Teachers

I have a greater appreciation for teachers. This past week I was able to drop in on several high school graduations, and one Grade 8 grad. It was indeed satisfying to see the faces of the young people, so full of hope and confidence, as they move to higher education. It is one of the things that makes Canada a great place. I was equally impressed at these events to see the teachers, obviously happy with the achievements of their young students. There has to be immense satisfaction on their part to know they have given so much to these young people. That's a good thing. That being said, I was also so proud that Tyler has graduated Grade 8. I so wished I could have been there. I think he knows how everyone in his family is so pleased for him, especially his Mom and Dad.

Tweeting

I have been known to say that there is a reason that Twitter is not called SMARTer. I am not a twitter person. Several of my colleagues are, and say it is important. I fail to see why. I think some people feel the need to be "in the loop" and if they can comment on a developing situation, then they feel they are a part of the bigger world. Some of my newsie chums believe they can stay on the edge of really important news by monitoring what other people are tweeting. I don't buy it. If it's that important, we will know... I grew up in a military family, in the Sixties. If something was that important, we'd all see the mushroom cloud on the eastern horizon. Also, so much Twit information is just not reliable. Some people tend to Twit some pretty stupid things ... and those things come back to bite them in the a$$. There is also that new situation known as FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as described in new urban dictionaries. A lot of people have FOMO. They also buy into the internet situation called ICYMI, which means In Case You Missed It. This just gives people reason to go twittering other people, usually with the most inane trivial bits of information. Thank goodness they can't see anyone rolling their eyes. Maybe we should create RMEAWYJT (Rolling My Eyes At What You Just Texted).

Passing on secrets ...

It's what families should do. Although this is not a big secret, I was kind of pleased to tell Jenn about it last week. It began as I was discussing how food can quickly "go bad" no matter how much care you take. I was telling her that I bought a pint of strawberries and they rarely last three or four days before they go all soft and mushy. But I also mentioned that I use a bit of vinegar when I wash the strawberries and it sure helps. When you get home from the store, wash the strawberries with one part vinegar to ten parts water. Rinse them all over really well, drain them, rinse them a bit more with fresh water and put them in the fridge. The word is that the vinegar kills the mould spores and keeps the berries fresh, longer. But I still say you should eat them within a week ... and they're still fresh and sweet.

Throwing out my socks

I read somewhere a few years back that actor Sylvester Stallone doesn't wash his socks. He throws them out and buys new socks all the time. I do something like that. Today was my sock-throwaway day. Just for my white gym socks. Every summer I buy several new pairs of white gym socks. I wear them with my sneakers, usually just during the summer. Here's the thing. White socks get dirty and yucky and no matter how much you wash them, they just get old, real fast. And you can never match up the pairs right. Some get stretched out. Others do not. So I throw them away and buy new socks. This year I picked up several new pairs of Fruit Of The Loom gym socks. they're less than a dollar pair. That's cheaper than a cup of coffee. I know it seems like a waste. My mom would be so upset. It's not like you can donate socks to the Salvation Army. So now I have all news sock again, that will last for the summer. Lucky me eh!

Meals to remember

It was nice to chat with Jennifer earlier today and we talked about one of those Internet sites that are all about healthy food … only this website put out a list of the nine foods you should not eat. Things like margarine, canned tomatoes, processed meats …on and on. Okay, I go along with some of that stuff, but after awhile I just think, Hey I am gonna die one of these days and when I look back on my life I just know I am NOT going to be thinking about how much soybean curd or quinoa I should have eaten. Truth be told I don’t eat that stuff. That being said tonight was a steak night. In deference to Jenn’s beliefs I have cut way back on red meat. I have stopped eating pork. I have stopped eating canned tuna. Other people have assured me this is a good thing. So every five or six weeks I treat myself with a nice cut of beef. In this case, it was a very thick slab of top sirloin that marinated for about 30 hours (Black pepper, Pepsi, olive oil). I sizzled it in the big cast iron pan for 11 minutes, then I let it settle in the oven for another 10 minutes. I added half a baked potato and some grilled veggies. It was perfection. Instead of wine I quaffed a freezing cold pint of Danish ale. But the steak was too big. So tomorrow morning, I will have an egg and steak McMuffin for breakfast. These are the kinds of meals I like to remember.

Disappointed ... well just a bit

Ontario has a new government. Voters gave Premier Kathleen Wynne a majority government Thursday. I like her. I've met her twice and she seems a person who is positive and sincere. Problem is, she's a Liberal. I could not vote for her party Thursday because of the many well-documented scandals of the previous Liberal government. Former Premier Dalton McGuinty makes Richard Nixon look like an altar boy. Funny how the Toronto media made a big deal of Mike Duffy over-spending about $90,000 on his expenses. They seemed to make less of a deal over McGuinty misspending more than $1.1 Billion on the gas-plant scandal. Anyway, it is a new time and I am hoping the new government moves forward. Interesting that Northeastern Ontario pretty well thumbed its nose at Queen's Park and continued to vote NDP.

On another note, I switched allegiance on camera brands. Since 1974 I had been shooting Nikons. In the past year or so, I tried Canon. The company bought me a new Canon 60D, a nice $2,500 mid-range pro camera DSLR. I liked it. Now that I am integrated into a new newsroom, the company said I have to share the camera. So I handed the 60D over to the boss and went out last week and purchased my own new Canon. Except I bought the one that is more expensive and more state-of-the-art; the 70D DSLR. (Seven frames a second up to 1/8000th of a second!) It also shoots HD video. So expect to see more photos here in the coming weeks and months as I continue to learn.

Gillies Lake in Timmins

A summer morning in Timmins ... ( A shot with my new camera. Click for large size)

Small world or what

The new job brought an interesting fact to light this week. One of my new co-workers, a fellow named Ron, mentioned growing up in Toronto and riding the Roncesvalles bus. That twigged a memory. I told him I used to sell newspapers nearby at The Junction, when I was a kid. I was a street corner newsboy near Jane and Dundas. I said it was the by LCBO store and the old army surplus store. That's when Ron revealed he remembered going to that store as a teen. He lived near The Junction. I said I used to hang out there every Saturday and then I would go to my uncle's house on Jillson Avenue. Ron's eyed went wide. "Who did you know on Jillson?, he asked. Now Jillson Avenue is one of the shortest streets in Toronto, all of two blocks long. I said it was my uncle Mike Maclean, his wife Marg and their children Tina, Laura and Jamie. Ron laughed. It turns out he and Jamie were school buddies. I said Jamie was really big on playing hockey. Ron said yeah, he and Jamie were on the same team. How cool is that? You never know who you know.

Back where I started eh ...

One of my colleagues said it best this week, telling me I had come full circle. I came to Timmins 40 years ago, to take a job as junior reporter at The Daily Press. Over the years I worked in private radio, network radio, magazines, freelance, TV news and then the weekly newspaper. Well go figure. I was handed a letter Tuesday, on Sunmedia letterhead, directing me to shut down my office at The Timmins Times and to move over to the daily. Today is my first day on the job. I am still going to put out the Times every week, but the company is saving huge dollars by merging our operations now. In time, I will join the general assignment pool at the daily, but I have to make sure to keep putting out the Times since it still has a huge circulation. I am told the only thing changing is the location. So we will see how it goes. The Times building has been shut down and will soon be for sale. I will miss my nice quiet office with a window. I am now in a big, big newsroom... but there are only a handful of us newsies left. We've been told that at some point, they will also put this building up for sale, and that we will also move into a storefront. Interesting times ahead... (no pun intended!)

Endorsement!

Journalists are not supposed to endorse anything! But I am gonna step out of line right now and endorse Muskol spray. I spent several hours in the bush last night and early this morning and the Northern Ontario blackflies are swarming by the billions out there. Muskol is amazing. It works. The blackflies stayed away from me. If you are going out into the boreal forest anytime soon, grab a can of Muskol!

I never did this before ...

Was pleased to go out and spend time with friends at a house party this weekend. It was nice in the sense that it was a chance to have some really good conversation. At one point I remember thinking, how is it possible for so many people to be talking all at once? It was just a huge cacophony of voices. Anyway, around midnight, I figured it was time to go. After four hours, I had nursed only two drinks. I was hungry and had not had supper. I was ready to grab a cab, but didn't need to. So as I was driving home, I saw Chez Nous ... the most popular place for poutine in Timmins. It's also where Shania used to go when she was a teen. So I stopped, went in and placed an order. About seven minutes later the lady handed me the take out bag (I also ordered a burger) and I went home. Okay, now I know. Now I know why so many people go to this place. The poutine just tasted so so sooooo good. Yes, I have tasted it before ... but this was the first time I went in and bought the stuff. This was all mine. I could savour every french fry, ... every lump of cheese ... and every piece drenched in gravy! Yeah, it was that good.

We carry on ...

It’s Saturday morning after a nice week; well nice for the most part. Tea and cake for breakfast is a good thing. I was looking at the newspaper Thursday morning. It is the last newspaper that will be printed in Timmins. From now on the papers are going to be printed at a press plant down south, and the papers will be trucked north. Our parent company Quebecor made that decision. It means the six guys in the press plant here at our paper are being laid off. Not a happy time. Our press plant had printed the Timmins Press, The Timmins Times, as well as the newspapers in Kapuskasing, Hearst, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls and Kirkland Lake. It's a shame they're closing our plant. I wonder how much thought goes into that kind of decision. It may save a few dollars today, but if the price of fuel goes up, who knows. I enjoyed some television last night, by watching Netflix. I am pleased to report that The West Wing is being presented. So I am watching it again. It was a great show that began in the late 1990s and ran for a few seasons … one of the best television shows I can remember. I had a pleasant evening Wednesday, when I attended a local coffee house where an event called Timmins Voices is presented. In this case, the voice was Diane Armstrong, our main columnist at The Times. She did a reading from her latest book. That was nice. It was also nice to see so many young people there, as well as a few oldies, who did poetry readings. When is the last time you sat down and listened to poetry? Exactly! It was just excellent. Some folks at the microphone were getting really personal and pouring their hearts out. I plan to be at the next one. It is Mine Rescue time in the North. That’s when Mine Rescue teams from the various mines compete for bragging rights. Kidd Operations won this year, at an event held last weekend. Second year in a row. Congrats to them and my brother-in-law Moe the miner, who has been part of Kidd mine rescue for 20 years. Team Kidd are also the defending champs for Ontario. ( I am proud of this because I am a former Kidd mine rescue man.) So in June, all the winning mine rescue teams will be in Timmins to once again, compete for the title of best mine rescue team in the province. By the way, this is the May long weekend. Saturday morning and there are snow flurries outside. The river is rising, and the city has set up sand-bagging stations because flooding is expected any time now. Life in Timmins … it goes on. People just carry on.

Books, and the pretty sales girl.

So I read a lot. It’s my vice. I bought more than 35 books last year alone. I was shopping on the weekend when I dropped in to Coles just to see what might be new and interesting. I was really just browsing. A pretty sales girl walked up and asked if I was interested in anything specific. Not much, I told her, but I do like history. She picked up a nice looking hardcover and handed it to me. It looked interesting. I flipped it over. The comments on the back cover seemed enticing. Okay, so I bought it. I got home and a few hours later cracked open the new book. Damn! It wasn’t really history… it was more of a science fiction novel with a history twist to it. I don’t know why I bought it or what I was looking at or thinking of, when the pretty girl handed it to me. Thankfully, I have other books waiting to be read. I guess I will save the science fiction for the day when I am in a nursing home, sneaking out the back door to enjoy some cigars and whiskey…

Good Karma...

Life is good. I am totally relaxed after a nice Easter weekend in Westree. This morning I enjoyed a fabulous piece of leftover carrot cake with coffee for breakfast that I took home with me, from my visit with Don and Denise and the family. Denise has outstanding bakery talent. But the best reason for visiting is to enjoy the great hospitality and the chance to unwind. It is so calm and peaceful there. On Saturday I was sitting on the front porch reading and then I stopped for a bit to enjoy the quiet. A short time later, I realized I had dozed off while sitting on the porch. How relaxed is that? It was great to see everyone too. Jennifer and her guys were there, so the visit was just excellent. The grandchildren are all getting older, quickly it seems. But Westree is where they do have fun. Denise organized a scavenger hunt for the kids and within minutes they all roared away on ATVs. When Victoria,Tyler and Nathan got back more than an hour later, they were all full of stories and laughing hard. I know these are times they will remember for years and hopefully share with their own children someday. I knew I had some good Karma coming my way. A couple of weeks ago, I went to renew my driver's licence and to purchase new licence plate tags. The girl at the counter forget to charge me for them. I only realized it when I left the building. So I drove back to pay the $170 owing to the Ontario Government. The poor clerk was so pleased that I returned to pay. I figure this past weekend was my reward. The other good thing is that there is a new TV season for Downton Abbey. It is a fabulous television series on Netflix. I watched three episodes last night before finally giving up and going to bed at 1:00 a.m.

The nice people I work with ...

The local media gang in Timmins gets along quite well. Many of us meet on a regular basis to socialize and enjoy each other's company away from the work environment. So with one of our group leaving Timmins to pursue a new job down south, I decided it was my turn to have some company, with a farewell dinner for Paige. It was nice. One of the nice things was that it also forced me to do my spring cleaning. That took about three days. I also enjoying cooking. The menu was pasta primavera, shepherd's pie, glazed chicken with mac salad; a cheese platter, a veggie platter and an anti-pasto plate. Zoom. Everything went. The fun thing was that some of the people were working and so they dropped in after their assignments to eat, chat and laugh. The big surprise came from Lydia, a local TV reporter I've known for several years. She showed up with a very nice birthday cake... a very big cheesecake in fact, complete with two candles, one a six and one a zero. I was indeed caught off guard, but I liked it. So thanks to Lydia, and Emilie, and Paige, and Paige's mom Lori who was in town to help her move, and Amelia, and Nabi, and Shane, and Blair, and Steve, and Brent, and Daniela, and Joey. ***** Also, congrats to my niece Valerie and her man Dennis. Was so pleased to see the photos of the wedding in Arizona. Was also pleased to see my son Neil there, along with several of his cousins who made the trip from Timmins.

Birthday gift ...

Whew, I am 60 now. A freakin' senior citizen in some circles! Anyway I got a nice gift yesterday ... in a way. March 31st was the first day of special hearings into improving health and safety for miners in Ontario. The hearings began in Timmins and I was there to cover them. I have covered hearings like this before, in the 1970s and the 1980s. Miners are still being killed in underground accidents. More miners have died in Timmins in recent years than in any other single mining camp in Ontario. I do feel strongly about this. I am glad that more will be done to try to prevent more deaths.

I am just nosey...

One of the best things about my job is meeting new people. This week I ran into an interesting fellow who is a vice-president with RBC Royal Bank in the commercial financial section. His name was Pierre Maltais. Of course, I had to ask him about his family name, which is the same as Terry's family. Turns out his Dad is quite the researcher into the family history. He told me all the Maltais in Canada are tied back to two brothers who came from the Normandy region of France back in the 1600s. He said his branch of the family settled in the Saguenay region of Quebec, where they were mostly employed in the logging business. Interesting eh?

I dress bland ... but more people are doing that now.

I'm a fashion trend setter! Who knew? According to the fashionistas out there, the newest trend in men's fashion is something called Normcore. Apparently it means just plain bland ordinary comfortable clothing. Yup, that's where I am now. Several years ago I had to follow a spiffy dress code and wear suits and ties at work. Not any more. My thing now is clean and plain and comfortable. And yes, I get to wear jeans. I don't worry about that because if I have to go to a special chamber of commerce lunch, I just throw on a blazer. I bought two very ordinary looking cashmere blazers in the past year. One is navy and one is light brown. They're perfect for adding a bit of formality to my everyday casual clothes. The best part is that I dress comfortably. If I have to work in these clothes for 10, 12 or 14 hours a day, I am going to be comfortable!

Grandma's letter to Jennifer

I am very pleased with myself this weekend. I did some housework. Ha Ha. But more than that I found a letter that Grandma Gillis mailed out more than 30 years ago. The letter was addressed to Jennifer. I thought it was lost, but it was in an old photo album. Jenn was just a child at the time and likely had a hard time reading Grandma's handwriting. The important thing is that it was a letter about our family history and how the Gillis family came over from Morar, on the northwest coast of Scotland. Grandma was a teacher at one time and had a great memory for detail. I remember her with great love and fondness. I have made digital copies of the letter and I will transcribe it into text as well. Grandma signed off the letter with this: "Now my hand is getting tired and you may not be able to make out the writing but try to anyway. Give my love to your Mother & everyone. God Bless You. Will write at Christmas. Bye Bye. Your great grandmother."

Hmmm... did you notice she didn't mention me? I thought I was her favourite! LOL

People are getting to be so young!

So here we are in March 2014. This is a bit of a milestone month for me. I will be turning 60. I'm okay with that, but some days I am amazed how young some people are getting. Of course, people don't "get young". It's just that as I go about my day to day work meeting different people in different walks of life, I come upon some very talented and very interesting people ... and they are so YOUNG! It takes everything I have to shake hands with them, instead of giving them a gentle pat on the head, as you might with a child. Well, it's not really like that. But it is how I think sometimes. I ran into one of these people last week, who is so young and fresh-faced you might think he is a teenager. But this fellow is a mining engineer who is in charge of a billion dollar gold mining operation and oversees the jobs of hundreds of people. Sometimes I walk into an office or a building and ask to see the see the boss. Many times I am surprised to find that the "big boss" in these situations is often a young person, younger than my own children. I am confident that I act properly but I sure hope my face or mannerisms don't give anything away. I believe in the idea that in these days of very strict working conditions, you don't get to be the boss unless you have exceedingly good qualifications. That being said, I work in a situation where most of my fellow reporters, colleagues in the news business, are also young. And as expected, they make a lot of rookie mistakes. I don't bother pointing out the mistakes, as I am confident they realize when they have done something wrong. I do however make a point of complimenting them when they do something really well. It sure makes the day go better.