Great ketchup ...

A few years back, I switched my preference from Heinz Ketchup to French's Ketchup, mainly because Heinz had closed its tomato processing plant in Leamington, Ontario and moved operations to Mexico.
I switched over to French's because it continued to use Canadian tomatoes, even though their ketchup is made in the U.S. It tasted good.
In the past few months, I changed my preference again. I now use President's Choice Ketchup. It is made in Canada and it tastes just fine. And it is usually less expensive. I made a nice western sandwich this week and I was pleased to have another great tasting ketchup.
Don't be shy. Give it a try.

Yes! Back in the game on Monday ...

Not sure if this is good karma or just good luck, but I have been invited back to work. I got the call Monday and after a very quick interview, I agreed to a 10-month contract that begins on June 1^st. I will be back in the Sudbury newsroom and back in the journalism game.
(See my posting below from March 20, 2020.)

I have to admit I was slowly getting used to the idea of being at home and doing whatever I liked, especially when I could hit the couch mid-morning with a great cup of coffee and a good book. For several hours a day I would totally immerse myself into whatever great novel I was reading. What a luxury.

Then there were times I would stare at the wall and think, what the hell am I doing? My life is passing me by and I am stuck here. And then I would think of so many other people in the world who are indeed struggling in hard situations. So, slap my face and think positive! So yes, this is a good thing and I am blessed with a good life.

A powerful message ...

I don't know if this has ever happened before. The entire front page of the Sunday New York Times -- May 24,2020 --was presented with no articles and no advertisements. It was nothing but a list of American citizens who have died as a result of the COVID-19 virus. A very powerful message ...

Clever poetry

I like poetry that is clever.
Following is from the New York Times this week.

-- A rhyme for Orange --
Worth sharing...

:)

Lapis Lazooli, a poet and truly,
A man with some dubious talents.
Said to me, last July with a glint in his eye:
“What I’ll tell you will throw you off balance.”

I admit I was leery, ennui-ed, somewhat weary;
Just what was he cooking this time?
“I’ve unlocked the enigma, destigma-ed the stigma;
And for orange I found a real rhyme.”

Now, it’s really no news that New Yorkers schmooze,
We’re verbal and vocal, loquacious.
But in Coney Islond, we will not be conned,
“Gimme a break, that’s fallacious.”

He tugged at his beard — it was worse than I feared —
And he whispered, his voice was a hiss:
“Neither Ogden, nor Parker, nor Stephen Sondheim,
Dared to attempt such a perilous rhyme.
Forget about Seuss ’cause he knew he’d be lost;
Not Wordsworth, not Shelley, not Shakespeare, not Frost;
Not Yeats, not a one in this august mélange,
Would ever endeavor a rhyme for or-anj.
But I — ”

He then cleared his throat trying hard not to gloat,
(I was doing my best not to cringe.)
“The word that’s a rhyme, that’s mundane yet sublime:
Orange — its mate is doorhinge!”

Doorhinge?! Doorhinge?!
Now, I am no yokel, I’m Brooklyn, I’m local,
Won’t ever be tricked, teased nor taken.
“Well, I’ll tell ya, Lapis, that’s nothing but crappis,
You’re messhugah, you’re mad, you’re mistaken!”
“No!
You’ve no ear for whimsy, your knowledge is flimsy,
Van Gogh never could sell his art.
Galileo was hounded, Prometheus grounded.
Here’s the moment, my friend, that we part.”

A rough time for young people

 One has to feel bad for young people who were looking forward to their high school graduation and prom. The world is a confusing place for a lot of young people and now this COVID-19 pandemic is making it a lot worse. I know that graduation and prom are huge things for a lot of young people. It is a celebration of something they have achieved; a celebration with friends and people that are special to them. But all they are hearing is that there is no celebration for them; to practice social distancing and to just suck it up. It’s a hard thing to deal with.

Sadness

Feeling sad over the crash of the Snowbird jet that occurred in Kamloops yesterday. It is terrible that a member of the team lost her life. I know there will be an investigation and I wonder if the age of the aircraft will be considered.  The Canadair Tutor was built in the 1960s as a trainer. These planes are more than 50 years old. The Tutor was retired as a trainer by the RCAF about 20 years ago, but it continues to be used for aerobatics.

Withdrawal?

I might have to do some research but I am pretty sure I am experiencing withdrawal every time I finish a book. I have read five books in the past two weeks. Nothing special, just novels.  I find I get totally immersed in what I am reading for five or six hours at a time. The only reason I stop is because my butt is sore, my back is sore, my neck hurts or my eyes are sore. And then I feel exhausted and usually take a half-hour nap. I finished a book about an hour ago and found I was feeling let down. I knew the end of the story had to be coming, but still I was disappointed when I finished the book. So I took a nap. Now I have just taken the first shower in three days and realized I have to scoot out and get some groceries. When I get back time to have something to eat and maybe start a new book!

Summer is on the way. Time for a buzz!

It was nice to drop by at Jennifer's place this week where she was kind enough to try her hand as a barber. For me it was a perfect time to get a backyard buzzcut. So thanks Jenn!
One of my cousins remarked on Facebook that this photo made me look like my old man. Well, I am the old man now! :)

Electric vehicles are great ... but not in the North

I am thinking the jury is still out on the verdict of whether electric vehicles will grab a significant portion of the consumer market anytime soon.

I purchased a newer vehicle in December all the time thinking that I should hold out for an electric vehicle, or at least a gas-electric hybrid. The other vehicle was 10 years old so I figured it was time.

Living in Northern Ontario, my first instinct was to have a vehicle that was reliable in the winter. I honestly don’t believe the electric vehicle market is there yet. My new Jeep is a gas guzzler, but not at bad as my old Nitro. Still I am enjoying the current low gasoline prices, even though I have no where to go!

There is a different story for commercial vehicles, that can afford to have charging stations and support systems for batteries. In mining for example, if you purchase an electric vehicle, you likely purchase a spare battery unit at the same time.

When one battery needs recharging, you replace it with a freshly charged battery and go back to work in minutes. You put the other battery on charge.

We did this in the 1980s when I was a miner at Kidd Mine in Timmins. One of my jobs was to drive the electric underground train hauling ore. If the loco began losing power in the middle of the shift, we pulled into the shop and switched out batteries. It took about 10 minutes. Enough time for a smoke.

This would be nice if you could do it with your new electric car in 2020. It doesn’t work like that. Also, with communities in Northern Ontario – indeed in most of Canada – being rural and remote, it is not always easy to find a charging station.

That’s the key reason for me. Winter and long distances. I don’t see electric vehicles measuring up anytime soon. I can foresee news stories in the next few years where motorists with electric cars run out of power and get stranded in a snowstorm or on a busy highway. Yes, it happens with gas vehicles already, but I believe it will be more of an issue with electric cars.

Coping with COVID ...

Thinking what it will be like in Canada – or anywhere – a year from now. This is the most bizarre time ever. I remembering reading about the Spanish Flu of 1918 – 1919 and thinking something like that could never happen again.

I never imagined that a virus could bring the world to a standstill so quickly. When we get the all-clear, will it really be safe? Or will we all be willing to take a chance that we won’t get sick from something else? I guess it shows how frail we human beings really are in the big scheme of things.

It also brings home the reality of things that are important. Nothing seems to matter to me anymore other than the health and safety of the people close to me.

If there is anything good from all this, hopefully it is that people have demonstrated the importance of communal teamwork. There are so many good examples of people or organizations doing things to help other people. I hope we all learn to appreciate people more.

More reading ...

It has to be one of my guilty pleasures; reading something when I don't have to read... like when I am working. I was pleased to pick up my Kobo recently to discover that over a period of months, I had purchased several books that I knew I would read someday. I read two books last week, just zoomed through them as I was enjoying my isolation, like most other Canadians.
I also noticed that my supply of coffee is dwindling along with Baileys while I read … so I know I've done a lot of reading.
On Friday, I selected a book by the well-known author Leon Uris. It kept me up late Friday night and has taken up most of my time on this Saturday. I had to cook supper so I have taken a break. As I was reading through this classic -- Battle Cry -- it occurred to me that it was such a good story it could have been a movie.
Imagine my surprise when I googled the title and found it was indeed made into  movie in 1955. It really is a compelling story.
Oh well it is past 6 p.m. time for supper, some whiskey and more reading.
Stay home, stay healthy.

I can read!

In the mornings, I like to browse the Internet and check the newspaper websites to get caught up on things. I have noticed that more and more of these websites have short videos instead of printed news stories. This is annoying. I prefer to read a news story. If there is something confusing or contentious I can re-read the sentence or paragraph to get things straight. Videos don't do that. If you don't get all the details in the first run, you have to pause and rerun the video. That doesn't always work. Here is a snippet from the front page of today's National Post.  Three out of the four stories on the left were videos. I am not lazy. I don't need a video.  I can read.

Happy birthday Tyler ...

It was fun to get together with Jennifer and Scott to help Tyler celebrate his 20th birthday. Yes he was born on April 1. There were only five of us there -- myself, Scott, Jenn, Tyler and his girlfriend Emilie. Nathan had to work.  So it was a legal gathering :). Keeping with the serious nature of the event, I was pleased to give Tyler a package of toilet paper! I know he will think of me every time he uses it! LOL. But it was a nice time to chat and get caught up on this crazy new world we all live in.

Things change ...

I came to Sudbury just over 15 months ago to take over as the new editor of the Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal. I was more than pleased to meet and get to know all the people I worked with. Sadly, many of those people including myself were laid off this week. Our company was sold to another publishing company that is all on the internet. They do not have any newspapers or magazines. So it is nice that the company is continuing but I feel bad for many people caught in the middle of this change.
I went into the office today to clean out my desk and send out a few notes to freelance writers and others I have worked with. I was more than pleased with the kindness of their words and messages of encouragement.
With the COVID-19 emergency, this is a bizarre time in our lives. But I am confident we will all get through this with fresh outlook.

A few days at home ...

After being at the annual Prospectors convention in Toronto last week, I figured I could take a few extra days to be at home especially since one Sudbury man tested positive for COVID-19. There has been a lot of concern about all the other people who attended the convention. So I am lucky that I have a job where I can work from home. The best part is that I have no symptoms and I am feeling fine. Just to be sure, I will be contacting Sudbury public health today for screening. That being said, I had fun at the convention and got a whole lot of work done as well.

One other thing.  Just before Christmas our newsroom had a coffee mug gift exchange. Some of the folks will kid me about being the oldest person in the newsroom.  It is all good natured.  One young intern bought me this coffee mug, which I love. As I am self-quarantined this week after attending the PDAC convention, this mug is so appropriate!😄

Relaxing now

I spent four days this past week at the annual Prospectors convention in Toronto. It is the world's biggest mining exploration trade show and Northern Ontario had the biggest pavilion there.
It was a lot of work meeting people, doing interviews, taking pictures and writing stories but it was all worth it.

There was even a protest outside the convention centre where people expressed their displeasure at the mining industry. Interestingly, many had cell phones, which are all created with Canadian metals and minerals. Many wore gold and silver jewellery. One woman was upset that I took her photograph when she stood in front of me to block me from taking photos of protesters. Interesting.

Regardless I met a lot of nice people, enjoyed a lot of hospitality and was glad I attended. One of the fun things was going to all the parties. I was at the Northern Ontario party Monday night when I was pleased to bump into my niece Valerie Maltais and her husband Denis Flood. How cool was that? (I missed getting their photo, but Val took a selfie of the two of us.)
I also met tonnes of other people I had not seen in quite a while. I think the best part of the convention is meeting folks you've met over the years and getting caught up on how they are and what they're doing now. Mining is an international business and so it is not unusual to meet people who have travelled to Toronto from around the world. I even met a radio producer from Asia who said he knew me because of the stories I had written for mining, including the murder at the mining convention.

New technology is great

It was a few years ago in Timmins that the doc said I was Type-2 Diabetic. So my body does not process sugar as it should. So that means having foods and beverages that have a lot less sugar. This is good, but it means checking my blood-sugar levels all the time. That can be a bit irritating because it means pricking your fingertips with a tiny lancet and then using a test strip to measure the blood sample.
Today I began using a new system. It's called the Freestyle Libre. You attach a sensor to you upper arm. It's about the size of a loony and it had a tiny filament that embeds in your skin. The sensor measures your blood sugar every minute and stores the data for two weeks. To make it work properly you wave the scanner device over the sensor once every eight hours.
Everything is downloaded to a computer app. So this is my new thing. Cool.

Virus and hockey sticks...

Happy February eh. I was enjoying my Sunday morning when I came across an unusual news story. Canada could have a shortage of hockey sticks because of the coronavirus in China. Both Bauer and CCM which are major suppliers of hockey sticks have factories in China. Both factories are closed.  Will be interesting to see how this story develops. 

The other story that is confusing is the fact that protests continue because of the decision to construct the natural gas pipeline in Alberta and BC. Some First Nations people are setting up roadblocks in the west while in Eastern Canada, rail lines are being threatened. Protests are fine but at some point those who protest need to be challenged to come up with solutions and to pay damages to those who have carried out free enterprise.

I have to say that so far our winter has been mild, and so I am okay with it. I am looking forward to spring, but I do wonder what our summer will be like. I hope it is not too hot or too dry. Lots of people are worried about forest fires. I just have a hard time with the heat.

Work has been going well. I just finished my Spring edition of the mining journal on Friday. Just in time because I will be travelling to the annual prospectors show in March in Toronto and then to Thunder Bay for the prospectors showcase in April. I know I will enjoy that. I am hoping at some point to meet Shawn Ryan again. He is a Timmins fellow who has made millions with new gold discoveries in the Yukon. A few years ago he was dubbed King of the Klondike. Interesting.

Cobalt. The best old town ...

I was pleased to drive through Cobalt, Ontario this week. I was on the road up to Timmins and then over to Kirkland Lake, some of the best known gold-mining towns in the world.
I got off the main highway for a bit to visit Cobalt, known as one of the Ontario's most historic towns. Of course it was also home to the Cobalt silver rush in the early 1900s. So many amazing stories took place there.
If you ever get a chance, check out the book: We Lived a Life and Then Some, by Charlie Angus and Brit Griffin.
I was pleased to get photos of a couple of landmarks: The Miner's Home Tavern and the Cobalt Mining Museum.

So just to quote the opening verse of The Cobalt Song:

Let's sing a song of Cobalt,

If you don't liver there that's your fault...

The new year ...

So the new year has arrived and all is good. I called my landlord last week and offered to submit all 12 rent cheques for the coming year. He said fine. I said how much. He said same as last year, no increase. Well that made my day!
Was out to see Jenn and Scott and the boys on Sunday and stayed to watch the hockey game. What a nail biter as Canada took the gold medal over Russia. That had to be one of the best World Juniors games ever.
I also took a bit of time to try out the new drone, in an outdoor setting. It was excellent and performed better than I expected. Of course, I pushed things a bit and the drone crashed into a tree! Then it landed on hard ice and show. But it was okay. It still runs fine. I expect to fly it a lot more and to become a much better pilot.

All is good ...

Christmas is good, although when I think about it, for me it is more like Thanksgiving.  I really have to be thankful for the life I have and the family members and friends who make it special.
I was pleased to get a call from Scott a few days ago informing me that although Jennifer was working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, it was decided to have a nice Christmas Eve dinner at the house in Val Caron. And so it was. The evening was nice. Jenn showed up just before 8 p.m. The boys were there with their girlfriends. We had food, drinks and a really nice night around the tree to open gifts. Jenn had to go to bed early but Scott and I enjoyed the better part of a bottle of Jameson Whiskey.

I was more than surprised when Scott and his family gave me the most unexpected gift; a photography drone. I was so surprised … and pleased. I truly would never has purchased one myself, but now that I have it, I like it. I have had a couple of hard landings but nothing serious :)

I am now in the process of teaching myself how to use it. I have not yet been outside with it, but I have had about 20 flights so far, in my apartment. I am, at the stage of where I can make it take off, hover, move up and down, forward and back and turn. I figure if I can figure out how to operate this thing within the confines of my living room, I should be able to control it better when I am outside. It takes a bit of concentration but I am enjoying it.
I was also pleased to create a Christmas gift this year. I took a photo of the three grandchildren -- Nathan, Victoria and Tyler -- when they were in Westree at Thanksgiving. It's not often the three kids get together so I wanted to be sure to grab a nice photo now that they are young adults. Then I photoshopped the picture for a watercolour effect. At the bottom, I did the Hallmark thing and added a verse from a famous Dolly Parton.  I gave a copy to Denise & Don, and Jennifer & Scott. I figure the message can be from the kids to the family, and also from the family to the kids.  I hope they like it. (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

Don't answer

I am not getting it. Yes, there is a definite increase in the number of scam calls people are getting on their phones. I feel terrible for people, mostly older folks, who have been ripped off by callers pretending to be from Canadian Revenue Agency.

At the risk of sounding preachy, there is a solution. Don’t answer the phone.

I am from the generation that had telephones fixed to the wall in the house. If there was a call, the phone rang and rang. If you got to the phone before the caller hung up, fine. If not, oh well. No big deal. If it was an emergency, they would call back. Calls that came during supper were not answered.

For some reason, people these days think they MUST answer their phone.

Even with Caller I.D. that shows an unfamiliar number, people will still answer. I don’t get it. Nothing is that urgent, especially when the number is not familiar.

And if you do answer the phone, thinking oh this could be a family emergency, well fine. But as soon as you find it is not an emergency, hang up.

The new toy ...

Well it was 10 years ago this week that I purchased the old Dodge Nitro 4X4. Now I have a new toy, a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.  It was about time to get a newer vehicle. The lady at the dealership had to spend 20 minutes teaching me about all the fancy features. I just wanted to know how to turn on the heated seats :)

My parka came back

Well I am pleased as I can be today. My parka was mailed back to me from Canada Goose. I sent it to Toronto ($23 by Canada Post) to have the fur around the hood replaced ($50). They did a nice job with that. Then they gave it a full inspection, checked it over and repaired all the tiny rips and loose threads from 12 years of use. Warranty - free of charge.  They also replaced the reflective tape. The return shipping was free and included a new heavy duty Canada Goose garment bag for storing the parka during the summer. I am impressed.

I figure the parka should be good for another five years. Which is interesting because my first winter parka, made by Woods, lasted for 17 years. Here is an old photo taken in December 1979 when I had that first Woods parka. This was taken in Greenland, following a trip to Baffin Island. Good times. 

Winter is here

Oooops! Sorry. Hard to believe I have spent an entire month without adding to the blog. So yes I have been busy getting the December editions of the mining journal and the medical journal sent off to the presses. But that is done now so I have some extra time.
I’ve also been feeling less energetic lately but my Nurse Practitioner said that is part of having diabetes. She also told me that too much sugar has a reverse effect in that it saps my energy instead of giving me energy. So I am working more than ever now to get the blood sugar numbers lower.
I started last week doing daily tests again, pricking my finger, taking a blood sample and measuring my blood-sugar level.  Slowly it is coming down. This morning the numbers were much improved.
Today is indeed a winter day in Sudbury. Yesterday the temperatures were mild and much of the snow we got earlier in the month had melted. Woke up this morning to find a full-blown storm happening.  

Came home at lunch time and noticed that one of the nice trees in front of my building had fallen over from the weight of the snow. That tree was right in front of my living room, so I will miss it.
The weekend was nice. I visited Scott, Jennifer and the boys. It was Nathan’s 18^th birthday!
My grandkids are adults now. Wow. We all went out to dinner (Thank You Scott) and then back to the house for a cake. So that was nice.

Wasn’t that long ago that the boys were just babies. I was enjoying the thoughts of watching them grow up. Living in Timmins for so many years, I didn’t get to see the boys that often, but when I did, I would always notice the changes as they just grew and grew.
It was also nice to see Denise and Don in town for Nate's birthday. Denise enjoyed having a special cranberry cocktail that looked pretty fancy. Nice eh?

Falling leaves

One of the nice things about fall is watching the seasons change. There is a big old maple tree on Elgin Street I pass by each day. Today the wind was brutally tearing off the leaves. Hundreds settled on the sidewalk outside the Towne House Tavern. Soon there will be plenty of snow. Neil would have liked dropping by the Towne House today. Tacos were on the menu!

Who doesn't love beets?

Sometimes, it is little things that mean a lot. That’s how it was when I made supper tonight. I am a meat and potatoes sort of fellow. Literally. I made up bangers and mash. That’s sausage, onions and potatoes. Now I always chide myself that I should  have a vegetable once a day. I was thinking of peas and carrots (they go so good wish mashed potatoes!) when suddenly I saw that wonderful jar of homemade beets in the fridge. Yes! They were a Thanksgiving weekend gift from Westree! (Yay, Denise) I opened the jar, plunked in a fork and scooped one out. OMG it was so tasty. I have been grinning ever since supper. Oh yeah, I had to brush my teeth twice… Those beets are tasty, but they will turn your teeth pink LOL.

Not a good thing ...

So at Jennifer's suggestion from last week, today I went out and purchased a new thermometer. I could have purchased the old fashioned glass kind, but figured it would be just as well to buy one of those electronic digital thermometers. As I opened the package I realized I would have to figure out how to use it. Thank goodness there were instructions. Or maybe not. As you can see from the photo, the instructions are printed in such a tiny font, it is absolutely difficult to read them. I will have to use a magnifying glass. Maybe I will find something on YouTube that explains how this works. I am just happy this is not something urgent where somebody needs to use a thermometer quickly.

Tough job eh ...

So some days the job has its perks. Recently, I had to travel out of town with a busload of company staff for a big social event. My job? Take pictures. (That's why hat is on backwards) So one of the folks grabbed my camera and snapped a few pics of myself and the others enjoying ourselves. So, tough job eh?

Keeping busy eh

This past week has been hectic, but it was enjoyable. We all went out to dinner last week (AGAIN!) with Neil, Scott and Jennifer. It was nice, but I had to admit I was getting tired of restaurant food four days in a row LOL.

Neil headed out Tuesday to spend a couple of days in Toronto before returning to Vancouver. Stay tuned for some news as he is looking to move a new city … and likely a new country.

I was on the road this week to visit Sault Ste. Marie as our company was hosting an awards program for Northern businesses. I had some time to wander around town and I have to say it is indeed a nice city.

Back in Sudbury on Friday night and I have to admit I like my work location because we're right next to the CP Rail yard in the downtown. For years I have been a railfan, and I love poking around rail yards. It is also a chance to get photos of old and unusual locomotives from smaller and lesser known rail companies. This loco is in the livery of the Ottawa Valley Railway.  I didn't even know OVR existed until I saw this. The loco is known as an EMD GP40.

The best times

It's like everyday is Father's Day for me when I get to spend time with Jennifer and Neil. We went out to dinner Saturday night and had a really nice time. Neil is passing through on his way back to Vancouver, but we were pleased he decided to stay in Sudbury for a few days. Jennifer and her boys joined us for supper to make it a really special occasion. I was pretty happy to grab this nice photo.

My new toy

Yes, it is a toy I am going to enjoy because now I can save old photos in a digital format. I had a photo scanner several years ago where I could copy slides and photos, but eventually it stopped working.

This is a new device from KODAK called a Scanza that is able to copy slides and negatives and produce reasonable looking photographs.

It will take some time, but I hope to go through the thousands of old photos and negs and get some of more important shots converted to digital jpegs.

So tried a few tonight and came up with some photos from 40 years ago! The quality doesn’t match up to the digital work we do these days, but overall it is not bad.

Over the years I was in the habit of dragging around a camera where ever I went, so I have accumulated quite a stack of images. Bit by bit I will get them copied and will share some of them here.
So here we have election night coverage in 1976, Mike Doody and his wife Charlene arriving at city hall that night (Dec.6, 1976) as Mike was elected as the new mayor, Len the miner  in 1980 and Neil in the Kitchen at Caseys in 1996!

I like this ...

Sometimes it s fun to poke around with Photoshop and see what comes up. I took a photo of Elgin Street in Sudbury and applied an "artisitic filter" of 'coloring pencils' and this is what happened to the photo. I like it.
(click the pic to see larger size)

Working on Elgin

There was a time that Elgin Street in Sudbury had a rough reputation. Maybe it still does for some people, but it is certainly not like it used to be. One of the nice things about working in downtown Sudbury is that Elgin Street is the neighbourhood for our newspaper building. I park at the CP train station parking lot and so I have to walk along Elgin every day. I enjoy it. There are several boutiques and restaurants here now.

One of the nicer things is that local artists are creating some nice murals along the underground walkway that runs beneath the train yards. I have been watching them work for a few weeks now and am I pleased with the work.