Post 1706 - Half Over!

My vacation is in its second half. One week from this moment I'll be just hours away from returning to work.

6 full days away.

Today was a wasted day in certain respects. I slept an awful lot. Slept in. Took a long nap after lunch. Read for a while this afternoon. Napped for 4 hours this evening. Will todd le off again shortly.

Finished watching "The Game of Thrones" docs this morning. Very good show. It deserves all of its acclaim.

At least I accomplished something Sunday!

See you tomorrow.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1705 - Yet Another River John Library Post

I am typing these words, yet again, on my netbook at the River John public library.  It is just past 11am.  My battery is about half-charged, so I have perhaps 45 minutes of use left before I will have to power down and swap this battery for the other one.

We spent a few hours last night watching "Game of Thrones".  We are at the end of episode 7, with 3 more episodes to go, plus about 12 short documentaries about the show that the movie channels offered through video on demand recently, and which I gleefully copied over to dvd for us to watch at the cottage, 'cuz we have no cable or satellite service there.  I'm not sure what we'd do if we didn't have a dvd player at the cottage.  Probably talk to each other or something like that.

This was the morning of the mile long yard sale in River John, so we reluctantly got up earlier than we wanted to and  hied ourselves thither to check them out.  I'm delighted I did.  A woman was selling walking shorts and the like, in my size, for 2 bucks a pair.  Bought 3 pair plus a pair of pants and a polo shirt and 2 cd's for a total of 9 dollars.  Further down, I bought the first 2 seasons of Gilligan's Island on dvd for 8 dollars for both of them.  Also bought some cottage magazines for $3.75 and a couple of paperbacks and some more cd's.  That cleaned me out.  I didn't want to spend much cash today, and spent more than I had planned to; but the clothes were too tempting to pass up.  "Gilligan's Island" was, too, for that matter.

So I sit here, cashless, but with some cool stuff that I can actually use.  I still haven't found the kind of business card cases that I want to hold my Bevboy's Blog business cards, but I haven't stopped looking either.  Give me time.  They will turn up.  I am a patient Bevboy.

Tonight there is an RJ parade through the downtown.  There are fireworks if the weather permits.  Our cottage neighbours will doubtless have their own fireworks and scare the shit out of the cats again.

Our vacation is now half over.  I am not sure where the time has gone so far.  But there are still 8 days left before we have to return to Hali.  7 days from today is when the horror con/festival is happening in Tatamagouche, and my opportunity to meet the actor who played Leatherface in the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".  That will be sweet!

See you tomorrow, my lovelies.

Bevboy

Post 1704 - Newbie at the End of Week One

We're all in vacation mode.

Back to the Game of Thrones!

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1703 - Day 4

We drove into River John early this morning to have breakfast. While there, I met Ann and Gene of the East Coast FM morning show. They put me on the air for their trivia contest. I won a Tim Horton's gift card! Super sweet!

Of course, I mentioned the blog to them and gave out some cards of my own. Gene loved the card.

(Have I told you that the guy who did the caricature for the blog and the business card, now works for Frank Magazine? I knew Don when!)

From RJ, we drove to New Glasgow to get groceries and to check out the new hardware store. We lunched in nearby Stellarton at a joint called Gram's Place.

We returned to the cottage and took things easy for the afternoon. This evening, we have been watching "Game of Thrones". I'm about to turn in. Patricia's watching "Pretty Woman" on dvd. My cue to get out of here. Besides, Julia Roberts used a body double.

Tomorrow: More "Game of Thrones". More Walter Mosley. More... I don't know! I'm on vacation. Don't bust my balls here.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1702 - Another River John Post

These words emanate, once again, from the River John library.  I am using my netbook, the little computer that could, the machine  I bought two years ago and use nearly every single day.  I love it.

Patricia is attending a quilt fair at a nearby church vestry.  As you might imagine, my interest in such things is small, so small you'd need an electron microscope to see it.  I decided to hang back here, surf the net for a little while, and write this here blog post.

There's not much to report, actually.  We threw out 2 bags of garbage this morning; this is the time of year when the county sends a garbage truck down into cottage territory, and you can throw out a regular garbage bag.  Only one.  Butk we put a second bag over in another location, tricking the driver into believing that the bag was actually from a neigbhour, when it wasn't.  Hee hee.

That was probably the highlight of the day.

Or not. I showered this morning, and this afternoon we went to a hobby farm that has horsies.  Patricia remarked that she smells like them now.  I think I should have postponed my shower until this evening.

After Patricia finishes looking at the damned quilts, we will likely drive into Tatamagouche to get a few groceries and perhaps get some dinner.  I think we'll both be hungry by then.   This evening, I will either pick up the Walter Mosley book I borrowed from this library yesterday, or watch a movie.  Haven't decided yet.  Perhaps we'll ask our hillbilly neighbor what we should do and take our cue from the animalistic grunts he utters.  When he starts flinging dung, we'll take our leave.  He knows how to suck the energy out of a room.

See you tomorrow, unless Newbie or Cindy does something cute, that is.

Bevboy

Post 1701 - Newbie Enjoying His Vacation

Newbie's having a good time on his perch. We know he loves it here at the cottage.

Why can't I have a perch?

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1700 - A Major Milestone

Well,  it's a major milestone for me.  It probably isn't for you.

This post comes to you from the River John library.  There is only one RJ library, unlike in Halifax, where there are many.   I like this library very much.  It is my first time here this year, and that's a regret I will carry with me to my grave.

This post began in October of 2007 (how many of you have read all of them besides me?) because I wanted to start a blog that didn't have a lot of typographical errors in it.  It remains a blog with few typos in it, nearly 4 years later.  There are some, and you can have some fun finding them.

At first, I wasn't sure where I was going with this blog.  Some would say that I still haven't found my way with it.  But I am at least pretty sure what it is not.

Bevboy's Blog is not a political blog.  There are plenty of blogs out there produced by people who don't know a thing about politics, expressing opinions about things they know nothing about.  Why should I add to that?

Bevboy's Blog is not an entertainment blog.  I hope that it is entertaining by times, or at least that it isn't boring, or if boring, I hope that it isn't consistently so.  No Amy Winehouse or Lindsay Lohan jokes here, or dumb Hollywood gossip.

Bevboy's Blog is not a negative blog.  Time was, I would comment about some of the things in radio that I didn't like.  I have stopped doing that, and have even gone back and re-worded some things I thought crossed the line.  However, the "Things In Halifax That Don't Make Sense" feature will continue.

Bevboy's Blog is not a blog about one thing.   I write about whatever I want to, with a strong focus on radio.  I interview people, mostly folks who are on the radio.  

I have written this before.  I am again, now.  I never thought, for a moment, that Bevboy's Blog would last as long as it has.  1700 posts is a remarkable achievement for me, even if you don't care.  I can tell you that, once I'm back from vacation, you can look forward to 2 more interviews, long ones, and that more interviews are in the works, even if they're not booked yet.   I feel sanguine about the future of Bevboy's Blog, and if you care, if you want  to, you're welcome to come along for the ride.

Thank you.  I love you all.

Bevboy

Post 1699 - Heat Stroke?

I may have overdone it today. I spent several hours mowing the lawn in the heat and paid the price for it. I have slept nearly ever since. I may got a touch if heat stroke.

Over and out for now. See you tomorrow for post 1700!

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1698 - A Quiet Sunday

We've had a quiet day. Patricia's remaained inside all day long,
mostly watching season one of "Haven".

I have been slightly more productive, assembling a deck table and
reading under it for a few hours.

I also prepared dinner and visited a lavender festival up the road
from the cottage. It's a very nice store that they have.

It's now pushing 9pm. The mosquitoes feasted on me. And the logs
remain outside, straddled on our property and the hillbilly's.

Tomorrow, I'm not sure what we'll do. I want to finish the book I
picked up this afternoon ("Quarry in the Middle" by Max Allan
Collins), and perhaps start reading "The Girl With the Dragon
Tattoo". Maybe we'll watch a movie. Or maybe we won't. The point is
that we're on vacation for 2 weeks and can do we want, when we want.
I'll tell you about what we do, when we do it, because I know you hang
on every word of what I write.

You really need to get out more, people. I'm not that interesting.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Post 1697 - First Day Trip

These humble, nearly pathetic, words emanate from my netbook, which is connected to a free wifi spot across the street from the Saint Cinnamon outlet on Provost Street in New Glasgow.   I just finished drinking what is perhaps the best cup of coffee I have ever consumed.  If I had not just eaten breakfast 90 minutes ago, I'd be ordering some victuals off the menu.  Life is good.

For those who are keeping score, I decided to "take a nap" last night around 7:15.  The next thing I knew, it was midnight.  I got up for a few minutes and discovered Patricia asleep on the couch, threw some cat treats at Cindy and Newbie and returned to bed.  I finally got up to stay around 8am, more than 12 hours after I had decided to "take a nap".

We arrived at the cottage around  2:15 Friday afternoon.  Much to our dismay, the asshole  neighbour next door had deposited some logs on our side of the property line, apparently destined for a woodchipper that is on his side.

I have written about Mr. Dumbass before.  I make allowances for certain types of people, like the ones who were dropped on their head as children.  But there is a special place in Hell reserved for trespassers, the people who don't give a crap about private property and feel that the world is open for them to go wherever and whenever they want.   I just don't get it.

As someone tweeted me last night, I can't let this nimrod ruin my vacation.   We are here in Pictou County for 2 weeks and 1 day.  We have plans and Sgt. Numbnuts will not destroy them for us.

Later on today, Patricia will hie herself to River John for the Read by the Sea event, where local authors read from some of their works and pose for photographs with these writers.  I will probably hang back and prepare dinner for us both and perhaps even watch a dvd containing material that Patricia won't want to see.  I still haven't seen the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" and it came out years ago.  This will be a good opportunity to see it.

You guys have a good day.  I love you all.

Bevboy

Post 1696 - At The Cottage

We got here this afternoon. As you can see, Newbie has found a place to relax.

See you tomorrow.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1695 - It's Here!

Vacation is here.

Yay!

It is now about 10:45 at night.  I consider my vacation to have started just over 6 hours ago.

Sometime tomorrow morning we will pile into Patricia's car and hie ourselves to the cottage, there to remain for 16 days before reluctantly returning to the city.  That would be August 7th, in case you lost count.

It is invariable that the anticipation to go on vacation takes forever to arrive.  The actual vacation goes by in a flash.  Of course, when we're at the cottage, we sleep 50% of the time; it is well known that  when you're in a state of suspended animation, time seems to cease to exist.  That is why, I believe, that vacations for us fly by.  We're so seldom awake.

I have already promised to make dinner for us tomorrow night while Patricia takes care of some things in town.  That works for me.  I don't particularly want to run the roads very much while we're gone.  If it rains for a few days, I don't even care.  Just want to spend time at the cottage.

Of course, we are still neighbours with the toothless cretin who drags his knuckles on the ground and drives an all-terrain vehicle.  We also have to co-exist with the jive turkey who takes great delight in wandering around people's property and taking pictures of their cottages.  But we can mostly ignore these pricks.  It's about us getting out of Dodge for a couple of weeks and resting and relaxing by ourselves, trying to ignore the problems in the world and in our lives for 16 days or so.

We need it.

We deserve it.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1694 - Vacation Mode

It is past 11pm now on Wednesday.  This time tomorrow night, I'll be on vacation.

My body knows I'll be away from work for 2 and a half weeks.  It just knows it.  It is telling me to lay back and take it easy.  Newbie is curling up to me more and more as if to say, "Hey, Bevboy!  Why don't you do what I'm doing now?"  Trust me, Newbie.  I wish I could.

I have one more day of work before I can do what Newbie's doing next to me right now.  One more day of getting out of bed earlier than I'd like to, fighting traffic, and doing my job, before I can take a good break.

On the way home this evening, I dropped into the new Best Buy in Bayers Lake.  Their grand opening is Friday.  I saw that Kate Milton is going to be doing a remote from that store Friday afternoon.  It's the first official appearance Kate will be doing for C100.   I take this opportunity to congratulate her getting the drive home gig on C100, succeeding Matt Northorp, who's left the station and probably left radio as well.  Kate and Deb Smith will do great.  The new team starts on July 25th.   I'm also pleased to note that Deb will be used much more from now on on the C100 morning show, almost becoming the 4th member of the show.

Man, the things I learn having lunch with Brad Dryden!

I watched a zombie movie the other week and announced as such on my Facebook.  It's called Dead Genesis. Turns out a young woman from my Toastmasters club and her bf like to watch zombie movies, so I am dubbing a copy of it for her right now.  It's amazing what people like, isn't it?  I wasn't very fond of that movie.  I kept wondering why our tax dollars go to support this kind of crap when those dollars could be better spent elsewhere.  I also kept wondering why the bartender in that movie reminded me of Moe Dunn, whom I interviewed in '09, and whether speaking that way injured the actor's vocal cords.  I mean, it probably took him a couple of days if not more to shoot those scenes, and he sounds like a pirate with a head cold, which would make me reach for the lemon and honey.  I guess if you haven't seen the movie -- and I envy you if you haven't seen it -- there's  not much point in discussing it much further.

It's past 11:30 and I have to get up for my last day of work in a scant 6 hours.  Guess I'll turn in.

See you tomorrow, when I'm on... vacation!!

Bevboy

Post 1693 - Manly Duties

Patricia's always... bringing to my attention her perception that she makes all the meals in the house, and that she'd like it if I made some from time to time.

Turns out that I got home earlier from work today than she did, by a good 90 minutes or so.   That gave me an opportunity to wash the mile-high pile of dishes that had some how accumulated in and around the kitchen sink over the last few days.  Those done, I threw some chicken thighs in a pyrex container and tossed the container and the thighs into the oven, cooking them at 450 for an hour or so, until there was no chance they would still be alive, and come back and haunt me in my dreams.

Patricia came home during this process and hinted that she'd like the left over rice from last night's dinner prepared in some way so as to make it delicious.  Actually, "hint" is not the right word.  "Strong-armed" might be a good one.  Or, perhaps, "grabbing me by the lapels and throwing me toward the stove" might work, too.

I fried the cooked rice using some Snortin' Mortons hot sauce prepared by the talented radio personality Lea Miller, the new morning co-host at K-Rock 89.3 in the Annapolis Valley, come July 25th.  I added some soy sauce as well.  I put it aside and let the chicken thighs continue cooking.

I mixed together a Caesar salad as well.  I was meticulous in creating the salad.  I have to be.

The thighs done, I gave a plate of this crap to Patricia and prayed that it would appease her.  I cowered in the corner of the kitchen, slowly reaching for a large kitchen knife to protect me from her potential wrath.

"Bev!", she shouted.  "This rice is really good!"

Relieved, I put the knife down and ventured into the dining room.  She was eating the rice and the chicken and the salad with great gusto, and chasing the whole thing with a bud light lime, a girl drink if ever there was one.  I drink them all the time, when she'll let me.

After a second helping for each of us, we retired to the dining room and watched the episode of Burn Notice that came available to us on demand.

(I'm too tired to do the whole "Burn Notice"/"Bum Notice" thing again.   OKAY?  FLICK OFF!)

I retired to this here home office around 8:30, nearly 2 hours ago.  I transcribed several more minutes of the  Dan Barton interview, and decided to write this here blog post.


Bevboy

Post 1692 - Vacation, Very, Very Soon

I had a busy day today.  This evening, I watched the season opener of "Breaking Bad", which was worth the year-long wait.   Great stuff.

I transcribed several more minutes of the Dan Barton interview.  I will keep chipping away at it.  Trust me: I am getting requests for when it will run.   Folks, I have hard a busy month or so, and I will tell you about it sometime.  Remind me when I'm back from vacation.  Suffice it to say that I have had a good excuse for not always typing when I could have been.

My vacation begins in a scant 3 days.  Actually, it's more like 67 hours and 6 minutes.  But, who's counting?

Cottage, here I come!!

Bevboy

Post 1691 - A Busy Sunday

I was up until 1 o'clock this morning.  I was restless, so I listened to some mp3's on that old computer which is running Puppy linux.  The machine ran fine for those couple of hours.  I will put the machine through its paces when I am up in the Valley again, after my vacation.

I hit the sack after that and rose about 8 hours later.  I ate something and then went outside to trim Mom's lawn.  I now have a second battery for the lawn trimmer, and it made a big difference.    A full hour+ of trimming and I was nearly done.

Visited my sister after lunch.  It was Glenda's birthday weekend, so we dropped off a gift for her.

I returned to the city after that.

I transcribed some more of the Dan Barton interview this evening.  I doubt if I will finish it before I go on vacation.  More about that in the next paragraph.

It has been a long day, but I take comfort in the fact that I only have 4 work days this week before a 2 week vacation.  I  need this vacation very much.  I am beat and need a chance to recharge my batteries at the cottage for that period of time.

Soon, my pet.  Soon.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1690 - A Busy Saturday

My mother didn't disappoint. We left the house around 10 and didn't return here until nearly 4. In between there were trips to many stores. Plus, there was a sub par lunch at the Port Pub.

This evening has been spent farting around with that old computer and its puppy linux installation. The personal save file is puppy's achilles tendon. If that file gets damaged or corrupted or even moved to a place the os doesn't expect, then you have to do a reinstall or use the cd to restart with a parameter that overlooks the problems that caused the crash. No fun.

After I got that sorted out, I spent 90 minutes or so transcribing pieces of the Dan Barton interview. It's taking shape nicely. Will likely have to finish it during my vacation at the cottage.

Tomorrow will be busy as well. I'll tell you about it then.

Good night, my lovelies.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1689 - Another Valley Weekend

Worked all day and drove to my mother's this evening.

Tomorrow morning, we will take off for many hours and shop until I drop. I dread it like you wouldn't believe. She always wears me out.

You may recall that a neighbour gave me. Couple of computers in the last few weeks. The first one is a nice little machine and it has become a much-used computer in my house. With the very inexpensive monitor I got 3 weeks ago, and the latest ubuntu, I got a pretty good desktop for almost no money.

This second machine has been much more troublesome. It wouldn't run ubuntu. Xandros was too proprietary. Lubuntu was too much for it.

I was already to give up. As a last-ditch resort, I tried installing the new version of Puppy Linux just now. It's a return to form for Puppy linux; this version is numbered 5.1.2 and is nicknamed Wary Puppy. The numbering is unfortunate as there is a variant version of Puppy Linux referred to as Lucid Puppy, based on last year's Ubuntu. It's not very good.

Wary is quite nice. First of all, it revived this computer, which other operating systems couldn't do. And it runs quite fast, as Puppy loads itself into ram. Even this machine, with a paltry 256 mb of ram, puppy can load itself within that and run as fast as the processor will permit, which is good. The puppy universal installer installed itself on the hard drive and even created a good grub boot menu. Last year, I had to do that manually, which was no fun.

So, here at my mother's. In my old bedroom, I have 2 desktops and a netbook. All work well for what they are. I don't want to part with any of them.

The other desktop here is the one the other free computer supplanted. It's far too good to get rid of.

How many computers does a fella need?

Let's find out!

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1688 - A Week To Vacation!

So, Wednesday night we went to dinner at a place called Michael's Bar and Grill, a b&g in the strip mall  next to my work.  I had been there back in December for a Christmas party, and there was a Christmas tie picture taken that evening.  I had been impressed with the food and the service.

We went there last evening, and it hadn't been a fluke: My clubhouse and baked potato was excellent, with real chicken and fresh everything.  I could barely finish it.  Patricia had a chicken dish.

This evening, after getting groceries at the victual store across the street from my work, we decided we could eat and decided to go back to Michael's.  If anything, tonight's dinner was even better than Wednesday's.

I know that several of my work chums read this blog.  Guys, please consider having lunch some day at Michael's.  You won't regret it.

You can tell this is a boring evening.  When we got home, I moved some electronics around in my home office and am presently finishing listening to a documentary on CBC radio that is about giraffes.  Apparently, there are gay giraffes.  I wonder if they pick up one another at Citadel Hill at night?   Sorry. Halifax joke.

The subject of this blog post refers to the fact that, this  time next Thursday night, about 163 hours from  now, I go on vacation for 2 and a half weeks.  I am very  much needing a break.  Nearly all of it will be at the cottage, and I am looking forward to spending that time down there doing as little as possible.

I'm getting lots of feedback on Wednesday's blog post.  Even the teaser I put on my twitter and Facebook got attention.   I had lunch with Brad Dryden of C100 today.  He mentioned the facebook status, and was going to read the post until life got away from him.  That's ok.  I emailed him the link this afternoon.

Man, if this isn't the most boring blog post I have written, I'd like to know what is.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1687 - A Challenge From Mel Sampson Herself!

You will recall that I interviewed the lovely and supremely talented Mel Sampson of K-Rock 89.3 last year.  It was a great pleasure to meet her and her boyfriend.  If you have met Mel you know you have met a special person.

Mel posted the following on her Facebook this afternoon.

Katie Holmes says Tom Cruise is "manly romantic" because he does things like this: "Two years ago he took me up on his P-51 Mustang, a fighter plane from World War 2. He painted the words, 'Kiss Me, Kate' on the side." I think he's just wealthy. How do you do "manly romantic" or any romantic on a budget?

I like a challenge.  I offered an entry, which Mel liked enough to classify as the epitome of manly romantic on a budget.  

It got me to thinking.  Why not do a blog post about manly romantic things I have done, or wish I had done, on a budget?

So... here goes!

In keeping with Tom Cruise's initiative, I could make a paper airplane, scrawl "Kiss me, Patricia" on it, and throw it around the living room until Patricia notices.

How about...

Pushing the last piece of Chef Boyardee ravioli over to Patricia with my nose?

Or...

Take Patricia for a walk along the Halifax waterfront (now that I no longer work downtown - sniff!) and buy her a junior-size ice cream cone (with ice cream on top!) and watch her eat it, licking my lips the way Wile E. Coyote does when he thinks about the Road Runner.  

Perhaps I could...

Buy Patricia a used copy of "Men Are From Mars.  Women Have A Penis", or whatever that damned book is called.  We could read passages to each other until we realize that the book is bullcrap and then watch Burn Notice for a spell.  (Notice that I wrote "Burn Notice", and  NOT "Bum Notice".)  (Sorry.  I already did that joke in a previous post.  It's a good one, though, isn't it?)

If I were really in a romantic frame of mind, I could...

Take Patricia to Costco when those ladies are giving out samples ("Costco dim sum" as Mark Evanier calls it) and tell Patricia to help herself.   (What the heck.  Here's another Mark Evanier Costco post.  There are lots of them.)

Or, just maybe, I could...

Finally get around to writing Patricia that limerick, the one that DOESN'T start with "There once was a man from Nantucket".  

I hope that these low budget approaches to romancing your woman work out well for you.  Why not post a comment to this blog post, or on my Facebook or Twitter, regaling me with the success you achieved by attempting these awesome, low cost romance options.

You're welcome.  

I do this because I love you, you know.  You knew that, didn't you?

Bevboy

Post 1686 - Back To Reality

Patricia returned from the cottage this afternoon, after spending a few days there.  This meant that my meat-eating, vegetable-ignoring fun times evaporated like the morning dew.

We watched a couple episodes of Burn Notice this evening before I went downstairs and pee'd away 30 minutes or so in my home office.

I didn't have a chance today to transcribe any more of the Dan Barton interview.  I have been negligent.  I should be able to pick away at it on Wednesday during my lunch hour and tomorrow after work.  Should is the operative word.

Vacation starts a week from Thursday at 4:31.  I can hardly wait.  Two weeks of doing nothing.  Patricia was talking this evening about going out a couple of times. Maybe to a breakfast or two on the veranda during River John Days during our first week off, but other than that, I really don't want to go anywhere.  We will have dvd's to watch and books to read.  There is a nice stereo down there that has a good radio tuner in it that can pick up most of the radio stations here in Halifax.  There is plenty of food.  There is a barbecue.  There is a lawn tractor for the 8 or so times we'll have to mow the damn lawn.  What else is there that we'd need?  I mean, really?

My 3rd full day in my new digs.  Someone came by today to adjust my work space because it was one inch shorter than it should have been.  Yeah, like I really noticed.  I had to remove everything off my desk, have him do his work, and then re-assemble the computer and put everything back where it was.  Afterward, I didn't notice any real difference.   Can we issue a big sigh now?

We have found a new coffee shop.  The last place we went to before I got sick and tired of it was Certainly Synonymous for bad coffee, wasn't it?  I won't say the name though.  Never.

Have a good evening.  See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1685 - Unsolved Murders In Nova Scotia

Long time readers will recall that I have an interest in unsolved murders and missing people.  There is an American website called The Charley Project that I check out nearly every day.  It details some 9000 MP (missing person) cases throughout the U.S.  There are several other such websites.

I am not aware of any Canadian equivalent of The Charley Project, or at least one that goes into the level of detail that Meaghan goes into.  I am not prepared to devote the kind of time that she has to create a Canadian website listing all these cases.  Poor Meaghan has had to put up with a lot of crap over the years, what with threats of lawsuits and the sheer effort to keep the website up-to-date.  I hope she keeps it up for a long time.

Hi, Meaghan.  I'm a fan.

Anyway, there is no website per se that discusses missing person to such a degree, but I do know of this message board that lists and discusses these cases. The problem with message boards, of course, is that there will be a great deal other stuff on there, and reputations of people who haven't been charged or convicted of a doggone things will be besmirched.

Folks, this is the way it works: The police will charge a person with a crime if the think there is enough evidence to support a conviction.  The Crown won't go forward with a trial unless they feel there is enough evidence to get a conviction.  Even if weird stuff like the G-8 and G-20 riots in Toronto happen, and hundreds of people are arrested and charged by both the cops and the Crown, then judges certainly can and do throw cases out of court and people go free who shouldn't have been there in the first place.

There is no point, folks, in going on and on (and on!) about a person's "obvious" guilt.  You don't know what happened.  You weren't there.  You didn't see the crime take place.  You're a dummy if you go on about this.  A dummy.  Hear me?  A dummy.

Having said all that, this message board is interesting, and I recommend it to you.  This link points you to the Nova Scotia unsolved murders board.  You're but a click away from the Canada-wide one.

Of course, you have to check out the Charley Project, too.  Meaghan and I have exchanged a few emails, and she may even remember me if you drop my name to her.    I doubt it, but anything is possible.  Of course, she has a blog.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1684 - A Quiet Sunday Evening

I am trying to put my finger on just what I did today to justify my existence.

I did clean my bedroom, but one should do that, anyway.

I did do the dishes, but once again, one should do that, anyway.

I am gradually copying episodes of "Game of Thrones" to dvd, for us to watch at the cottage, where there is no cable or satellite service.  I suppose that is a good thing.

I have spent so many hours down here in my home office typing away today that I fear that I will have to dip my fingertips in a milk bath to regenerate my fingerprints.

Patricia remains out of town.  This means I can still do what I want, including pissing away my day behind a computer, when I should have been outside doing something more constructive.

It's back to work in the morning.  I will do everything in my power to remember not to drive downtown, park my car in the usual parking space, and walk to my former building.  I will have to remember to jump on to the 103 and then take the Bayers Road exit, to get to my new work digs.  It is a much shorter commute, and I just have to remember to take that new route from now on.

9 more work days until my vacation starts.  I can hardly wait.  Two weeks at the cottage, lying around and mowing the lawn and sleeping.  Maybe washing the dishes once or twice.  Or not.  Maybe shaving once or twice.  Or not.  Maybe practicing other acts of personal hygiene.  Or not.  Ah. Cottage living.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1683 - A Quiet Saturday Night

It's past 10pm as I type these humble words.  I just finished listening to Randy's Vinyl Tap on CBC radio.  Now, I'm listening to "Saturday Night Blues", a program I do not listen to nearly enough.  If you don't listen at all, then you really should.

It has been a busy week for me.  I had my last day of working in downtown Halifax.  I had my first day of working  in another part of town.  And a few other things happened that I will share with you, my constant readers, when the time is right.

Patricia is out of town for the weekend.  She went to the cottage last night and will return sometime on Monday, probably early evening.  That means I get a weekend to myself.  I have chores to do around here, including laundry and general clean up.  I have done little so far but hope to do more on Sunday.

The monitor I got for just a few dollars 2 weeks ago works just great, and I'm very happy with it.  It's what I'm using right now.   I still gloat to anyone who will listen, and to several who won't, all about this amazing purchase, which I outlined here 2 weeks ago.

I am still chipping away at the Dan Barton interview.  I would like to conduct one more interview before I go on vacation in two weeks so that I can work on it at the cottage this summer.  

Guess that's it for tonight.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1682 - The New Office

Much quicker drive to work. Much brighter facilities. Great so far.

Someone even put a Bevboys Blog card outside my new space.

Welcome home!

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1681 - Bye Bye, Downtown

I made sure to walk around the downtown a little bit this morning and this afternoon, 'cuz it will be my last day downtown for a while.

In the morning, in about 9 hours, I will be reporting to work in the West part of Halifax, in a neighborhood I don't know very well, in a part of town I have not overly explored.

Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, that I will find things about that part of the city that won't make sense to me, and I will blog about them in future editions of the recently-revived series.  I will find a decent cup of damned coffee somewhere over there.  Surely to frig, it will be possible to locate a joint that serves coffee fit for human consumption.   You know, like I couldn't find in the block of Hali I am abandoning.

I still have 3 prepaid coffees for NicNax on Granville Street.  I never had a chance to use them all.  That's always the way, huh?

Anyway, let's look forward to tomorrow morning and not try to dread it.  It will be different; that much I guarantee.  But, there are 4 radio stations within an easy walk of my new workplace, full of people to interview who know who Bevboy is, so maybe I can increase the amounts of interviews I have been able to do this year.

A change.  As good as a rest.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 1680 - T Minus One

It was a typical day at work.  Nothing special.

We were supposed to have a Toastmasters meeting tonight, but because of the fine weather, more and more people decided not to go, until we reached the point where we decided to cancel.  Which was fine.  Patricia was tired and wanted to come right home.

After a quick dinner at the Timberlea Beverage Room, we came home.  I rested my eyes for a few minutes and bathed my body and anointed myself with oils in anticipation of what will be an atypical day at work tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be my last day working in downtown Halifax.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I have been working downtown for 23 years now, most recently working in a building where I began what I laughingly call my career all those years ago.  Yeah.  The late '80's.  I don't want to discuss my hair from that period, and you don't want to know about it, either.

On Friday morning I will report to another building in another part of town.  It's a nice place in a nice part of the city.  And, hey, there are 4 radio stations within a very easy walking distance, with many people therein to interview, so it can't be all bad, eh wot?

And, let's not forget the Burger King across the street.  I still have 2 unused notches in my belt.  It's a shame not to use them.

Did I mention the 4 radio stations?

Bevboy

Post 1679 - Things in Halifax That Just Don’t Make Sense, Part Nine

Welcome back to the Things in Halifax That Just Don't Make Sense series!

This very-irregularly-published series is about things in Halifax which, at first blush, may look just fine.  But, upon closer examination, they don't make sense.  They may even be stupid.

I do apologize for letting this series go dark for the last 17 months.  I did not mean for this to happen.  I will try to do more of these posts depending on Bevboy's Blog feedback.  Do let me know what you think of these posts, folks.

(You can see the former entries in this series by clicking on the "Nonsense" label that is associated with this post.)

You are looking at a picture of the so-called Twisted Sisters lot, and what the proposed buildings would look like.   This lot, for many years, housed what everyone called the Tex Park, which was a Texaco service station on both the Granville Street and Hollis Street sides.  You could buy gas on either side.  I believe that you could get your car fixed as well at one point.  Above the gas stations you could park your car.

Over the years, this building became more and more decrepit.  People were leery, and rightly so, about parking their vehicles there.    When Ultramar took over Texaco years ago, there was very little improvement.  Just at first, the gas station on the Hollis Street side closed.  Then, some time later, the Granville Street side closed.  I do not recall whether the parkade area survived the deaths of the gas stations.  I do remember the convenience store on the Granville Street side, and that hookers beginning a shift would often stop off there to purchase condoms and breath mints.  I know this because... well, I just know this.

I also remember a Halifax heritage plaque on the side of the building.  I do not recall the historical significance of that site.  I am confident that one of my readers will be able to help me out.

I should write a full blog post about that section of Granville Street.  I will, one day.   I will confine my comments to the Twisted Sisters complex.

A developer decided he wanted to build two huge buildings, far larger than anything else around them, with a mixture of hotel, residential and retail on the bottom levels.   You know, probably those boutique stores that you can't afford to shop at offering products you don't need or want.  The developer expended great cost and effort tearing down the eyesore that the Tex Park had become.  He proposed the new complex.

And waited.

Holy frig, he waited.

He spent years working with the city to get approval.  Many public meetings.  Then, the local heritage advisory board stepped and complained, because, well, that's what the heritage board does.  I respect most of what these boards do, but when you're complaining about erecting two tall buildings in a spot where there is nothing more than a vacant lot, then one wonders if you're complaining about something useful, or just posturing.

Anyway.

After long last, after years of struggle, he was approved for development.

And that's it.

Nothing has happened since.

Every once in a while, you read in the paper how the developer was waiting for this, or waiting for that.  Some say he ran out of money, or interest, or is waiting for the economy to improve sufficiently to justify his expenditure.  Some say his option to develop the property has run out and he must either start from scratch or sell the property to someone and have that other person begin this Sisyphean task all over again.

The Twisted Sisters site has become a symbol for many of the things that are wrong in Halifax.  The approval process is so labyrinthine that Job himself would throw his hands in the air and shriek in frustration.   Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia plays a noble role in keeping developers honest and respectful of our history and heritage, but they and their ilk went on and on and on about it to the point where I just wanted them to shut the Hell up.  Finally, the developer chose not to exercise the option he had fought so long to attain and the site remains vacant.


Let's face it, folks.  The Twisted Sisters, and everything associated with them, just don't make sense.


Next in this series: Bridget.


Bevboy

Post 1678 - Cindy

Here's a picture of Cindy Clawford, taken just a moment ago. We're on our way back to Hali.

Cindy calms herself by sucking on her forepaw. Other times, she sticks her tongue out, darting it in and out of her mouth for 10 or 15 minutes at a stretch. Cute and a little unusual.

Will be back home in the next 30 minutes or so.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1677 - Newbie, Day 3

Out 3rd day here. Newbie has finally learned to relax.

Time for my nap. Been up nearly 2 hours now.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1676 - Newbie

Just took this picture of Newbie. He's clearly enjoying his vacation at the cottage.

I am, too, now that I've done the second cut of the lawn here. Another 2 hours of being jostled around.

Promise to spend some time thinking about you people who don't have cottages.

Later.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

Post 1675 - Sorry

There's something wrong with the email service I usually use for
composing emails on my BlackBerry. I tried to send post 1674 many
times Friday evening to no avail. I have resorted to using the gmail
app on my BB and that seems to work.

So, I sorta still have a one-email-per-day record in place. Not my
fault that the main email I use is down.

Just sayin'.

Will write more today if you tell me you love me.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

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1674 - Finally!

We got to the cottage around 2:30 this afternoon. Within 10 minutes of
our arrival, I was mowing the lawn. It was even longer than I'd
imagined.

Got the first pass done within 2 hours. On Saturday, as things stand,
I will go back out there and do another pass, with the blade lower.

Already had a 4 hour nap this evening. Eyes are still gritty. Guess
I'll head back to bed.

Seeya tomorrow.

From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!

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