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.

Nice visit to Timmins ...

So last weekend was so enjoyable. I joined Jennifer and Scott for a quick trip up to Timmins where some of the Maltais clan gathered to celebrate Lorraine’s birthday. A gentleman should not reveal a lady’s age, especially when she hits 70.

Moe and Marie and sister-in-law Linda were amazing hosts and organizers. One of the best events was the family gathering at Casey’s Restaurant.

That’s where I snapped a few photographs. One of my favourites was the shot of Jennifer and Candice.  They had not seen each other in some time, so it was a nice photo.  Candice and her family drove in from New Brunswick and her visit was something of a surprise for most folks.  Jennifer and Candice grew up together. They’re cousins and I am sure they’re closer than sisters.
We also grabbed a photo of Jenn with little Jennifer. This is Candice's daughter with her namesake. A couple of real cuties there!

It was also nice for Jennifer, Candice and Melanie to pose for a nice photo. I really liked this one because I have so many memories of them when they were children. 

Click on each pic to see full size.

Newest issue ...

So this is what I do. I produce this magazine. This is the second issue for me this year where I did the writing and all the background work. So that's good. But there are two things going on here. About a month ago, I was stopped at a social event by a woman who works for the city's economic development office. She said the journal doesn't focus at all on women. I said I didn't notice but did mention that mining is still very much a male dominated industry.
So I was glad to put a photo of mine general manager Stella Holloway on the cover. But I had decided on that long before I was confronted. People make better photos than mining machines.

The second thing is that the company featured in the story is MacLean Engineering. Interestingly, the owner of the company, Donald MacLean travelled to Sudbury to get work back in the 1950s and then eventually opened his own mining equipment business. He is from Cape Breton. I have to wonder if there is any family connection. After all, my mom was a MacLean from Sydney

What a story this could be...

I was pleased to see a story in the New York Times this morning about Dr. Robert Ballard planning to take a fresh look at the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

I think her story is one of the great mysteries of the past century, but I am hoping the full story can somehow be revealed in my lifetime. Anyone who knows me, knows I am an aviation nut!

The Times story outlined that Dr. Ballard (the same guy who found the Titanic) is now planning to do a search based on new evidence that recently revealed that a piece of landing gear from a twin-engine Lockheed Electra, the same plane Earhart was flying as she attempted a round the world flight in 1937, was inadvertently photographed on a remote island.

Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific Ocean in the first week of July of that year. Despite the massive search, the U.S. Navy concluded their plane simply crashed into the ocean and was lost forever.

But now with this new evidence pinpointing a tiny island in the South Pacific things could change. What a story this could be!

(PHOTO CREDIT: New York Times)

A brighter day ...

Sometimes, something happens that is a pleasant surprise. Jennifer and I had lunch in a downtown diner this week in Sudbury. It was nice. On the way out, Jenn was paying for her parking chit when a nearby man began speaking to her quietly. At first I thought it might be one of her patients from work, so I kept a discreet distance.

Then I heard Jennifer tell the man, in a 'take charge' voice: “Well I won't give you spare change, but if you're hungry, I will buy you some food.”
The man said yes, he was hungry. Jenn told the man to follow her and they went back into the diner. The man sat down. They spoke for a moment. Jennifer grabbed a menu and went to the counter where she spoke to the waitress. Something was ordered. Jenn paid for it and that was it. Nice eh?

With all the other crap that goes on in this world, my whole day suddenly got better. Thank you Jenn.

Measuring sleep

One of the things I like about my Fitbit is that it measures my sleep. I try to get a good night's sleep... usually between seven and eight hours. Like a lot of people, I do not sleep that well. I toss and turn. I wake up groggy, look at the clock and try to go back to la la land.
The Fitbit gives me a chart every morning, telling me how much time I slept and whether it was light sleep or deep sleep or restlessness.
So last night I hit the bed at 11:41 p.m. and got up at 8:48 a.m. But when all the time was counted, it only came to 7 hours and 25 minutes. (Click on the chart to make it full size.)

My light sleep was more than five hours. The deep sleep was just over one hour.
Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, the Fitbit recorded a nap I had on the weekend. I hit the couch and was restless for about seven minutes and then went into a deep sleep for more than an hour. All that from napping on the couch. I should nap more often :)