Thirty Years Ago Today: Happy Anniversary, Rob & Leanne

It started on Friday night. I had planned on working late to reorganize some databases. I had just taken the databases offline and started the REORG utilities when a co-worker, Josie, called to tell me that I should head for home right away. Her words, "Go home now or you won't be going home at all." There was a blizzard descending on Winnipeg and it was going to be a good one. So I grabbed a portable terminal and headed for home.

The Sights And Sounds Of Granville

I had intended to have this post up weeks ago. It was supposed to be a photo essay about Granville Island in Vancouver. But photo essays are hard to do without photos and I’ve been having a hard time processing our images from BC. I have managed to turn my back into a pretzel and sitting in front of my computer is proving to be one of the most uncomfortable places in the entire house. So photos are being processed, albeit very slowly. I can’t process photos because I screwed up my back and the way I screwed up my back was by….. (are you ready for some irony?)….. picking up a camera bag. Write a song about that, Alanis Morissette! 

An All-Too-Brief Four Days on Vancouver Island

We just got back from 2 weeks in British Columbia and it was a great trip. The bulk of our time was spent in Vancouver but we spent the first 4 days in Comox with my cousin Sue and her husband, Garth.

ThePianoGuys Get Close To Home

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m sitting in front of the computer typing this and listening to ThePianoGuys. We went to see them in concert at the Centennial Concert Hall last night. They were fantastic (as expected)! Such brilliant musicians with some of the best patter you’ll ever hear.

Telescope

Warning: If you are interested in astronomy and astrophysics, you might find this interesting (or you might not). If you are not interested in astronomy and astrophysics, you will probably find this to be an excellent cure for insomnia. And that’s okay. I’m writing this more for me than anyone else because I think the science behind this is incredible!

I saw a fascinating program the other night and I just watched it again. It has my inner nerd bouncing off the walls. The program is called “Telescope” and it is about the design and construction of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST is the next step in the evolution of space telescopes beyond Hubble. It is necessary because, believe it or not, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has already reached some of its design limitations.

Debbie's New Shirt

Pour yourself a glass of wine. A big one. Or a Bushmills and Ginger, if you prefer. This is going to take a while…..

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Winter has finally arrived. It took its sweet time coming this year and that was just fine with me. Lots of people kept talking about how “lucky” we were this year. It was so mild and so warm. We were just lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. I kept wanting to scream, “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! JUST BE QUIET! YOU’RE GOING TO JINX IT!” But they didn’t shut up and it’s here now and all the “lucky” people are now sitting in coffee shops grumbling about the cold and ordering more coffee because they’re afraid to attempt the walk back to the car.

But, even with the cold weather and the snow, it still didn’t feel like winter for me. Something was missing and I couldn’t figure out what. I finally figured it out the other day. No Dukoral commercials. They were always one of my sure signs of winter. Late Fall/early Winter, as sure as the geese heading south, the Dukoral commercials would head north. I don’t know where they went but they’re missing-in-action this year.