Well, the training ended on Friday after two full days and a good experience, the students enjoyed the class and I didn't run into anything that I couldn't find the answer for.
On Saturday we started the fence behind our place, the digging crew arrived at 9 and we were putting starting on the stringers and fence boards by 9:30-9:45. I spent the first 30 minutes running around looking for things, interesting thing was that several of the items that I was requested to find I had sorted, found and placed in/on my workbench the week before - I had taken time to clean up and get this ready because I could foresee that I would need many of my tools and that I didn't know where several of them were - S on the other had thought this was mostly a waste of time - "the tools are all there right? You stuffed them under the bench months ago when we cleaned up for the party." Now while this is true, it's funny how a 7 and a 5 think differently, so far as she was concerned that was enough - they were in the general area of where they should be. But I didn't 'know' where they were so it wasn't enough - I was trying to dance around not knowing what I would need by having (knowing) everything - typical 5 reaction really.
At 5 in the afternoon the monsoon started and it rained from 5 on Saturday until this afternoon around 4 - total of some 30-40mm of rain - that's a lot for us.
The farmers are happy (at least some of them are) the hay will be growing this year and the pastures will green up.
We can't go back into the back yard for a while - probably 3-5 days of sun at least - oh well their is still lots of painting to do.
Night
Monday, May 31, 2004
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Getting Ready for Training
Work...
This Thursday and Friday I'm supposed to be training 12 people on how to use a new version of a reporting tool. Now, I've used this tool in the past and taught the course so it's not all new, this is version 10 and the old version is version 8.5 so It's not that big a jump. The problem is that today is the first day I've had a chance to work with the application and I teach tomorrow starting at 8:30 (I need to be there at 7:45). I don't use this tool on a daily basis so I'm playing catch-up here, my only real concern is if someone asks me how to do something that is outside of what I'm preparing, I'm screwed if they do...I'll just have to table the question and look up the answer that night...not what I really want to do.
Life...
Last night I went to the Manitoba Deaf Scouts - Cub Section meeting, it's great to see the program proceeding so well, the leader's are doing well and the program happens on it's own now, I don't have to drive it. We still need some mentoring from cub leader's next year to make sure the program remains 'scouty' enough - if we move out of the school next year and into a different meeting place then that would be good!
Home...
We're getting ready to put up our fence on the weekend $3k of wood is scheduled to be dropped off today for our fence. We went over last night and spoke to our neighbor's about the wood delivery. Now we find out that they may have objections to using the older preserved wood vs. ACQ (one is arsenic based vs. copper based) S. and I have done our due diligence, nothing I have found has indicated that the older wood is a great risk. I wouldn't use it for the surface of a deck where you might be walking and track it into the house or for a kids play structure. But this is a fence, not a play structure. We'll take precautions (masks and washing) as we work but it's not really a big deal. Problem is that their notice of concern is a little late, I wish they had raised red flags a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, we'll check the prices and see what we can do for them, their concern is legitimate, and each of us must evaluate the risk.
This Thursday and Friday I'm supposed to be training 12 people on how to use a new version of a reporting tool. Now, I've used this tool in the past and taught the course so it's not all new, this is version 10 and the old version is version 8.5 so It's not that big a jump. The problem is that today is the first day I've had a chance to work with the application and I teach tomorrow starting at 8:30 (I need to be there at 7:45). I don't use this tool on a daily basis so I'm playing catch-up here, my only real concern is if someone asks me how to do something that is outside of what I'm preparing, I'm screwed if they do...I'll just have to table the question and look up the answer that night...not what I really want to do.
Life...
Last night I went to the Manitoba Deaf Scouts - Cub Section meeting, it's great to see the program proceeding so well, the leader's are doing well and the program happens on it's own now, I don't have to drive it. We still need some mentoring from cub leader's next year to make sure the program remains 'scouty' enough - if we move out of the school next year and into a different meeting place then that would be good!
Home...
We're getting ready to put up our fence on the weekend $3k of wood is scheduled to be dropped off today for our fence. We went over last night and spoke to our neighbor's about the wood delivery. Now we find out that they may have objections to using the older preserved wood vs. ACQ (one is arsenic based vs. copper based) S. and I have done our due diligence, nothing I have found has indicated that the older wood is a great risk. I wouldn't use it for the surface of a deck where you might be walking and track it into the house or for a kids play structure. But this is a fence, not a play structure. We'll take precautions (masks and washing) as we work but it's not really a big deal. Problem is that their notice of concern is a little late, I wish they had raised red flags a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, we'll check the prices and see what we can do for them, their concern is legitimate, and each of us must evaluate the risk.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Election '04
Well they're off and running - election on 28 June, just after my birthing recall day. See the page from the
The Globe and Mail.
Problem is that much difference has yet to appear, the two major parties that have any hope of winning are attempting to convince us that they are very different but in fact they support many similar policies. I'm getting very tired if the Liberals trying to paint the conservatives as radicals, harper has given up much of what made the reform/alliance party important in order to join with the PC's. I wanted to see true reforms in government and some (though not all) of the items that the alliance stood for would have done that. A triple-e senate (Equal, Elected and Effective) is a must as is having all votes in the commons as free votes.
I've subscribed to the G&M's daily newsletter on the election and I'll be commenting if I see anything that might be interesting.
The Globe and Mail.
Problem is that much difference has yet to appear, the two major parties that have any hope of winning are attempting to convince us that they are very different but in fact they support many similar policies. I'm getting very tired if the Liberals trying to paint the conservatives as radicals, harper has given up much of what made the reform/alliance party important in order to join with the PC's. I wanted to see true reforms in government and some (though not all) of the items that the alliance stood for would have done that. A triple-e senate (Equal, Elected and Effective) is a must as is having all votes in the commons as free votes.
I've subscribed to the G&M's daily newsletter on the election and I'll be commenting if I see anything that might be interesting.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Air Canada
Air Canada is trying to save it's skin see the article in the The Globe and Mail I've been through Air Canada's service in the last few month's, they operate with twice the staff of the other carriers and the CAW isn't ready to realize that unless they are willing to shrink the staff base and let people to multiple jobs just like the other carriers AC will NEVER be competitive with WestJet or anyone else for that matter. While I wouldn't want to be one of the people about to become unemployed this is getting silly, it's negotiate or go out of business people.
Same Sex Blessings
We had a meeting at our parish last night on the Same Sex Blessing issue. This is a hot button topic to say the least. Some people are adamantly opposed for both biblical and cultural issues, others are open and able to see this as a challenge and not a threat.
There remain people that are a priori opposed to this, they frequently rely on biblical references to validate their point, problem is that when you speak to them the biblical references are actually found after the fact. They believe this is 'wrong' and then hold up the bible and ask you to look at it, point out the passage with a finger and say 'see here it is' and that, for them, is the end of their argument.
The problem is that the moment that a person uses the bible to justify this one position they open themselves up to the argument that there are a number of other 'rules' in the bible that are just as important, working on Sunday, usury, female priests, death penalty etc. that are in the bible but are no longer being followed by our church, you can't pick and choose, the Sunday work thing is a 10 commandments issue, working on Sunday carries the death penalty - it's very clear - but we haven't had anyone stoned in recent memory. So unless you're going to accept all of the bible and all of it's rules you can't use it as a basis for argument.
The other thing that confuses me is the attitude that the conservatives hold that "if you disagree with me I'm leaving" I can understand someone not agreeing but why leave? This seems to be against the Anglican tradition really. It's almost as if it's being used as a sledgehammer to try and hold this issue back - I have yet to find anyone who can give me a reason for this extension to the argument especially with parishes rejecting bishops. Nothing that has been said that would force any parish to do anything that they don't want to do, so why can't they accept a bishop that might support this issue? There is so much else for us to spend our time on why is this an issue.
Sigh...
There remain people that are a priori opposed to this, they frequently rely on biblical references to validate their point, problem is that when you speak to them the biblical references are actually found after the fact. They believe this is 'wrong' and then hold up the bible and ask you to look at it, point out the passage with a finger and say 'see here it is' and that, for them, is the end of their argument.
The problem is that the moment that a person uses the bible to justify this one position they open themselves up to the argument that there are a number of other 'rules' in the bible that are just as important, working on Sunday, usury, female priests, death penalty etc. that are in the bible but are no longer being followed by our church, you can't pick and choose, the Sunday work thing is a 10 commandments issue, working on Sunday carries the death penalty - it's very clear - but we haven't had anyone stoned in recent memory. So unless you're going to accept all of the bible and all of it's rules you can't use it as a basis for argument.
The other thing that confuses me is the attitude that the conservatives hold that "if you disagree with me I'm leaving" I can understand someone not agreeing but why leave? This seems to be against the Anglican tradition really. It's almost as if it's being used as a sledgehammer to try and hold this issue back - I have yet to find anyone who can give me a reason for this extension to the argument especially with parishes rejecting bishops. Nothing that has been said that would force any parish to do anything that they don't want to do, so why can't they accept a bishop that might support this issue? There is so much else for us to spend our time on why is this an issue.
Sigh...
Monday, May 17, 2004
Lunch Time, Ersatz 7-11 Burger & Deaf Cubs
Yum yum, instant burger, it's not bad, so long as it's hot - Picked it up on the way back from a client site, microwave for 45 seconds and instant lunch...
What's going on today, I have 6+ projects on my desk, the manager for one of which is currently sick and hoping to be able to come out this evening, I have a speaking engagement at 6:30 on one side of the city and I need to be back on the other side of the city at 9...Preferably a little before that - sheesh how do I get myself into these things.
That said, the presentation is for the 1st Manitoba Deaf Scout Group - We're trying to form up a new section of cubs for the kids that are not resident at the school - and maybe a Venturer company as well. The challenges are of course communication, I seem to have a great number of volunteers, some of which even have some field experience (yea) they are all young and they all sign. We're going to need equipment and support staff coming up but we'll see how many parents come out to support us.
What's going on today, I have 6+ projects on my desk, the manager for one of which is currently sick and hoping to be able to come out this evening, I have a speaking engagement at 6:30 on one side of the city and I need to be back on the other side of the city at 9...Preferably a little before that - sheesh how do I get myself into these things.
That said, the presentation is for the 1st Manitoba Deaf Scout Group - We're trying to form up a new section of cubs for the kids that are not resident at the school - and maybe a Venturer company as well. The challenges are of course communication, I seem to have a great number of volunteers, some of which even have some field experience (yea) they are all young and they all sign. We're going to need equipment and support staff coming up but we'll see how many parents come out to support us.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Ramblings on a Sunday Morning
Sunday at 6:30am, A copy of the super-manionation program International Rescue (at least I think that's its' name) was just on and now Supperman II just started. S is still asleep and even the cat has decided to have breakfast and leave me in peace. Didn't mean to get up this early but we went to bed at 9:30 so it's not terribly surprising. You know you're getting old when you go to bed at 9:30 on a Saturday.
Lindsy Wagner is just on TV doing a commercial for inflatable matresses - must need the money I guess. You would have thought that money for re-runs from the bionic woman would have kept her in cash for a while.
We're trying to get ready for our upcoming hike - I was intending to do that yesterday but I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning up. Needed to be done but...I wonder how much it might cost to have a cleaning person come in once every two weeks or so and do a good general cleaning (vacuum everything, wipe down the floors, do the bathrooms and so forth, even once a month would be a great help.
I'll have to look in the paper and see what there is to see.
I'll finish this up now, I want a little time playing The Sims before S wakes up.
Lindsy Wagner is just on TV doing a commercial for inflatable matresses - must need the money I guess. You would have thought that money for re-runs from the bionic woman would have kept her in cash for a while.
We're trying to get ready for our upcoming hike - I was intending to do that yesterday but I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning up. Needed to be done but...I wonder how much it might cost to have a cleaning person come in once every two weeks or so and do a good general cleaning (vacuum everything, wipe down the floors, do the bathrooms and so forth, even once a month would be a great help.
I'll have to look in the paper and see what there is to see.
I'll finish this up now, I want a little time playing The Sims before S wakes up.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
How are you supposed to find the time...
I started my day today at 6:30 (well 6:44 after a couple of sleep buttons). 2 hour project meeting, jump across the city to a client site who is pushing me to finish a project because they're short of budget and they keep throwing new items at me as 'is that done yet items'. They seem to think that an access application will be 'done' i.e. finished and delivered - fact is it is unlikely to ever be that good - the application is based on a botched model and much of the work I've done has been to keep the thing working, not really cleaning it up to make it perfect. They will need to continue to update and change the application in the future - they just don't want to...
Done at 5pm exactly no-flex here with this client. Stopped at the bookstore and picked up a new book on the Enneagram and Christianity I'll let you know what I find out about that when I have had a chance to read it.
Had my massage with N. It's surprising how much I enjoy this - not a 5 thing at all really very 'body' oriented - N is a great talker though and it's always a pleasant time. Left the Massage at 7:40, grab Mc D's on the way to the church and eat en-route before going to the think tank meeting - more talk about the same sex blessing issue and (I'm for it by the way) discussion about other plans - hope to get the habitat build nailed down.
Back home now, I have to take a look at a project I was working on earlier and now my client would like it - they sort of expect it to be 'part of the package' even though I really wrote the code quickly and more for my own support than theirs.
I have another client that has been very patient and I need to get back to them but I'm unlikely to be able to get to them until after next week and I currently have 6 projects on my desk including some that have taken much longer than I would have liked them to have taken. Programming sometimes seems to take me a very long time - I don't have much 'personal' library code done up so I'm frequently 'duplicating' work that I know that I've done before but can't remember where or when, and it's been long enough that I need to look it up again so that I can do it again.
Sigh - off into .net land - it's 11:15 - I have to be up at 6:30
Done at 5pm exactly no-flex here with this client. Stopped at the bookstore and picked up a new book on the Enneagram and Christianity I'll let you know what I find out about that when I have had a chance to read it.
Had my massage with N. It's surprising how much I enjoy this - not a 5 thing at all really very 'body' oriented - N is a great talker though and it's always a pleasant time. Left the Massage at 7:40, grab Mc D's on the way to the church and eat en-route before going to the think tank meeting - more talk about the same sex blessing issue and (I'm for it by the way) discussion about other plans - hope to get the habitat build nailed down.
Back home now, I have to take a look at a project I was working on earlier and now my client would like it - they sort of expect it to be 'part of the package' even though I really wrote the code quickly and more for my own support than theirs.
I have another client that has been very patient and I need to get back to them but I'm unlikely to be able to get to them until after next week and I currently have 6 projects on my desk including some that have taken much longer than I would have liked them to have taken. Programming sometimes seems to take me a very long time - I don't have much 'personal' library code done up so I'm frequently 'duplicating' work that I know that I've done before but can't remember where or when, and it's been long enough that I need to look it up again so that I can do it again.
Sigh - off into .net land - it's 11:15 - I have to be up at 6:30
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Lunch...
You know, some foods can be stored for a time (frozen or otherwise) and do quite well, such as the bean/meat stew thing that I just ate. Other things, like the fruit desert that I made for Mother's Day dinner on Sunday don't and as today is Wednesday, it would be safe to say that it has expired - but it's a slow expiry - the first mouthful is ok, next sort of blaaa and the third comes up as 'WARNING Your Body Has Rejected This Input - Do Not Attempt Further Ingestion'
Running to the washroom, in 5Life...
Running to the washroom, in 5Life...
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
CBC News: May snowstorm dumps on Western Canada
Ok, it's not a smart thing to try and drive down a side street in the middle of a May Snowstorm. Took me 40 minutes to get my self unstuck and get home 15-20cm of snow in the city and it's still coming down, it's after 5 now so it isn't going to turn to rain it's going to keep snowing all night.
Getting to my conference tomorrow is going to be fun.
CBC News: May snowstorm dumps on Western Canada
Getting to my conference tomorrow is going to be fun.
CBC News: May snowstorm dumps on Western Canada
Greetings and Felicitations
Hey, Welcome to 5Life - the ramblings of a serious 5. What's a 5 you ask - it's a personality type in the Enneagram system. It's a little like the Myers Brings personality type that you probably did in school or work. 5's are thinking types, they think about everything, they feed on collecting info - about just about anything and they love to share it (shows how smart they 'think' they are)
I'll go on about Enneagram more at some point, but this BLOG isn't about the Enneagram per se it's about ramblings (which to a 5 is just about anything...), what I'm thinking about or concerned about or building or experimenting.
'humm I wonder', is just about the scarryist thing that S can hear it means that some thing has gotten a hold of my mind and won't let go until it either works, breaks something (or me) or fails spectacularly, which is by far the most common result, unless she can get me out of 'mode'.
Here's a good story - I was driving S nuts the other day, we have a new house and have many many projects on the go this spring including drive way, fence, deck, patio, sidewalk, flowers, sprinkler system and so forth. I went to the store with her the other day and I (being a 5) was in 'info collect' mode. I wanted to find out as much about as many things as I could - I wasn't really worried about putting it into any kind of order, I'd work that out later on. I was just ready to learn. S on the other hand thought that we were going to go there and 'make a decision' about the style of fence and get prices. The funny thing was that we had talked about going, and what we wanted to do (as good couples should) and were both comfortable in what was to be accomplished. Trouble was we didn't find out that that belief was horribly WRONG until I drove her nuts wandering around the store, stopping at every third display that had anything remotely to do with our house and looking at things (we were only 1/2 of the way through the store) S is a 7, a very different type and the 'discussion' that resulted was interesting only in that it resulted in our finding out that we had we had in fact not communicated at all well. he he, 5Life is like that.
Take Care!
I'll go on about Enneagram more at some point, but this BLOG isn't about the Enneagram per se it's about ramblings (which to a 5 is just about anything...), what I'm thinking about or concerned about or building or experimenting.
'humm I wonder', is just about the scarryist thing that S can hear it means that some thing has gotten a hold of my mind and won't let go until it either works, breaks something (or me) or fails spectacularly, which is by far the most common result, unless she can get me out of 'mode'.
Here's a good story - I was driving S nuts the other day, we have a new house and have many many projects on the go this spring including drive way, fence, deck, patio, sidewalk, flowers, sprinkler system and so forth. I went to the store with her the other day and I (being a 5) was in 'info collect' mode. I wanted to find out as much about as many things as I could - I wasn't really worried about putting it into any kind of order, I'd work that out later on. I was just ready to learn. S on the other hand thought that we were going to go there and 'make a decision' about the style of fence and get prices. The funny thing was that we had talked about going, and what we wanted to do (as good couples should) and were both comfortable in what was to be accomplished. Trouble was we didn't find out that that belief was horribly WRONG until I drove her nuts wandering around the store, stopping at every third display that had anything remotely to do with our house and looking at things (we were only 1/2 of the way through the store) S is a 7, a very different type and the 'discussion' that resulted was interesting only in that it resulted in our finding out that we had we had in fact not communicated at all well. he he, 5Life is like that.
Take Care!
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