It is pushing 9pm on Thursday night. My 4 day Canada Day extra long weekend is here.
Either later on this evening or disgustingly early Friday morning we will pile into Patricia's car and make the relatively long trip to the cottage. Once there, we will survey just now long the lawn is and act accordingly. If it at possible, the lawn will be mowed this weekend, preferably Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather.
I'm sorry to keep harping about the lawn at the cottage, but it is a matter for some concern. As I have stated before, there are entire sections of the lawn that have remain untouched thus far in 2011. I know that I have to mow my mother's lawn every two weeks when I go visit; if I don't, it becomes long and shaggy, like my hair does after six months or so. When I did manage to mow the lawn at the cottage, nearly six weeks ago, it was crazy long then. I had to keep the blade on the highest level, and even then, the lawn tractor struggled.
I daresay that I will be mowing all weekend while Patricia is inside, eating bon bons or cooking, or perform some other distaff duties that are beneath me.
I will continue to write whilst at the cottage. Fear not, my friend. I won't forget you.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Post 1672 - Three Days Down
It's Wednesday night. I got home late from work. There was major gridlock at the Armdale roundabout, so we decided to get dinner somewhere. That ended up being the Pizza Delight at the Halifax Shopping Centre. It was all right. Only all right.
We got home, and Patricia decided to take a nap. She's still sleeping, 3 hours later. I have spent time this evening doing laundry and transcribing some pieces of the Dan Barton interview.
Speaking of Boss Dan, Patricia and I saw him today during lunch. We got a bunch more pictures to accompany the eventual interview.
Tomorrow night, after work, it is still our plan to drive to the cottage for the long weekend. The lawn will have to be mowed, and that will take the better part of a day down there, if not an entire day. I shudder to think about how the lawn will look. See? I'm shuddering.
I'm trying to figure out what books to take to the cottage this summer for the annual vacation. Time was, there would be long articles about books to take to the beach in the summer. I always wondered who had the time to read all those damned books. Stephen King continues to write an annual column for Entertainment Weekly listing his favourite books of the year. I never seem to get around to reading any of them. Wish there were 2 of me, and that the other Bevboy were a big nerd who did nothing but read the first 25 years of his life and never knew the company of a woman until that time.
Oh, wait.
We're hitting too close to home.
One more day of work. 4 days off. I like them odds.
Bevboy
We got home, and Patricia decided to take a nap. She's still sleeping, 3 hours later. I have spent time this evening doing laundry and transcribing some pieces of the Dan Barton interview.
Speaking of Boss Dan, Patricia and I saw him today during lunch. We got a bunch more pictures to accompany the eventual interview.
Tomorrow night, after work, it is still our plan to drive to the cottage for the long weekend. The lawn will have to be mowed, and that will take the better part of a day down there, if not an entire day. I shudder to think about how the lawn will look. See? I'm shuddering.
I'm trying to figure out what books to take to the cottage this summer for the annual vacation. Time was, there would be long articles about books to take to the beach in the summer. I always wondered who had the time to read all those damned books. Stephen King continues to write an annual column for Entertainment Weekly listing his favourite books of the year. I never seem to get around to reading any of them. Wish there were 2 of me, and that the other Bevboy were a big nerd who did nothing but read the first 25 years of his life and never knew the company of a woman until that time.
Oh, wait.
We're hitting too close to home.
One more day of work. 4 days off. I like them odds.
Bevboy
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Post 1671 - Two Days Down!
I had to buy some gas after work this evening. I knew this for two reasons. The first reason was that, when I started the car, the gas needle literally didn't move. The second reason was a sign came on in the car saying "low fuel". To drive the point home further, there was a picture of a fuel pump next to the words "low fuel". I bought some fuel.
This evening, when I got home, I washed the dishes. Hmm. That's about all I did, come to think of it. They were piled nearly to the ceiling. I had about 3 pieces of cutlery left in the house, and they were made of plastic and had come from Wendy's. You can only wash them so many times. By the time I finished, it was getting dark. Patricia was just arriving home from visiting a friend in the hospital. She always arrives home when I am finishing the dishes.
We watched 2 episodes of "Burn Notice" this evening, catching us up on season 4. Please note that this show is called "Burn Notice". It is not "Bum Notice". I realize that the "r" and the "n" run together and look like "Bum", but it's actually "Burn", rhyming with "earn". There are a number of words that printers don't like to use because they confuse the reader. When's the last time you saw "flick" written in block letters, like this: FLICK. Open to interpretation, I says.
I had a shower this evening. I now smell nice, and people at my work will appreciate it very much. So will the cats, actually.
Got some bad news today. My neighbor and friend Don West died this morning. He's the first person I met when I moved into this house in January of 2001, some 10.5 years ago. He was always nice to me. I will miss him a great deal and my thoughts are with Trish and Jennifer and Chris at this time. Jennifer gave me some details of Don's death this evening, and I will leave them out of this blog. It is not my place to discuss that here. But know that Don was a good guy, and I will never forget him.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
This evening, when I got home, I washed the dishes. Hmm. That's about all I did, come to think of it. They were piled nearly to the ceiling. I had about 3 pieces of cutlery left in the house, and they were made of plastic and had come from Wendy's. You can only wash them so many times. By the time I finished, it was getting dark. Patricia was just arriving home from visiting a friend in the hospital. She always arrives home when I am finishing the dishes.
We watched 2 episodes of "Burn Notice" this evening, catching us up on season 4. Please note that this show is called "Burn Notice". It is not "Bum Notice". I realize that the "r" and the "n" run together and look like "Bum", but it's actually "Burn", rhyming with "earn". There are a number of words that printers don't like to use because they confuse the reader. When's the last time you saw "flick" written in block letters, like this: FLICK. Open to interpretation, I says.
I had a shower this evening. I now smell nice, and people at my work will appreciate it very much. So will the cats, actually.
Got some bad news today. My neighbor and friend Don West died this morning. He's the first person I met when I moved into this house in January of 2001, some 10.5 years ago. He was always nice to me. I will miss him a great deal and my thoughts are with Trish and Jennifer and Chris at this time. Jennifer gave me some details of Don's death this evening, and I will leave them out of this blog. It is not my place to discuss that here. But know that Don was a good guy, and I will never forget him.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Monday, June 27, 2011
Post 1670 - One Day Down!
It's a very warm Monday evening in Hali. Well, "very" is relative, isn't it? It's maybe 19 or 20 degrees outside. But it still feels warm and sticky. Maybe I shouldn't be wearing a snowsuit. Maybe I should leave the mukluks in the closet for a few months. Certainly, I won't wear them at the cottage this weekend.
It was an interesting day at work. "Interesting" is the adjective I employ when I can't think of another one to use. Our big move to the other part of town is next week. Everyone is making fun of me because I allegedly have so much stuff to move. It's only gonna be 3 boxes, folks. I will find room for the sombrero somewhere, folks.
Yeah.
The sombrero.
Don't judge me.
When we leave this part of town, I will have access to different coffee shops. I am confident that none of them will be worse than the crappy ones on our block. I don't understand what confluence of events resulted in all these places being situated in one small area of the downtown. It is as if the city planners have a C zone, where all the shitty coffee joints go, in much the same way as other cities have a red light district where all the hookers ply their trade. Working in the C zone, where Certainly Cinnamon is on one side of the street, and Just Us is on the other. At the far end, Starbucks sells coffee at a price that would require me to take out a second mortgage.
On the other side of the block, across the street, is a place called Rudy's. The food is ok. The coffee is... well, let's put it this way: One of Hal FM's major prizes is a coffee cards from that place. I rest my case.
I'm told there is a good deli in that part of the street we are moving to. There is a Tim's. There are other coffee shops nearby. Surely to frig there is a place that doesn't suck somewhere in that part of town.
After all, I don't believe in conspiracies.
Bevboy
It was an interesting day at work. "Interesting" is the adjective I employ when I can't think of another one to use. Our big move to the other part of town is next week. Everyone is making fun of me because I allegedly have so much stuff to move. It's only gonna be 3 boxes, folks. I will find room for the sombrero somewhere, folks.
Yeah.
The sombrero.
Don't judge me.
When we leave this part of town, I will have access to different coffee shops. I am confident that none of them will be worse than the crappy ones on our block. I don't understand what confluence of events resulted in all these places being situated in one small area of the downtown. It is as if the city planners have a C zone, where all the shitty coffee joints go, in much the same way as other cities have a red light district where all the hookers ply their trade. Working in the C zone, where Certainly Cinnamon is on one side of the street, and Just Us is on the other. At the far end, Starbucks sells coffee at a price that would require me to take out a second mortgage.
On the other side of the block, across the street, is a place called Rudy's. The food is ok. The coffee is... well, let's put it this way: One of Hal FM's major prizes is a coffee cards from that place. I rest my case.
I'm told there is a good deli in that part of the street we are moving to. There is a Tim's. There are other coffee shops nearby. Surely to frig there is a place that doesn't suck somewhere in that part of town.
After all, I don't believe in conspiracies.
Bevboy
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Post 1669 - Is It The Weekend Yet? No? Crap!
I returned to Hali this afternoon, around 3:15. My 3:30, I was taking a nap. Next thing I knew, it was 6pm. Wonderful.
I ate some dinner, half asleep. Patricia, the last time I checked, was watching "Mildred Pierce", so I came downstairs and hooked up my "new" lcd monitor. A 17 inch monitor that works perfectly and which cost me just a very few dollars. Super duper sweet. I love a bargain. Just love it. Love bargains more than I love life itself. Now, I wonder how that 1 dollar webcam works!
I also brought back with me a lamp that was on my bedroom floor at my mother's. It had no shade, but I had bought a shade for a similar lamp for my mother and grabbed the discarded one and put it on this one. Works just fine. I swapped out the study lamp on this computer desk for this one, and it fits very well and casts a good light on the desk. It's the only light on in this room. Also at this desk are 2 radios (I will have to update that blog post that spelled out the radios in this room!) and a tape recorder I'll eventually use to digitize some cassettes.
I had a small pewter clock at my work. We're preparing to move to another location in a week or so, and I didn't want the clock to get damaged in transit, so I moved it here. It's at my desk and I like it where it is. So, that means I have 2 clock radios plus that clock on this small desk. What's that ancient Chinese proverb. "Man with 1000 clocks never knows what time it is"? Something like that. It certainly has some merit.
I know it's weird, having all these radios. You'll be pleased to know that, 2 weeks ago, during Port Williams Days, while I saw some radios, I didn't actually buy any. Yesterday, at that community yard sale where I bought this magnificent lcd monitor that I'm using right now, I don't recall seeing any radios. At any rate, I didn't buy any there, either.
Yes, it would have been difficult to resist buying yet another radio. I am man enough to admit that.
Back to work tomorrow. A short work week. July 1st we'll be at the cottage, come Heck or high water.
See you!
Bevboy
I ate some dinner, half asleep. Patricia, the last time I checked, was watching "Mildred Pierce", so I came downstairs and hooked up my "new" lcd monitor. A 17 inch monitor that works perfectly and which cost me just a very few dollars. Super duper sweet. I love a bargain. Just love it. Love bargains more than I love life itself. Now, I wonder how that 1 dollar webcam works!
I also brought back with me a lamp that was on my bedroom floor at my mother's. It had no shade, but I had bought a shade for a similar lamp for my mother and grabbed the discarded one and put it on this one. Works just fine. I swapped out the study lamp on this computer desk for this one, and it fits very well and casts a good light on the desk. It's the only light on in this room. Also at this desk are 2 radios (I will have to update that blog post that spelled out the radios in this room!) and a tape recorder I'll eventually use to digitize some cassettes.
I had a small pewter clock at my work. We're preparing to move to another location in a week or so, and I didn't want the clock to get damaged in transit, so I moved it here. It's at my desk and I like it where it is. So, that means I have 2 clock radios plus that clock on this small desk. What's that ancient Chinese proverb. "Man with 1000 clocks never knows what time it is"? Something like that. It certainly has some merit.
I know it's weird, having all these radios. You'll be pleased to know that, 2 weeks ago, during Port Williams Days, while I saw some radios, I didn't actually buy any. Yesterday, at that community yard sale where I bought this magnificent lcd monitor that I'm using right now, I don't recall seeing any radios. At any rate, I didn't buy any there, either.
Yes, it would have been difficult to resist buying yet another radio. I am man enough to admit that.
Back to work tomorrow. A short work week. July 1st we'll be at the cottage, come Heck or high water.
See you!
Bevboy
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Post 1668 - A Deal
I'd heard on Facebook the other day that there would be a community yard sale this morning in the village of New Minas. I hied myself thither early this morning.
Despite the inclement weather and the threat of more, there were nonetheless several stalwarts interested in selling their stuff.
There was a local history book I got 50 cents at the first location. Got it. Bolstered, I checked out the second place.
Oh, boy.
The guy was selling at 17 inch lcd monitor. He initially wanted 15 dollars for it. I didn't say anything. "But, I'm thinking I'll sell it for 10".
Ten bucks.
For an lcd monitor?
Are you kidding me?
I tested that it worked using the man's outdoor outlet. He was throwing in a keyboard, a mouse, a set of speakers, and associated cables. He was also including the milk crate the stuff was all in. For a total of 10 dollars.
I bought it all and moved on.
At other yard sales I got a webcam for a dollar. Some books for 4 dollars. A Rachel Ray dvd for 50 cents I think it was.
I made out like a bandit. Jeepers, an lcd monitor and other accoutrements for 10 dollars!
I got back to my mother's and hooked up the monitor to the netbook. It worked fine, marginally better than the one I already had here, which set me back 60 dollars 3 months ago. Sigh.
On Sunday, I'll take the monitor back with me and swap out the 15 inch monitor I have downstairs for this one. I'll sell that one, I guess, to someone who wants a smaller monitor for cheap.
Of course, Mom wanted to go shopping, and I obliged. We returned at 3:45 or so, and I immediately hopped on the lawn tractor. The grass grew a lot in a scant 2 weeks. When I'm up again, I wonder how long it will be then? I don't want to contemplate that too much.
Started transcribing the Dan Barton interview this evening. I will do my best to transcribe a piece of it every day. The upcoming 4 day weekend will help.
So will my 17 inch monitor.
Just sayin'.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Post 1667 - A Valley Weekend
My mother called, and I came a'running. Drove up this evening.
I just realized I have 5 computers in this small bedroom. I brought my work laptop with me. I brought my netbook with me, out of habit. I already had a netbook here. And there's the desktop I got over a year ago.
Finally, there's the desktop I got from a neighbor that doesn't run much of anything. Ubuntu? Nope. Lubuntu? Uh huh. Xandros linux? Ha ha ha. Windows xp? Slower than a postal worker on valium.
It has 256 mb of ram, so it should run something. I will try puppy linux next time I'm up. If that doesn't work, bye bye.
Until then, 5 computers in a small room.
Yard sales tomorrow. Can hardly wait!
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Post 1666 - Exhileration
I am back home from my interview with Dan Barton, and I think it went great!
This was the first interview I had conducted in some 3 months. I thought I might be rusty, but Dan really made me feel welcome and answered my silly questions with great patience and good humour.
Dan told some very interesting stories about the people he knows in the industry. I can hardly wait to share the interview with you.
The owner of the TBR was fascinated by my digital voice recorder. He offered to buy it from me at one point. I told him I'd sell it and use the proceeds to buy a better one, or he could just go buy that better one for himself.
No, these recorders do not use tapes. Tapes are so... pre-2000. It uses flash memory. I can record upwards of 138 hours on this little device. It will sound like crap at that level, but one can get that much if one wants it.
I will start transcribing this 2.5 hours of material this weekend. I should be able to make some good progress over the long weekend. Maybe by, say, mid-July, I'll be able to get this baby back to Dan to read over.
I'll start lining up more interviews soon.
This is so much fun!
Bevboy
This was the first interview I had conducted in some 3 months. I thought I might be rusty, but Dan really made me feel welcome and answered my silly questions with great patience and good humour.
Dan told some very interesting stories about the people he knows in the industry. I can hardly wait to share the interview with you.
The owner of the TBR was fascinated by my digital voice recorder. He offered to buy it from me at one point. I told him I'd sell it and use the proceeds to buy a better one, or he could just go buy that better one for himself.
No, these recorders do not use tapes. Tapes are so... pre-2000. It uses flash memory. I can record upwards of 138 hours on this little device. It will sound like crap at that level, but one can get that much if one wants it.
I will start transcribing this 2.5 hours of material this weekend. I should be able to make some good progress over the long weekend. Maybe by, say, mid-July, I'll be able to get this baby back to Dan to read over.
I'll start lining up more interviews soon.
This is so much fun!
Bevboy
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Post 1665 - One Day Away
My next blog interview will be tomorrow night after work.
I must admit that I am nervous about this interview. I have done a couple dozen by now, but due to the vagaries of how the production process works, I haven't actually conducted one in 3 months. It took me a while to transcribe the Floyd and Neil Spence interviews; then, I spent a long time transcribing the remainder of an interview conducted last August and which hasn't been published here yet. After I finished that one, I had to let my fingers rest for a spell.
I'm nervous but looking forward to the interview as well. I have every intention of conducting several interviews over the summer months, and that the best is yet to come. Please come along for the ride avec moi.
I spent the day on a course and will spend the next 2 days on the same course. This is the same way as saying that it's a 3 day course, I guess. It's just that if I were being paid by the word, I would have made an extra 55 cents, assuming that I got paid 5 cents a word, a pitiful rate by any standard. Of course, I don't get paid a damned thing to type this stuff in, day in and day out. I just have the privilege of serving you, the 1000's of Bevboy's Blog readers with my humble words. Day in and day out. 365 days a year without a vacation.
Maybe I need a vacation.
See you tomorrow. If you're extra good and tell me you love me, I may give you a sneak peek of what the latest blog interviewee and I talked about.
Bevboy
I must admit that I am nervous about this interview. I have done a couple dozen by now, but due to the vagaries of how the production process works, I haven't actually conducted one in 3 months. It took me a while to transcribe the Floyd and Neil Spence interviews; then, I spent a long time transcribing the remainder of an interview conducted last August and which hasn't been published here yet. After I finished that one, I had to let my fingers rest for a spell.
I'm nervous but looking forward to the interview as well. I have every intention of conducting several interviews over the summer months, and that the best is yet to come. Please come along for the ride avec moi.
I spent the day on a course and will spend the next 2 days on the same course. This is the same way as saying that it's a 3 day course, I guess. It's just that if I were being paid by the word, I would have made an extra 55 cents, assuming that I got paid 5 cents a word, a pitiful rate by any standard. Of course, I don't get paid a damned thing to type this stuff in, day in and day out. I just have the privilege of serving you, the 1000's of Bevboy's Blog readers with my humble words. Day in and day out. 365 days a year without a vacation.
Maybe I need a vacation.
See you tomorrow. If you're extra good and tell me you love me, I may give you a sneak peek of what the latest blog interviewee and I talked about.
Bevboy
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Post 1664 - Headaches
I have written before about my problems with headaches. I had a doozy this evening, so much so that the drive home was an adventure, one that I feared would have no end.
We did get home, and I did have a nap. A two hour nap. I'd likely still be asleep if not for the phone ringing for Patricia around 8:15. Thanks, phone!
It is now 10pm, and my headache hasn't gone away. It is behind my eyes and already to jump out and make its presence known in a way that I won't like. So, I will cut this blog post short and call it a night.
It's a night.
Bevboy
We did get home, and I did have a nap. A two hour nap. I'd likely still be asleep if not for the phone ringing for Patricia around 8:15. Thanks, phone!
It is now 10pm, and my headache hasn't gone away. It is behind my eyes and already to jump out and make its presence known in a way that I won't like. So, I will cut this blog post short and call it a night.
It's a night.
Bevboy
Monday, June 20, 2011
Post 1663 - Blog News
I booked the new blog interview today. It will take place Thursday evening after work at the Timberlea Beverage Room.
I have decided to try something I haven't done before. I have approached a person this guy used to work with and get this person to compose a question to incorporate into the interview. It is my hope that this will go over well. If it does, I will try it with future interviews. If not, well, there's nothing wrong with trying something that doesn't work out.
I watched the season finale of The Killing this evening. The blogosphere has been pretty passionate in its assault on this show. The slow pacing was one of the things I liked when so many others didn't. The red herrings to me sounded like a real police investigation. I'm sure that the police will focus on a particular suspect for a spell and then decide that the person didn't do it and then move on to someone else. I'm sure that happens all the time. I don't have a problem with that.
I do have a problem with how the season finale didn't reveal the murderer. I hated how one of the detectives has seemed to betray the investigation when there had been no hint of it up to that point. I despised how much time was wasted during the mid-point of the season on things that propelled the story along not at all.
We're promised, this time, that the murderer of Rosie Larson will be revealed in season 2. I am not sure if I will be along for the ride or not. I feel cheated out of a good story. I feel that I have wasted 13 hours of my life invested in a tv show that promised something and didn't deliver.
Did you see The Killing? Did you feel cheated and disappointed by the season ending as well?
See you tomorrow?
Bevboy
I have decided to try something I haven't done before. I have approached a person this guy used to work with and get this person to compose a question to incorporate into the interview. It is my hope that this will go over well. If it does, I will try it with future interviews. If not, well, there's nothing wrong with trying something that doesn't work out.
I watched the season finale of The Killing this evening. The blogosphere has been pretty passionate in its assault on this show. The slow pacing was one of the things I liked when so many others didn't. The red herrings to me sounded like a real police investigation. I'm sure that the police will focus on a particular suspect for a spell and then decide that the person didn't do it and then move on to someone else. I'm sure that happens all the time. I don't have a problem with that.
I do have a problem with how the season finale didn't reveal the murderer. I hated how one of the detectives has seemed to betray the investigation when there had been no hint of it up to that point. I despised how much time was wasted during the mid-point of the season on things that propelled the story along not at all.
We're promised, this time, that the murderer of Rosie Larson will be revealed in season 2. I am not sure if I will be along for the ride or not. I feel cheated out of a good story. I feel that I have wasted 13 hours of my life invested in a tv show that promised something and didn't deliver.
Did you see The Killing? Did you feel cheated and disappointed by the season ending as well?
See you tomorrow?
Bevboy
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Post 1662 - Another Weekend Pee'd Away
I have long theorized that the last day of the week, Saturday, and the first day of the week, Sunday, exist in a different temporal space than the other 5 days do. Because of this, my theory goes, the weekend flies back, as it must; it has no other choice but to do so. It's also why the week days proceed at the rate of eroding stone.
You can test this for yourself. Take a sick day sometime, naturally, when you are ill enough to justify taking a day off from your myriad labours, of course. Unless you are unconscious, in the grim clutches of whatever malady has gripped you in its icy talons, you will find the day to be long. It will undulate before you like a drunken python. Daytime television shows will punish you for missing a day from work. How can they suck so much? You wind up counting the number of times Seamus O'Regan says the word "amazing". That can be a highlight for you, and you'll be grateful for it.
At long last, it will be noon time, and The View will be on. The women on that fine program all yell over each other, and if you have a headache it will only be intensified by the aural pollution emanating from these harpies. Dr. Oz comes on after that, and there's another fine program for you to enjoy as you ralph into the toilet. You will wonder if you have been physically ill as a natural consequence of being off sick, or if Dr. Oz drove you to puke your guts out just because he's on the screen.
I won't go on about this. The day will last for what seems a week. You will pray to be feeling well enough to return to work tomorrow.
It doesn't matter how sick you are. The week days take forever to get through whether you are at work or at home; whether you are on vacation in some exotic environment or shoveling out your septic tank. It doesn't matter what you're doing, It is a simple matter of physics, and we can't fight it.
The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be.
Bevboy says so.
Bevboy
You can test this for yourself. Take a sick day sometime, naturally, when you are ill enough to justify taking a day off from your myriad labours, of course. Unless you are unconscious, in the grim clutches of whatever malady has gripped you in its icy talons, you will find the day to be long. It will undulate before you like a drunken python. Daytime television shows will punish you for missing a day from work. How can they suck so much? You wind up counting the number of times Seamus O'Regan says the word "amazing". That can be a highlight for you, and you'll be grateful for it.
At long last, it will be noon time, and The View will be on. The women on that fine program all yell over each other, and if you have a headache it will only be intensified by the aural pollution emanating from these harpies. Dr. Oz comes on after that, and there's another fine program for you to enjoy as you ralph into the toilet. You will wonder if you have been physically ill as a natural consequence of being off sick, or if Dr. Oz drove you to puke your guts out just because he's on the screen.
I won't go on about this. The day will last for what seems a week. You will pray to be feeling well enough to return to work tomorrow.
It doesn't matter how sick you are. The week days take forever to get through whether you are at work or at home; whether you are on vacation in some exotic environment or shoveling out your septic tank. It doesn't matter what you're doing, It is a simple matter of physics, and we can't fight it.
The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be.
Bevboy says so.
Bevboy
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Post 1661 - Sacred Cows (And Chickens!)
Slept in this morning, which my body was grateful for. We eventually stepped out and found a couple of yard sales, but just a couple. I spent an entire dollar at one yard sale this morning. Half of that was spent on a lampshade for the lamp I bought my mother last weekend. The other half was spent on a study lamp for the rink dink computer desk I keep at my mother's. It is a small lamp for a small desk.
Afterward, we decided to go for a drive, ending up at Hammond's Plains and thence into Bedford. We further decided to have lunch at the Chicken Burger, and that's what I want to discuss with you this evening.
I don't get The Chicken Burger.
I mean, the food is all right. It is nothing special. The portions are on the small side. Everything is fried, presumably even the milk shakes.
The place has so much nostalgia associated with it that it seems almost blasphemous to say anything bad about it. Patricia's parents used to go dancing across the street at a big dance hall; they'd go to The Chicken Burger before hand. As a little girl, her parents would take her there. Me? I never set foot in The Chicken Burger, nor sampled her wares until perhaps 20 years ago. I have gone seldom ever since. Today was the first time I'd been there in several years. I probably won't be there again for a few years. That's fine by me.
The food is all right. The surroundings are kitschy. Things cost more than they should. The portions are small.
What is the big deal about The Chicken Burger? I guess it's the nostalgia. People from here, went there as kids and now take their own kids there or take their friends visiting from away, there. Nobody wants to say that the emperor is cavorting around nekkid. Nobody wants to say that the place is overrated and coasting on an undeserved reputation, one which cannot sustain it forever.
There are far better places to eat, for as much or less money, than The Chicken Burger. Just because those places haven't been around for 70 years, doesn't mean that they don't deserve your support.
Am I out to lunch here? Do you really like The Chicken Burger? Is it a great place and I'm missing something? Or do you agree with me and think the place is overrated to the extreme?
See ya tomorrow!
Bevboy
Afterward, we decided to go for a drive, ending up at Hammond's Plains and thence into Bedford. We further decided to have lunch at the Chicken Burger, and that's what I want to discuss with you this evening.
I don't get The Chicken Burger.
I mean, the food is all right. It is nothing special. The portions are on the small side. Everything is fried, presumably even the milk shakes.
The place has so much nostalgia associated with it that it seems almost blasphemous to say anything bad about it. Patricia's parents used to go dancing across the street at a big dance hall; they'd go to The Chicken Burger before hand. As a little girl, her parents would take her there. Me? I never set foot in The Chicken Burger, nor sampled her wares until perhaps 20 years ago. I have gone seldom ever since. Today was the first time I'd been there in several years. I probably won't be there again for a few years. That's fine by me.
The food is all right. The surroundings are kitschy. Things cost more than they should. The portions are small.
What is the big deal about The Chicken Burger? I guess it's the nostalgia. People from here, went there as kids and now take their own kids there or take their friends visiting from away, there. Nobody wants to say that the emperor is cavorting around nekkid. Nobody wants to say that the place is overrated and coasting on an undeserved reputation, one which cannot sustain it forever.
There are far better places to eat, for as much or less money, than The Chicken Burger. Just because those places haven't been around for 70 years, doesn't mean that they don't deserve your support.
Am I out to lunch here? Do you really like The Chicken Burger? Is it a great place and I'm missing something? Or do you agree with me and think the place is overrated to the extreme?
See ya tomorrow!
Bevboy
Friday, June 17, 2011
Post 1660 - The Weekend Is Here!
Yay. It's Friday night. A crazy busy day at work means I have earned a good night's sleep.
Patricia's feeling better today. And, for the first time all week, I am in my home office typing away. Other blog posts this week have been composed on my netbook or my BlackBerry or something. Like you care. You know you don't.
It is possible that a new blog interview will go up this weekend. The subject is vetting the text now. The thing is that it is a very long interview and it will take him a while to go through all of it. He is a perfectionist, like I aspire to be, so he wants the interview to be as good as possible. So do I, actually. And because we talked about so many things, and so many people who lived 100 years ago, I have decided to reinstate the footnotes that have been more-or-less ignored for the last several interviews. These will provide a much richer reading experience for you. When we discuss a particular person, you'll be able to click on his or her name and be whisked away to a web page discussing the person. There will potentially be dozens of these links, so I hope you like to read.
Guess I'll call it a night, Bevboy's Blog Brethren.
It's a night.
Bevboy
Patricia's feeling better today. And, for the first time all week, I am in my home office typing away. Other blog posts this week have been composed on my netbook or my BlackBerry or something. Like you care. You know you don't.
It is possible that a new blog interview will go up this weekend. The subject is vetting the text now. The thing is that it is a very long interview and it will take him a while to go through all of it. He is a perfectionist, like I aspire to be, so he wants the interview to be as good as possible. So do I, actually. And because we talked about so many things, and so many people who lived 100 years ago, I have decided to reinstate the footnotes that have been more-or-less ignored for the last several interviews. These will provide a much richer reading experience for you. When we discuss a particular person, you'll be able to click on his or her name and be whisked away to a web page discussing the person. There will potentially be dozens of these links, so I hope you like to read.
Guess I'll call it a night, Bevboy's Blog Brethren.
It's a night.
Bevboy
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Post 1659 - Where Do They Come From?
What gives?
What gives?
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Post 1658 - A Disappointing Evening
For those of you reading this who live in this fine province, you'll already know that, for the last six weeks or so, Nova Scotia has had a lot a rain. A whole lot. I mean, let's-build-an-ark-and-march-then-in-two-by-two amounts of rain.
We have only been able to mow the lawn at the cottage once so far in 2011. Even then, it was so wet that I couldn't mow the entire thing. That was more than 3 weeks ago. I''d hoped to go to the cottage this weekend and mow the lawn. But because of all this damned rain, and the impending forecast for this weekend, there is little point in driving the 2+ hours to the cottage; no mowing will be possible. Just imagine how the lawn will look when we finally are able to get down there.
The weather has wreaked havoc on so many of my plans lately. Just this evening, we were going to have a Toastmasters off-site-team-building exercise. We'd go out after work to the Midtown Tavern and thence a couple of blocks away for a ghost walk. We'd walk around the downtown for a couple of hours and hear all kinds of cool ghost stories. I've gone quite a few times over the years and learn new aspects of Halifax history each time.
But, no.
The frickin' rain.
It has been raining all day. We decided at 8:30 this morning to postpone this ghost walk for at least a week. Of course, this time next week, it will still be pissing down rain. I'll need Vitamin D shots to allay the depression. I'll yell at the homeless guys who beg me for money, and I'll mean the things I say to them. And I'll take at least 3 pennies from those little jars they have next to cash registers for when you're 1 or 2 cents short on a purchase. Just because of the mood I'll be in. Just because it will make me feel better. Just because of the rain.
The forecast for Thursday? More rain. Friday? Ditto. The weekend? Do I really have to say it? Next week? Ha ha. You silly man.
Rain. We've had enough. Go bug PEI for a while.
Before I do something rash.
Bevboy
We have only been able to mow the lawn at the cottage once so far in 2011. Even then, it was so wet that I couldn't mow the entire thing. That was more than 3 weeks ago. I''d hoped to go to the cottage this weekend and mow the lawn. But because of all this damned rain, and the impending forecast for this weekend, there is little point in driving the 2+ hours to the cottage; no mowing will be possible. Just imagine how the lawn will look when we finally are able to get down there.
The weather has wreaked havoc on so many of my plans lately. Just this evening, we were going to have a Toastmasters off-site-team-building exercise. We'd go out after work to the Midtown Tavern and thence a couple of blocks away for a ghost walk. We'd walk around the downtown for a couple of hours and hear all kinds of cool ghost stories. I've gone quite a few times over the years and learn new aspects of Halifax history each time.
But, no.
The frickin' rain.
It has been raining all day. We decided at 8:30 this morning to postpone this ghost walk for at least a week. Of course, this time next week, it will still be pissing down rain. I'll need Vitamin D shots to allay the depression. I'll yell at the homeless guys who beg me for money, and I'll mean the things I say to them. And I'll take at least 3 pennies from those little jars they have next to cash registers for when you're 1 or 2 cents short on a purchase. Just because of the mood I'll be in. Just because it will make me feel better. Just because of the rain.
The forecast for Thursday? More rain. Friday? Ditto. The weekend? Do I really have to say it? Next week? Ha ha. You silly man.
Rain. We've had enough. Go bug PEI for a while.
Before I do something rash.
Bevboy
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Post 1657 - Boys Will Be ... Boys?
Neil will have to explain this one to his kids someday.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Post 1656 - Game Six
Patricia and I watched the last 4 episodes of Season 2 of "Nurse Jackie" this evening, along with episode one of season 3. Much better show than it was in season one.
Afterward, I watched last night's episode of "The Killing". It is the penultimate episode of season one. You know what "penultimate" means, don't you? Sure you do.
I learned this evening that The Killing has been renewed for season 2. I think this is a good idea. The main detectives on the show have become likable to me in recent weeks, and I want to see what murder they can solve in 13 episodes, a year from now.
After that, with nothing else to do except to turn in for the night and sleep, I tuned into the ice hockey sporting match that is presently playing on the television. This is game six in a seemingly endless series, of which there can only be one more, apparently. The Boston... Broons(sp.?) are ahead 4-0 over the Vancouver Canadians. I suppose I should be rooting for Vancouver, but I've never been there and am not sure how nice a city it is. I have heard it is expensive to live there and that it rains a lot. They shot the first 5 seasons of "The X-Files" there. Chris Carter, the show's executive producer, always spoke highly of the city. Points for me, I guess.
But, Boston? Never been there either, but people around here sure do like it a lot. Many of my cable channels originate from Boston. Boy, the people there sure do talk funny. Some kind of thick accent. I can hardly understand a word they say.
It is really hard to know which side to support.
Crap.
Vancouver it is. Never been there. Must be nice. Chris Carter like it.
Go, Vancouver. Vanquish the Broons, please.
Bevboy
Afterward, I watched last night's episode of "The Killing". It is the penultimate episode of season one. You know what "penultimate" means, don't you? Sure you do.
I learned this evening that The Killing has been renewed for season 2. I think this is a good idea. The main detectives on the show have become likable to me in recent weeks, and I want to see what murder they can solve in 13 episodes, a year from now.
After that, with nothing else to do except to turn in for the night and sleep, I tuned into the ice hockey sporting match that is presently playing on the television. This is game six in a seemingly endless series, of which there can only be one more, apparently. The Boston... Broons(sp.?) are ahead 4-0 over the Vancouver Canadians. I suppose I should be rooting for Vancouver, but I've never been there and am not sure how nice a city it is. I have heard it is expensive to live there and that it rains a lot. They shot the first 5 seasons of "The X-Files" there. Chris Carter, the show's executive producer, always spoke highly of the city. Points for me, I guess.
But, Boston? Never been there either, but people around here sure do like it a lot. Many of my cable channels originate from Boston. Boy, the people there sure do talk funny. Some kind of thick accent. I can hardly understand a word they say.
It is really hard to know which side to support.
Crap.
Vancouver it is. Never been there. Must be nice. Chris Carter like it.
Go, Vancouver. Vanquish the Broons, please.
Bevboy
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Post 1655 - Yep
I promised several weeks ago never to have another blog post entitled "Back in the City". Yet, I am.
I spent some more time today trimming the lawn at my mother's using that new lawn trimmer I got on Friday. As I stated before, I'm lucky if I get 30 minutes of use before I have to charge the battery again, which takes a couple of hours. That's enough time to go perhaps half the perimeter of her house before a recharge. I don't know what a new battery would cost. I wouldn't ask my mother to bear that cost. It's bad enough she's paying for this new trimmer.
For the first time in a long time my mother walked out to the garage. She seldom has needed to go out there. When Dad was alive and kicking, he would take out the garbage and store it close to the garage. Before that, Mom would take it out until she decided it was men's work and get Dad or me to do it.
I returned here mid afternoon and saw how sick Patricia was. I think she got a mutated version of what I had 2 weeks ago. Considering how crappy I felt for that whole week, I do not envy Patricia right now.
Both cats are in the bedroom now, cleaning themselves. Newbie's on the bed; Cindy's on the floor. Cute.
Steve at work sent an email this afternoon referring to my new true love,. It's a link to a youtube video that I haven't checked out yet. If I like it, I may link to it here tomorrow. This is called foreshadowing, folks. Have you forgotten your English Lit classes so soon? Tsk, tsk.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I spent some more time today trimming the lawn at my mother's using that new lawn trimmer I got on Friday. As I stated before, I'm lucky if I get 30 minutes of use before I have to charge the battery again, which takes a couple of hours. That's enough time to go perhaps half the perimeter of her house before a recharge. I don't know what a new battery would cost. I wouldn't ask my mother to bear that cost. It's bad enough she's paying for this new trimmer.
For the first time in a long time my mother walked out to the garage. She seldom has needed to go out there. When Dad was alive and kicking, he would take out the garbage and store it close to the garage. Before that, Mom would take it out until she decided it was men's work and get Dad or me to do it.
I returned here mid afternoon and saw how sick Patricia was. I think she got a mutated version of what I had 2 weeks ago. Considering how crappy I felt for that whole week, I do not envy Patricia right now.
Both cats are in the bedroom now, cleaning themselves. Newbie's on the bed; Cindy's on the floor. Cute.
Steve at work sent an email this afternoon referring to my new true love,. It's a link to a youtube video that I haven't checked out yet. If I like it, I may link to it here tomorrow. This is called foreshadowing, folks. Have you forgotten your English Lit classes so soon? Tsk, tsk.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Post 1654 - Cool Stuff
Today was the 12th annual Port Williams village-wide yard sale. It's when people sell the crap they no longer want to people who will one day realize they don't it, either.
Ahem.
I got some books. I got a pretty good electric grass trimmer. Bought a couple hot dogs. Got a study lamp to keep in my old bedroom. Bought a lamp for my mother, along with a book on how to cope as a widow.
Late this afternoon, my mother and I went to the local supper. This evening, I watched "Fight Club" on dvd, purchased this morning for a dollar. It's now 10:30 and I will head off to bed soon. Been a long day, what with all the shopping and the grass trimming I did today.
The grass trimmer I got for Mom works ok, but is disappointing in some ways. You charge the battery for a few hours and get perhaps 30 minutes of use before you have to charge it again. At best, this is a light-use device. Once I trim the grass that's along the perimeter of my mother's home, it will become the type of device it wants to be.
Back to the city tomorrow. What blog post title will I use? Hmm?
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Post 1653 - Speaking Of Felines
Oh, the lawn trimmer works fine, in case you were wondering.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Post 1652 - Felines and Optimists
It is now early Friday evening. I am tapping away at the Port Williams library, in a section of the main reading room that doesn't have anybody else in it. My netbook tells me that I have about 30 minutes before the battery gives out. We both know it won't last that long. Computer batteries are more optimistic than a teen bride.
I took my mother shopping this morning. We left her place around 9, and didn't return to stay until nearly 3:30. She wore me out yet again. After we returned, I mowed her lawn again. Her grass grows very quickly. I'm very grateful that Dad bought a lawn tractor years ago, and that it still works well.
Mom let me buy a new lawn trimmer this afternoon. The existing one is old and gas-powered. It frightens me with its sheer power. This new one is battery operated. As I sit here, the battery is charging for the first time. When I return to Mom's in half an hour or so, I plan to begin using the trimmer. They say it should be good for upwards of 30 minutes before it needs to be recharged. There it goes, those optimistic batteries again. I hope it last as long as it claims it will.
I just spent a moment scanning some of the books on the shelves here. There are more than a few mysteries in this library, and that's fine with me. A disturbing sub genre, though, is cat mystery fiction. These are mysteries whose main character, the protagonist if you will, is a damned cat. Lillian Jackson Braun is the main culprit; she has been writing these stories for several decades. Rita Mae Brown is another. I am sure there are more.
I love Newbie a great deal. He's my buddy. But I don't expect him to be able to solve a murder. He may cause one, if he keeps getting underfoot and I trip over him and topple to my death; but even then, he wouldn't lift a paw to figure out whodunnit. For one thing, he is a cat and cannot speak. For another, even if he could talk, he would just incriminate himself, so it would be better for him to say nothing and let the police handle it. I'd be dead, and he would get away with it. The little bastard.
I'm not sure what my point is here. I suppose it is that these cat mystery novels are written mostly by women mostly for the type of women who are hopelessly single, have at least one cat, and enjoy detective fiction. There is a genre for everybody. I wonder if there are books written for 47 year old bloggers in Nova Scotia who own too many computers, like cats, and have trust issues? I'll troll amazon for a spell and find out.
The battery on the netbook just went to "red", indicating perhaps 20 minutes of time left. Which means 10 minutes, or maybe just 8. These optimistic batteries will be the death of me.
Unless Newbie is.
Little bastard.
Bevboy
I took my mother shopping this morning. We left her place around 9, and didn't return to stay until nearly 3:30. She wore me out yet again. After we returned, I mowed her lawn again. Her grass grows very quickly. I'm very grateful that Dad bought a lawn tractor years ago, and that it still works well.
Mom let me buy a new lawn trimmer this afternoon. The existing one is old and gas-powered. It frightens me with its sheer power. This new one is battery operated. As I sit here, the battery is charging for the first time. When I return to Mom's in half an hour or so, I plan to begin using the trimmer. They say it should be good for upwards of 30 minutes before it needs to be recharged. There it goes, those optimistic batteries again. I hope it last as long as it claims it will.
I just spent a moment scanning some of the books on the shelves here. There are more than a few mysteries in this library, and that's fine with me. A disturbing sub genre, though, is cat mystery fiction. These are mysteries whose main character, the protagonist if you will, is a damned cat. Lillian Jackson Braun is the main culprit; she has been writing these stories for several decades. Rita Mae Brown is another. I am sure there are more.
I love Newbie a great deal. He's my buddy. But I don't expect him to be able to solve a murder. He may cause one, if he keeps getting underfoot and I trip over him and topple to my death; but even then, he wouldn't lift a paw to figure out whodunnit. For one thing, he is a cat and cannot speak. For another, even if he could talk, he would just incriminate himself, so it would be better for him to say nothing and let the police handle it. I'd be dead, and he would get away with it. The little bastard.
I'm not sure what my point is here. I suppose it is that these cat mystery novels are written mostly by women mostly for the type of women who are hopelessly single, have at least one cat, and enjoy detective fiction. There is a genre for everybody. I wonder if there are books written for 47 year old bloggers in Nova Scotia who own too many computers, like cats, and have trust issues? I'll troll amazon for a spell and find out.
The battery on the netbook just went to "red", indicating perhaps 20 minutes of time left. Which means 10 minutes, or maybe just 8. These optimistic batteries will be the death of me.
Unless Newbie is.
Little bastard.
Bevboy
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Post 1651 - The Valley? Again?
I am here at my mother's for another weekend. It is past 10:30. I got here around 8.
I am playing with an old computer. It doesn't have enough ram to run or install ubuntu. It's too bad that ubuntu's system requirements are becoming so strict. Lots of folks still only use older machines.
My mother has my day planned tomorrow. Hope to see you on Friday sometime.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Post 1650 - Hodge Podge
Not that much to report.
I finished the transcribing on the interview on Tuesday. Today, during my lunch hour and after work until I went to Toastmasters, I was editing the sucker. There are heaps of unfamiliar names, so I had to source how to spell them correctly. I also began moving text around to make the thing flow better. The interview is nearly 21000 words long, 47 pages in a word processing document. I'm hoping that the vast majority of the interview will survive the editing I do, and the vetting that the subject will do.
We had our final weekly TM meeting tonight after work. It was a full house, with 4 guests. That is a very good turnout for a June meeting. Next Wednesday, in place of a meeting, we will meet at a local watering hole, and then go on a ghost walk throughout the downtown for a couple of hours.
These ghost walks are interesting to me. Ghost stories themselves are so much codswallop, but the history behind them is fascinating. We will hear lots of history of old-time Halifax. If you haven't gone on a Halifax ghost walk, and have 10 bucks to spare, and a couple hours to spend at it, then you could do far worse than to go on a ghost walk. I have gone a few times over the years and can't wait to go again!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I finished the transcribing on the interview on Tuesday. Today, during my lunch hour and after work until I went to Toastmasters, I was editing the sucker. There are heaps of unfamiliar names, so I had to source how to spell them correctly. I also began moving text around to make the thing flow better. The interview is nearly 21000 words long, 47 pages in a word processing document. I'm hoping that the vast majority of the interview will survive the editing I do, and the vetting that the subject will do.
We had our final weekly TM meeting tonight after work. It was a full house, with 4 guests. That is a very good turnout for a June meeting. Next Wednesday, in place of a meeting, we will meet at a local watering hole, and then go on a ghost walk throughout the downtown for a couple of hours.
These ghost walks are interesting to me. Ghost stories themselves are so much codswallop, but the history behind them is fascinating. We will hear lots of history of old-time Halifax. If you haven't gone on a Halifax ghost walk, and have 10 bucks to spare, and a couple hours to spend at it, then you could do far worse than to go on a ghost walk. I have gone a few times over the years and can't wait to go again!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Post 1649 - Success!
Finished transcribing the interview conducted last summer. I did the last 6 minute of it during my lunch hour today.
I have to move some text around and cut a few pieces out here and there. But, after some 10 months, the first draft is done.
As I left work this afternoon, I ran into a radio guy. I told him who I was. He knew, and we talked about the interview we had FB'd each other about. That will happen soon, now that I am getting this long interview off my lap.
Not much else to report. Newbie rests in a cardboard box that sits atop this computer desk. I had this box on the old kitchen table I kept a computer on until earlier this year. I kept the box and plunked it on the new computer desk, and Newbie just accepted its new location and uses it all the time. It's the strangest thing. If I spent 100 bucks on an actual cat bed, he would refuse it, and sleep in the box it came in.
Gonna call it a night.
It's a night.
Ha ha.
Bevboy
I have to move some text around and cut a few pieces out here and there. But, after some 10 months, the first draft is done.
As I left work this afternoon, I ran into a radio guy. I told him who I was. He knew, and we talked about the interview we had FB'd each other about. That will happen soon, now that I am getting this long interview off my lap.
Not much else to report. Newbie rests in a cardboard box that sits atop this computer desk. I had this box on the old kitchen table I kept a computer on until earlier this year. I kept the box and plunked it on the new computer desk, and Newbie just accepted its new location and uses it all the time. It's the strangest thing. If I spent 100 bucks on an actual cat bed, he would refuse it, and sleep in the box it came in.
Gonna call it a night.
It's a night.
Ha ha.
Bevboy
Monday, June 6, 2011
Post 1648 - Not Quite! Soon, Though.
It is 10pm. It has been a very long day, my first day back after being off sick for a full week. We watched the season finale of "Supernatural" this evening. Afterward, I came downstairs here and watched the most recent episode of The Killing on AMC.
I transcribed 6 minutes of the interview during my lunch hour today. A similar amount of time remains in what I am pretty sure is the final audio file to transcribe. I hope to finish on Tuesday.
This interview, in many ways, is the most challenging one yet, and certainly the longest by a country mile. The research I have had to conduct, the fact-checking, the everything, has been far more than I thought it would be. I'm not complaining. I'm just explaining.
The subject and I discussed many things that August evening last year, and I think you will find this change-of-pace interview very interesting when it finally goes up, sometime this summer.
There will be a prize associated with this interview, by the way. We are working out a way for people to win a copy of a book, perhaps as well as a Bevboy's Blog t-shirt. You will get more details soon.
Back to work in the morning. How many years before I can retire again? 7? Frig that!
More tomorrow.
Bevboy
I transcribed 6 minutes of the interview during my lunch hour today. A similar amount of time remains in what I am pretty sure is the final audio file to transcribe. I hope to finish on Tuesday.
This interview, in many ways, is the most challenging one yet, and certainly the longest by a country mile. The research I have had to conduct, the fact-checking, the everything, has been far more than I thought it would be. I'm not complaining. I'm just explaining.
The subject and I discussed many things that August evening last year, and I think you will find this change-of-pace interview very interesting when it finally goes up, sometime this summer.
There will be a prize associated with this interview, by the way. We are working out a way for people to win a copy of a book, perhaps as well as a Bevboy's Blog t-shirt. You will get more details soon.
Back to work in the morning. How many years before I can retire again? 7? Frig that!
More tomorrow.
Bevboy
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Post 1647 - Getting There!
I am feeling much better today and will be returning to work in the morning. Yay for me.
Spent some time this afternoon doing some yard work. I gather this is what people do who own property. They clean up the crap that's accumulated in the back yard. They employ a device which snips off weeds that are close to the house and cannot be cut down by a lawn mower. I had no idea at all that this was done. Amazing!
This evening I spent about 90 minutes transcribing what appears to be the final audio file in the interview conducted back in August of 2010. I have 12 minutes of material left. I have not booked any more interviews until this one was done. 9 people have been waiting to talk to me. I will try really hard to finish this first draft on Monday.
The past week has been one I won't soon forget. I have had 2 bouts of sickness in 2011, each of which cost me a week away from work. I am hoping not to have to take any more a sick days this fiscal year.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Spent some time this afternoon doing some yard work. I gather this is what people do who own property. They clean up the crap that's accumulated in the back yard. They employ a device which snips off weeds that are close to the house and cannot be cut down by a lawn mower. I had no idea at all that this was done. Amazing!
This evening I spent about 90 minutes transcribing what appears to be the final audio file in the interview conducted back in August of 2010. I have 12 minutes of material left. I have not booked any more interviews until this one was done. 9 people have been waiting to talk to me. I will try really hard to finish this first draft on Monday.
The past week has been one I won't soon forget. I have had 2 bouts of sickness in 2011, each of which cost me a week away from work. I am hoping not to have to take any more a sick days this fiscal year.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Post 1646 - A New Toy
I slept in this morning, much like I predicted I would last evening. Finally, around 10 o'clock, I got up.
Before she headed off to the farmer's market, Patricia noted that the next door neighbours were having a yard sale. After she left, I checked it out. I bought another clock radio(!), which I sheepishly justified as this one projects the time on the ceiling for those people who like that feature. I got a couple of paper back books. I spoke with my neigbhours for a little while before repairing back to the house.
A couple of neat things happened next.
I helped them tear down their "camp". I helped Joanne's husband carry a table back to Julie's deck. Joey's hands were dirty, so I carried Joanne's new stereo to their home. I noticed that Julie was carrying in two computer towers, so I offered to help her carry them in for her, but asked her how much she wanted for them first. Turns out that Joanne had taken them to Value Village after the yard sales were over in the hope of just getting rid of the computers, but VV refused to accept them. The towers were free. The one that caught my eye had a dual processor, a mere gb of ram, and a 320gb hard drive. It was running Vista.
I asked for that tower, and was told sure, take it. I got it home and put it in the hallway. I sat down to watch this week's episode of The Killing when Joanne came over and offered me a cat scratching post for free. They had got it for no cost and were passing it on to us for our cats. Their cats had not accepted it. She also offered me their cats, actually.
I went over to their front yard and carried the post home. I put the tower on top of that. And I waited for Patricia to get home to yell at me for getting more stuff that we shouldn't have bothered with. She got home, and I showed her the stuff. She was delighted with the scratching post. I told her that the computer tower would replace the one I got a year ago for 50 bucks; that one would go to my mother's, or maybe even just taken to an ACE place in the Valley. Not sure yet.
Some 6 hours ago, I came downstairs and copied some files on the old desktop to my dropbox folder. Disconnected the old desktop. Hooked up the "new" one. Turned it on. Worked fine, except that I didn't have the passwords to the accounts that Joanne had had on it. That was fine. I installed the new ubuntu on it, Natty Narwhal, and added the apps that I like the most, including dropbox.
This "new" desktop runs very fast. Where youtube videos on the previous desktop would run sluggishly, on this one, there is nary a delay. Only once this evening did the computer stop for a few seconds in the middle of a video before resuming playing it.
The only thing is that this computer has lightscribe, and I have to find out if lightscribe works under linux. I suspect it does, but I am not sure. If it does, it will run better than it does under Windows.
I may, down the road, upgrade the ram on this computer, but 1gb seems to be enough, at least so far.
Before she headed off to the farmer's market, Patricia noted that the next door neighbours were having a yard sale. After she left, I checked it out. I bought another clock radio(!), which I sheepishly justified as this one projects the time on the ceiling for those people who like that feature. I got a couple of paper back books. I spoke with my neigbhours for a little while before repairing back to the house.
A couple of neat things happened next.
I helped them tear down their "camp". I helped Joanne's husband carry a table back to Julie's deck. Joey's hands were dirty, so I carried Joanne's new stereo to their home. I noticed that Julie was carrying in two computer towers, so I offered to help her carry them in for her, but asked her how much she wanted for them first. Turns out that Joanne had taken them to Value Village after the yard sales were over in the hope of just getting rid of the computers, but VV refused to accept them. The towers were free. The one that caught my eye had a dual processor, a mere gb of ram, and a 320gb hard drive. It was running Vista.
I asked for that tower, and was told sure, take it. I got it home and put it in the hallway. I sat down to watch this week's episode of The Killing when Joanne came over and offered me a cat scratching post for free. They had got it for no cost and were passing it on to us for our cats. Their cats had not accepted it. She also offered me their cats, actually.
I went over to their front yard and carried the post home. I put the tower on top of that. And I waited for Patricia to get home to yell at me for getting more stuff that we shouldn't have bothered with. She got home, and I showed her the stuff. She was delighted with the scratching post. I told her that the computer tower would replace the one I got a year ago for 50 bucks; that one would go to my mother's, or maybe even just taken to an ACE place in the Valley. Not sure yet.
Some 6 hours ago, I came downstairs and copied some files on the old desktop to my dropbox folder. Disconnected the old desktop. Hooked up the "new" one. Turned it on. Worked fine, except that I didn't have the passwords to the accounts that Joanne had had on it. That was fine. I installed the new ubuntu on it, Natty Narwhal, and added the apps that I like the most, including dropbox.
This "new" desktop runs very fast. Where youtube videos on the previous desktop would run sluggishly, on this one, there is nary a delay. Only once this evening did the computer stop for a few seconds in the middle of a video before resuming playing it.
The only thing is that this computer has lightscribe, and I have to find out if lightscribe works under linux. I suspect it does, but I am not sure. If it does, it will run better than it does under Windows.
I may, down the road, upgrade the ram on this computer, but 1gb seems to be enough, at least so far.
I have been so lucky over the years to get computer equipment either for free or at such a nominal cost that it might as well have been free. I have been the recipient of 3 scanners over the years, and never paid a cent for any of them. Today's computer was free. The monitor on this machine cost me 20 bucks, and it's a flatscreen lcd. Got a very nice usb keyboard 2 weeks ago, gratis. I now regret paying for the new desktop 2 years ago, but even that was a year-old model (still in the box) purchased during a Boxing Week sale at a fraction of the cost of an actual new desktop.
Hey, don't hate me because I'm beautiful. If you must hate me, do so because of the luck I have had over the years with the free computer equipment. In some cultures, I could get killed because of it. I feel like Gladstone Gander, Donald Duck's super lucky cousin, except GG probably doesn't get as sick as often as I do.
Nobody's perfect.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Friday, June 3, 2011
Post 1645 - Where Did The Day Go?
Let's see here. I didn't get up until 2pm today. Didn't have a proper meal until this evening. Watched "Red" with Patricia just now. And now I'm getting ready for bed.
Is this what retirement will be like?
If so, bring it on!
I coughed out a lung over night. I haven't coughed much since I got up, which is grand, but this is always worse at night, so it could be a long evening.
As far as I know, unless I take a turn for the worse, I will be back to work on Monday.
See you tomorrow. Bed beckons.
Bevboy
Is this what retirement will be like?
If so, bring it on!
I coughed out a lung over night. I haven't coughed much since I got up, which is grand, but this is always worse at night, so it could be a long evening.
As far as I know, unless I take a turn for the worse, I will be back to work on Monday.
See you tomorrow. Bed beckons.
Bevboy
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Post 1644 - Bevboy Update
I am going to write a bit about my health. I can't reveal it all, but I will tell you about some of it.
I have been off sick all week. Monday I was feverish and disoriented and could barely walk. Felt a bit better on Tuesday, but only a bit. Wednesday I gathered my strength and scheduled an appointment with my physician. He diagnosed me as having... well, never mind. He put me on antibiotics and told me to take the rest of the week off as this condition is communicable and I was in a lot of discomfort. He signed one of those arcane forms that the province makes you get your doctor to fill out to justify time off work.
I began taking the antibiotics today. 2 the first day, and one every 24 hours until they're all gone, come Monday. They are so powerful that they will keep doing their thing for 5 days after I stop taking them. They also have charming side effects that I won't bore you with, but which will ensure a quiet weekend for me. Like I have any choice in the matter.
For those of you at my work who read my blog: What do you mean, you hadn't noticed I wasn't at work? I'm hurt! I notice when you're not in. I make a point of it, especially when I'm playing Bev Terrio. The nerve. The gall. The nervey gall.
Anyway.
As things stand, I should be back to work on Monday. I am looking forward to it, believe it or not. But those of you who work with me should be grateful that I'm not there, because if I were, you'd have a piece of this crap, too. You wouldn't like that too much. You wouldn't like me too much.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Post 1643 - Just Watch Me
A change of pace for Bevboy's Blog. Here is the full interview conducted with Pierre Trudeau in October of 1970 during the October Crisis. This is the famous "Just Watch Me" interview.
I'm amazed by this. I don't think I had ever seen the entire piece before this evening, just clips over the years. I'm amazed because there is no way in friggin' heck that any reporter could even get that close to a major politician and ask him those kinds of questions any more. Try doing that with Stephen Harper; he'd ignore you if you were lucky. If not lucky, you'd be threatened by one of his thugs. But in 1970, and for years afterward, you could just walk up to the Prime Minister of Canada, and maybe even the President of the United States, and just ask him challenging questions like the ones you'll see if you but play the clip.
You're welcome, by the way.
More in a bit.
Bevboy
I'm amazed by this. I don't think I had ever seen the entire piece before this evening, just clips over the years. I'm amazed because there is no way in friggin' heck that any reporter could even get that close to a major politician and ask him those kinds of questions any more. Try doing that with Stephen Harper; he'd ignore you if you were lucky. If not lucky, you'd be threatened by one of his thugs. But in 1970, and for years afterward, you could just walk up to the Prime Minister of Canada, and maybe even the President of the United States, and just ask him challenging questions like the ones you'll see if you but play the clip.
You're welcome, by the way.
More in a bit.
Bevboy
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Post 1642 - Two Solitudes
Nice pic, huh? Almost looks like they get along.
They don't.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
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