A few weeks back we purchased a 21’ travel trailer to increase the family camping enjoyment factor.  Up until now we have been unable to use the trailer because the Colorado didn’t quite have the towing capacity.  We needed to add a seven port wiring harness, an electronic brake controller and a 900 lb weight distribution hitch.  The hitch essentially spreads the tongue weight of the trailer across a greater area and helps keep the truck level when towing.

I had to wait several weeks for the hitch to come in and finally about a two weeks ago it did.  I took the truck in and had them install the brake controller and the harness, and I took the hitch home to set up by myself.  The trailer is kinda necessary to the process, so it made sense.

It took me a couple of days to get the hitch all together and assembled with the correct parameters.  So, on Thursday of last week I decided to finalize the installation and hook up the trailer for the first time.

It seemed to go smoothly…

The truck looked to be handling the weight well and I was interested in testing the wiring harness and the brake controller.  I plugged in the trailer plug to the truck and failed to pay much attention to the popping sound I heard coming from the front of the truck.  I got into the truck and started it up.  So far, so good. 

I tapped on the brakes and the LED on the controller began to count up.  I don’t know much about controllers, but that seemed appropriate.  I tested it a second time.  That’s when I noticed a strange smell.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first, but I had definitely smelled it before. 

The sound of a child yelling caught my attention and when I looked in the rear view mirror, I saw the plume of smoke.  I immediately turned the truck off and ran back to unplug the trailer.  I climbed under the truck and checked the wiring – it was incredibly warm to the touch.  I was livid and ready to take the truck back to the installer and freak out about the wiring job.

Then it occurred to me that it might not be their fault.  I ran to the back of the trailer and checked the electrical.  It was still plugged into the 120 volt house electrical socket.  The electricity was feeding back into the 12 volt line on the truck.  Not sure why there is no fuse or breaker protecting that.  The plug was scorched a little.

I waited until it all cooled down and gave it a good once over.  I reconnected everything and tested it.  Everything seemed to be working ok.  Thankfully.   My goal is to not do that ever again.

In the last couple of weeks my kids have started to become friendly with the other kids in the neighbourhood.  We’ve lived here for about three years and in that time we managed to avoid the mobs of children that plague our streets during the summer months. Luckily, our kids attend a different school than the rest of the neighbourhood children, so they really don’t have a lot of interaction with them. 

A few weeks ago my daughters befriended the only other little girl in the neighbourhood that is their age.  She’s a good kid and I really don’t mind them playing with her.  However she is kinda like the queen bee.  As soon as she shows up, the others follow.  All in all about 10 other kids will swarm in and congregate on my property. 

Now, I’m not a kid hater.  In fact, I love the kids.  Seeing how they grow and develop socially is incredibly interesting.  What I don’t love is being responsible for kids that aren’t mine.  Our place has plenty of places to get in trouble.  We have a pool, hottub, travel trailer, garage full of tools, and two fairly new and nice vehicles. 

So you can imagine my frustration levels when I see bikes getting dangerously close to the truck or the Rendezvous, or when I see kids in the garage near the power tools.  Most of the kids have listening problems and refuse to follow the rules as laid out. 

The other big pain in the rear is the fact that my own kids don’t pay attention to the fact that other kids are in my back yard playing while they are down the street with other kids. 

My wife is going to be off this summer with the new baby and the last thing she needs is the whole block here being in the way.  I’m going to put the foot down and make it clear that my home is not a local hangout spot for every kid on the street.  That way my family can enjoy their summer and our new addition.

That is the question.

I’ve been eyeing the netbooks since their debut a couple of years ago. It’s mostly the gadget factor that draws me to them.  Their compact size makes them ideal for many situations such as travel or around the house.

Until recently I couldn’t justify purchasing a netbook.  To be honest, I already have far too many computers in my house and that includes a tablet supplied by the organization I work for.  Adding another just wasn’t worth the added cost, regardless of the cool factor. 

That’s all about to change.  With a new baby on the way, my wife will be starting her maternity leave and that will require her to return corporate laptop.  Between the newborn and our older two, my wife will find herself all over the house.  Sometimes upstairs, sometimes downstairs, sometimes out by the pool.  It will be a huge benefit to her if she could have access to the internet in all of these places. 

The netbook provides a convenient and portable way to stay connected and have easy access to the interweb. 

I originally started my netbook search at Dell.ca where I was looking at the Dell Mini 9.  A friend of mine recently purchased a Mini 9 and it’s a pretty handy little device.  I did find the screen to be a little bit on the tiny side, so I switched my focus towards the 10” Dell Mini 10. 

The price of the Mini 10 was a little bit too high for me and that particular netbook has integrated memory, so it cannot be upgraded.  Within the last week, Dell started selling a new 10” model called the Mini 10v.  This netbook offers the potential of upgrading the memory with a reduced cost via the elimination of HD compatibility.  I was just about ready to buy one when I saw a new deal that seemed too good to be true. 

It’s a Lenovo S10e and it’s a very sweet looking netbook.  It has all the bells and whistles and comes with a 6 cell battery for $359.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

It would seem that life has a funny way of putting you to multiple tests at the same time.  It’s truly amazing to see the amount of stress that the human body and mind can take.  I’m not talking about the extraordinary circumstances where people show that they can be run over with a monster truck, or break a concrete block with their head – I’m talking about the compounding stresses of day to day life.

Take for example having a baby.  Having a baby is a truly wonderful and amazing event in one’s life.  Creating a life is the most miraculous thing that a human can do, but it’s not all smiles and giggles all of the time.  Hormones, emotions, worries, and opinions can play a significant role in elevating a normal situation into an all out war.  Often times, couple are really put to the test in making the relationship work while going through the motions of having a baby.

In my situation, I have an added challenge to deal with in that my career is going through a significant change.  I’ve been assigned to one of the largest projects in the organization as the Architecture Lead.  The job itself is very stressful due to the broad needs of the business clients working against the strategic goals of the organization.  Add in tight timelines, bleeding edge technologies, and an army of people who don’t agree on anything - and you have a volatile situation.

What does it all mean?  It means that I’ve been putting in 16 hour days.  Not just any 16 hours though, 16 hours that are optimally placed to have the least impact on the family.  That means going to work at 1am after sleeping for 2 hours and returning the next day at 5pm.  That way no family time is missed and the stress is generally not spread throughout the entire household.

Why would one do this?  Simple.  The end result of the hard work will allow me to move up the ladder and hopefully increase my wages – something the whole family will really benefit from. 

The cost is fairly significant up front though.  Time is obviously the biggest expense and making good use of that time is priority number one!  The second cost is the physical and emotional drain that comes with prolonged sleep deprivation.  It’s very easy to get caught up in it all and sometimes you need to take a step back and make sure you’re not overdoing it. 

As we get closer to the due date, I think it’s going to be important for me to be spending less time at work, so my goal is to get as much wrapped up in the next couple of weeks as possible so that I can be there for my wife and our existing children as we welcome the new addition to the family.

That said, I think the title says it all.  Having a baby isn’t always that easy to orchestrate with opportunities that arise at work and it’s important to weigh all of the pros and cons and prioritize effectively.  If the end result is worth the cost and the risks, then you should keep your eye on the prize and weather the storm.  It will be worth it.

I can remember being a youngster and tuning in every Sunday night to the hit television show Cops.  Back in those days I wanted to be an officer of the law and Cops offered a realistic view into that world.  For a half hour every week, I could see what it would be like to be one of the boys in blue.  Even though I eventually grew out of the phase where I wanted to be a police officer, the show never stopped grabbing my attention.

There’s just something about it.  It’s like reality TV, only real.  People today love to watch so-called reality television shows, but the vast majority of the reality is fictional.  Cops is not scripted and there are no retakes.  The situations that the officers encounter are often volatile and always unpredictable. 

The show is one of the longest running television series on TV, with over 20 seasons recorded since it’s debut on March 11, 1989.  Each 22 minute episode will usually contain three different segments where camera crews follow officers on the job as they attend to situations in their day to day calls.  There are car chases, burglaries, domestic disputes, fights, drugs, guns, knives, prostitutes and so much more!

Even though each episode is action-packed, I’m usually less impressed with the car chase scenes.  My preference is definitely to see the interactions between the cops and the criminals.  People do a lot of incredibly stupid things and the police are generally well prepared to handle any unforeseen events.  It’s always fun to see someone get tasered because they couldn’t follow simple instructions.

I really have a lot of respect for the officers that put their work under the microscope by allowing a camera crew to tag along and record every move they make.  Mistakes are bound to be made and thankfully the producers of the show don’t air that footage.  These men and women have a hard enough job and it’s not realistic to think that every situation can be dealt with by the book.  Sometimes you need to improvise and I can certainly appreciate that.  In fact, I often think that some of the criminals deserve a beat down or two.

I recently acquired a copy of some early seasons of Cops and jumping back to the early 1990s is a real eye opener to the changes to both the police procedures and the criminal element.  One thing never changes though... the cops with the biggest moustaches always get the most respect.

Ah, the reboot.  Quite possibly the single most used repair tactic since the dawn of electricity.  It might also be the most over-looked repair tactic as well.

I can’t even begin to count the number of times that someone has asked me for help with a computer problem and they look perplexed when I asked them if they had tried turning it off and on again.  Most people just don’t think of it.  I’ve certainly had my share of issues that were fixed by a reboot after some lengthy troubleshooting.

It’s such a bizarre notion,  If you turn it off, then turn it back on, the problem will fix itself.  In many cases, the explanation as to why this worked would be beyond the comprehension of my tiny brain.  It just doesn’t always add up. 

Oh well. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Last week a couple of IT guys from my office were telling the tale of the multiple reboots.  Simply put, they had been working on some Exchange email servers and were having some problems that just wouldn’t go away.  So they did what every geek roots IT person would do 0 they rebooted.  That wouldn’t be enough though. 

You see the problem remained after the first reboot, so one of them suggested a second reboot.  Then a third and forth and so on.  This continued until reboot 14 – where by all accounts a miracle occurred.  The problem solved itself.

So the moral of the story is, always try a reboot (or two) when you find yourself with computer troubles.  Before you go calling up your favorite IT guy, see if you can fix it yourself. 

Oh, and if you don’t know how to reboot it, you have bigger fish to fry.  :)

As I sit down to write this, I am pondering the intrinsic complexities of space and time.  Time is an apparent constant where as it seems to always move along at the same measurable speed.  Makes sense, doesn’t it? 

A properly calibrated clock will continue to count the seconds, minutes and hours as they pass.  We make our way through the work day, counting down the roughly eight hours that we will spend there.   It’s always the same. 

Three hundred and sixty five days in a year, twenty four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute.  We manage ourselves by adhering to these schedules and rules. 

So what do I mean when I say it that time doesn’t feel constant?  Quite simply this:  as of late, I am no longer able to produce the same amount of output in a typical amount of time.  It basically feels like time has sped up and left me behind. 

Is that even possible?  The clock still says that eight hours has passed, so why haven’t I completed what I normally would have in those eight hours?  What if the clock was just a farce?  A prop to help maintain the lie?

The clock is there to convince you of your current place in the space-time continuum.  It would be quite a mind breaker to discover that a clock is simply just a counter, and that time fluctuates in speed and intensity.  Maybe time affect independent object differently.  Could time move faster for a human, while slowing down for a tree? 

Unfortunately, and ironically, I don’t have the time that it would take to prove out that theory.  I will challenge you though, think about time and what you know about it.  I know that you’ve had the experience of saying “I don’t know where the time went”.

I totally do.

Tonight I broke out some my old Lego to help my youngest daughter with a school project.  The task at hand was to build a structure.  Nothing too fancy, it’s only grade one.  On the advice on my wife, we opted to build a bridge.

We started with a helipad and runway base and worked on building a bridge that somewhat resembled an overpass.  Sifting through the vast expanse of Lego parts was mildly frustrating.  It seems as though you never find the part you are looking for, unless of course you aren’t looking for it.  Then it’s easy to find.

Watching the kids work away at finding pieces and fitting them together is rather heart-warming.  They are so creative and innovative in the way they assemble their creations.  At one point my daughter says to me “How do you do that?  How do you make things so easily?”

My response was not what she expected, but honest.  I said “when I was a kid, about your age, my favorite toy was Lego.  I played with Lego every day and learned to build all kinds of things.”

She seemed unimpressed with my answer. 

Regardless, we carried on and built a pretty sweet bridge with pillars and safety fences.  It wasn’t quite done, but it was after bedtime, so we decided to finish tomorrow.  After tucking the kids in, I came back downstairs and started to sift through the Lego pieces.  Oh the memories that brought back. 

Many of the pieces are from spaceship sets and include rockets, satellite dishes, computer terminals, spaceship wings and lots of other cool things.  Instinctively, I started to build a rocket ship.  I don’t know why or where the idea came from, but I just couldn’t put it down.

At the moment, the floor of the rec-room is covered in Lego.  :)

A couple of weeks ago I was picking up some items from Canadian Tire, when I noticed a clearance rack full of automotive electronics.  There were remote starters from $30 and mp3-cd players, but the biggest winner of all was a wireless backup camera that mounts to the licence plate on the back of your vehicle.  The image is then transmitted wirelessly to the receiving monitor mounted on your dash whenever your vehicle is shifted into reverse. 

At $64, I couldn’t pass it up.  Especially since we have the new trailer and this will make it much easier to back up to the hitch assembly.  I procrastinated about installing it for a couple of weeks and finally decided that yesterday would be the day.  I took the tail light assembly apart and figured out the wiring, then proceeded to connect the camera and complete the install.  I know what you’re thinking - “didn’t he say it was wireless?”

I totally did.  There are still wires required for the power, however the video itself is transmitted wirelessly.  An optional cable can be purchased to connect the camera to the monitor and bypass the wireless.  I can see the benefits to that.  The image is easily distorted as the device is required to accept any interference – including cell phones and other electronics.

So where’s the great adventure?  I thought you would never ask!

On my way to work today, I noticed the monitor would come on and flicker from time to time.  I thought that I had maybe mis-wired it, as it’s only supposed to be on when the truck is in reverse.  It wasn’t until I pulled up to swipe my card for the parking garage at my work that I realized what was happening.

As I fumbled to get my card swiped, the monitor lit up.  The image was very distorted, but I could make out what looked to be a chair in it.  Definitely not from my camera.  At lunch I was able to confirm my suspicions.  While the image at the parking garage was now gone, At a nearby stoplight I picked up a much clearer picture.  It was a live video feed from the lobby of a funeral home next to the intersection.  It would appear my monitor picks up more than it is intended to.

On the way home I found another very clear signal, but didn’t have time to stop and figure out which business it was coming from. 

The moral of this story is that wireless cameras will not protect your business.  Even a remotely intelligent criminal could easily operate this type of device and know just what you are watching.

There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by that I don’t find a new reason to hate on the McGuinty government.  From their attempt to ban handguns, to the harmonized sales tax, it seems that all they do is make living in the province less pleasant.

So what's the latest and greatest from everyone’s favorite Liberal government?  The banning of pesticides in the province of Ontario.

Commencing on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Ontario residents are no longer able to purchase pesticides for cosmetic use on lawns, gardens, school yards and parks. 

This means that we should all look forward to seeing dandelion and weed infested lawns instead of lush green grass.  We can also look forward to the high cost of chiropractic bills now that the province thinks people should be manually removing the weeds – a move that will be sure to increase back strain province wide. 

It’s good to note that the province doesn’t recognize chiropractic medicine as legitimate, so OHIP won’t cover any part of your visit.

So, get prepared to explain to your children and grandchildren about the old days when people had grass on their lawn instead of weeds.  You can tell them stories about how land values used to be much higher.  You could even take them on a road trip to another province to show them just how much a thick, green lawn improves the aesthetics (and enjoyment) of your property.

You might even consider moving there.

These greasy Liberal politicians have to go.  What ever happened to a government that represents the people.  I don’t recall voting on this issue.  I don’t remember having my say.  All I read about is how the McGuinty government is committed to protecting families and children, but there is not real evidence that supports their claims.  All they have is “medical experts” who use words like “might”, “could”, “potentially”.  

Doesn’t sound like hard evidence to me.

I’d like to assume that none of my readers enjoys a cold shower.  I think that is a reasonable assumption.  One of the great things about a shower (besides getting clean) is the relaxing effects of the warm (or hot!) water rushing against your skin.

I bet you can imagine my surprise when I jumped in the shower the other day and after a couple of minutes, the water became pretty much lukewarm.  My first thought was that one or more members of my household may have already showered and used up some of the water, so I did what I would normally do and attempted to increase the flow from the hot water side.

That really didn’t help much though, it was already at max.

After finishing my shower, I went downstairs and asked my wife if anyone else had showered.  She indicated that they had, but it had been while before I went in, so the hot water should have been replenished.  At this point I should have been puzzled, but I started to recall that this situation had happened last year as well.

On a hunch, I went down to the hot water tank to check the temperature setting.  Low and behold, it was set to “warm” as opposed to the standard setting that is just shy of “hot”.  I adjusted it and decided it would be a good idea to tape it in place.  That way, nobody would be adjusting the temperature again.

While my first inclination is usually to ask the children who did it, this time they were spared by our feline protector.  While I have no actual proof, the hot water tank is only a couple of feet away from the cat’s litter box.  The dial is in a direct path that she would walk when exiting her litter and heading upstairs.  In true cat fashion, she loves to rub against anything and everything.  The dial on the water heater is right at her height and is easily turned – maybe too easily.

Lucky for us, this action only causes the temperature to be turned down.  Had she adjusted it on the way in, someone could have been badly injured by the extremely hot water. 

There is a part of my that wants to believe that she turned it down intentionally in an effort to help us with cutting down our energy consumption and being a greener household.

Well, this weekend was the second and final instalment of this years children's birthday parties.  Our seven year old had five of her friends over and it is incredible to witness the difference that two years makes. 

When our nine year old had her party, I though that it was a significant challenge to manage that many nine year olds.  It would be an understatement to call the seven year olds “a challenge”.

Listening skills are few and far between at that age.  My mother-in-law came by to lend a hand at the request of the birthday girl and I am glad she did.  She was able to fill in some supervisory duties as the girls split into groups for different activities.

The party started with all the little ones heading out to the hottub.  This adventure was very short-lived as the girls have a short attention span and they wanted to jump and splash and dive – all activities that are not hottub appropriate.  In comparison, this task only knocked off thirty minutes, as opposed to an hour for the nines.

I also noted previously that the nine year olds all like to talk at once.  Seven year olds all like to talk at once also, all be it they want to each talk about a different subject.  They also seem to just want to talk for the sake of talking, as they often don’t direct their vocalizations towards anyone or any group.

As an added bonus, my brother-in-law stopped by to return a cooler he had borrowed and provided me with 20 minutes of saving grace.  This seemingly innocuous event was just what I needed to ensure that my sanity was maintained.

I can’t wait to see what next year brings.  lol 

I also can’t wait to see what happens when it’s six little boys running around when my son gets to be this age.

Well, it’s pretty much a done deal now.  The new travel trailer was delivered a couple of weeks ago and the old pop-up camper is now gone.  As much as it was a great project, and I learned a lot about the mechanics of a pop-up, I was happy to see it go.

The 1973 Starcraft Stardust 6 found a new home last week with a gentleman who was looking to save the cost of replacing the canvas in his 1972 pop-up.   The buyer seems like a bit of a handyman, so I hope he gets good use out of his new camping machine.

One thing I learned from that old camper was that I don’t want a pop-up.  With three kids it’s going to be enough of a challenge with the full size travel trailer.  I also really don’t want the maintenance and worry that goes with having canvas or nylon bunk ends.  I’ve seen enough ripped, rotten, mouldy, and leaking pop-ups to tell me that it’s not really my game.  Not to mention the fact that a replacement canvas will run $1000 - $2000.

I also learned from the experience that I don’t want a hybrid travel trailer.  They are the full size trailers with fold out bunk ends.  When we were shopping for a new trailer we decided to check out a few hybrids.  Even new ones have the same problems.  In one trailer, someone had put it away wet and it was covered in mould. 

No thanks.

So this week I spent some time installing the solar charger for the battery on the new camping trailer and generally organizing our gear inside of it.  Now I just need to get the towing rig on my Colorado updated.  It would seem that GM started adding the wiring for an electronic brake controller and 7-wire harness the year after my truck was made.  Imagine that. 

So that means it has to go in this week for that upgrade, as well as adding the electronic brake controller, and a 900 lbs weight distribution hitch.  This hitch will help offset the load at the tongue of the trailer and ease the stress on the rear of the truck.

After that, it’ll be time to book some camping weekends!

It was a scene I would expect to see in the days leading up to Christmas – droves of shoppers lining up for their chance to spend money at almost every retail establishment I could find.

It was the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Our new camping trailer had just been delivered and we needed to get a few small supplies (hoses and such).  So, my wife and I decided to take a trip to the local Canadian Tire to gather the aforementioned items.

As we approached the intersection just outside of the big box shopping center it was clear that something was up.  The lineup at the stop light was particularly large for an April Saturday.  My first assumption was that some Easter-based event was drawing crowds, but that idea was short-lived.  The parking lots were packed solid and shoppers were over-flowing every store in sight.

We left the Canadian Tire and hopped over to Wal-Mart where I the frenzy was even worse.  People were doing a mad dash to purchase Easter candy and cards.  It was truly impossible to tell that we are in the middle of an economic crisis.  People were spending money like it was an infectious disease that they needed to rid themselves of. 

My current theory is that the single day of closed stores on Friday somehow causes people to feel as though they need to make up for that day ten-fold.  To be honest, I didn’t see anyone buying a lot of necessities.

I may be a bit of a hypocrite since I was shopping for frivolous items, but these items were a necessity of family camping, so I feel somewhat justified.  I wasn’t there just to see how much I could spend, and then try to beat that score.

Wow.   You need to watch this video:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/10/webcam.home.invasion/index.html

The video is a chilling scene of the harsh realities of modern life.  Shot with a relatively inexpensive webcam, the film depicts to African-American males in a home invasion on a family’s home. 

After being robbed last October, the Thomas family decided to install cameras in their home as a security precaution.  The investment paid off.  The system was configured so that the homeowner could watch the camera feed over the Internet from anywhere in the world, including her workplace.

What happened next is a true testament to being in the right place at the right time.  On Wednesday Jeanne Thomas had a strange feeling that something wasn’t quite right.  Capitalizing on her hunch she loaded up the streaming video footage from her home webcam in the comfort of her office.  What she saw could not have been more horrifying.

”I'm watching my home on live monitor, and there is a black man in my house, and he is robbing it”

In no time flat eighteen officers had surrounded the house and they were able to apprehend the two suspects. 

While this is an all too chilling tale, there are lessons to be learned.  In this day and age, electronic protection is simple to use, easy to come by, and very affordable.  A cheap webcam can be enough to alert you to intruders in your home.  Throw up a couple of cameras and you can dramatically increase the security factor of your home.  It’s also good to note that motion sensors and door/window monitors are also relatively inexpensive. 

In these tough economic times, crime rates are soaring as many lose their jobs and struggle to make ends meet.  Due diligence is a necessity for protecting your loved ones and your hard earned possessions. 

You never know when you’ll become a target.

If you’re not up on the latest and greatest provincial government news, Dalton and his Liberal army are positioning the taxpayers for a wallet raping.  Following in the footsteps of some of the maritime provinces, Ontario will be accepting a new harmonized sales tax for reasons that make absolutely no sense to any educated individual.

Harmonized sales tax, or HST, is an amalgamation of the provincial and federal sales taxes (PST and GST).  This single, blended sales tax is to begin in the summer of 2010 and is currently slated for 13% (the addition of the current 8% provincial tax and the 5% federal tax).

Dalton and his band of merry underachievers have been trying to sell this new tax idea to the good people of Ontario – and it seems that the people have bought it.  They make claims about the harmonized tax being a necessary step to keep Ontario competitive.  They claim it will generate $2.4 billion by 2012.  That money is coming straight from the tax payers though.

The taxpayers will suffer.  The planned changes will also mark the taxation of items previously un-taxed.  The cost of things like gasoline, home heating fuel, rent, real estate fees, haircuts and dry cleaning will climb by 8%.  That’s a serious hit to already empty wallets in the middle of an economic recession.

The reality is that there is no big savings to the business community either.  In fact, there are huge costs.  Computer systems and registers will now have to be retrofitted to accommodate this new form of taxation.  The fact that some things will still only be subject to GST means that those systems will have to accommodate it.

The real winner here is the government.  The province will no longer be responsible for collecting said tax.  The federal government will collect the entire 13% and remit the appropriate portion back to the province.  They will be cutting huge paperwork and administrative tasks.  One can only read that as job cuts and a wage increase for the politicians at the top of this pyramid scam.  The giant savings is in no way ever going to be passed on to the tax payers.

Why can’t the provinces all be more like Alberta?  They manage to not have any provincial sales tax at all.  If it wasn’t for the lying Liberals, there would be no tax in Alberta at all because the GST would have been scrapped as promised.

Liberal lies and liberal stupidity is all you get when you vote for a liberal government.

Quick fact:  Did you know that Ontario charges a 12% tax on alcohol purchased from the Beer Store or the LCBO?

Well, we’ve made it to the third trimester and things are looking good for the little one.  He’s getting very big and his movements are quite visible now to the naked eye.  We’ve only got about ten weeks to go before we finally get to meet the little guy.  I can’t wait.

He still doesn’t have a name yet.  My wife and I are having trouble agreeing on anything (to be honest, it’s really just me).  I’m confident that he will have a name when he arrives though. 

It’s been an interesting journey through the first six months.  To start with, it’s been an emotional roller coaster.  Living with a pregnant woman certainly lives up to the stereotypes.  Mood swings can occur by the minute.  Learning how not to worsen the situation is instrumental to surviving it. 

That said, I wouldn’t trade that six months for anything.  From seeing the first peanut sized ultrasound, to feeling the baby perform his dance moves has been well worth it.  I often wonder what his personality and temperament will be like.  Will he be a calm and quite little boy, a holy terror, or somewhere in between?

I think we have everything in order for his arrival.  The nursery is all done and it’s stocked with all kinds of baby goodness.  We have a stockpile of diapers thanks to a decent sale at Costco.  So I guess all that’s left now is the waiting.  That’s always the hard part, isn’t it? 

All in all, my biggest hope is that he comes to us healthy and happy, and that we can give him everything he needs and much of what he wants.  I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for.  I also hope that things go as smoothly as possible for my wife as I can appreciate the physical and emotional toll that child birth will take on her.

I spent some time reviewing some of my previous posts and reflecting on me as an individual. Sounds pretty corny, eh?  Well I’m not all that interested in other people’s negative opinions.  It’s important that we take the time to evaluate ourselves and make sure that we are the person we truly want to be.

One thing that I have found is that my writings have grown to be more and more about different aspects of my family life.  I interpret that as a positive indicator that my priorities are aligning properly as I age.  When it’s all said and done, your family is the only people that will ever be there for you from beginning to end. 

That’s a bit of a generalization, I do realize that some people don’t have the family support that they should.  What I was really getting at is that employers and friends will come and go, but family is there forever. 

I’m very happy to see my focus shifting towards my family, that seems like a good indicator of an individual who is dedicated to his love ones and will remain committed in the years to come.  With two little ones in the house and a new one on the way, this sort of focus seems to make sense.

To quote some original Star Trek and to geekify this post, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one”.  Whereas my personal goals and aspirations once ruled my actions, I know need to think of the family unit and their greater well being.  With any luck, I can align both my own aspirations and those of the members of my household in a way that benefits everyone.

If not, we’ll figure it out.

Seriously though, take the time to understand yourself.  Take a long hard look in the mirror – Do you see the person you want to see?

Generally speaking, in my household I am usually the parent with the greater patience factor.  I seem to find it a little bit easier to give the kids the benefit of the doubt or see it from their perspective.  That said, I’m not perfect and even Superman had a weakness. 

I found my weakness.  It’s a 9 year old girls birthday party.  This event is truly one that can test my limits.  I trust that it has something to do with the fact that 9 year olds are just starting to seriously define their social structures.  You can see that they are truly starting to judge their peers and secure their place in the dominance structure.

One thing that I find incredibly challenging is the fact that six 9 year old girls (plus my 7 year old) feel the need to all talk at the same time.  As each one determines that they are not being listened to, they increase the sound of their voice to a new high in an effort to capture center stage.

Luckily, the party only lasted for two and a half hours.  More fortunately for me, my wife has the ability to deal with this type of event.  Normally she has the patience of raging inferno, but in this scenario she certainly is better equipped than I am.  Don’t get me wrong, the party was fun and the kids are a riot to watch.  In fact, I actually like all of my daughter’s friends – they are all quite well behaved and individually easy to deal with.

This year my wife decided it would be a good idea for them to all go out in the hottub.  The plan was brilliant and it was a great way to kill off an hour of the party.  Aside from the boredom of the safety rules, the children seemed to really enjoy the outdoor retreat.  Hopefully the 10 year old party will be a little calmer.

As a parent, what’s your weakness?

It’s that time of year again, where the grim reaper (aka the taxman) comes to make sure you’ve given enough of a sacrifice to the Gods of the government.  If you are fortunate enough to live in this fine country, and if you are one of the lucky few who still have a job, then you must ensure that you give the taxman enough of your hard earned money.  If you don’t, he’ll become very angry with you and he’ll likely fine you for more of your work bounty, or worse, he could throw you in jail.

One of the most difficult concepts that boggles my mind is that of the taxman.  Why is it that the government feels that they have earned the right to take 43% of my money every year?  Not just one government either.  The provincial and federal governments each take their cut.  Even though they also take their cut of every dollar I spend my money on.  We’re almost taxed to death. 

The headlines should read “Taxes Now the Number One Cause of Death in North America”. 

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind so much that they take my earnings if there was any way to see how the money was used to benefit me.  That’s not possible though.  You see, your tax dollars go into the black hole that is the government coffers and instantly becomes untraceable.  You’ll never know what your dollars are being spent on. 

It’s very probable that you are funding the programs that violate your very principles and you don’t even know it.

The hardest part of knowing that the government is stealing from me is knowing that I can’t do anything about it.  A series of genius minds built the tax system in a way that cannot be understood or comprehended.  You need a PHD just to be able to interpret all of the rules that make up the tax system. 

It saddens me to be reminded that I could find many better uses for the money the government steals from me – a reminder that comes every time I look at my little girls and think of the improvements I could make in their life if I just took home all the money I made.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a family member, even when that family member is of the four legged persuasion.  This weekend we were faced with the challenge of putting our eleven year old Doberman to rest.  She had lived a full and complete life and fought right up to the end.

She was actually an add-on to the family for me.  My wife had her since she was a puppy, but I sort of inherited her a few years back.  About two years ago she started to develop a lump under her left front leg.  In the beginning the lump was about the size of a baseball, however in the end it was easily the size of a football, if not bigger.

When we first discovered this lump, we brought her to the vet for an assessment.  They told us that the lump was benign and we were advised against operating on it.  Due to her age, the surgery would be very risky and in all likelihood she would not survive.  They said that the growth was just a lump of fatty tissue and at the time provided minimal health risks.

So our Doberman, Mika, lived about two more years before the lump began to grow to an unmanageable size.  We observed an increase in the size as time went on, but she seemed to be managing it well.  It was only in about the last week that lump began to rapidly increase in size.  In fact, we think it may have doubled in that period. 

Mika began to show new signs of deterioration that included dementia, confusion, loss of bowel control, and difficulty walking.  It was then that my wife and I discussed our options and made the difficult decision to lay her to rest.  The night before she barked non-stop, as though to tell us that something was wrong.  She wanted our attention.  The next day she was like a puppy as we loaded her into the truck for the trip to the vet.

She knew.  She knew where we were headed and she was relieved.  She lived about two years longer than the average Doberman and now she was tired and wanting to rest. 

For the second time in as many years, we had to say goodbye to a beloved family pet and it didn’t get any easier.  Goodbye Mika, we’ll miss you.  

Last year we bought a dirt cheap 1973 popup camping trailer.  It served as a means to upgrade from the traditional tent and gave our family a sense of what camping in a trailer was all about.  The kids loved it and so did we – for the most part.

The age of the trailer presented a number of challenges from leaks to fixes, but we made do with our first trailer experience.   Along the way we did discover that there is limited space in the popup and with another little one on the way, it might be time for an upgrade.  We’ve scanned the web trying to get a feel for what we want.  At first we looked at the hybrid trailers that are half travel trailer and half popup (more like pop out since it’s just the beds).  Eventually we came to the conclusion that the hybrid requires much of the same maintenance as the pop up, so we’ve set our sites on a travel trailer.

Today we took the time to visit a few dealers and see what was available, both new and old.  We are limited in the size of the trailer because our tow vehicle is a Chevy Colorado.  It looks like a 21’ trailer is about the biggest that we can comfortably pull.  It’s still going to be a drastic upgrade over what we have now, but after checking out the space in some of the larger trailers we can definitely see the benefit in going bigger some day.

So, some of the benefits of moving up to a travel trailer will include bunk beds for the kids, a bathroom that travels with us, and no canvas that will potentially leak on us.  We’re also looking forward to having a furnace, air conditioner, and a fridge to make our travels a little more comfortable. 

Hopefully a good deal comes along sooner than later.

A couple of posts ago, I talked a bit about the fact that we have a Saturn Ion Quad Coupe that is coming up to the end of its lease.  This is really good timing because we have a new baby on the way and when he arrives our family head count will be five – one more than the Saturn has seats for.

I also talked about the fact that we’d like to get another four wheel drive vehicle, likely a bigger truck than we have now, or an SUV.  Well all of that might be changing soon.

My wife came across an advertisement on the web for a 2009 Chevy Uplander for $13,998.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it.  Now I’ve never been a fan of mini vans.  I would never disagree on how useful and practical they are, they just never felt right for me.  I might not really get a say in the matter though, because it’s my wife’s car that we are replacing, so she holds the final say.

On Saturday we took one out for a test drive and it wasn’t the worst vehicle I’ve ever been in.  The ride seemed a little stiff, just as you would expect from a low-end vehicle.  The Uplander features seven passenger seating, and all of the rear seats are removable which allows you to customize and tailor the storage area to your needs. 

This vehicle also features a 3.9L V6 engine, so power is definitely not a problem.  It also sits atop the same undercarriage as the Colorado, which provides an added benefit when driving in the winter snow as the Uplander will sit a little higher than the average car.  I suppose that the 17” standard tires won’t hurt either.

So the real question for me is, what does it mean to buy a mini van?  Maybe it means nothing at all.  Maybe it means that my life will be a little bit easier.  I could use all the help I can get in that area.

Wouldn’t it be grand to be a cat, even for just a day?  Even if you’re not a cat person, you can probably appreciate that the cat lifestyle is one to be admired.  When you think about it, what does a cat do?  

The tend to sleep a lot – wherever and whenever it pleases them.  Be it a bed, couch, chair, floor, top of a fridge, under the bed, behind some furniture.  If you can name it, a cat will probably sleep there. 

When you get hungry, you can mosey on over to your food and water and fill up.  If your owner allows you to lead a lavish lifestyle, you may even find some fresh tuna waiting for you.  I don’t personally like tuna, but I have yet to meet the cat that doesn’t.

With full belly, it’s time for another nap.

When you awaken, reenergized, you’ll inevitably find something to play with.  Maybe some fake mice, a ball, some ridiculously fun cat toy, or maybe you’ll amuse yourself with something that was never designed to be a cat toy.  I’ve seen my cat play with a twist tie, strings on a bathing suit, the curtain that covers the front window, the beans from a stuffed toy.  I’ve even seen her attack her tail like it was a completely separate entity.

Leaves blowing around outside on a windy day are also likely to peak your interest.

When all that being a cat and amusing one’s self becomes stale, it’s time to find your owner, or a suitable replacement, and get some snuggle time.   You can rub up against them and they can scratch behind your ears.  You can curl up on them and go to sleep.  And while they are scratching your neck, you can prepare to reach around and bite them for not particular or obvious reason.  Simply for the satisfaction of it.

Do you work in an office?  Does your company require you to adhere to some seemingly unnecessary policies regarding passwords?  I know my company does.

The rules we are forced to follow usually look something like this:

• User must change password every 75 days.
• User cannot reuse a password, if that password has been used as one of the last 14 passwords.
• Password must be at least 10 characters in length and must contain at least one letter, one number, and one special character.
• After three unsuccessful attempts at a password, lock account so that user must call helpdesk to unlock.

Any of that sound familiar?  Your corporate policies may differ, but the concepts will likely be the same.  The sad part is that even though these policies frustrate us to no end, the intentions behind them are in the right place.

Securing your corporate information and ensuring the integrity of company data is a necessity of any successful business.  One of the greatest risks to that security is employees.  People are generally easy to read and easily manipulated.  If the policies didn’t exist, users would make their passwords things like:

• The name of a child or pet.
• Their birthday.
• Their own name.
• A dictionary word.

All of those are easy to guess, or easy to use simple software to crack.  Without a proper management policy in place, stealing or tampering with corporate data would be like taking candy from a baby. 

So, these necessary evils ultimately protect your job by protecting the company itself.  Do yourself and your company a favour by not writing your password on a post-it-note and sticking it to your monitor.  Don’t write your passwords in a little notebook and leave it on your desk.  Doing so only undermines the very policies that protect you.  

Last summer I had the liberty of fulfilling a lifelong dream.  I bought my first truck.  The lease on my Saturn coupe was coming to an end and I decided it was time to take the plunge.  I loved my Saturn, but there had been many occasions where I was cursing the little car.  The most common reasons were usually about cargo that was too big to haul.  Not to mention the fact that 2/3 of my trunk space was filled with a 10” subwoofer and the associated enclosure.

For as long as I can remember, my dad always had a truck.  That meant that even though I always wanted a truck of my own, when I needed one I could call on him for assistance.  Sure it wasn’t always convenient, but it worked.  Well, a couple of years ago he got rid of the truck and my parents went down to a single family car.

The breaking point for me on determining to buy a truck instead of a car came last may when I was trying to buy a patio furniture set from Home Depot.  The sale was too good to pass up and I figured that the pieces would be in enough boxes that I could simply work them into the Saturn like a jigsaw puzzle.  My brilliant idea never took into account that the whole set might come in one giant box.  Thankfully, a friend with a minivan was available to assist with transportation. 

That was it though, I wasn’t going to be dependant on someone else again.

Believe it or not, I bought the first truck that I test drove.  It was a 2007 Chevy Colorado that had been used as a company demo for a couple of months.  It came fully loaded with a towing package, off-road package, box liner, tonneau cover, and so much more.  It’s four door, so it’s great for hauling the family.  It’s also a truck, so it’s great for hauling everything else.

I’ve hauled an oversized load of liquid concrete, a 1973 camping trailer, 1800 lbs of patio stones, and a pile of other heavy loads.  Dump runs are incredibly simplified with a truck as opposed to a car.  Best of all though, I never got stuck once this winter.  There is nothing that the truck can’t get through or over.  If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, I strongly recommend the truck.

The Colorado has a 5 cylinder engine, so it doesn’t consume much more fuel than a traditional 4 cylinder car.  Part of me wonders why they even still make cars, the world would be better if it were all trucks.  We’re likely to replace our other Saturn with another truck or a larger size sport utility vehicle.   

I’ve never really gotten on the energy drink bandwagon before.  I’ve heard about RedBull and Rockstar, but had generally stayed away from them.  I think I just assumed that they wouldn’t taste good since they claimed to be natural health-type products.  Ewww.

I had an opportunity to try the Rockstar drink a couple of months ago and I wasn’t impressed with it.  I didn’t feel that I got a sudden burst of energy after drinking it and by no stretch of the imagination did it taste good.  It left me feeling unimpressed to say the least.

A few weeks ago I was at the grocery store and I noticed that the Monster brand energy drinks were on sale.  I decided to pick up two different flavors and give them a try.  Little did I know the awesome power that was stored inside those tall aluminum cans.

The first time I cracked one open was a fine Monday morning at work.  I was thirsty and it was in my lunch, so I thought it would be a good time to try it out.  It tasted ok.  Not great, just ok.  The real experience came about ten minutes later when I could feel by heart attempting to beat right out of my chest at what felt like four times the normal rate.  My mind raced and I attempted to multi-task at the speed of light.

When the afternoon came, I felt like crap.  It would seem as though the crash at the end of the ride sucks.  I felt quite groggy and my brain hurt.

My next attempt at the Monster energy drink was much more calculated.  I chose a day that I was in back-to-back-to-back workshops and meetings.  I waited until all of the diplomatic type meetings were done, then slammed back the energy drink at the start of an architecture workshop.

I kid you not, I started seeing in four dimensions. 

This stuff is powerful, proceed with caution.

Well, the snow has melted, the temperature is on the rise, and the clocks have been adjusted for daylight savings time.  It’s only a matter of time now until the flowers start to bloom and spring gets into full force.  That also means that we’re soon going to be getting our camping gear out to prep it for the camping season.

I decided to start a little bit early this year.  This morning I made the trek to collect our pop-up camping trailer from it’s storage location.  The goal at the moment is to gut the trailer and replace some parts of the floor that have rotted out.  The rot isn’t extensive, but it would be better to deal with it now.

My wife has wanted to replace the dated flooring in the trailer for a while now.  To be honest, I think that the current flooring is actually a time portal to 1973.  Now she’ll have the opportunity to achieve that goal. 

I think it’s going to be a lot of work to get the floor repaired.  We have to remove all the cabinetry, seating, interior panel, and posts.  I believe it also requires the removal of the roof, although I’m looking forward to the challenge.  Once the floor is repaired and the new flooring laid down, we’ll have to decide if we are going to stick with the original cabinetry, or build something new. 

You’re probably thinking that it seems like a lot of work.  It kinda does, but I get a sense that it’s very rewarding when you see the the finished product.  I really can’t explain why, but there is something very exciting about the restoration of an old camping trailer.  I’ll be taking plenty of pictures along the way and I’ll be sure to share them and the progress.

It’s been a number of years since I was on-call as a part of my employment.  In fact, the last time was about three years ago when I worked for Accenture. 

With Accenture, I was on a rotating schedule where I was on-call for two weeks out of every six.  The positive side was that every day of being on-call was an additional $25, the downside was that we weren’t paid extra when we were actually called in.  To add insult to injury, Accenture is a global organization and our partners in Manila, Philippines were at the peak of their day when 3:00am Eastern Time came around.  They were fond of putting in trouble tickets as high-severity and making me awaken at 3am to the sound of a beeping pager.

My significant other was also unimpressed by this event and believe me, it occurred almost daily. 

Things have changed a lot since then.  I now work for a local corporation that operates in our province only.  So being on call usually doesn’t involve early morning pages from around the globe.  We also generally operate Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm, so the majority of our business doesn’t even support after hours work.  For the few that do require 24/7, we try to ensure that things are operating nominally in an effort to prevent after-hours calls. 

While I can’t say that I am super excited about being on-call again, the extra money is always a plus and the lack of incidents keeps things nice and simple.  We are also paid for cal-outs, so I do look forward to some incidents from a money perspective.  On top of that, my team is completely mobile, so being on-call doesn’t equate to the potential of going to the office. 

If I have my gear with me, I can operate from just about anywhere that has a cellular signal.  The vast majority of our work can be managed remotely, so I see it as win-win.

If you’ve read any of my past few posts in regards to the UFC, they have been less than positive.  I’ve been generally dissatisfied with the direction that the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has been headed.  It’s no secret that I long for the tournaments of the early 90’s, as many a UFC fan does. 

It takes a true fighter to beat four opponents in one night to be the Ultimate Fighter.

That said, UFC 96 wasn’t a complete letdown.  A good majority of the fights ended in knockouts of all kinds.  Some great punches, some great leg kicks, many a lights out.

The night was ended prematurely due to the sheer number of quick knock outs – no submissions last night.  Hosted in Columbus, Ohio, the crowd wasn’t your typical plastic and pretty Las Vegas crowd.  In fact, it appeared that many had left their trailer parks to attend the spectacle.

The pay-per-view event started out with Gray Maynard defeating Jim Miller in a unanimous three round decision fight.  Miller’s face will require plenty of healing and possibly some surgery to get it back together again.  We saw Matt Hamill (the only deaf fighter than I am aware of in the UFC) secure the knockout of the night against Mark Munoz – a devastating head kick in the first few minutes of round 1.

Matt Brown came out and put on a show as expected against Pete Sell, the prodigy of Matt Serra.  Brown did what he does and rocked Sell in the first few seconds of the round.  The ref stepped in and appeared to call the fight, however in a controversial decision he told the fighters to continue.  Sell only embarrassed himself by continuing.

Another great fight and the co-main event was heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Shane Carwin in a four minute bout.  Gonzaga appeared to have the edge, however Carwin recovered from some heavy hits to knock out Gonzaga in an incredible display of power.  Carwin is the only fighter in the UFC to have hands bigger than Brock Lesner. 

Finally, the main event showed the return of Quinton Rampage Jackson as he battled for a title shot against the ugliest fighter alive, Keith Jardines.  Jardines is a great fighter and kept Rampage on his toes for all three rounds, however Rampage secured a unanimous judges decision and will be moving forward for a title fight against Rashad Evans in May.  This fight in particular was a letdown because there wasn’t a lot of action.

There were a few undercard fights aired throughout the night to fill the time gaps.  Kendall Grove defeated Canadian Jason Day – securing his job for now.  Brandon Vera chopped down Mike Patt with some vicious leg kicks to secure his job as well. 

I was amused to discover that Jackson, Jardines, and Hamill all received $60,000 bonuses for their performances last night.  Hamill for knockout of the night and the other two for fight of the night (sad really).  I remember when fighters who won the entire tournament after four fights went home with just $50,000.  Like all sports, UFC mismanages their money in order to maintain the entertainment factor.  

Last night was my father-in-law’s retirement party.  My wife and her sister-in-law orchestrated a delightful evening that started with dinner at the Keg Steakhouse and ended with UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine.  It was the dinner at the Keg that led to the topic for this post.  Well, sort of…

Let me start earlier in the day.  I had gone to the local water store to refill one of our 5 gallon water jugs that sits atop the water cooler.  It’s a fairly straight-forward adventure whereby I return the empty jug, pay $3.50 and then leave with a newly filled jug.  The young lady working behind the counter (15-18 years old) was particularly unfriendly during this visit.

She doesn’t have a lot to do when I go in.  It’s basically say hello, get my name so that my store-managed loyalty card can be updated, take my money, hand me a receipt, and wish me a good day.  She rather failed at this.  She mumbled a few things in my direction, never made eye contact once, and couldn’t be bothered to fork over a smile.  I’ll go back again, but not because of the great service that I received, but because I get a free bottle every 10 purchases.

My trip to the keg was a completely different story.  I won’t bore you with the play by play, but I will tell you that I have never been to this establishment without getting a warm and friendly encounter from the waiter or waitress.  They always smile and always engage the customer in some sort of chit chat.  There is never a question that is too dumb to answer either.  As you would expect in a restaurant, they check in often to make sure that everything is on par with your expectations.

Last night everything was not on par for me.  While the other 9 people at our table were fully satisfied, I was not.  I ordered a 14oz steak medium-rare.  In doing so, I expect that my steak will bleed when I cut into it.  The steak I received was delicious, pink inside, but over-cooked enough to make it dry.  I complained to my family about it, but in the end decided it was edible and that I would still enjoy it.  I had finished about 1/3 of it when the waitress came back to ask if things were ok.

My father-in-law pipes up about my steak.  Mildly embarrassed by his behaviour, I told her that I was unhappy with the way it was cooked, but that it was still very good and it was not a problem.   She asked me if I was sure and I confirmed.  Five minutes later, she returns with a new steak for me.  I was utterly impressed to say the least and what would have been a normal tip that I left for her ended up being significantly larger.  She didn’t have to do what she did, but it really said a lot about her and the establishment she works for. 

I’ll go back to the keg for both the food and the service, even though the prices are ridiculous.  

A few days ago I received an email at work in regards to the yearly employee engagement survey being conducted by my employer.  I imagine that the survey is typical of every other employee engagement survey, but it got me thinking.

One of the questions that was asked was whether or not I felt that my employer created a diverse workplace.  After pondering that one for some time, I clicked the box that indicated that I don’t think that they had. 

The truth is that my employer works hard to create diversity in the workplace.  We have all kinds of programs to promote diversity and we even made the Workopolis top 100 diverse employers.  So why did I lie?

I didn’t.  The question was too ambiguous for me to accept the answer they were looking for.  I can tell you that at work I see people of every race, creed, colour, gender, and any other potentially discriminating factor.  The problem is that they all have something in common that stops me from accepting them as diverse.  They are all incapable of doing their jobs.  Ok, well maybe not ALL of them, but enough of them to say that it is a great majority.

We spent so much time making sure that we had someone from every walk of life, that we stopped checking to see if they were qualified to do the job we were hiring them for.  That’s just not what diversity is supposed to be.

The pendulum always swings from one side to the other.  We went from not hiring people because of discriminating factors to only hiring them because of discriminating factors.  The pendulum needs to stop swinging and rest in the middle.

Be honest with yourself, how many people do you know that probably got their job for reasons other than their abilities?

Often times in life we don’t communicate well the things that we think and feel.  There’s a billion reasons why this happens, but the end-state is always the same.  The message never gets delivered.

I work with a guy who I haven’t really gotten along with very well on a personal level.  Really, we just don’t communicate very well.  I say things without basis or merit and he interprets them in a manner that is not intended nor accurate.  I could argue all day long the semantics of who is right and who is wrong – from both sides.  That would hardly get me anywhere though.

Nope, the truth is that we sometimes just don’t mesh well.

Normally I wouldn’t care.  In fact, I have traditionally conducted myself in a manner that requires me to dismiss such a person.  If I can’t get along with them, then what good is it?

I guess what’s different this time is that this individual is brilliant.  The work he does speaks volumes about his abilities.  He understands that side of our business in a way that I could only dream of.  If I had half of his abilities, I would consider myself gifted.  I am comfortable saying that I have the utmost respect for the work that he does.

The area that he works in really goes hand in hand with the area that I work in.  The two areas really need to mesh well for our business to be successful.  Sure there are others in the same type of role as him that I can work with, but it’s not the same.  They don’t get it.  They don’t see the big picture. 

I’ve decided that I will do everything in my power to smooth out the wrinkles, even if it kills me.  I feel as though together we are a force to be reckoned with and that personal conflicts can be overcome.  It’s too easy to get caught up in emotional madness and lose out on great success.

Life is short, so it’s now or never.

The report comes from Japan’s Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) and represents an astonishing dismissal of the current belief set.  The scientists behind the report claim that the recent climate changes are driven by natural cycles, as opposed to the popular belief that the warming is caused by industrial green house gas emissions. 

With ex-presidents like Al Gore making movies that attempt to show you how industry is destroying the earth via global warming, it’s questionable how many in the general public will be swayed by the scientific facts.  Western culture dictates that information in movies is more compelling than scientific truth and fact.

Before anyone noticed, this hypothesis has been substituted for truth... The opinion that great disaster will really happen must be broken.

The report tackles some key facts that disrupt the common belief set.  The first of these is the fact that global warming has actually halted.  Global temperatures rose from 1800-1850.  The rate of increase was .06 degrees Celsius per 100 years.  This could not have been related to CO2 gas because CO2 gas didn’t increase rapidly until 1946. 

More importantly, the global rise in temperature has halted as of 2001, while CO2 emissions continue to rise at an alarming rate.

The report is full of this type of scientific data that can really help us understand what we are dealing with.  It is critical to understand though that the greenhouse gas emissions still need to be reduced.  They still have negative and harmful effects on the environment, but global warming isn’t one of them.

One can only hope for a wake up call on the global warming issue.  Scientists and researcher could be making better use of their time figuring out how to help the human race survive these natural climate changes, instead of trying to prove the western propaganda.

About 5 days ago my Network Attached Storage (NAS) started to give me a hard time.  To give you a little background, I run a free Linux distribution called FreeNAS as the operating system that manages the network storage devices.  The NAS is simply a PC with a couple of hard drives in it that runs from the FreeNAS boot CD.  It uses a USB thumb drive to store the configuration data. 

Much of the data stored on my home NAS is movies and TV shows that we watch using our Xbox 360 as a media center. 

When I say it started giving me a hard time, what I mean is that it started with an error saying that the file I was trying to play was an invalid format.   Assuming the file was corrupt, I decided to try another file.  Same problem.  My troubleshooting skills kicked in and I tried a previously watched video.  Again, playback failed with the same error.

Next I went to my PC and tried to connect to the network share.  It connected and I was getting mildly perplexed, at least until I tried to open a folder.  At that point I was notified that the destination was unreachable.  After some further detective work I discovered that one of the NAS drives had failed.  The many emails that my FreeNAS server had emailed to me should have clued me in to the impending doom.  However, somehow I had convinced myself that they held no merit.

That said, I ordered a DLink DNS-323 NAS with a 1TB Western Digital Green hard drive from NCIX.  I also ordered a second 1TB WD Green drive from their sister company, Direct Canada.  All told, I spent around $400 after taxes and shipping.

What really impressed me was the fact that both shipments arrived together.  You see, I have separate accounts with each company, I sent two different payment types and the orders were placed hours apart.  NCIX sent me an email with a shipment tracking number, however Direct Canada still showed as pending shipping.  Today when I picked up the order, both drives and the new NAS were there.

Somehow, some way, the order processing process for both companies is efficient enough to detect both of my orders and ship them together.  To put the icing on the cake, I ordered on Friday and delivery was attempted on Monday.  These companies are a dream to deal with.