form a country back in 1948. Since that time, every damned country around it, (All non-Jewish by the way) have been trying to destroy Israel. Israel realizes that this isn’t some little skirmish. Every time Israel goes to war, it is fighting for its life. And so the Israeli armed forces don’t fool around. When they go to war, they go to win. And since 1948 Israel has kicked the living shit out of every Arab nation that has attacked it. And so the camel kickers go running back to their tents crying about losing their rights and losing their land. 

     All those dummies have to do is learn to live and let live. That’s all … live and let live.  But no. They want to fight the battles of the Bible all over again.  In the past month Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel. By the way, Hamas has a tactic of firing its rockets from civilian areas, knowing that Israel will not likely respond to the rocket launchers. And so last week Israel had enough. It sent up a drone aircraft that found the leader of Hamas driving his car. The drone fired a missile that sent the Hamas asshole to hell. One shot, one kill. And now people get all upset saying Israel is so bad. It they want to find out how bad, just keep pissing off Israel.

Funerals ...

One of the things I like about Timmins is that people pull over to the side of the road when a funeral motorcade passes.  I noticed that today coming down Pine Street. I saw the hearse and the long line of other cars, so I just pulled aside for a few minutes. I was pleased to see other motorists doing the same thing. It’s just a simple way to respect the grieving family I suppose. The other thing I noticed was that I knew the family. A couple I know lost their 25 year old son this week in less-than-normal circumstances. Police were called and drugs might have been involved. The issue is still with the police. I feel terrible about it. Parents should not have to endure that kind of pain. The other thing I feel bad about is that I did not go to the funeral home to pay my respects to the family. Because the issue is in the news, I didn’t want anyone thinking I might be there snooping around. I know most people would have known better, but with all the family has to deal with I didn’t think they needed any extra anxiety for any reason. Another nice thing about Timmins is that the town is small enough that you see the people you know quite often. When the time is right, I will be sure to say something kind to the parents.

       This Saturday is a bit slow for me. But that's good. I had a full house last night over for dinner. I spent all day Friday preparing a nice pasta supper. There was 12 of us altogether. That was the easy part. The real work was preparing all the appetizers, the salads and anti-pasto befrore anyone showed up. I wanted to do a nice dinner. I think it worked. We all munched and drank litres of red wine until 9:00 p.m. Then we had dinner! Talk about big appetites. We had two sittings for the spaghetti!  But the company was nice. Also, I didn't have to worry about calling a cab to get home. By 1:00 a.m. everyone was gone and I did one load of dishes, pots and pans before going to bed. I had two more loads this morning. Had to recycle seven wine bottles. Give the neighbours something to gossip about eh.

Still jumping ...

I was pleased this week past to see a nice photograph on Facebook of young brother Ronald. Young, … hah, who are we kidding… he’s catching up. He just had a birthday. Anyhow, there was a nice photo of Ron, with his wonderful wife Lani and their son Matthew. And they were all in uniform. It was nice to see. I sent Ron a note on his birthday and he let me know that he was not at home in Comox, but over in Wainwright Alberta on some sort of a training mission. He even mentioned that he had recently been para-jumping! I remember spending an afternoon with Ron some years back as he was preparing for a jump. I even went up in the plane with him. When I asked why he would jump from a perfectly good airplane, Ron answered back: “There’s no such thing as a perfectly good airplane!”

Only a month late eh...

I know I am getting older when my daughter gives me heck ... I must learn to be a bit more regular with my blog posting. Thank goodness Jenn has a sense of humour. She mentioned that she checked my news website on Friday to reassure herself that I am still alive! Oh yeah, okay, I get it. (Memo to Self) Phone more than once a month and update the blog.
Today was a good day, not just because of the chat with Jenn, but also because it is November 11th and there was a nice big crowd out in Timmins at the local cenotaph. There was snow on the ground, slush on the streets and it was chilly, but I was pleased to see so many people out to observe the ceremonies.
By the way, Jenn is doing well in her studies. She has a 4.0 GPA and says she finds the courses easier than she expected.  So that's a good thing. Scott has moved out of the shop and into the front office at his company. That's a good thing too... but I mentioned to Jenn the hardest thing about moving up the ladder at work is that he will be leaving some comfort zones behind. But he is a pretty bright guy so I am confident he will adapt.
I have been too busy at work now that we are expected to keep our news websites up to date more often. This is like rolling back the clock to my early days in news when I had to send in regular news reports to CKSO Radio in Sudbury. Every few hours, we had to file a new report. So I am back in one of my comfort zones.
There's lot of news stories in Timmins, despite it being a small town, and I find the more I get done on the website, the more the demand grows.
There was a time, back in the 70s, we would write a news story and then update it the next day. Now people want fresh updates three or four times a day on the internet.  It can be a bit demanding when there is only one person in the "newsroom" ... me.
Timmins is still struggling with the question of the new open pit gold mine. Goldcorp, the mining company, has been planning the new mine for the past six years, but true to form, people have waited until the last minute to voice their concerns.
It's what a lot of people are talking about. I am confident the new mine will be approved, but people will still grumble.  It is understandable, because the pit will be huge, as you can see in the photo, all of Gillies Lake would easily fit into one corner of the pit.

 On the other hand, gold still glitters in this town. Timmins never had to endure the Great Depression of the 1930s.  While the rest of the country had hard times, Timmins had lots of work and economic stability.  So it's hard to get too upset about gold mining.  Things will be different for a few years and then when the pit is mined out, there will be a new park with a new lake in the middle of town.
If I still have this blog ten years from now, it will be fun too look back and compare eh.

Bad jokes and cool gadgets ...

Gadgets are something you have to appreciate, especially when you don’t have the ones you want. Here in Timmins, a lot of folks have those winter remote car starters for those really cold days. I had one on my Tracker, but I don’t have one on the Nitro. A fellow asked me once, Do you have an automatic car starter.  I said, I used to have one, but she got a new boyfriend! Ha ha. It’s the same with dishwashers. Guy asked me, Do you have an automatic dishwasher. I said I did at one time, but she moved out of town! Ha ha. Which brings me around to the fact that Jennifer has a new potato peeler. She was preparing Thanksgiving dinner last week when I offered to peel the spuds. She said No thanks and pulled out a fancy looking Starfrit device that was amazing. Jenn peeled a whole pot of potatoes in just a few minutes. I love stuff like that. I think I know what Santa will bring me this Christmas.

Changes

Wow, things are sure changing around Timmins. Well first things first. It’s the second week of October now and we’ve had our first official snowfall. Of course everyone gets excited, but what’s the deal? It’s October. It’s Timmins. It is supposed to snow. Kids here get extra large Halloween costumes so they can wear their snowsuits underneath them.

Last week was Thanksgiving. So I drove to Sudbury to spend the weekend with Jennifer and her men. It was nice. Of course I was secretly hoping she would be going to Westree because Don and Denise were planning a real Jigs Dinner, but the boys had to stay for hockey practice.

It was all good. Jennifer still made some amazing meals. Her patience for following a recipe is outstanding. And I had a feed of some lovely cabbage rolls … that somehow rolled in from Westree.

Spending time with the boys was great. I hadn’t seen them since the summer, so it was nice to get caught up on all they did in the past few months. And they’re getting big too! The other nice change is that the boys are adjusting well to the fact that Mom,  -- Jennifer—is not around each morning to see them off to school. That’s because Jenn is back in school now herself.

More change. Poor Scott had to sell his truck. He sold off his lovely black Silverado to help a friend who needed a good truck at a good price. So Scott needed something new. Turns out he made a sacrifice and bought himself an old Dodge… I should put the photos in here, but right now those photos are at work… I will post them soon. Yup, Scott owns a very nice Dodge special edition Longhorn truck, complete with a crew cab, and all the toys including real wood in the dash and custom stitched leather upholstery in a western theme. He drove into the driveway Saturday night after a day long trip down south to Peterborough to pick it up. Everyone just said WOW! So that was cool.

True to form, every time I leave Timmins for a few days, stories happen.

I got home Monday to find that legendary Timmins prospector John Larche died. Mr. Larche, who helped find the Hemlo goldfields, was much loved in Timmins. Not just because he gave huge amounts of money to the hospital, his church and other charities … but because he was the kind of fellow who still wore workboots and work clothes everyday.  John lived in a spectacular mansion on the edge of town, but he still cut the grass on the massive front lawn.  There is not enough room here, but if you Google his name, you will be impressed.

Trying to get back to normal after a weekend off was crazy. There was a double house fire Tuesday night that got me about of bed at 2:00 a.m. and I haven’t caught up my sleep from that one yet. And then there is the pit.

Timmins is in the midst of change in the sense that there is a gold mining company that wants to create a huge open pit mine in the middle of town… and that means the pit will be roughly 1.5 kilometres long by more than half a kilometre wide, located about 200 metres from the downtown area. So there’s a big of a fuss going on about it. Enjoy the aerial photo.

On Monday, city council will be asked to give formal approval to the plan which has been about six years in the making. Oh yeah, good luck with that.

We will keep you posted.

Nothing to get excited about ...

The thrill is gone. There was a time that getting a new computer was something special. I really used to get excited about all the things new computers were capable of. Not anymore. About two weeks ago I got two brand new computers. The company bought me a new laptop, a very nice Dell, that I can use on remote assignments. But the main reason was that the laptop had a new processor fast enough to handle our new websites and news service.

So I decided it was time to get new home computer as well. Yes, it’s faster and has all the bells and whistles. It's a shiny new HP desktop model. So now that’s all set up here at home. The funny thing is, I don’t see the computers as anything to get excited about other than the fact that they’re important tools for me to get my work done.

Getting better and better ...

Had a nice chat with Jennifer this week. She is back in school mode.  How cool is that? When you think about all she endured three years ago, it’s nice to see how well she is doing. After Jenn was sick for so long, she eventually got better. Then she began doing volunteer work at the cancer centre in Sudbury. Now Jennifer is going back to school to study for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. I am so proud of Jenn for that.

So now, every morning, she has to help get the boys off the school while she gets ready for classes herself. And then there’s homework. Yuck. But I am confident Jenn can handle it.  And her guys are pretty cool fellows and I am sure they’ll be helping out too.

By the way, all three of her men are getting back into hockey mode.  Maybe some of those NHL guys can take a hint eh?

Rick Hillier ... interesting fellow!

Every now and then in the news game, I meet some interesting people that I admire. This fellow on the left is one of them. Retired General Rick Hillier was a guest speaker in Timmins this week. Some people speak for ten minutes and the audience begins to yawn and fidget.  Not for this fellow. I wasn't surprised a bit when he got a standing ovation after speaking for an hour and ten minutes!

Bizarre testimony and cheesecake fruit pizza

As mentioned in my previous posting, I had to drop by court Friday morning to snap a photo of an accused killer being brought in for a bail hearing. I didn’t notice right away, but I guess high heels are the cool thing to wear to bail court. I don’t know if the shackle chains match up very nicely with those shoes though.

Regardless, the testimony was unusual. There is a ban on publication, meaning I can’t even discuss the case here on a blog. The testimony was intense, emotional and bizarre. Can’t tell you any more than that right now.

I spoke to Neil Saturday and it was a treat to talk to him. He is well and still living the good life in Vancouver. But he has quit working at Steamworks! That was the popular pub in the Gastown district. Not to worry, he is working at another popular pub down the street  … a place called The Black Frog and he says its just fine. Different names eh? I think they should open a pub and call it The Shackled Shoe!

So, Neil is happy and enjoying the job.  He said each year the pub holds a party for the staff  … but instead of having the party on the premises, they close the pub for a few days and everyone goes on a trip out of town. He said he is looking forward to a little sea cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles. That’s cool.

Well, Sunday morning in Timmins is nice right now, sunny and mild… and cool too. Had a nice evening last night. A news colleague, Lydia,  had a nice dinner party. The food was great … a very nice multi-course dinner. I never had a cheesecake fruit pizza before. Wow, what a treat. Of course, I find most desserts are great when they’re washed down with whisky. And I did not have to do the taxi thing either. Luckily Lydia’s house is about two blocks away and I had a refreshing walk home. Slept great too.

News keeping me too busy ...

 I have to apologize again for not being here as often as I should, but it has been a hell of a week for news. Crazy, crazy, crazy. I was saddened to have to cover the death of an eight-year-old boy in a car crash. Worse yet was the fact that his casket with his remains was shipped north to a Reserve on the James Bay Coast for burial by his family. It was emotional for those at the airport as the casket was being shipped out.

 Then the woman accused of being responsible for driving the vehicle causing the death appeared in court for bail hearing. But she was met by protesters outside the court shouting some very nasty things. It was not pleasant to be there.



Timmins has also won a bid to become the new balloon launching facility for the Canadian Space Agency, and the space agency from France. It's a big deal with millions of dollars being spent at no cost to the people of Timmins. Anyway, they had a big media event Monday and were prepared to launch a small balloon (97 Metres long) but the wind took and things got out of control. I hated to see it happen but another part of me delighted in getting photos of the balloon getting tangled in the light posts. Oh well, no biggie.

Tomorrow I am back in court again. There is the case of a young woman who is accused of murdering her boyfriend. I have to get photos of her as the police bring her in to the court house. Wonderful, just wonderful.

Just like Christmas at the train station ...

Timmins does some really cool things every now and then. Tonight I just got home from the Welcome To Timmins event. It’s an annual thing where all the different service clubs, social agencies, corporate employers and even radio stations set up at the curling rink and meet people. The whole idea is for new residents in the city to go and find out what’s going on and who to talk to for everything from education to employment to shopping and snow-shoeing. I like it. Of course, after living in Timmins for a few years, I am confident I know where things are and who to see for information. But I like to go for other reasons. It’s like being at the train station at Christmas in the old days. You meet everyone you haven’t seen in ages. Of course, I see lots of people all year, but I rarely get more than a minute or two to say Hi, when I’m working. So tonight,  I spent nearly three hours gabbing and gossiping with old friends and I had a great time! Can’t wait till next year.

Pretty sharp eh...

Can't believe I am writing about this, but when a product is good, I tell people. Back at the end of the June when Tyler, Nathan and I arrived in Toronto at Union Station we were met by a couple of students handing out free Gilette razors. It was a small travel size pack. What a good idea for meeting people at the train station. So as we walked by I took one and I used it the next day. So I don't have a Fred Flintstone beard, but my whiskers are scruffy enough. I couldn't believe how clean the shave was. Over the years I have been buying different types of razors, looking for the best one. Can you believe how expensive they're getting? Anyway, I used this Gilette Fusion thing and it was great. First week of July, second week of July. Hmmm... does this thing ever get dull? You can sense a dull razor by the fact that it nicks the skin with a tiny cut when it can no longer cut through the whiskers. So I used this razor all during July and it was fine. I figured I should go out and buy a package of blade. Gilette marketing people seem to know their stuff. Well I got to the store and the four-pack of blades was $18!!! Eighteen dollars! I figured I had to find out if the blades in the store were as good as the free one. If the blades lasted the whole month, it would be worth it. Sure enough, I put a new blade in place in August... and I didn't change it until yesterday, second week of September! The way this is going, that four-pack should last me until the new year! I am sold. From now on it's Fusion.

Hot August night ...

It's a busy weekend in Timmins. The annual Kayak Challenge and Festival is on. Last night there was fireworks over the river.  They stopped traffic on the bridge so people could watch the show. It was nice. It was a hot August night in Timmins. So hot that the beer tent filled up by 10:00 p.m. and people were turned away. I don't think they'll quit drinking beer...

Ring of Fire ... keep Northern Ontario rocking.

I was amazed today, while covering a news story, to hear a lady talk about the impact of The Ring of Fire. Now for those not in the mining game, Ring of Fire is more than just a Johnny Cash song. The Ring of Fire is the name given to huge series of mining deposits in far Northern Ontario ... way up there by James Bay. It's actually close to the De Beers diamond mine. The woman who is something of a business expert suggested that this mining zone will have the same impact on Ontario as offshore oil on Canada's east coast, or the tar sands in Alberta. That is reassuring. Ontario, thanks to the whiz-boys at Queens Park has become a "have not" province. Twice in the past two years, our credit rating has been scaled back.  So keep buying your cars, cell phones and other consumer goods because it keeps Northern Ontario rocking. By the way, the ring of fire will be mining chromite, a rare mineral that you need for making stainless steel. But you will also find nickel, copper, platinum and palladium. What makes it worthwhile is that this will be one of the largest deposits in the world ... coming from a country that has a stable government. As long as the world doesn't find out that Dalton McGuinty and the Libs are in office. Despite them, mining could eventually make this province wealthy again.

Breaking Bad? Yawwwwwwn...

I've begun watching a new TV series... Well, it's not that new, but it is new to me. Hotel Babylon. I read some reviews and decided to give it a shot. It's on Netflix. Hey, for eight dollars a month, who can complain? So I sat down earlier this week, pressed the remote and was pleased to see that it is produced by BBC. So that's a good thing. Sure enough, I am five episodes into Season-1 and I am pleased. The writing is good and the storylines are cool. I find the actors (and their roles) very likable. Television shows are like books I think. Not everyone agrees on what they like. That's how it is with a show called Breaking Bad. I think Debra told me about it first. And now everyone I ask, just raves about it. Okay, so I tried watching it. First episode... hmmmm, Okay I guess. But I just couldn't get into it. So I let it go for a few months, and tried again. It has won several awards. So I had to give it another shot. Hmmm... nope. Didn't thrill me, or leave me wondering at work what the next episode might be. Maybe next year.
So that's that. Spoke with Jennifer this week and she and her guys are back from a holiday in Newfoundland. They all had a wonderful time. I am pleased, not just for Jennifer, but also for the boys. It is nice they get to see more of our great country.  I guess I take it for granted. When we were kids, Dad was in the RCAF, so living in different parts of Canada was normal.
Debra and John were in Europe! How cool is that? I am confident they had a great time.
Timmins has had a wonderful summer, with so many things going on for the 100th anniversary celebrations.  The annual kayak festival is on this weekend, so that will be a good time.

Lack of attention ...

I like playing Scrabble ... especially on the computer. It's fast and fun and the scoring is a lot easier since the computer does it for you.  But the problem is that the computer recognizes if you are a strong player, and somehow the computer tries to reduce your chances. I noticed it this week. The computer played the word "miasmal" ... oh sure, that's a word we use everyday eh. It means something unpleasant in the air... okay, fine. So I had the letters TTAEION. After a bit of shuffling and with other letters on the board... I was able to spell ATTENTION.  Good word or what?  Here's the thing. Scrabble did NOT recognize the word. WHAT?  Yeah, that's right, the computer said ATTENTION was not recognized. Wham, bam, slam that laptop down! Miasmal... yeah right, something stinks that's for sure!

Spoke too soon...

On the weekend I wrote a little piece about Timmins prospectors and mentioned that a couple of local fellows are still in the game. Well, I spoke too soon. I was to learn Saturday that we lost Don McKinnon. He was 83 and died late last week. What a loss to the mining exploration community. McKinnon, without exaggeration, was legendary. He spoke his mind, was gruff and brusque, but was one of the most successful prospectors Canada has ever produced. He was a rare breed - a mine finder. Very few prospectors can make that claim. McKinnon was an interesting fellow whether he was having dinner with the President of the United States, which  he did (Reagan), or whether you met him for coffee. He was the same guy either way.

Did you hear 'bout the new king of the klondike...he's from Timmins!

Well, I suppose it’s official now. There’s a nice plaque from Heritage Canada installed outside the Timmins Museum that is part of the new display of bronze statues installed there this past week. The plaque says the gold rush here in Timmins became the largest gold rush in Canadian history …  Just so our good Klondike friends in the Yukon know about that.  It was a nice ceremony to mark the 100^th anniversary of Timmins. The bronzes are of Jack Wilson who found the Dome Mine, Benny Hollinger who found the Hollinger Mine and Sandy McIntyre who found the McIntyre Mine… those became The Big Three Gold Mines. The Dome never stopped operating. The Hollinger should begin mining again this year and I know that they’re looking hard at the McIntyre … there’s a fabulous gold zone on the 11-hundred level that’s looking very lucrative.
It's not easy to explain the excitement over gold ... unless you live in a gold town. I talk to a lot of people who live and work here and have businesses, and they all agree, Thank Goodness for gold. No matter what else goes on in the rest of the world, as long as the price of gold holds on, everyone here seems happy.
The mines just keep plugging away and we all know the day will come when the mines will close ... well that has already happened a few times, but they keep finding MORE gold. Everywhere you go within a 100 mile radius of Timmins, gold, gold, gold. There are mines in Kirkland Lake, Matachewan, Gowganda, Matheson, ... and any day now, the new Detour Mine near Cochrane is set to become the largest gold mine in Canada. I know people like gold for jewellery but I am kind of glad that more gold in being used now in industrial applications.
So its nice to honour the pioneering prospectors. But don't forget we still have prospectors living here in Timmins who have become multi-millionaires. They're getting on in years, but they still run prospecting companies. So that's a good thing.


By the way, the're still finding gold in The Klondike. Oh yes. It was just a few years ago that a fellow named Shawn Ryan arrived in The Klondike. After checking out the creeks where gold was discovered back in 1898, he was told that all the creeks had been mined out. Folks said there was no more good gold to be found there.



Well, here's the thing, Ryan is a Timmins boy and he cut his teeth on a prospecting crew with his Dad who worked for Kidd Exploration in Timmins. I met him in May, here in Timmins. Ryan said he took one look at the mountain above all the creeks and said he knew that's where he'd be staking his claims. Sure enough, there's a new gold rush on in the Yukon, and they're finding more new gold.
Shawn Ryan, a Timmins fellow, has been officially dubbed as the new "King of the Klondike"!

Stealing gold, drinking wine and gossip!

So it is indeed time to catch up here. It is one of those things that nags at me. I keep telling myself to put something new on “the blog”. I do so much writing at work that at times I think I have nothing new to add.
That’s not the point of a blog, I believe.
I think the point is to add interesting things. Timmins is changing. I noticed this morning while driving on the back road how much it has changed since I arrived here back in the 1970s. There are so many of the old gold mine headframes gone. The Paymaster Mine, the Buffalo Ankerite, the original Dome No. 8; they’re all gone. I was thinking of this in light of the fact that Kevin Vincent, a colleague, has written a new book about highgraders. Anyone who lives in a gold town knows that highgraders are the people who steal gold and sell it off to organized crime figures.
There have been so many gold thefts over the years in Timmins, I was thinking that if anyone came back to town after being away so long, they wouldn’t know their way around.
Speaking of which, the big Timmins High reunion happens this coming week. What a party that will be. The city is celebrating the official centennial so there will be plenty of fun things going on.
On matters of fun, Jennifer was in town for a quick visit this week. It was a joy to see her of course. She was dropping in to join a family barbecue at Sue’s place. Lorraine and Helen also showed up, as did the gang from here in Timmins. Gerry and John also made the trip to Timmins.
We all missed Tasha of course. I say that because I know that “Ta” drops in here to read every now and then. But seriously, Jenn and I told Helen chatted with Helen and yes, we do miss seeing Tasha. I feel guilty because I, for one, have not made the trip over to Red Lake.
John Bradley also dropped by and that meant smiles and laughs for everyone. John is everyone’s favourite Ex-Brother in law. I know how that feels! Almost!
Anyway it was fun to see Jenn getting ready for the dinner. It was like seeing her back in school again, getting ready for a night out on the town. Getting her clothes ready, make-up, hogging the mirror, the works! So it was a nice night out. Got home at midnight and was ready for bed, but No! Jenn cracked open a fresh bottle of wine and so we sat and gossiped for nearly an hour! It was the best.
Jenn was back on the road the next morning to head back to Sudbury to get ready for her big vacation. She and her guys are all heading to Newfoundland for two weeks. I am confident they will have a fabulous time. She will be getting to meet Scott’s side of the family as Scott’s dad is from The Rock.
Well I am going back to working on this computer for awhile. It was running slow and I think I might have grabbed a virus or something. So on Thursday, I rebooted the entire system with my recovery disks. That means I have been spending hours re-entering all my data and programs. But the good thing is that I got rid of a lot of programs I have not been using. I also found some old games. Last night I spent two hours playing Scrabble against the computer. I lost the first game, but I won the three games after that!
The only thing that bothers me is that all my income tax info from the past year was in a special file and I fear I didn’t back it up. I have all the raw info and hard copies, but it now means I have to re-enter everything. Arrghhhh.

Missing them ...

Tomorrow is back-to-work day after a really nice little bit of vacation time.  I am sort of looking forward to it.  I already checked the e-mail server for work. There are more than 670 e-mails waiting for me. Oh fun! I am, however, feeling in a bit of a withdrawal today. Not because of the holidays, but because I miss the boys. After spending more than a week with grandsons Tyler and Nathan, I got used to the idea of them being there when I woke up in the morning and went to bed at night. It was just plain fun being with them. I guess that being an adult, I had to walk the fine line of being the guardian and keeping them safe, and then finding ways to keep them entertained and busy. The first part was easy. The second part was the challenge. I think there were times I was too worried that they weren’t having enough fun, but kids being kids, they find fun in most things. Jumping on beds, racing through hotel hallways, being first to push the elevator button and spitting at ducks on the Toronto waterfront are the kinds of harmless things boys just like to do. I am glad it all happened.

A little vacation time...

Back in Northern Ontario (at Jennifer and Scott’s place) after enjoying a few days in the city with the boys. We had a fun time visiting the CN Tower, the Royal Ontario Museum and taking in a Blue Jays game. It was all new for the boys and I enjoyed dropping in to Toronto for the first time in a few years. The boys really liked the museum; seeing a pre-ice age moose and mammoth skeletons. I guess I am getting old and jaded. The museum was fun and interesting, the ball game was fun, but the CN Tower and other parts of Toronto really don’t hold a lot of interest for me. Thanks to booking early through Expedia, we stayed at The Royal York hotel and I have to say the service was nothing short of outstanding. I have stayed in a lot of hotels in recent years and The Royal York is still one of the best in the world. The boys liked the idea of jumping on the beds and doing backflips from bed to bed. Hey, you only live once, right.

Another one of the fun parts of the trip was riding the train from Sudbury to Toronto and back again. I still enjoy the VIA train, but sadly it doesn’t appear the government of Canada is willing to re-invest in train travel. I say sadly because we are one of the largest countries in the world and our passenger train service is poor. Compared to the service offered by Amtrak in the U.S. and the trains being run in Europe and the U.K., Canada’s VIA Rail sorely needs to be improved. It’s 2012 and we are still running passenger cars built in the 1950s!

The boys liked eating in restaurants too and they were very well behaved. I think that’s because the rule was they could order whatever they wanted, as long as they ate it. So yes, chocolate and ice cream were popular choices. We enjoyed eating at Gretzky’s, the Hard Rock Café and even fine dining at the Royal York. If you’re going to Gretzky’s enjoy the décor of hockey memorabilia, because the food should be in the penalty box!

Hard Rock Café is always a good choice for me. Burgers, barbecue and beer always goes well on vacation. I never bother to buy the T-shirts, even though in the past two years I have visited the Hard Rocks in Vancouver, Seattle, London, Edinburgh and Toronto. Maybe I should think ahead eh. The best part of coming home to Northern Ontario was enjoying Jennifer's cooking. As a teenager, Jennifer had a hard time figuring out how to boil a pot of water. She is now pretty amazing with her own personal recipe book.

Finally, I have to admit I am enjoying my new smart-phone. The Blackberry enabled me to keep touch so easily with Jenn. It was nice to be able to send text messages so quickly

Still learning ...

Okay so I am still in training on the new ‘toy’ – the Blackberry -- but I have to admit I find it useful already. I hate to admit it, but there is something nice about not rushing back to the office, or the house, to check my e-mail. But here’s the thing… even though the Blackberry can be set up with our corporate e-mail, I haven’t done that. I have flagged a few important contacts and anytime they send a message it goes to my old hotmail account. And that pops up on the screen… instantly.  I am not going to use the phone for the “social media” thing either. I have already deleted the Twitter, Facebook and other social media accounts.
It has quite a few interesting features, a still camera, a video camera, a compass, a very useful GPS tracker, so that’s all cool. The one I find really interesting is the QR-Code reader, which downloads tonnes of info based on those square codes you see everywhere. This one here is for the New York Times. As you might expect I have loaded up several news applications along with direct feeds from the OPP, city police and city hall.

So I guess you could say, yeah, it’s useful.  

I am NOT as smart as my phone...

Well, things change. So I bit the bullet and got a new phone. It's one of those smarty phones. It's a bold blackberry 9900.  I just got off a 25 minute call with the customer service guy and I had to laugh because I didn't know how to end the call... so I put the phone down and looked in the little booklet. Two minutes later I shut the phone off. I figure it will take the better part of the weekend to figure out how to get this thing fired up and running right. The guy said I can watch movies on it. Yeahhh, right. Like I am going to warm up some popcorn, grab a beer and sit down to watch Bridge Over River Kwai on this thing. I can't wait.

Camp Gilla... again

Even though covering news is my passion, I do like to stop and take a break every now and then. Saturday had been a long day covering stories about the big forest fire near Timmins and so when evening rolled around, I was ready to sit back and enjoy a nice dinner. I dropped by Pick of the Crop and grabbed a very nice strip loin and then as I was getting it ready, with a Spanish onion, some mushrooms and a green pepper, I opened a bottle of Beaujolais. Woohoo, this was gonna be good. The phone rang.
It was the communications lady from the forest fire command post. The new fire teams are coming in from BC and I’ve got a seat on the chopper for you, she said. Can you be at the helipad in ten minutes?
Yeahhh, I said. So drop everything, grab the cams and head out.

I got to the helicopter without 30 seconds to spare! I had no idea where we were going, except I could meet some of the fire teams and get photos. Good enough for me.

So up we went over the fire zone. There was a crew from Global National with us, and so our little chopper was packed with people and cameras. The TV guys got the best shots, as expected. I had no problem with that since I wanted a good newspaper story. So we were flying for about 30 minutes when the pilot starts asking if anyone knows precisely where Camp Gilla is? What? I was there two weeks ago. So point out the window at Highway 144, there’s Highway 560 and there’s Camp Gilla. I sure didn’t expect to be back, but once we landed there were about 80 fire crew members from BC there. So that was interesting.

On the way home, the TV guys wanted some close ups of the fire. Our pilot was accommodating. We flew at about 200 feet through the smoke and right above the flames. I’ve never seen anything like that before. We were close to trees, but I wasn’t worried because I was in the back seat. If we hit a tree, it would hit the pilot first! Ha ha ha. Anyway, it was a fun evening and when I got back home at about 10:20, I cooked up a very, very nice steak!