Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in haijikai's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
10:10 am	It suddenly explained a lot And here I was thinking I could post a sorta normal update, catching up on everything. Instead, well it becomes sorta Coles Notes again, but at least for a lot of good reasons. 1) The BIG Announcement While out East on our whirlwind and crazy tour one may have noted that Laurie aka Trollgirl aka Significant Overunit had a tendency to "sleep in and growl" a lot. Heck she was even car-sick part of the trip, something the Iron Troll has NEVER been before! We decided there must be something going on, so she had me find "The Test", as she had her suspicions. Women tend to do that I notice...goes along with the diabolical scheming. Can I have the testing stick please? >Insert fanfare please!< Bad News : She can't have that alcoholic ice cream or smoke any cigars for a while. Good News : WOO-HOO!!! Now I just have to deal with the mood swings, lots of naps, and enourmous cravings she has. "It's just gas hun...and in about eight months or so it'll pass!" 2) The Other married Life So in the end the wedding went off pretty well, in fact I find daily that I am in AWE of the Significant Overunit that fuzzy has scored. Of course he is about to learn a very tough lesson, keeping secrets from your wife is "a very bad idea". Okay there are of course certain ones you might get away with, or at least she ALLOWS you to keep because it doesn't concern her. (Sorta the premise of giving us guys hope that...you know...we can actually pull one over on them.) But oh if it has to do with what is now "The Family" finances. BLAM! I tell you, bad idea. I make sure she's actively involved in any decisions like that, and is aware of them. Fuzzy just learned quick he can't keep stuff from her in that matter, as now she's declared a "Full take-over" of all the family financial business. Good on her, as that means a lot of things will get straightened out. Poor Fuzzy, he's about to learn that I wasn't joking in my Best Man Speech. "Behind every good man, there's a woman giving him instructions." 3) An Adventuring we go! Darn we'll just have to make that a regular field trip out East, with more and better time in order to get more friends, family and the whole kebob in. Otherwise coming up is the Spike! in B.C., soon followed by the yearly migration to GenCon in order to fling dice, Role play our hearts out, and generally see what new swag has come out. After that I think we are happily stopping all trips for a bit while I get the main focus back onto the local region. 4) A summer of movies! We even managed to fit some of these in, leading to short reviews. Star Trek: The Reboot Picture. - Channeling DeForest Kelly for the win Wolverine - Best moment of the movie was the opening montage in history. And seriously, what the hell was up with Deadpool? And now that he's the new Green Lantern, so much for Fox's idea of the Deadpool spin-off. Terminator: Salvation - Explosions good, need more characterization. Up! - Brilliant! Now if those dogs can only deal with those pesky squirrels. Transformers: Rise of the Explosions - Got what I expected from that director. Now if only he could figure out how to tell a story. Public Enemy : Now bad, nice to see they really can act. Land of the Lost : Needs more Cowbell. 2012: After seeing the trailers, why ISN'T this film out this summer? That's all for now, i have a ton of follow up and work to do for the next while. To make time for required pilgrimages I need to get a lot done now. Current Mood: busy Current Music: Sounds of the phone flashing on and off (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, July 10th, 2009
9:56 pm	Good Gods Magnum... We're back in mostly one piece from the Eastern holdouts. At least got to see some of the people on our list...the rest...aug...funny how we booked an entire spare weekend away from the Wedding commitments, only to find how many people had "buggered off'...at least we got tea time in! Wedding went off mostly without a hitch, and I am finding out that "Best man" duties just don't stop at giving the speech...I have a long road ahead there. Funny how I warned clients I was not going to be around for a bit dealing with all this out East...only to get flooded with requests...looks like a lot of follow up this coming week. And then today the power of attraction has kicked in with a WALLOP today... And right now heaven is laughing up quite the storm at it... Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: "Everyone Gets to Be a Hero sometimes" - Captain Hammer (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
11:16 am	Once more, with more Cowbell! Amazing how the universe can start responding to your will and drive if you apply it correctly. Let's go with the update on how the clan and myself are doing of this week. 1) Trollgirl Who knew someone would be so happy to lose their job? lol Well we knew it was coming to a head there where she worked as a) Scheduled hours she'd repeatedly told them she could not do for family reasons. b) Never going to get a raise c) No chance to move up. So now she's working with Services Canada to get into the retraining program, which she qualifies for this time around! Meanwhile she's active at the Martial Arts school again, plus as a bonus is now back doing her volunteer tradeswoman work with Habitat for Humanity. (Who I hear may need tech support, law of connections and attraction there.) She has also decided to hang "Baby-booties" above the bed...she figures everything up there is already working for me, so why not catch the wave? lol 2) Nerds On Site Attended the Nerds meeting of Alberta down in Calgary this weekend. Awesome crew to be teamed with! Found out the following things. a) Amazing what distortion on Ventrilo can do lol, I will have to implement my own modified version of Ventrilo on my system so I can now take part on the online courses, score! b) Furthermore proved to me that THIS is the crew I want to work with, and this is the right region to do it in. My fellow Edmonton Nerd is "Night and Day" from me, so I feel it's time to get him on the same wave-length as me so he too can see what a rich and full of magic this region is for business. c) Partnerships! Looks like I'm not the only one with those ideas and drive to implement them, so now I am armed with a lot more questions, and possibilities to present to clients, and potential future clients! d) Never underestimate the power of a good tartan, kilt and a sharp tie! I have new goals for this month, going to hit and exceed them. And that isn't a negotiation, just a statement of fact to myself. 3) Marriott Vacations and Hotels Has that ever started coming around. We finally did get things escalated to a senior person in client/customer care who does appear to "give a damn". I figure once I have the new headset from Telus for my phone tested I will see how well it behaves. I might even experiment with Skype again and variable frequency. (Seeing as that "flash of insight" from the Ventrilo used at the Nerds meeting showed me.) And then we're going to be on the horn to him. Once more, it's not going to be a negotiation. lol Simply a statement of what they are going to do to set everything right. 3 point plan. - Full written apology - Statement of steps to be taken regarding dealing with deaf/hearing damaged people in the future. - Full refund for harm/damages done I almost feel sorry for the guy on the other end, as I'm told I have become quite the juggernaut when it comes to business at times. (Set goals, write out goals, execute goals. Universe tends to respond...) Do we have a fall back? Would this be me if there wasn't? lol Failure to comply means for them. - Human Rights violation filed by Human Rights Commissions Officer...which being said means jurisdiction is here, not there. - Consultation with American Tort/Contract lawyer made clear, in accordance to treaties a Humans Rights Violation trumps tort law. Especially in OUR country. (Human rights under Canadian and British law being viewed as "Incontestable".) - Best quote given by the American lawyer to us regarding the matter. Comes from Martin Luthor King Jr. "One cannot wave the right to human dignity." And thus it shall be so. Once I get that silly phone to work right. Wife always said I had a certain eloquence when I debate things. 4) The Upcoming visit to Ontario So everyone in theory knows we'll be back in Ontario quickly during Fuzzy's wedding. (That little matter of being the Best Man for it.) Right now with the actual date being June 27th, we are toying with a departure date between 22nd and 23rd. ETA to arrive is viewed as the 25th. Of course, I have to fit in there time to do a lot. - "Going out for a smoke" gig...that's likely on the 26th lol - Actual wedding...gee that might happen to be on the 27th - Visiting the Mother in Law. She's up in Kingston, and I have promised a day there. - Canada Day in Ottawa. Well that's in July 1st...an extra day tied in there in Ottawa so there's the 2nd of July as well. - Catch up with dear family and long missed friends. Ho boy, the narrow window is in there of the 28th up until the 1st of July. Priority is "High Tea", a bit of dice rolling, and of course the obligatory trying to wiz around and see anyone else I can! I just might have to schedule an extra "Heading back" day or two there from Ottawa. We'll see if business allows me too. 5) What's all this then? I am more and more seeing how life deals with a "Law of Attraction", and that it helps to set goals, WRITE the goals down, and then execute them. Also STICKING to it is vitally important. It has made quite the difference on how things are proceeding for me on all levels of life, and I have to keep sticking to it. I am quite realizing the legacy both my parents left me, as did friends and family. Now all that has to be focused and focused WELL. Besides as mentioned before having an "Eight year old to liberate!" is quite the thing to drive one. She is a survivor, now I have to make sure we become more than just survivors... We have to become Exemplars of Success. I read a lot of what goes on in friends and special people's lives on here, and seeing how the roller-coaster of life is dealing with them, and how they themselves deal with it. It makes me think that sometime what is viewed as an "obstacle" is really an opportunity depending on the attitude and perspective of the person encountering it. Not to say Bad things happen to good people for no reason, there is that element of random chance that is going to occur. Can't avoid that, but it is strange and comforting in the same breath to see and perceive that there is an awful lot of "Like attracts Like" if one just continues to keep an open projecting mind about it. I guess I just like NOT seeing friends and loved ones succeeding, and I have to ask myself sometimes "why not?". And there are those who ARE succeeding, but sometimes really have trouble accepting it. lol I know strange problem that... Maybe Picard has it right with "Make it So!" He just may have it more right than one might at first be aware of. Anyway, that's a whole separate discussion for another day. I have another opportunity to go create out here...lol Current Mood: chipper Current Music: "The Sounds of Coinage" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
1:40 pm	Feel the Rage I swear I am surrounded sometimes by almost a total and complete lack of understanding, comprehension, and just a dash of bigotry. I shall go down the checklist of the bad...with maybe the good in there somewhere. The downright ugly. 1) Marriott Hotels and Vacations These people have managed in one year to turn my attitude about them around 180 degrees. And this is not a good thing. When first dealing with them I was VERY clear and specific requesting that all dialogue, notices and communications HAD to be written or in Electronic format. Phone is right out as after repeated attempts the functions of our phone simply won't work with them. And frankly I have become quite sick of repeated dial in attempts to get gibberish of an non-understandable voice to my ears. Thus that little section in our Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms that says it is LAW...big stress on the LAW part...that ANY communications in dealings HAVE to be in a form that is understandable by BOTH parties. Which we clearly pointed out to them day one. They have proceeded to ignore this at every turn. They have even ignored the legal letters we sent on the matter as well. Yet still happy to take our money. Thus we had to put a global freeze on everything to get the rat bastards' attention. More legal letters sent to them on the matter, with now both our phone carrier Telus (Bless their hearts, they are logging everything!) and even our Banks also noting this as a "human rights violation" and agreeing on the actions. Marriott continues to ignore us and wonders why no one answers the phone. (Telus went and blocked it as harassment under local laws.) Now, is it hard for someone to adjust? No...what is odd is another local company we deal with for booking here in Canada, again bless their hearts. They made notes of the condition, and have made sure that everything is documented and dealt with through email and letters. A simple adjustment in order to treat me like a valued customer, while not insulting me by being a constant reminder that I seriously lack most of one sense. (They get it, why can't Marriott Get it?) 2) Insurance Brokers I would have thought it unbelievable that something would REALLY make me miss Ontario. This is one of them. The Brokers out here have proven time and again to be irresponsible, unethical, and pretty well crooks. My previous experience with a broker out here was they were the only ones attempting to charge me money after all my accounts were nicely frozen after family died. Hell everyone else followed instructions, but not this crew. So later instructions were given not once, but TWICE, to just pay everything in full for the year. This was of course ignored, with no notice given either. They seemed to believe I lived in Red Deer. (I should add "idiots" to the list too.) So I switch companies, I also end up with another insurance firm too while at it. Heck of a lot cheaper too. What is set up is a carefully scheduled payment plan that will fit our budget and planning for the next year or so, and everything looks fine right? Ha! Fast forward a few months...the broker fails to carry out anything, and when confronted they blame the insurance company for the problem. Quick talk with the insurance company and it's pretty clear where the fault is...the broker again. Of course the rough part is now the insurance company is trying to charge things OUT of the schedule. Bank steps in immediately and blocks it, as the payments are NOT scheduled for that time. Once again the "clever" response is to attempt to rectify by "phone". >insert sounds of head hitting table repeatedly< All right what part of "deaf" are these dingbats not getting through their thick skulls? If you more and more want to reinforce to me the idea that the "hearing world" is a bunch of bigots keep this up you morons. Once more, we're having to fire off pretty strong letters to get an ELECTRONIC dialogue going, as this is becoming nigh on hopeless. And this being Alberta, there is very little we can do with the brokers being as corrupt as they are. I have from my classroom lessons decided to talk with my bank and see if there's a way to deal with this through them directly. They at least know how to treat a client and human being with some dignity. 3) Nerds On Site Now let's flip the rate on its head shall we? If my first impressions were good, my experiences are by far better. Good support, understanding, and while they in perfectly human nature may make the odd "whoops" they take good, professional, and in a nutshell "understanding" steps in correcting them. Makes me wish the idiots I just ranted about above would take some lessons from these guys, as Gods Above THIS is how you deal with a customer or client. You treat them like a human being with dignity, understanding, and a bit of patience. Oddly enough I find it comforting whenever I have to deal with the previously mentioned Marriott and Insurance brokers; as to me Nerds On Site is demonstrating through it's own actions that a deaf person is a fellow contributing human being, and not something to be exploited and humiliated on a near daily basis. >round of applause< So what happens now? Well first plan of action is focus on the business. I have one heck of a crew with Nerds On Site in my corner, and business is moving forward nicely. Second plan, more aggressively shake the tree on all that money that now several government agencies owe me. Third plan, sit down with the TD Bank...and CIBC as well, as they also treat me well like a fellow member of the human race and get them well on side for the "rough spots". Fourth plan, active pursuit of legal consul regarding these repeated Human Rights Violations, as I admit, I am rather sick of having to deal with "oh so wonderful reminders" that I'm a "Dumb deaf and retarded cripple". I rather had my fill of that earlier. Which funny enough means I want to as an addendeum to that write warm heartfelt letters of thanks to the agencies I HAVE dealt with for how they HAVE done me right in dealing with that. Why sow those Anger and Hate when I also can add in Affection and Understanding? Besides universe needs balance. Otherwise all that negative karma will just reap more negative karma. >Deep breath< I have already concluded that Marriott are going to continue to ignore the repeated requests to "cease and desist", any ideas on what we really should do next out there? And as for the Insurance Broker and company...well it isn't really the Insurance Company's fault. They are stuck in the middle on this mess. They have a lovely little letter waiting in their email...lets hope they "get it too". As for the broker, same question... Right, off to go help people and do business...which is not mutually exclusive. Thanks the gods for that small favour! Current Mood: indescribable Current Music: 'Die Mothersmurfer Die!" (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
11:22 am	If this is Tuesday, must be paperwork day! Must admit the universe never stops being a classroom of sorts, though at times I do wonder if the people involved understand that their role is that of the student and not the teacher. lol Lets cut to the chase in order of what my mind thinks is a checklist. 1) Nerds On Site As mentioned before we'd run into the slight problem of "Audio" courses. And as mentioned I had every confidence things would get resolved. Bingo! It took only less than 6 hours for the action to begin, and within 48 hours we had a new solution in place, or as that fine gentleman Arthur calls it they will "Textize" everything (Is that even a word? lol) into PDF. Hey beautiful! See told everyone this crew listens. (great, that's all I need, more homework...didn't I sleep through college to get out of this?) 2) The Great Business Plan Final phase, all the spreadsheets are in, now all I have to do is write the executive summary and get final approval and "Ding!" done. That's Wednesday, which means everything gets filed with the Government the very same day. Going through all that planning, writing and hard research I now more than ever can't stress enough as a NEEDED step before doing any kind of business venture. And from the examples of what I see around me, "Failing to Plan is to Plan to Fail". (Gods I sound like I'm that character from Mystery Men...but he's right!) I still think I'm guilty of the "Scotty Syndrome" on paper....but hard to argue with those numbers. I want another reason I am going to succeed, you only need to open the plan and read the facts. Now more of the real hustling can begin. 3) The Quest for Annastasia This one continues to be the real "tricky" sleigh ride down the mountain. Building up Nerds On Site is one real good way of driving that path in the best way possible. Call it both feed into one another the values needed to do what is best. The "father-unit" once again pulled a "ditch and run" stunt this weekend, on Mother's Day no less. Anna had gone to all the effort of a handmade card for Mom and everything, and was all excited. Of course she felt it right to go petition "Grumpy Dad" for money to take mom out. (Who was I to argue that logic?) Well guess what? He's taken off and abandoned her again! No warning, no discussion, nothing. Kid is pretty miffed at this in more ways than one. (SHE'S miffed? Ha, I can hear the lynch mob forming from anyone reading this.) So Mother's day was spent having brunch, and getting in some quality "Father-Daughter time" going shopping for mom. (Hey, she's the one that coined the term!) That was a lot of fun. The side-effect of all this...guess who's FINALLY turned over proper receipts for all the child-care the woman has had to pay? Only a few years late... It tell you, it's hell that the kid has to go through this, but she's a survivor. It's just a question of when now...which means I get to work harder, as does mom. lol 4) Whoops Apocalyi! Is there a plural for that? (Thanks Buffy.) Our long running D&D campaign is finally into its last chapter. It has been a great run over the years with a lot of great players that have come and gone, and come in again! Years of adventuring have finally led to the last great effort to "Simply Save the World, or what's left of it...". Figure only a few more sessions and we either have a complete wipe out, or we get to set the stage for the NEXT campaign. ...which is going to feel odd. At first. I turn over the DM's screen and now become a player. Looking forward to it, I just have to figure out how to play a character with a head-wound. Maybe if I bang me head into the table a few times to start the session? 5) Chain of Command Its funny how this one came up as it was such the reminder of the valuable lessons I got from my military times. And in many ways, it can apply to business as well, which is why this got in there and into the thought processes when I'm not working with me PoD leader in crafting proposals. In military terms, when one has a scheduling conflict, and you're a Buck Private. With whom do you bring this up with? Do you go straight to the Captain's office? Or even the General of the army? Heck no! You go to your chain of command, or in this case, your squad leader...then NCO of the Squad as needed...you only go higher if you get nowhere. (Called a compromised chain of command...where or lad in Somalia ran into a problem, but that's a WHOLE other rant. Which I did have with a Captain one time...remind me to tell the tale over a pint or two.) But I digress, this is business here. Just wanted to set up the view from here though. In business it's "Your Baby", and you have been rather used to running the whole show. Right now I'm a "Business of One" in an Alliance of many. In the future I will be bringing in fellow new EntrepeNerds into a crew...at least if I want to find out what a vacation is again! lol How do you back away? Guess that really is a balancing act you learn everyday, and when to step in, and when to trust in those you have taught and led. You see it's not the Military, it's business. And business while structured has to deal a lot more with "People and their quirks", and how to relate with all that. And if you're the one who made the business, well it's personal and "Your baby", you really don't want to let go. Almost like parenting in a sense. I have already started to have to review "Friends" and fellow "Techs" I know for future possibilities. And it can be tough. I have already had to conclude that one person who'd I'd trust with my life I'd absolutely NOT trust with my business! Starts getting grim huh? Doesn't have to be. One the best things the team I work with have made an observation, and this even comes from my PoD leader. "You can get Jaded, like I had and did. You remind me, and share with us, the excitement of what it was like when we started. You, my friend, are infectious!" I prefer "insidious" myself...lol But I digress... So business and Chain of Command. Guess it is rough to be at the top of the business and entrust other people to share the same passion and vision as you do. Its also hard to stay in perspective, as it has to evolve along with the company and business. Maybe the best lesson I take out of the classroom is simply this...you never DO leave the classroom, just be aware of your role. Teacher, student, or both! Now if only more of out politicians would get that through their thick skulls! 6) Family Mother's Day this year was another context, seeing as in my case there was no one to be on the other end of the phone. Been the same for Father's day for a while. That time with Anna showed me more what the day was really about; being there. As those little things really do sew the seeds of greatness. However it got me really thinking in context of what family is. Since moving out here to the West contact with other members of my biological family is "spotty" at best, non-existent at worst. Now I grant, hearing is a barrier. But heck in the two years I now have more then enough "tech" to get around the problem! A simple email would do wonders even! But that's not my family in a way. We're passionate, loving, and they have set great examples for me in actually "Giving a Darn" in the way the world can and should be. But put a little distance in there? Phfftt...let's face it, my family sucks at the communication thing. And I am equally as guilty! Out of site literally becomes out of mind. And having been the baby of the family so long, with that age distance too, maybe it does kick right back into "Only Child" perspective. I think the error and responsibility to fix this thus has to fall on myself. I have to make them feel included in my life as well, even if there is a LOT of distance. That really is important...besides (>knock on wood<) they have future favourite nieces and nephews they have to help babysit when they travel! I've made a start in making several copies of the Pirate Wedding video for them...a bit of persuasion and help from Brothers, I think I can get them out to everyone. It can't hurt...and it sure beats silence. (This coming from the deaf guy...lol) Okay that's my review for now, I have classes to take, a Homeworld to conquer, plans to revise and review, and maybe some business to do. Or at least scare up with a blazing Red Shirt, white tie and sharp fedora! Faith Manages. And I'll try to be more entertaining next time...;-) Current Mood: chipper Current Music: "Shower running" (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 8th, 2009
1:42 pm	Laugh, cry and shrug all at once...it's a Curly shuffle of life The last 48 hours are becoming a defining moment for what is the beginning of another new stage of life. It is occurring to me that the wonderful Anderson Career Training course I just finished rammed a lot into me. Let's go to the ticker tape and see what has happened in the "Saga of a Man sharing his frolic" Ahem. 1) Officially Graduated from the Anderson Career Training Institute business school. Brilliant! What has been rammed into me, shared and experience with both the Professors and fellow students has been fantastic! Anyone going into business for themselves would greatly be empowered by this! Of course, now we're "Out of the Classroom" and off running. No more safe-zone! Hmm... The trade off to this, I can "Officially" now pour it on with Nerds On Site without fearing any kind of violation with the Government agencies issuing me payments, subsidies, and grant money. I've rather disliked "deferring" or performing free services so as not to breach anything, but it has indeed laid down a fertile ground that like a crop is now ready to be reaped. ...or at least it would be if not for a "slight" problem. lol 2) A "slight" problem with "Listening" has come up with Nerds On Site. Now nothing wrong with my crew, marvelous fellows! And they are again patient and understanding on working around the limitations these "sodding ears" thanks to Meniere's disease give me. Big thumbs up to the crew! Not so much with higher ups. lol Once again I have "banged" into "Well we've ALWAYS done it this way." kind of thinking. Nerds On Site does indeed have a brilliant set of compliance and other training course they offer over their internal website. These are fantastic "Audio" and video training courses that can indeed allow questions from the students. Notice the stress on the "Audio" part. lol >face meet palm< After many a repeated attempt with the software, hardware, different Codecs and the like, I have had to abandon ever using those courses for the simply fact that to someone with my hearing damage, it is VERY literally, DEAD AIR. Whoops... My own POD leader is pretty fumed and frustrated with the "back-asswards" thinking related to this, as here he has a team member being "Locked Out" simply because someone higher up isn't "Listening" to the "Deaf-guy" lol Hearing vs. Listening. Two different things people! Remember that! In the end though I have a lot of confidence I will get a serious, and proper, reply and resolution to the problem. If nothing else it will be another strike against the silly stereotypes some people hold against deaf people at times. ...refer to the expression "You sure don't Act/Sound Deaf". lol 3) Let's barrel-roll into other news, and a reason why my POD leader thinks I am one of the better things Nerds On Site ever brought on-board. lol Across the hallway our "oh so wonderful" >insert dripping sarcasm here< is once again up to his hijinks Boris has after totally "screwing the pooch" on NoS (see: Moron) set out to start his own little company. Even "Branded his vehicle" and everything. What happens? (Ties beautifully to why I went to business school before doing Nerds On Site full on rock and roll.) He got his car broken into this last week and his laptop stolen. Here's where it becomes a great business and object lesson, which my courses taught me. (And I'm going to be SURE my fellow Nerds all know!) Insurance didn't cover the laptop from the car viewpoint. Home-owner's didn't cover the laptop either, and he had cut corners on the rest. So he figured he's eating the laptop loss, but at least he's still covered under the car. ...eh...NO! One look from the assessor and they saw the "Branding", that makes it a purely business vehicle, and requires that to be stated in the insurance. He hadn't done that at all, so claim DENIED! Ow...so suddenly he's out more than $1200 on the laptop, now he eats the $1800 repairing the car. And oh his rates went up due to the "fraud". Funny, my business class; which he claimed he was too busy to take; taught me this! lol Why I have talked with my bank so when I have my NerdMobile active I have everything covered the way it's supposed to be. There has been an unusual and sad side-effect to this.... 4) Due to Boris suddenly being "Out" thousands of dollars he took to "abandoning" Annastasia; our lovely shared eight year old; home alone on weekends in order to make money! >Look of shock< Sharp as tack kid IMMEDIATELY made sure us across the hallway were aware of this and wholly endorsed us "kidnapping her" to look after her. As Anna puts it... "My Daddy loves me, he just loves Money more." >insert jaw drop here< From the mouths of babes eh? Taking good lessons from my family we are treading VERY carefully with the Mediator, Child Care, and the Grand-ma to get the ball rolling that in a year, we'll going for full custody period. You wanted a heck of a motivator for why this business with Nerds On Site is going to work? I guess nothing drives you more than the need to help out a kid in distress eh? Has to be done right to show that morals, integrity and just "Giving a Damn" still means something. 5) And now a humourous segway of sorts lol We did last night get to see the "Joygasm" that is the new Star Trek film. (Why I wore a kilt with the redshirt...) Brilliant, I hereby genuflect! >insert we're not worthy here< Now the funny part beyond the film. One of our dear companions out here has a wife at the end of her pregnancy term, about to pop, so let her husband out to get a little relax, but he had his phone ready just in case. So...just as the big Nimoy "Space...the final frontier" starts near the end, sure enough she rings...and he's got one of those lovely video phones to so it starts transmitting. So sure enough after a minute... POP! Kill switch, film dies as an anti-piracy measure. ROFL! Sure glad we weren't at an AMC theatre in Ontario! Manager was understanding though. Refunds for everyone, so hey win column! Free movie and it rocked! Guess we'll just have to go see it again! Okay that's life in an 48 hour nutshell. I'll post more as the weekend permits. Red-Shirt Ready Aye Ready! Current Mood: amused Current Music: "Furious typing and texting" (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
5:22 pm	Dance my little Dynamic minions! Ah the wonders of dealing with Internet Service providers... In some ways I feel like I have almost tripled my "inner workings" knowledge of just how the service providers deal with their clients, both business as well as residential. Let me give you a run down... The original average home user liked to use a model supplied them by the provider...and that model said modem was then connected directly to the computer. End of story. Now-a-days, we have a far more educated and enlightened home user out there, and for those that situation no longer applies. The average home user NOW follows the recommendations of many I.T. Professionals out there...modem goes to ROUTER...then it goes to the computer. With the advent of more and more wireless technologies having reached stable levels of transmission, this has VASTLY increased the number of routers being used out there. The Service Providers...well they still seem to be fairly stuck in their ways on the original template. And thus many a service provider provides what they call a "Dynamic IP Protocal", which allowed a lot more "plug and play" and easier set up options for the home user. Or at least, the ORIGINAL home user. The newest generation of home user is a LOT more picky. They want the Router for that extra layer of security, as face it...to us techies, those modems are REAL easy to hack into. (Granted one could say something about the router too, but this is the simplified argument, and thus having the added layer is viewed as the "Enough Security" principle advocated by Frank Abagnale. Don't know who that is? Look him up.) So here is the problem now that you see the background. Home users more and more are insisting on having Routers as part of their Internet set up. Routers far prefer what is called "Static IP Protocal" They will settle for "Automatic" or even "Sticky Dynamic" but that requires a little extra work. Let's keep this simple and stick with "Static". Oh sure they CAN work with Dynamic, but the Dynamic has to be reasonable. Problem...the Internet Service Providers only offer "Dynamic". This means the routers have to be set to accept Dynamic. Which would be fine...except for a few minor problems. "Dynamic" means the actual IP address that the Internet Service Provider is giving your will keep changing. This would be fine for the Routers if it was changed every few weeks to months, they can adjust to that easily. That is actually supposed to be a "normal" situation. But No, what the Service Providers are doing is making it change every few HOURS. (Or in the case of the United States, some are even doing it every few Minutes!) The vast majority of Routers on the market out there from several manufactures see that kind of change as a viral attack...and start blocking the Internet access. The home user is suddenly without Internet going "WTF?" One solution is to Immediately set up the Router to a "Static" as well to what the currently supplied I.P. is from the Service Provider. Which would be fine...except the Service Providers on their end are "releasing and renewing" that every few hours. To them the concept of "Sticky Dynamic" or "Automatic" is totally foreign. (In short, their server giving back to the still active modem on the other end back the original IP address it had. The difference is a Static would do that if the modem/computer was off. "Reserving it" as it were. A Sticky or Automatic asks the modem if it wants the same one again, if it's off, it assumes "no".) The Service Providers would LOVE to sell you a "Business Account" with a possible Static IP Protocal....for usually a hell of a lot more than the average Consumer is willing or needs to pay. Not a very acceptable solution. There is unfortunately yet another solution which I'm seeing creeping in. Some technicians are going and flashing the modems provided by the Service Providers with special software that makes the modem ALWAYS stay online at all times with the Service Provider. In short fooling it into thinking it's in a "diagnostic cycle" and just actively needing to test with the Service Provider's Servers...which fools it into Not Being Allowed to Cycle, as "Oh it's currently in Active downloading/uploading use, thus I am not allowed to Release and Renew." There are dangers to this, and issues. Not only is it tying up bandwidth constantly, it is preventing the Server from doing something it does need to do occassionally. (And not every four bloody hours!) Also it can be done wrong in such a way as to wreck the modem, which in the end has to be replaced by the Provider...costing the end user more in the end overall. There's more, but that covers two simple examples. So what is the solution? The Service Providers do need to get in tune with the ever evolving needs of the Average Home Customer when it comes to Internet Services. They need to learn more what a "Sticky Dynamic" and "Automatic" are and not just think in terms of "Dynamic" and "Static". They also need to learn how to respond to a knowledgable client that is not a business but understands the difference and requires it. Otherwise...there's nothing stopping the Customer going to a Service Provider that DOES understand the difference, and provides the service reasonably. ...and it would sure save me a lot of headaches when dealing with friend's routers! lol Current Mood: calm Current Music: "More" - Gregorian (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
10:04 am	Busy busy busy Did I mention I was busy, a lot? Amazed I even find time to get online some days...at least for something other than work related! lol Ended up getting interviewed by the CBC news crew out here in Alberta, was even wearing the red "Nerds on Site" shirt...white tie, everything. Talk about instant branding! Interview evidently went VERY well, though due to the Hockey games all that night the news was shorter, so sounds like I only got on the Radio segment of CBC. (Mind you, interesting fact, CBC radio is WINNING the ratings war out here in Edmonton...so it's STILL a lot of exposure.) In short it was about the classes we are taking here to become Independent Businesses, especially in this "perceived" bad economy. The truth is the facts out here argue that Alberta in general is fine, and that Edmonton is in GREAT shape. Diverse economy means while there's loss in some sectors, there's growth in others. My field; being your complete solution for your Computer and I.T. needs; is in a boom thanks to companies dumping their I.T. departments yet thinking that their computers would all run themselves. lol Foolish humans! Mwah-haha! They love the spin on the "deaf" part. "I'm the Technician who listens." ...as we've gotten to know that there are a lot of perfectly good hearing people who just don't listen... lol right, back to studies. Later fellow Prisoners of Gravity! Current Mood: satisfied Current Music: "Superstition" - Dat Blind Guy (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
6:40 pm	The ongoing story of a man and his ferrets... So we're at the end of the month, and there's plenty to update and observe about. Part One - Business classes It has been fantastic going to these every morning and afternoon, and that classroom is full of new ideas, views on the world, and certainly the energy needed to challenge one's own self to move forward and succeed. Also the smartest idea the Federal Government had in that before they give you any Grant Money in large quantities, you need to go through this first. Smart indeed, who knew a government could do that eh? lol I have become the "I.T./Computer guy" in the classroom, sweet, a good bunch of starting clients! And references to boot. And the class is pretty understanding that I needed sub-titles when watching a film. lol To a few that day was the first time they realized I had hearing impairments. It is certainly going to make my business plan, and short/long term viability a much greater prospect. Part Two - Services Canada I will time and again stress I love the Edmonton staff. Absolutely straining hard to get things working for me, including the long since "misplaced" files sent by my doctors to Ottawa. lol Right now they are trying to get the whole funding part sorted to, as there are literally months of EI when I was hospitalized and recovering that somehow "got skipped". They are fighting hard though, and it was them that got me hooked into the business school with the eye on VERY large Government funding/grants to get the ball rolling. (They themselves urged to make sure I went into the separate section for the disabled, as they've seen the not one but count'em two illegal dismissals I've had to deal with since the whole hearing went "kaka") Part Three - Nerds On Site The welcome on board has been good, and it's a good local area crew. Even got all that nice Brand-Pac swag, not to mention what I won off the neighbour from a bet. The execution however has been a little tricky. The whole issue with my hearing and phones has now hit three times in a row with it being serious communication difficulties. Now granted that lovely set of variable frequency phones does help for some of my calls...I stress the word "some". Not all. And a cellphone is nigh on useless for that. (Lacks the required frequencies that my ears can interpret or filter well.) So giving me a "Seed" that requires me to call them on a phone? It's almost enough to make one bang their heads a few times on a solid work-desk. It all comes back to what one of my favourite managers at C&E Security Communications once observed. "It's so easy to forget you're deaf, you don't Act or Sound deaf." That smacks the whole perspective problem on so many levels. And I reckon NoS (Nerds On Site) has the exact same difficulty in "getting it." It's what friends and family have "bless their hearts" taken over the last year to adjust and make allowances for. They (NoS) on one limited phonecall and several personal "face to face" contacts are unable to grasp just how much of a challenge the "hearing" world is. Granted; unfortunately; the stereotype of a "deaf" person is someone who has never had hearing before and is thus "tonal deaf". (Meaning they "Sound kinda funnah...") as it were. And when someone "sounds kinda funnah..." it shocks me that in this day and edge an unfortunate assumption is "Deaf and Dumb"..."sounds like a retard"...etc. >facepalm< And thus, since I make the efforts to teach my voice NOT to slip and pay careful attention to how I sound, or at least how it "feels" how I sound, I therefore don't fit the "tonal" deaf club, which then leads to an "error in judgement" as it were. Since I "sound normal" and make every attempt to set one "at ease in communication" I must therefore "be normal". Well I am normal; such as it is (lol); I just happen to have an interesting perspective on communications between people. Skip to the end...NoS is making "rookie" errors in how they deal/interface with me. I am more than willing to chalk this up as "learning pains" as they adjust. It is just a bit uncomfortable to be placed in the same "errors of judgement" situations that C&E did earlier. (Example: Example, don't ask a deaf guy to test the phones in a busy office. lol) Part Four - And the Beat goes on On that topic it is interesting to see how other senses now experience the world in other situations. Example, we finally got a group together to experience "Y After Hours" here in downtown Edmonton. Its a "Rave-techno-house" music club with multiple levels that some of us have wanted to check out for some time. It proved to not be for everyone. One member of our groups totally hated it and said it was crap. (Main complaint, no lyrics in anything played.) Another, mixed, as hated it being so crowded later and felt that some of it was noise. (I granted the "just noise" part with the downstairs DJ was correct, he was horrible. However projecting such a negative impression and attitude just further created said attitude right back at her. Also totally non-functional high-heal dance boots combined with standing, not smart combo.) The other two of us there LOVED it, for our own reasons. (And hated the negativity from the other two which made us unable to let loose a bit.) One is really into the whole Trance-techno scene and wants to DJ profession someday, and has a good ear for it. He got into the grove and felt we really should go again with just us "ravers" used to the scene. Myself? I could FEEL the music, which was of enourmous importance to me in context. (My partner in groove there saw my eyes a light and saw that right away, that it was FEELING that was hooking me in, not sound.) I've experienced house and raves before around the world so I already had a "context" to work with, and so this was something that connected on the "Tribal" level and I found maybe struck a deeper chord "literally" inside of me. I think I will take up his offer of "sneaking on down" of just the two of us and pull an "all-nighter" some Friday night. lol >spins his glow sticks< Part Five - Good Gods One Year Already? So the Significant Overunit has somehow found a way to continue wanting to live with me and sometimes even share the covers for a whole year now! When one looks at just what a year it has been; with all the unexpected trials; this might be a pretty good sign. Some would context it as a "bad year" to test a marriage. I see it as a year with "New Perspectives" being required in order to function. I still miss some of the layers of communication there, but we have certainly begun developing new ones. We got through this, then it certainly bodes VERY well for the future. There's a lot more, but I think I've hogged the soap-box a little long this time. I'll just aim to be a little sooner in my next updates. Cheers all! Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: "Sounds of Silence" (Comment on this)
Friday, March 27th, 2009
10:13 am	Learn learn learn Well its break time in class, and boy is this classroom useful. >rummage< Going to be taking a lot of notes, and crafting many new ideas for the business. My fellow Nerds on Site crew are going to love some of these ideas, might even be something to disseminate to the rest of the POD later. (Using me as a test bed of course.) But first, learn, and make sure it does comply with the Guidelines of the franchise. Swell...more homework. lol Current Mood: busy Current Music: "Inspirational mixture of lots of things" (Comment on this)
Friday, March 20th, 2009
6:42 pm	Un-frakking-believable I was going to write about what life is like after one year of marriage. The ups, the downs, and the experiences. Overall, certainly is worth the efforts. ...but now I'm not writing about that as something else came across my desk that just had me drop me jaw in shock. Here I'll post the link to the video on Youtube. A brief summary, it's Fox News once again sticking it's foot in its mouth for 100 years and wiggling toes by once more showing it ineptitude. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJn5XlbSFk All the worst is the timing as today 4 good people in uniform gave their lives helping complete strangers over there. >deep breath< It really is something about America that has disturbed me for a long time, the severe lack of Responsible and Ethical media. To me Fox Broadcasting is the pinnacle of just how corrupt the media there has become. It is all the more tragic as thus by feeding this kind of disinformation to its people it creates far more ignorance, hatred and intolerance around the world. Americans sometimes wonder why around the world there is such a negative reaction to them at times...well its this kind of vulgar propaganda that they treat as "News" and "Information" that is a real heart of the problem. Is it no wonder that more and more Americans are treating shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as the ONLY real source of accurate news? I mean seriously! ...it comes down to this. Americans are not stupid. Americans are not ignorant. Americans are not arrogant either. But their own Media treats them this way. (And by far Fox Broadcasting is the worst offender of the lot.) And that's a real tragedy in its own right. That America's own Media views its people this way, and treats them this way, and worst of all PRESENTS them (America) this way to the world. >facepalm< I don't blame the people venting back in a backlash over this latest insult. But it is not Americans in general one should be angry at. Oh no, it is their Media that is the problem, and it should not be tolerated. And certainly not by a fine bunch of people at heart, Americans. I would wish that they take them to task for this, and how poorly they are being represented to the world, and their friends and allies. Now if you will excuse me I have to go drink a toast to some friends I didn't know who gave their lives helping complete strangers in a strange land. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "Railway Saga" - Gordon Lightfoot (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
11:27 am	Getting everything up to Speed Phew, pretty hectic week. Now if only government could move half as fast at times. Have started the Ramp-up part with Nerds on Site, which means not only sorting through a 1 month, 3 month and 1 year plan of how to do things, but going over the Train-Wreck left by the last guy I'm coming in to replace. There's going to be a lot of reading of his original client base, and maybe finding out more "Deep and Dark Secrets" that I really don't want to know but have to uncover anyway. One only hopes he's not that stupid to be still billing clients with cash payments and not telling them he is no longer with NoS. (Unfortunately, I would not take bets on that.) The "Hurry up and Wait" from the Government continues, despite their "reassurance" that I would have things in my hands already. I have a suspicion I will once more have to go down to the local Services Canada office and "shake the cage" again. Damn, until then I continue to hold all my spending in a "Lockdown" pattern until I know what real budget I am working with. If it was just the Grant Money not so bad, that they've gone and delayed with no reason all the rest of my benefits and funding; including that needed for the TTY and the like; okay it explains my rather dim view on the matter. Of a funny note, poor Revenue Canada is having a chuckle this year with the whole "Declared Dead" for a few months this year, followed by now flooding them with medical receipts and claims back. They've actually been very good people to deal with in all this, they also wish the department that dealt with me and Disability for deafness was on the ball. Instead, a LOT of claim-backs now go through them. I pity the fool who dares try an audit... Weather, can't make up her bloody mind. Who knew I'd married her? lol As an added aside, as I checked out and went through the Pre-reg process for Gencon2009, guess wat i saw? Seems me and a friend are right there in the front page being used as advertising for Board gaming...I happen to be the gentleman wearing the frilly shirt and nice hat. I wonder if I can get extra swag for that? 15 minutes of fame? Bags of money under the seats? A nice kick to the shins at least? Okay, time to focus on continued "Ramp-up" and getting business in order. My business classes also start this month. (One of the Smartest Things Services Canada is doing before Grant money, getting one into and passing proper business courses. They're dime too...I am rather looking forward to this.) Guess it's a good sign that I'm not dead if I'm back learning again! Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: "nom nom nom" (3 Comments |Comment on this)
9:10 am	Writer's Block: Deal or No Deal What's on your list of dealbreakers when it comes to romantic relationships? View other answers Yeah dishonest seems to fall in a lot of them does it not? However I find there are three others for me. 1) Passiveness. Sorry but I can't deal with fawn in the headlights, there has to be a centre as it were of the person knowing who they are and what they want. 2) Hyper-Aggression/Anger. In this case if its directed against the weak and/or young. I've seen this ugly side come out and it was to me what completely altered my feelings to the people. 3) Acceptance of Duty. This is an odd one. But it has to do with having worn the uniform. Some partner have had a real issue with it, either keeping of secrets from them for their own good, (Official Secrets Act anyone?) to just plain not able to deal with the principle that you hold the safety and welfare of your "Sister and Brothers of the World" in such regard that you've put your money where your ideals are and gone off and volunteered...with the chance that one day, you come back in an extra large station wagon. Been a while since I ran into something like this, guess after over ten years those still hold. Guess it is good I found someone that does her level best to never fall into to those eh what? Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "Ringing Phones" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
11:39 am	Math, we knows it. By Moradin's Hammer, how on earth do people question the need for some basic math skills? What got me laughing as I've run into this once before, fortunately was able to write it out for them...they then proceeded to do a >face meet palm< as it suddenly registered. Current Mood: mischievous Current Music: "Asshole" - Dennis Leary (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
3:31 pm	The Story so far, round two So today is proving to be an amusing day on several levels. Step One, finally got around to a lot of picture editing and upload, which is all good. Still plenty to work with but it shows I am getting it done now. Step Two, Income Taxes. Have all my paperwork and trying to encourage the Overunit to locate all of hers. Part of this involves a bit of running around getting new medical receipts in some cases, as that's part of the claims. Revenue Canada shall hate how much I will be clawing back. Step Three, won a nice bet with the neighbour over Nerds on Site policies. Readers know that he's been planning something "pretty dumb", so I made a bet that if my legal advise on the matter WASN'T correct, I'd get all his former NOS stuff. If I was wrong, I'd pay his legal consult fees. He just finished delivering to me all his Brand stuff. Apparently his lawyer wondered how I knew all the Tort/contract stuff, and why Boris didn't listen to me. Evidently he's had some follow up calls from NOS lawyers to now. Yet another reason his ex-wife left him, clearly a man not tuned into listening to reason. Too much to hope I'd get the car too. lol But then again, I am angling to do that with the Grant money from the government later, and it does make sense with the Significant Overunit getting her driving skills up to maybe be two cars. I'll cross that bridge when my "Life NCO" orders me to drop and give him 20... Step Four, Visa followed my orders to the letter to "freeze things" while I sort out where some charges have come from. Looks like i have a few "question marks" there so tracking those down, with a follow up meeting with the bank officers next week to put in place the "Small Business" side of things. Step Five, continued follow up with Services Canada on the backlogged and overdue money. At least it's confirmed it's enroute, now the mailperson just has to get it all here. An addition to that, courses are all paid for and scheduled by Services Canada at the local University for a business diploma. Nice...this means more Grant money, additional funding from the Province, and heck will look nice on a resume for additional education. Seeing what happened with Boris and NOS I'm more looking forward to these courses as it should ensure I know more questions to ask, how to structure expenses correctly, and all the other fiddly details of running a business better than I ever did before. This will be one thing that will make Revenue Canada fairly happy I imagine! lol Step Six, there is NO step six. Step Seven, no poofters. Sorry it's not more exciting folks, but brain is pretty deep into the getting things rolling part. These months just might fly along in the end... Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: "The Unseen" - Mechanical Moth (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
2:56 pm	And the muddling goes right along... Okay, this got to be a fun day where the poor phone didn't stop. Many thanks for those nice variable frequency phones or I'd never have caught up with all this! So an update on the whole Boris/Nerds on Site thing. Boris is officially OUT. (Butt, meet door....Door, butt.) A long talk with his ex-wife indicates this is not the first time he's let his mercenary values get in the way of doing things properly for a profit. (Guess he never figured how I ended up getting paid FAR more than him at Dell eh?) The shame of it is it does really leave his clients in a bit of a lurch...and with Boris planning on performing "Conversion of" along with a few other violations of Tort/contract law I have really gotten to thinking this was his whole plan in the first place. Shame he doesn't listen very well, I've already, and repeatedly, advised him NOT to take this line of action, or plan. But he just does not want to listen. Meanwhile I made sure the papers to get officially on board were witnessed, signed and faxed plus mailed today. (While keeping copies for myself, old habits die hard.) So when he cleverly tells me of his plans to "Steal Away" clients...does it not occur to him this information might get back to haunt him badly later? >head meets table repeatedly< If he really wanted to make a break, make it clean. As logic dictates if you're going to do any other longer range plan you might need Field Techs, and whom else would you want to contract for that? This seems to be his modern interpretation of Cortez...other than along with the ships he appears to be also burning the ammo and supplies along with them! Well at least I already have the white ties and fedoras to go with Red shirts...one has to accessorize correctly you know. Then other news. Services Canada also got through today, everything over the phone is now approved, and they explained I should start seeing a lot of money retro-actively now, either this week or start of next. Awfully sporting of them, only took over a month this time! lol Just glad I could understand her on the phone, and my view is I was a little TOO honest in my declarations. (I know, me being a blockhead and all, but even if I was never paid for work I still declared the attempt to make money.) Combine this with the courses I was approved and entered in for starting March, and it is fair progress. They also want to get me additional funding from the Province while I'm ramping up to be a business and getting schooling. (This is opposed to just being schooled as it were.) I've concluded that the course in question can't help but make any IT franchise I make that much stronger and better...and think of all the local networking in class? And, it gains me access to even more grant money from the Feds and the Province. And my business plan; and boy I'm glad I wrote and researched that; will be even stronger the argument. Add onto this Executrade pinged me with a shortlist offer for another IT position, as did AlbertaWorks of all things. (Seems their computers break too, lol, and having been classified as Disabled means I get the "inside track" for this one.) And then there's the NAIT who need service techs and operation professionals. (Equivalent of Sheridan College out here.) That talk went well today too. It's funny how all this happens at once, frankly I see NOS the better long term, as in this Economic climate, IT service and support is in a boom right now. Now if only I can convince the Army to use me as a regular civilian instead of a volunteer or put me back in the green...that I'll only do if they promise me Borgified limbs...oh an implants for the ears...Universal Translator and Uplink a must. But I get ahead of myself. Now all I have to do is do some early tax returns paperwork, meet with the Bank Officers at my local branch to be sure I have them on board, and then we see where we stand for this coming year. And only then will I expand my collection of Fedoras and jazz music. Current Mood: busy Current Music: "Big Bands Schwing music" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 14th, 2009
1:46 pm	And soon merrily we muddle along Long time no update, but it's been busy to say the least. Weather out here continues to be bizarre for a winter in Edmonton. We've gone back and forth from -30 weather to suddenly weeks in the +10 C catagory. It's made for quite the mess in figuring out if this is going to be a winter or not, and it's made for some nice perfect ice-slicks on the side roads. Why complain though, its made for the most gentle winter out here since we came out in '05. On the Independent Contractor front, life has been progressing well. First off, got the Official Go Ahead from Services Canada for becoming my own independent Business, which in this economic environment is actually in a BOOM. (Sorta like how the liquor stores are in a boom, go figure...) What that means is I get free classes all paid for in economics and business starting up next month, which are pretty darn keen. I get to make money as an sub-contract for Nerds on Site and classify it all as Tax Free for a year, on top of not have to pay any benefits money back either. (They see it as further investment into the starting of the business.) And I get all the Grant money for starting things up, which per advise of the great people at Services Canada here in Edmonton will be for quite a lot. (They said this "deaf" thing should get milked.) Right now we're just waiting for that to arrive...I call it a bonus when it does. Mind you life took an unusual twist there. Old neighbour Boris across the hallway USED to be a Nerd on Site...until he got canned this week. He's spinning it he was quitting, end result I'm now the sub-contract covering his client base now while things become official. He's got his own "behind the scenes" contracts going on...which I fear might still blow-up in his face as by definition this might just be viewed by the NOS group as a breach of contract. I'll keep doing certain things for him, but I'll write it up and invoice as if sub-contracting as a NOS person to keep it all above board. Still, enough to shake one's own head at and then perform a few face plants onto a desk a few times. So side effect of everything is this year looks like it will be busy, yet good. That might mean skipping a vacation in March, but I figure it's for the best to plan out May, June, August and any other planned trips. So today, had to surprise people with waking up to fresh coffee, muffins, and later, plenty of cheesecake! Guess dear young Dad conditioned me well to still be an old romantic. lol Guess I have a lot of phonecalls and emails to catch up as life settles down JUST a little... Some might say bad things happens just cause, I tend to stick to the view that the "bad things" happen in order to empower one to figure out the Greater Good from it. And who knows, someday he whole illegal dismissals might work into something else... I'm deaf, not dumb...though leading with chin will still occur from time to time. lol Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: "It Can Happen To You" - Yes (Comment on this)
Friday, January 16th, 2009
5:21 pm	Court battles, Chinooks and the Universe as we see it Long time no post, a lot to put down then. Services Canada finally acknowledged there's been some royal screw-ups lol (No kidding.) At least the Edmonton staff have been real troopers, and finally have someone who makes sense that I understand in my hearing whacked state. Sweet... Upshot of this? A LOT of backlogged and owed benefits are beginning to show up at last. On top of that there's is a whole smack-load of GRANT money sitting there to get a 'Disabled Person" like myself up and running with an independent contractor business in the IT field out here. So currently I've been doing a lot of research and drafting up a mighty fine looking business plan. Also, the Province here also has a "smack-load" of money for that purpose as Grants. And thus I have the meeting with them next week to see just what else we can pour into this. As strangely enough, World Economic shake-up means a boom in my line of work! Weather, gotta love Edmonton. Let's see, this has to be on record as one of the mildest I've ever had out here. We had fall weather all the way through November. Then come December winter finally got here, and there was an average HIGH temperature of -20 C in the middle of the day. (That's -4 F for those using that system.) That was how HOT it was getting. lol How cold? Ho boy...we even had one week there where the HIGH was -32 C (That's -26 F) and the low in the night? Well unless you had a digital that mercury can't go that low. (Would you believe on night on a weekend we hit -62 C, that's -80 F...we call it Pretty Bloody cold.) And that was around New Years. So why am I calling it mild then? January came around, and the temperature won't stop going in the other direction. This week it's up to 6 C, or 43 F. And this is January, the COLDEST month we're supposed to have. Predictions are we might stay like this all month. (And this means our brilliant idea of shipping all the cold out to Ontario clearly worked...) Meanwhile on other fronts, Trollgirl has officially decided that City of Heroes is her MMO, and is having a blast full time on her own account kicking arse and taking down several names. Biggest complaint she'd had with any other was there simply weren't people to adventure with, thus no social aspect. Very important to her, but heck she's now taken to the insane crew I adventure with like a Ferret to a Mars bar. (Scary...) She's still looking more into the rollergirls derby thing, we just have to get days-off working around that better. Going full-time "freelance" on my part with a better income level should address that, trick will be seeing just how high I can crank up the income level, seeing as I'm willing to head outside the Edmonton Area for service calls. And seeing what they offer in Fort McMurray and Camrose, that might just work out well. In the entertainment sector; as predicted; Warner Brothers coughed up a whole dumptruck full of money to Fox in order to get Watchmen out for March as planned. (Nothing public, but last I heard from the inside was it was something in the area of 7 zeros plus, and in addition a percentage of earnings and profits as well...ouch!) And meanwhile the lawsuit against NCSoft as the "testbed" of the lawsuit vs. ALL MMO companies is beginning this month. (Seems someone else owns the Patent on using a Character Avatar in games...I know it's a silly yet dangerous suit. As if this wins then it's another "dumptruck" full of money going to this roup from ever MMO on the block. No wonder Blizzard is giving NCSoft legal assistance! lol) And then there's the "Continuing Adventure of..." with the D&D crew. Well after the Party Wipe they're not quite as cocky this time around. This weekend is the big lead up to a rematch with the Drow that took them out last time...this time in her own city in a Temple of Lolth. A lot of scheming and plotting by the party in their effort to deny the DM yet another Party Wipe. Gonna be good, as I'm keeping some surprises in store for them, they want to win this, they're going to have to earn this one... And now I have a DVD copy of Monster Squad to settle back and enjoy! Here's wishing all well for the new year, and that somewhere along the line there will be reunions with all during the year! Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: "Barrett's Privateers" - Stan Rogers (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 29th, 2008
3:50 pm	Fox, Warner Brothers, and the Death of Watchmen So most news out here is boring. Nothing too exciting other than a new Chinook thawing the place out, the neighbour having returned. And yelling at Ottawa for losing more paperwork and trying to blame it all on Edmonton's office. At least we have a happy missus with her own City of Heroes Account running...now if we can transfer characters from accounts, all the better. But that might be wishing too much... Oh no, the big discussion hitting us is what has happened to that Highly Anticipated film "The Watchmen" Looks like it's now a Dead Film that won't see the light of day...ever. So much for an interesting trailer. How did this happen? Let me review the case that has happened. 20th Century Fox is actually the owners of the License and Property to make any film or media for The Watchmen. They have had this property for a LONG time now, at least 20 years now...and done nothing with it. Enter Warner Brothers, who take the chance, the effort and the resources, to step up and make what looks like could be one hell of a brilliant movie. The excitement is building, and the word on the street from us is this could be THE film for 2009 coming out in March. So, Warner is feeling good. They had already briefed Fox WELL before on doing this, and Fox hadn't lifted a finger at all. Looks like March is going to be good times... ...that is until 20th Century Fox suddenly moved in again. The lawsuits begin to fly, first citing "failure to buyout" the rights, and now "illegal distribution". 20th Century Fox wins the first one right before Christmas in Court, nailing Warner Brothers to the wall. Meaning it has again been established that the property is THEIRS to produce and make, and thus this is illegal and never should have been made. Warner Brothers gets a collective "WTF!" look on it's face real quick...and then 20th Century Fox fired the next volley earlier today. Now they are filing to BLOCK and PREVENT ALL distribution of release of the film. They are citing the already establish precedent from earlier that it was theirs to "...slowly...get...around...to..." and that this should not exist. Thus...burn the prints, OR, give them an outrageous and large sum of money and relinquish pretty much everything, and then they MIGHT let this release. Warner Brothers officially today REFUSED to pay one dime to 20th Century Fox, so now it's off to the Courts late in January. So the poor waiting fans all get to be absolutely furious at Fox for doing this, as now it's a very Real possibility that the Watchmen film might end up never seeing the light of day. Brutal. Now two thoughts on this from my experience with how the industry does work. One) 20th Century Fox; much as we hate to concede the point; is perfectly within their legal rights here. The Rights were clearly Fox's, and that needed to be settled before Warner Brothers did anything. That it wasn't means we get this royal mess. (Warner Brothers should have made sure this was done before moving forward.) Two) Likely this is a lot posturing going on, as it sure is getting the media whipped into a frenzy over this. In the end Warner Brothers will probably HAVE to concede the point that they are in the end, wrong. Thus FOX will get a nice Truck-load of money for having grabbed the license in the first place. We can all hate Fox as much as we want, but it doesn't change the fact that the courts have so far agreed that they are right. Though Warner Brothers may argue "Loss of Licensing Rights due to Negligence". If they DO try that, then it might get ugly. The end result, we are likely still getting our film. As face it, it's about money, and they both want to make money. (The studios) And so right now they are posturing to see how big a share they get. Warner's is more bitter at getting caught then anything, and wants to reduce the damage. Fox; is well doing Greed is Good and likes the idea of getting Money for Nothing. That they happen to be right doesn't enter into it, as Warner's own Public relations is having a field day making them out to be the Bad Guys. Kinda reminds me of the days in the playground with the Hockey Nets and sticks and balls, all the kids get along and cooperate, hey we all have fun. This is like Warner Brothers got all the stuff together for a great Road Hockey match, but had to borrow the balls from Fox, and has now invited everyone for one heck of a game. Only to just before starting the match having Fox show up and yell "My Balls!" and demand them back. He's got every right, but it sure annoys everyone who showed up to play and watch the game. Like kids in the playground... Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: Scooter - "How much is the fish?" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
5:47 pm	Wind whistling through the ears I swear sometimes dealing with the Overunit's Ex-husband is like dealing with a less then intelligent shrub. Another fine example today. To set the scene, I've notice a cavitation in the station wagon at higher speeds as of Sunday. Examining the vehicle once I was home I've notice the car's left front wheel appears to be damaged. We suspect a plow of some kind hit it and wandered off. Swell. Though the tire is intact after the last experience with "mis-aligned" tires we have simply not risked it and booked a full inspection, realign and repair as needed at the shop. Due to winter finally being here there's a nice backlog and I'm booked for Thursday morning. As a sensible precaution I stopped driving. I've told people this around here so they can adjust accordingly. This of course includes the "ex-husband" as he suddenly hit me up for a Lift for him and the "wee-one" to the Greyhound Bus Terminal later tonight. I reminded him I'd have to use his car once more as once again the station wagon was going to the shop. He accepted this in stride. Now the fun part. Only a few minutes ago he decided to buzz me on the Blackberry to "Once again" pick up the little darling from Tae-kwon classes, as he's in the other end of town again working later then scheduled knowing full well when her classes end. >repeated banging of head into palm of hand< What part is he clearly not grasping here? There is no vehicle to retrieve her with that I would in any good conscious rate "safe" at the moment. (The irony of him having two cars, one of which is still in the shop awaiting repairs due to an accident he got into a month ago, is not lost on me.) I've once again messaged those details to him as reminder, yet have gotten no response. Thus I fear the little one is going to be there a while...the concept of telling his contract that he has "parental responsibilities to take care of" seems to once more elude him. Swear part of me is going to be SO glad he's gone for two weeks... Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: "The Logical Song" - Scooter (1 Comment |Comment on this)