Thomasso’s weblog

Half and Half With Happy Neighbours

September 21st, 2009 Thomasso

First, tomorrow is the Equinox, or the final day of summer and the first day of Autumn, around 2:18pm, September 22, 2009. Normally it falls on the 21 of September, but this year it is a day late. Well, really it is not late, that is the way our calendar works. Our calendar has a lot of bugs in it, so keeping events on track and uniformed is unfortunately impossible to do with it.

Tomorrow, me and some friends will have a little get-together, as we always do, to celebrating the passage of the seasons. I consider these moments true events without the hype and commercialism that most other celebrations go. We have debated this to death, and for better of worse, keeping it away from the mainstream is the better way to go. We try and attend right at the time that it occurs, but sometimes that can be difficult for some as it is either during the dead of night or during work times. For us keener’s, taking time off from work to celebrate it is just one way we keep it going.

This started for me back about 13 years ago when me and a couple of old high school buddies, who were all amateur astronomy buffs, realized that in order to really appreciate the seasons and the start of the new year, December 21 should be the day that we do it. We managed to keep it going ever since then. One buddy, Richard, even goes so far as to bring his spouse along, so now it has become a family event for swapping stories and having a few drinks, or in my case a good excuse to have a coffee with the old boys. Only a couple of us get together for the other three events, Fall and Spring equinox and the Summer solstice.

Last Saturday I reached the milestone of reaching 10 installations of the operating system Ubuntu-Linux within my neighbourhood. That is “out with the old, in with the new.” Old, meaning Microsoft in this case.

In every case of installing the new operating system it was due to users not willing to pay for the upgrades, and for the most part, their PC machines were old and slow compared to current standards, so the Window$ system would not work properly. There is sort of a consumer dilemma when it comes to buying a computer, that is, when you fork out up to and over a thousand dollars, you expect it to work for more than a year before you need to throw more money at it. So spending a $150.00 for an entirely new upgraded operating system is a good deterrent for anyone to continue to go along with the scam. And I do mean scam.

“It is hard to justify paying for something that gives me advertising, limited usage and viruses galore—there must be a better way?” my friend Kim said.

When I introduced them to the open source systems, they are stunned. It is like they never heard the word “Free” before. It is through word of mouth that they find out that such a world exists. And oddly, when they get frustrated with it, or they need some help and get mad, I tell them they could always go back to what they had before, they flat out respond with a “NO—Fix it!”

Special Note: Thanks Diane for catching those errors for me and bringing them to my attention. I hang my head in shame, and guilty as charged.

Posted in Astronomy, Events, General, Humour, Linux, Photographs | Comments Off

A Congratulatory Post to My Sister

August 22nd, 2009 Thomasso

I got some news yesterday from my sister, JM. She just found her first job at the start of her professional career as a caregiver in the health care system. For the last two years she had gone to college were she put herself through the rigours of evening classes and achieved all the necessary skills to work in this profession.

What is monumental about this turning point is that there were huge odds against her from seeking such employment opportunities at the start, and up until now. As we are all well aware there is a recession, or depression right now, (depending on whether you are employed or not) and any civil servant job, albeit from a public or private position, are very hard to come by. The cut backs in British Columbia are going to be huge as our provincial budget update coming this September has already started to leak out to the media. Even today, lay-offs and hiring freezes are in effect at most care homes for the elderly. Long term care and nursing positions have being drastically frozen too as every budget in the public sector will be trimmed. The money just is not there to support the system right now.

My personal belief is that jobs are always going to available in this segment of the work force because the tail end of the baby-bombers are just 10 to 15 years away from hitting retirement—that is simple logic. Public or private, the demand is most definitely going to exist and grow over the next 30 years for senior’s nursing care. With so many people getting up into their golden years and living longer, the toll on the healthcare system is most likely going to be tax to its death. Canadians are not going to take being asked to pay for higher taxes, so electing governments that promises tax-cuts is now the trend; just look at our federal government right now and see what they represent. However, Canadians will demand their healthcare, and it will not be there for them unless they can pay for it privately because the public purse will shrink. As I see it, the healthcare system will just be the shell of its former self.

With all of this doom-and-gloom, getting a job right in the middle of the economic downturn is a triumph of both good fortune and hard work. Perhaps the real message I am saying here is that education is the key to weathering a good economic meltdown. We will always have labour in the workforce at any time, but specialists and professionals are always going to be in demand no matter where you sit in the business cycle.

Posted in Events, Family, General, Social economics | 2 Comments »

I Tip My Hat with Honour

August 15th, 2009 Thomasso

Since I’m on a run with catching up with all the of the blogging I have missed from writing exams over the last two weeks, I thought I would pay tribute to those who have worked hard and made it to graduation, before I call it a day. I know how much of a big deal it is when you climb the highest mountain, swam the deepest water or completed the highest degree, you just want to stand for a moment and breath it in, those priceless few seconds as you reach the summit. It is when your pen drops on the desk and you walk over to table at the front of the class and hand in the fruits of your labour that those few seconds start.

Very dew people will know how much effort, time and money went into reaching that point, the end of a very long road. This year, from my institution, an estimated 30 student will have reached that milestone in my degree program. Although I will not be up there with this term’s group of graduates, basking in the limelight of the convocation, I will be there as a spectator as several of my friends have invited me to share this highly prestigious moment with them.

From my last Monday class, lovingly called CRIM4900, I found that six or seven of the student in that class alone were spending there last few moments as students as they handed in their exams. At this level, all of them will have completed their Bachelor of Arts in Criminology or some other degree. They all have paid their dues, four years, 120 credits, 40 to 50 courses. It’s nuts eh?

So I raise my glass to you all for a job well done! Aaron, who I have had the privilege of sharing many group and research studies with in all those classes we shared. Carol, who showed me that no matter how hard-ass the prof is, they to are people and have feelings—although they sometimes don’t like to show it. Evelyn, Sheryl, and Candace who made poster making in social sciences that much more enjoyable—glue bonds more than the word to paper—it bonds the pen as well. Parhm, the silent genius who rescued me from the wrath of hard-base quantitative statistics and foiled the bell curve. There are many more, and I will miss you all.

Please queue the song, “School’s Out Forever,” by Alice Cooper 1972.

Posted in Criminology, Events, General, University classes, Video | 2 Comments »

Ala Prochaine!

August 1st, 2009 Thomasso

Some photos from the day after, after the Albion ferry closed.

Posted in Events, General, Photographs | Comments Off

No More Ferries in Fort Langley

July 31st, 2009 Thomasso

The radio said that 12:00 noon would be the last sailing for passengers and then that would be it. It was 2:23pm when I heard the last blasts of the fog-horn from the Albion Ferry. I think it was for the workers to get back to their parking lots who took the very last crossing over the Fraser River. One small part of me is sad, but I think Fort Langley will do very well without the drive-through traffic.

Funny thing is, you would never have known that the ferry was shut down today with all the cars parked in the down town core. I think for Fort Langley, its next big challenge is going to be parking, and Trans-Link may have the solution for both this problem and for its own money deficit: parking metres and pay-parking. Edit: According to Councillor Jordan Bateman, of Langley Politics Dotcom, Trans link does not have the authority to do such things as impose parking meters, etc…, however the township does, but has no plans to impose any parking fees in Fort Langley. He also adds that more parking is coming soon to Fort Langley: see the comments for this post.

Added Aug. 1st, 2009

From the CBC Web Site: Albion Ferry makes final voyage (July 31, 2009).

The Albion Ferry has been running since June 3, 1957.

I have some photos from when I went down to the dock, but the ferry had already shut down when I got there. There were still lots of people hanging about though.

Posted in Events, General | 3 Comments »

Some Canada Day Photos

July 1st, 2009 Thomasso

When I first got up this morning I took some photos because the sun rise was just so incredible. Seeing the sun comming in through from my North facing window is rare because it only happens for about one month each year.

Then I took a walk over to the IGA, then around the block over to the Post Office to photograph some of the rose bushes and grapevines that are just starting to bud along side the road.

Fort Langley was full of people walking about this morning. Maybe a little too much “engery” if the day gets warmer.

The classic overhead rose bush shot.

Down town, metropolitan Fort Langley, BC. The flags are out, and so were some people.

The stuffed Scooby-Doo toy, and sofa-cover mother gave me this past winter holiday. Thanks Mom! Everyone loves Scooby-Doo, and they just can’t leave him alone.

Posted in Events, General, Humour, Photographs | 5 Comments »

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

July 1st, 2009 Thomasso

The weather is perfect. People are everywhere. Everywhere you look there are red and white flags. But best of all, the traffic is normal. Canada is now 142 years old, young by global standards, but not a bad milestone for country that seems to get along with its neighbours and the rest of world—war and conflict are very minor.

But most important: what a great excuse to have the day off from work—and get paid for it too!

The flag is from: http://3dflags.com/

Posted in Events, General, Photographs | Comments Off

The Solstice Celebrations

June 21st, 2009 Thomasso

The first day of summer is just another blip on the calender, like the religious holidays, these events go by hardly unnoticed, unless the stores are heavily marketing them. Fortunately the marketers haven’t commercialized this summer Solstice event, and for the most part they have kept quiet for this astrological significance.

I built a makeshift Sundial so I could watch the Sun reach its apex in the sky which would mark the longest daylight period of the year, when it reaches the highest point, but the cloud cover was so bad that I gave up on it and took it inside. I wanted to capture the shadow with my camera but the threat of rain and overcast sky conditions kept me inside for most of the morning when it took place. So what can you do? Weather is so unpredictable…

I have a neighbour who really took a interest in my Sundial. She asked what I was building, and I told her. She wanted me to get her when the sun reached the highest point so she could see it for herself. Of course that never happened because of the weather. So, it is interesting that some people do take a notice in these things, and that they seem to have a special interest with “old school technology” like my sundial. Perhaps in her own particular way she was celebrating the longest day of the year too?

The only down side to the summer Solstice is that from now on the days start to get shorter until the winter Solstice. However, I being the “back yard” astronomer that I am, I do know that there is this thing called the seasonal lag, which is when the Sun regulates daylight and the changing temperatures of the seasons, so there is always a lag from after the Sun changes from its Northern track then back down to its Southern track, or lowest point in the sky. The time it takes for each hemisphere to warm up, or cool down, is usually about three months. Therefore, the days maybe getting shorter, but the average temperature overall will increase for the next few months.

There are still some good days ahead for Sun worshipping—don’t worry.

Posted in Astronomy, Events, General | Comments Off

Happy Summer Time!

June 21st, 2009 Thomasso

Yes, finally, it is Summer! As of (proximately) 10:00am this morning, the Sun will have reached its maximum point in the sky for the Northern Hemisphere, and from now, until Winter, the days will gradually get shorter. But in the mean time, we have four months of Summer! Enjoy!

I’m sure glad I can spend today at home, and today being the first day of summer, it should be a national holiday.

Posted in Astronomy, Events, General | Comments Off

The Victoria Day Weekend May day Parade: It Rained.

May 18th, 2009 Thomasso

It was starting to look promising outside, even thought it was overcast, but the clouds were very high and it seemed that the sun could poke out among them any time soon. When I got down to Glover Road the crowds were noticeably thin, but slowly people started coming down to the side walks. There was the twenty or so member band playing various cover songs and the parade marshal and the commentator setting up, but sky was getting darker.

Soon the parade started. It started with the police motorcycle patrol squad who do their tight turns and racing up and down the road routine. Once they were finished then the parade starts with the marching bands, floats and old fashioned vehicles. Because the weather was looking bad, there were not as many parade participants than normally. And on top of that, the parade route had being changed, now going in reverse as compared to past years, ending up at the Fort Museum instead of starting there. That was where the May Pole dancing was going to be held this year too. I never went up there because the rain had started to fall as the parade finished.

We were all hoping for better weather, but we must work with what is dealt to us, rain or shine the parade must go on. I was not happy with the quality of the photos I took either. It was just to dark out for parade picture taking. I turned off my flash and just snaped as many as I could hoping that at least some would turn out. Out of about 350 frames, 10 maybe were good enough for publishing.

The gloomy day didn’t stop all the kids from having fun. I think it didn’t really matter to them in least bit. A lot of the youngsters seemed to be very receptive to the Cookie Monster, which to me looked like that fast food mascot on a massive diet program, but I could be wrong and the blue guy was someone else completely.