Moving Day

I have moved. The planeofthought blog is no longer. All of the posts have been downloaded, uploaded, overloaded and are now here at One Old Wrider.

Sirens and Idiots

Sirens on Christmas morning. Someone's special day just got derailed. My mind raced around tree fires and heart attacks. Definitely not some over-diligent constable chasing a speeder. Hopefully nothing too serious.

On Wednesday in the middle of my first game at Delaney, screaming could be heard throughout the rink. In the far corner I could see a rink attendant physically holding back one adult from another. The skeptic in me said they had to be arguing about the lopsided game they were watching. One thrilled and the other ticked about the unfairness of a system that allows such unbalanced teams to face off. Wrong. Grandfather and ex-son-in-law couldn't use the common sense God gave them to accept that they can't stand within 10 feet of one another without spitting on each other and starting a public incident 3 days before Christmas. Somewhere out on the ice or hiding on the bench was a 7 or 8 year old trying to have fun playing hockey. Police were still there more than an hour later taking statements.

Merry Christmas

Another one is already upon us. Funny how when you are a kid it takes forever to come. Then you get older and you run out of time trying to get everything done before the big day. It sure seems like the vibe around here lately is old. Anyway before I forget, have a safe and MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Work was quiet as expected this week. I worked on a quick, free and accessible web page. Using the google blogger system, zoho creator, google docs and gimp I came up with a decent presence on the net. Our old site was probably prettier but the content was 6 years old, never updated from the first post. The domain name no longer comes up so I think it was vaporized. It's good to feel part of something at work again. There are signs that things will get better, we just have to hold on and be here when it does.

Typing on the popup keyboard of a smartphone screen can be difficult for anyone that doesn't have ballerina fingers. Here. I've tried a few second party keyboards and while Thick Buttons worked very well I was intrigued by Swype. Basically Thick Buttons makes the keys of what it predicts the next letter combination will be. If you type 'th' then the a e i o would all get bigger to assist you in pressing them. Swype is even smarter. You just start on the 't', slide across and down to the 'h', continue sliding back to the 'a' and then across to 'n, lift your finger off the screen off and than appears in your email or whatever. A blue contrail follows your finger around so you can see where you have swyped. I'm not quite a fast as the demo below, yet.

Lost Treasure, Found

No denying it, Led Zep was my favourite band as a kid. When I got the chance to replace the Grand Canyon-like vinyl with cds I jumped at the 4 disc boxed set and later the 2 disc completion set. Somewhere over the years the 2 disc set had gone missing. My guess is an enterprising young teen tested the unknown waters of ebay with my tunes, but that's another story. Without the missing discs I could never listen to the entire albums as they were recorded originally back in the late 60's/early 70's. Doesn't seem like a big deal but when I hear the end of 'misty mountain hop' from the ZOSO album my brain loads up 'four sticks'. While browsing the music on my pc at work today I got a huge surprise, all of the missing tracks! I whipped out the usb cord and dragged them to my phone and then with everything back in one location created the playlists that put the songs back in order. All is well again, order has been restored.

A Real Paycheck!

The perch. This is my office most Monday and Wednesday evenings. Running the clock is almost second nature now although I did put a goal up on the wrong side of the board last night. It took all of 30 seconds before a horrified grandparent notified me of my error.

Almost another week of work done, hard to believe. The days are flying by even though it hasn't been busy. December is not a great month, never has been. I mean do you want brake pads for Christmas? I am no longer dreading going in even on Mondays. The 15th marked my first full paycheck since September '09. Wow was that a shocker. A day before I came home to the second installment of the HST bribe and November timekeeping check, nice timing.

If you haven't found a reason (more secure, faster, loads of features) to switch over to the Chrome browser yet, the new Web Store might just do it. There are all kinds of free apps that run in the browser and I think it's a preview of what the Chrome operating system will be. Check out the Sports Illustrated or New York Times apps, tons of content if you tend to keep up with the world online as I do. The Chrome OS boots in 15 seconds, lets see any version of windows come within a minute of that. I have added a few program like Dropbox and Evernote which give me access to files at work, on the phone or just about anywhere I need them. I can save my hockey stats to a spreadsheet located on Dropbox and then do my weekly writeups at work during lunch and have access to the stats. If I make changes at either end it's all synced. I used to email things back and forth and ended up with a few versions on the go.

It's Going To Be A Well Worn Folder

I opened a new folder for emails Sunday, LMHL/suspensions. One day later there are 20 emails in the folder. Apparently not everybody likes the new stiffer policies being delivered by the executive.

I Get It

I always wondered why people listen to old standards, songs or music that has been around forever. Well most of what I listen to has been around for quite a while now and I finally got it this morning. I was listening to disc 2 of Yessongs, a live album recorded in 1973, while walking to work and it hit me that the music was 37 years old!  I was always amazed that 8 guys could be in such perfect sync in a live setting. The music was dubbed progressive rock a few decades ago and had plenty of quick changes of tempo and there's no conductor to guide them. I have probably listened to the songs one hundred times and every change was right there in my head, every note of the solos was familiar. But it's comfortable, yes another clue that leads to the ever popular theory that I'm old.

Week 2 of the new FCD wrapped up with a quiet day. Most of our shipments didn't make it due to road conditions. We spent a bunch of time updating inventory that will be ordered over the next few months. We're using internet radio with a couple of speakers I've had since Dell 1. Sure is nice to be able to hear some music without the ads and mumbling of the local talent trying to be funny. All the local stations can be dialed in quickly for a news or weather fix. I found a great little internet tuner call Radiosure that is basically just a small browser with station addresses built in and searchable by genre, or any keyword.

A long evening on the clock last night as I was assigned to the 'problem' team in Peewee A. Lots of incidents with this bunch. A team just as I remember them from the days when Northwood had teams in this loop. One or two kids that were better than they should be in the division and taking out the frustration on everyone. One of them got hit and then retaliated by slashing the other kid over the head, after the penalty was already called. He almost missed him but made enough contact to get 5 and a game. The kid that he whacked got 2 and 10 for a hit to the head, probably with an elbow. Add to that discussion 2 disallowed goals that required conversations and a 4-3 game almost didn't finish in the alloted time.

Busted

After receiving a complaint from a coach, the vp from LMHL took in a Novice game I was timekeeping tonight. These 7-8 year olds play 3 ten minute periods with a 2 minute buzzer to change lines. Every kid is supposed to play at least every 3rd shift or 5 minimum. A coach is using 4 defence and 11 forwards meaning some kids see 1 shift per period or 3 in an hour game. He is up for a 3 game suspension. Kudos for the quick response.

First Kinetic Workout

Yes Virginia, I am old.

How Green Was the Ref?

You know you have a green ref when...Young refs are notorious for not blowing the whistle hard enough to be heard causing major confusion as players continue on and often score only to have the whole thing waved off. I mentioned to a young ref after his first game tonight to "turn up the volume" on his whistle. Not a word of a lie, he looked at the whistle in his hand for a knob to turn.

I guess I'm just getting old, at least that's what the dr. tells me. For about a month I've been getting some tingles in my hands and occasional light headedness. I thought my circulation was off and my ticker was going on the fritz but he says no, I'm very low risk with my blood pressure and cholesterol where they are. Hope he's right. Time to start working with the xbox kinect and digital trainer.

Ten Minutes

After game one on Saturday I was disgusted, disgruntled and disappeared. A game ends early and neither team is close to ready, coaches arriving at the scene of the crime 5 minutes after the standard 15 minutes they ask from parents. For ten minutes I went for a walk. I headed for Petrie's and the refuge of hearing someone else's problems while my own were still steaming. But Farzum was busy upstairs and Nathan had few tales of the past week. No new bikes to drool over this time of year so I headed back down the street to confusion. Refs that don't understand the way we handle penalties. A brief explanation and quick solution to that one. A coach running around the end boards from the bench, here it comes. He has been after me for weeks to replace a player that has made 1 game out of 12 and 1 practice since teams were formed in late September. This week I arranged for a new player and the old one surprises everyone by showing up. The mom has done more bingos than the player has games. Dad offers the coach $100 to let her play. Surprising as they registered through ProKids. Dad meets me in the hallway and offers me an escalating bribe that ends at $10,000 to let her back on the ice, "you're breaking her heart" I'm told. Money is not the issue. I broke her heart? Maybe for one week but what about the other 10. A full refund of bingo credits in exchange for sweater and socks will be offered and I'll probably be told where to put that. Next time I'm going for a 209 minute walk.

1 Week Under the New Roof

So it's been one week in the new building. Things seem pretty good, much more relaxed. One thing I learned was that a slow day is just as mind numbing in a small building as it was in a big one but at least there are lots of projects to tackle. People are having some adventures finding us and of course we didn't advertise anything so most go to the old building first. I've rearranged a few things and have done some training for the digitization of the counter, no more paper lying around. Scan it, tag it and file it.

I finally updated my phone to the newer Android 2.1 and it has opened lots of windows to newer software. The standard music player isn't bad but limited and not really big finger friendly. I loaded in an old favourite that has been around on PCs forever, Winamp. It allows much simpler navigation which is critical when you want to find some music in the cold. It can create playlists which the standard player would only do when connected to a pc. It even allows wireless transfer of music from the pc to the phone. All this for the extremely reasonable price of free. For those of you with android 2.1 or better, here's the QR.

I've been walking to and from work and timekeeping all week. Feel pretty good but no weight is being shed. Once I finish with the dr. on Monday I'll start using the xbox and fitness program if he gives me the go ahead. I was hoping to add some studded tires but with the rain and ice alternating from day to day walking just seems more logical. I'm going to lose the bike tough butt that takes forever to get back but I'm not a fan of riding on ice or in freezing rain.

1 Day Down, 3379 To Go

The move is complete. It was a tough week not just because of the moving aspect but because I hadn't worked a full week since June and half of that was at Petrie's. The new spot is small but I have to say the first day was as much fun as I've had in a long time on the job. I have more than enough to do all day and the atmosphere seems much lighter, relaxed. The walk in the morning is just over 30 minutes so it still gives me time to get everything going. Our first shop jobs came back from Winnipeg. The work is top notch and once we get some pricing to base estimates on we should be okay on that end. The shop will even allow us to send our own lining so we can still see some profit there. Hopefully business will get better and the new leaner and friendlier setup will work out.

It was very strange to see the old building empty. It didn't seem like we would ever get all of the accumulated baggage out of there. Lots went to the dump and the scrap, lots was sold off for a song. Just don't have the room to bring it all with us, which is a good thing.

Beat to the Punch or Slipped One?

Some news this morning as I settled in at work. My co-worker of some 24 years has given his notice. He is going to our most hated competition so things are a bit tense. I'm looking forward to the whole thing. He was a cranky sob at times and didn't do much for customer relations. He wouldn't get involved in any activity outside of the workplace. He's good at what he does but there are things that his new employer doesn't know about him. I wish him luck but can't say I'm going to miss him too much. I may be wrong on that, but we'll see. Too bad he didn't leave before the whole move thing or we may have been able to keep the building and the shop. For now it means back to full time work in a week or so. Now that will be hard to adjust to at least until payday.

I started writing a short story. I love historic fiction so I decided to search for a little known Canadian hero, did some research and then let my head weave something together. Now I'm in edit mode, adding a bit every day, re-reading what I have and checking facts. I'll put it up somewhere once I have some more put together. Having a great time doing it.

Kenny Loggins

We took in Kenny Loggins in concert last night. Sal was one of only 2 from the front row to ask for his autograph. Anywhere else in the world the girls toss underwear on the stage, in TBay it's wool scarves with maple leafs. He put on a great show and we couldn't have gotten any closer without having some musical skills.

Moving, Stopping, Crying and Thinking

I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since I've written here. I guess I sort of lost track of things or maybe what I had to say didn't seem very important with other things that were going on. Nevertheless, here goes.

I finally saw the new location for the shop today. It's small, 1300 sq.ft as compare to the 6000 we're leaving but no where near as dark and dingy as I had feared. We put up just about 50% of the shelving in half a day. We had talked about not moving any high volume items off the shelf until moving day was closer but when I returned I saw this...I decided just to bite my tongue and go with the flow. The two weeks leading up to the actual move should prove interesting. Tip toe through the brake shoes, through the brake pads, through the alternators...you know the tune.

I rode home at 5:30, it sure gets dark fast now, and was treated to this as I crossed the railway bridge behind McIntyre Center. I really need to stop and snap a picture when I see one more often. I find myself in a hurry to just get where I'm going and more often than not just take in the scene without slowing down. I had passed 3 adult deer not more than 200 yards from the Superstore parking lot. They didn't even flinch as I pedaled by, I should have taken a picture of them.

I recorded and watched 'Storming Juno' this morning and finished up after work. It is the story of Canada's D-Day accomplishments. Our military may not be a force that is feared around the world today but in WWII they were total ass-kickers. Once the dramatization portion was over interviews with actual vets had me tearing up as they told their stories.

And lastly I need to write. Ideas of a storyline are spinning but I don't have anything I want to run with yet. It may mean I won't post here often but it is an itch that has needed some attention for too long.  

Friday, I Think

walk:1.8 km
cycle:13 km
oatmeal, coffee, crackers and cheese, diet 7 up, wagon wheel, blueberry/brown sugar cookies, caneloni, diet 7up/rye

I had forgotten all about inventory today. Dave counted some yesterday and we finished before lunch today. It's not like the old days when everything had to be wiped from the computer, counted and put back in. I still hold to my opinion that as many mistakes were made putting all they info back in as were ever on the shelf. Shop jobs are still coming in daily with just one month til the move. Another waste as we won't have the room or equipment to keep it up.

This just in, 3G service on Mt. Everest...before Thunder Bay.

I was taking a shower after work and listening to AJ's new shower radio. The sports came on and announced that game 2 of the World Series was on tonight in San Fran. I thought 'that's normal, the sportscaster is a day behind'. Then came the weather forecast, cool tomorrow and sunny on Saturday. I know my schedule is messed up but isn't this Friday and Game 2 was Thursday?

Lost Day

walk:3km
cycle:2km
oatmeal, grapefruit juice, rice, curry chicken stir fry, wagon wheels, nacho chips, scotch, diet 7up

I had planned to paint the trim in the hallway, even bought a brush. Ran a few errands, banking, parts for the cpap mask and a stop at Currie's. When I got home I lost all desire to paint. Worse than that I lost all desire to do much of anything, result I ate way more than I should have. I just could not get anything done. I did manage to find a replacement player for the one who quit last weekend and then pedaled to the Gardens to introduce the parent to the coach. That was about it for the day. Totally wasted.

Welcome to Apathy Bay

walk:2km (left my cell at work, variety mix on old ipod)
cycle:7km (pontoons and mainsail left at home today)
2pcs. toast w/peanut butter, 2 coffee, steamed rice, water, cavatini, blueberry/brownsugar cookies, wontons, diet pepsi

Gotta love good ole' TBay. Citizens have bitched and complained about city council for at least 2 years so what do the angered citizens of our fair city do? We set another dismal number for voter turnout, 46%. If you are happy with what is going on down on Donald St. then get out and help keep the powers that be stay in office. If you're not happy then get out and put your X beside someone you feel will do a better job. If you don't care then just keep on doing what you did, turn the channel on Thunder Bay. If election day had been Tuesday we may not have seen 30%. Good luck Mr. Hobbs.

Lights Out

cycle:6km
sailing:3 km
2 pcs toast w/peanut butter, banana, coffee, diet pepsi, granola bar, corn bread, cavatini, water, wagon wheel (remember those?)

I spent a few hours at work Tuesday hearing all about how the shelves in the new location will fit under the lighting which is being upgraded. Measuring on the floorplan while looking at a grainy little camera picture of a dingy looking building. No I haven't actually seen the inside of the 'new' building. Yes we are officially moving. Letters to suppliers, signs for the counter and a message on the invoices all indicate the date. Back to the lighting. I've been working with absolute crap for lighting in the shop for 3 years and haven't heard more than a 10 minute argument about it being 'just fine'. I finally won the day when I said the light we have now is horrible, how much worse can it be?

How about that weather, when did we move to St. John's? Felt like a day beside the ocean.