Beautiful “Sunny” Spots in Fort Langley

May 17th, 2011 Thomasso

I was walking back from doing a bread run at the Fort Bakery when I saw how pretty the community building looked in Fort Langley this afternoon. The day was beautiful, as the Sun got a chance to shine through the clouds which have been so dominant this year, and that turned the gloomy grey town into a place of pleasantness and a beehive of activity. Having the Sun shine on through makes that much of a difference around here.

I was up very late last night working on upgrading computers. I did not get home until 2:00 ish am this morning. The full moon last night was just as beautiful as the Sun is today. I knew today was going to be a day to get out as the clouds started moving out late last night. I just wished I did not have to miss most of the morning as I slept. Now, my body is so far out of sync that my sleeping pattern is going to be affected, probably for the rest of the week.

Mayday Parade is this coming weekend! Yay! The weather should be super great, like it is today, so that will make for a great outdoor event. Nothing like watching your town swell up to ten times its normal population for half a day! Yes, I will have my camera, and will be out shooting up a storm. Attack of the shutter bug!

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Trapping Light on Dark days

May 11th, 2011 Thomasso

It is so dark, damp and cool out that I can see my breath, and it’s late afternoon, I have my lights on inside all day, and the air smells like water. It has being drizzling out, non stop, all day. Sometimes it rains harder for about twenty minutes, but it never completely stops. Although the temperature is hovering around the ten degree Celsius mark, I could easily mistake today as being one of March’s days in the late winter season. I guess this unusually cool season has no given up its grip on us yet.

So I stayed indoors for most of the day.

I wrote some replies to emails that have been piling up. I love the, one question email with thirty points mushed into one phrase, request. Those emails really make me laugh some days. And people ask why it took so long for me to give them answer back. Well, “think about it,” I tell them, “you really asked me thirty questions.”

Then I spent some time too working on my papers that I am going to submit as part of my honours for the upcoming term in September. I figure that I might as well focus on that, grab it while I still can, and then add it to my arsenal of letters to my alphabet soup of degrees. (I like saying that).

I rendered this PovRay 3D art image I made a while ago because it reminded me of days like today. So dark and cold outside, when it is supposed to be bright and warm. Well, the word is, this Friday is our upcoming Sun filled day. So looking forward to it!

Posted in Art, Bitching about weather, Diatribe, General, Photographs, Software, University classes | Comments Off

Voted! Saoked but Feel Good.

May 2nd, 2011 Thomasso

Since the time I left this morning, and up until I got home and started typing this post out, it has rained relentlessly. I mean, I am not talking about that light kind of drizzle, but the onslaught of what we get from those fall and winter type weather systems called the Pineapple Express. This is ridiculous.

I decided to walk to the Polling station, since after all it is only less than four blocks away. That was my first mistake. I thought the weather was going to let up for a bit, or just enough to make the round trip without suffering from the soaker. That was a dumb move. I think every step closer I got to the voting both, the harder it rained. Once inside, I was soaked!

When I got to the elections site, I presented my card and some identification, and then received my ballet. When I opened my ballet to see who the choices were, I saw a new party on it that I never seen before on the elections programs. “Pirate Party”? What the hell! Why the hell have I not heard about these guys before-here in this riding?

Who ever did the public relations for the Pirate Party really should have sat down and thought about it more clearly. I heard nothing about them in this riding. It would have been nice to know who all the candidates are. I had long since decided whom I wanted to vote for, having gone through the election platforms and analysed each prospective candidate for their merits and political statements.

On the way home, the rain kept up, never leaving my side. It has been several hours since I got home, and the sound of that constant wash of rain drops hitting my roof is now permanently fixed in the background. I do not even notice it now unless I move from one room to other.

Oh, and about the “WET” image. I made that using Inkscape 0.48.1, which is free and open source. Wonderful vector graphics program. I use it a lot!

Posted in Around Town, Art, Bitching about weather, Diatribe, Events, General, Humour, Socail Media, Twitter | Comments Off

At the End of April

April 30th, 2011 Thomasso

Another month gone by, and hopefully the next one, May, the weather will start warming up outside. It has been so cold so far for spring, and I am getting sick of it. I will not miss April. I will not miss the days full of rain, and those days when the nights dipped below the freezing mark. I just want April to be a distant memory by tomorrow morning.

I know, this year is the La Niña winter and spring effect, according to the US weather observation web site. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that so far, as this season, it has been bitter cool one so far. Along with the rain and super cloudy days, I am just hating it. I am sort of hoping that it will at least start to warm up enough so that the days are sunny, and not overcast all of the time really soon. I really do not mind if the summer is cool, as the super hot summer suck too, but this has to start quickly, or I am going to go back into hibernation!

On Monday, Election day, I have an interview with a very sought after employer. I will be doing the interview first thing in the morning, so Tomorrow I will be going to bed unusually early so that I can start Monday around 5:00am. I want to be fully awake for that interview.

Not only am I to have the interview, but there is going to be some testing too right after. Apparently, a lot of Canadian businesses are following the American’s lead into this. I guess they figure it works – weeding out the undesirables and looking for that perfect fit. Sure? And there is of course a drug test, and criminal background check also.

I wonder if they have a political aptitude test too? You know, weed out Communists and Liberals?

So fingers crossed, and I am putting on all of my lucky charms. I really want to work there!

I am liking the new/latest Ubuntu look and feel. I like the new Desktop that Ubuntu 11.04 has come out with, it looks really sharp and well organized. It is taking some time to get used to, but so far everything is looking great. My PC seems to be running a little bit smoother with the new setup.

Of course, no new upgrade can come without the calls and emails from my friends who are finding some of the new changes a little hard to cope with. I was prepared this time. I am now sending out links for the all How-To website that I can find. Most of the changes on the Desktop are cosmetic, so it is just a matter of finding what you are looking because the icons have changed. This is a major change to the Desktop so I have already received about ten emails asking where everything is.

I think Ubuntu has gone with the Unity Desktop theme because is looks more like the Smart Phone face than anything else. I think more and more people are loading Ubuntu onto their touch pads and phones. Yes, apparently you can do that. Plus, I know most people now have really wide monitors, so having the icons along the side now makes sense. Navigation is a little hard to get used to, but once you get the feel, it works just as well as the carrot-stick menu bar did.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Bitching about work, Diatribe, General, Linux, Software | Comments Off

Forward or Rewind?

March 14th, 2011 Thomasso

I am really happy that this winter is almost over. Officially, in less than a week, the spring season will start and hopefully it will start with a vengeance and give us some super warm weather. Lately our weather has being fine, as in, it had not dropped below freezing in the last couple of weeks, but it has been cool too. So it will be nice to get out of that cold, wet, dark phase of our seasonal cycles and move into some nicer days.

Yes, I am looking forward, waiting, and hoping that on March 20, 2011 at 4:21 pm PDT, the weather will suddenly change.

The rest of my expectations are slow in coming.  I still have five weeks to go with the new imposed extension on my contract. This means five more weeks of wondering what to do in the meantime. Like everyone else, money is getting tight. I think because the whole economy is reacting to every little thing because of the last meltdown, people are extremely twitchy about their security, i.e., money, income, pay, bread, clams, mullah, etc… . Two of my colleges have already pulled out, and I am not far behind. Waiting, while living on a reduced income is difficult, and it reminds my of playing poker, except your hand is the ability to live while you switch careers. I am hopeful that things will get back on the right tack, and I can start to move forward.

Well, it is late now. Time to end this post.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Diatribe, General, Social economics | Comments Off

Weather Bitch

March 1st, 2011 Thomasso

With less than twelve hours into the month of March, weather wise, this month has already started to disappoint. We have a “hurricane” class wind-storm heading our way. Woo-pee! Nothing like a good old wind-storm to stir things up a little.

Of course I am writing this before the storm, so it could be a dud, or the real thing, so I am guessing based on the news I am getting. The media is all over it, and the websites are posting it, so it could be a real storm. However, if I recall, about four days ago, when the snow fall warning appeared on the weather websites here, nothing happened. The “big dump” never occurred. Instead we got a little light dusting of snow, and right after that it warmed up, rained, and then it was all gone.

So here is to a stormy night.

The worse that will happen is our power will go out. I am ready. It is not freezing out, so candles will work nicely for heat.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Diatribe, General | Comments Off

A Good Day to Change

February 27th, 2011 Thomasso

Wow, this post I must have changed about five times since finally deciding on this topic. So, without further ado… .

What is the big topic for today?

Easy: Snow.

All last night, the Environment Canada website had posted the snow warning so early that when I first looked at it, I thought it was a mistake until the read the find print. It was posted on Friday for Saturday afternoon. A little early, but I guess the fine folks at the weather office knew this was a sure thing, so they felt it was necessary to post it twenty-four hours early for us.

It snowed a little bit this morning, but then things quieted down, and we just had the normal cloudy day. But the snow warning never lifted, instead it got turned up a notch. It was not until just an hour ago that the snow started falling here in Fort Langley, and the rain that was mixed in with it has started to freeze to everything. So, the added freezing rain part also came true. Yay for the crappy weather!

British Columbia News:

Also of historical note, British Columbia now has a new leader. Christy Clark, BC’s second female premier, won her party’s leadership vote today. She now replaces the old, very unpopular, Gordon Campbell, who was very quiet these last few months. Remember that this was a leadership vote, not a public election vote, as the general election is not scheduled until 2013. I predict some fun times in BC politics to come. Well, BC really needs to move forward anyway. Some say that Christy Clark is Gordon Campbell 2?

Posted in Bitching about weather, Diatribe, Events, General | 1 Comment »

Night of the Popcicle People

February 25th, 2011 Thomasso

If tonight holds up to the weather office’s prediction, than last will be the coldest night of the year for Fort Langley, BC, dipping down to a nippelly -8.4 C, and then climbing back up to -1 C for today’s high. If you are not used to it, this cold can bit you in the butt. But it really was not cold part that hurt, but the combination of cold and wind which made the wind chill factor fell like -14 C, and colder. And before you start crying the purple heart violin string quartet, we in Metro Vancouver are not used to this level of freeze, as living on the coast brings warm temperature for all year round, as compared to the rest of Canada.

My biggest concern are the homeless people who refuse to use the shelters around the Lower Mainland. I know this from working with volunteer groups before and after the Olympics that homeless counts never matched the number of beds that have been created in the various locations. From the data that we gathered, I saw most of the homeless carry their belongings in shopping carts, and most shelters do not let these people bring their carts inside with them. Instead they must leave them outside, unprotected, where steeling and luting often result. Although more shelters are starting to allow the homeless to have their carts inside with them, some homeless people still defiantly refuse shelter.

The next big thing that was on my mind were the water pipes. Homes were never insulated that well from the cold in Vancouver. My place is a shinning example of this. You have two choices. First, leave the taps on, just a little, so that warmer water is always circulating through the pipes. They never freeze. Second, buy a run of heating tap, and a bunch of insulation, and wrap your pipes. The problem with the last idea is that heating tape and insulation cost money, and the labour that will go into the project will last longer than the clod snap will. So I just leave the tap running until it warms up again.

Hopefully we will never get another night like we did last night.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Diatribe, General | Comments Off

Contact or Contract

February 20th, 2011 Thomasso

The end of the weekend is here, and I still have so much to do today that I could be doing a all nighter, but I have to stop and give my brain a rest. Yes, I am doing the contract signing deal thing, still working with this contract that just will not go away. On top of this, I think I am being cursed with grumpy people all around me. However, the hight point was meeting people of importance, that added that extra special element to the last couple of days.

OK, three weeks ago I started looking at government contracts, and looking at taking on some of these for myself, one could say “kind of that job security thing” that we need during these tough times. Well, I have come to the conclusion that our government is just as messed up as the corporations that should have gone into bankruptcy during the last market meltdown. I am talking cheap!

I had hired a lawyer to review the negotiated contract that I poured over for the last few weeks, and was advised of over fifty potential issues that could bite me on the butt if I proceeded with it. I went over each item and found even more that the lawyer missed, so naturally, the alarms went off. When I sent several memos to the referring office, I found myself waiting for most of the day before I got word back with only some of my questions answered. I was not surprised.

The contract is starting to be like a waste of time as I am starting to see the patterns developing from this. I may pass on this venture and rejoin my original team as far as employment goes. I am not discouraged from this, as there are always contracts popping up on a regular bases, but you really need to watch out for those “greasy” sections where you could loose everything if you forget to cross a “t,” or dot an “i.” Yeah, no thank you.

My weekend of dealing with grumpy people is starting to make me seriously grumpy. I never heard so much complaining in such a short time, as this weekend, and this is just from my friends and neighbours alone – not just the guy in the Laundromat. Most of all the complaining can be traced back to money, or lack there of. I know statically, February and March are high point for depression, and not surprisingly it is weather related, but when you have a young woman crying that she cannot make ends meet, while puffing away on a cigarette, I am sorry, you will get very little sympathy from me on your money matters. If you can not pay your rent, yet still afford a pack of cigarettes, then you are ass backwards to the wind my dear. Yes, you know who I am talking about!

I know, tough talk, but hey, someone once gave that same talk and set me on a better path.

Dealing with the above mentioned contract, I was able to meet with some very influential people, some at the Federal government level, and some at the community level. Although at the time I did not know who they were, once the meetings were over, I sort of got the clues as to who I was dealing with. I can say that I am networking, and network at a astonishing rate. I just wish these people would wear name tags, so I know.

Well, I must get back to my overgrowing pile of paperwork. I must get this stuff out by tomorrow. What a week–what a weekend. Hey, the sun did not slow it down either. Two great sun filed days of perfect sunny weather, I thought it was summer for a small time! Until next time.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Bitching about work, Diatribe, General | 2 Comments »

My Camera at Night

February 18th, 2011 Thomasso

Tonight’s full moon is rising in the East, so I thought I had to at least try and get some photos of it because I have the perfect vantage point. It was big and bright, and the night sky was cloudless as it made it’s way from up behind the far end of the valley. Accept for the Moon, it was a reasonably good night for start gazing too. So I braved the cold and stood outside in the complete dark watching the sky like a lunatic hypnotised on the Moon. I know someone was watching me – that creepy feeling.

Try as I might, without my SLR, these little point and shoot cameras just do not cut it. Though, I was quite amazed at how well this little Kodak camera worked?

I did not know that I could adjust the shutter time up to four seconds, and play around with the ISO settings too. I just barely pushed the little camera to its limit taking timed exposure images outside in the dark with very little light. I was surprised!

I have done night shots before with my Kodak M1063 in the dead of winter when there was lots of snow, and the light could reflect off the snow adding much more light than normal. But the results were fifty-fifty, as it was hit and miss on each shot without the extra light. But one out of every ten snow shots turned out really good. I have posted some of them on the blog just this last month.

But nothing prepared me for these shots tonight when I discovered that I could manually set the shutter speed, with pre-set times, for timed exposures. So I cranked it up to its maximum, four seconds, and away I went. With four seconds, I could just barely capture enough of the faint light, and get some of the brighter starts up in the sky. What this night showed me, working with this camera, was that if the conditions were better, say no full moon and less smog, I could get twice as many stars with a four second exposure. Not bad for a One-hundred dollar camera?

This shot, you can see the Orion star constellation, and part of my trailer, lower Left. Of course I cropped the image down, as it was originally a 10 mega byte size, and resized the image to a quarter of its original size to fit it on the web site. I did no other manipulations to the image. But this is cool! I’m very happy that I can do some night time photography with it. However, nothing beats a good SLR.

Note: For all of these shoots, I did use a good sturdy tripod. You really need to the keep the camera still while doing long exposures with your camera.

Posted in Astronomy, Bitching about weather, General, Photographs | Comments Off