Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Watching Seals dance


In August 2008 while on a day trip to Gabriola Island I witnessed something I'd never seen or heard of before, something never seen in wildlife documentaries. A Seal, less than fifty feet from the shore was repeatedly leaping two thirds of it's body length out of the water and slapping its pectoral flippers and tail on the surface with repeated loud smacks! The day was quite warm, with temperatures sneaking up over thirty Celsius, and little cloud. Perhaps it was getting rid of parasites, performing a pre courtship display meant to attract potential mates, or just generally feeling good about being a Seal. At the time I thought no more of it.

This year I have witnessed the dance of the Seal several times, and even once today at Lantzville. A seal less than a hundred feet from the shore flipped over in the water and slapped its tail on the surface, dived deep then, as I'd witnessed near Gabriola Island, rocketed two thirds of it's body length out of the water before slapping down hard with its hind or pectoral flippers. Said acrobatics were performed two or three times, then the seal in question would dive for five or so minutes before coming up for air, staring mournfully about for five or ten minutes, then diving and repeating the display further along the shoreline. Recently I've seen the same behaviour in Dodd Narrows while I was fishing last weekend, and for several previous weekends all the way back to early September. Sometimes by more than one Harbour seal at a time.

A quick google search indicates that this water slapping behaviour is part of a pre-courtship ritual, so perhaps what I'm actually witnessing is a gathering of the local Harbour Seal populations lonely hearts club?

Monday, August 17, 2009

The view from my front room

Today Dodd Narrows is the colour of bright beaten steel, rippling and glistening in the late afternoon light. Our view framed by white primed architrave of our small apartments front door and fine pebbled concrete steps. From there the pale brown dusted green of a Canadian Summer lawn in the front yard bakes bordered by an aging brown picket fence. Beyond that, a steep grassy bank leading down to a roadside culvert. Here is where I have lived for the past twenty months or so, writing and working. The opposite side of the road is bordered by a three metre Leylandii hedge, a telegraph pole carrying electricity cables and a boxy electronic repeater belonging to the Shaw cable company bearing number 1128.

Almost hidden by the hedge is a square section white brick chimney stack capped with two louvered alloy stove cowls to draw the hot air from below when a hearth fire is lit, which it seldom is. The American lady who lives there during the summer months was taken ill recently. Her dog, an enthusiastic and loveable Flatcoat Golden Retriever, has not been around for several weeks. I can only assume the rest of her family is looking after him right now. The brown painted weatherboarding and northwest facing clerestory vent windows are all I can see of her house from where I sit. Beyond and to its left are two Douglas Firs and one of the curiously smooth orange barked Arbutus trees. After that is my view of the steely bright water, on the other side the Fir tree clad long barrow of Mudge Island, rocky shoreline a distinct sandy colour in this light.

Occasionally a yacht, sails furled and under power, dinghy tender bobbing in its wake, will drift northbound up the narrows towards Nanaimo Harbour. Sometimes powerboats will growl through at full speed, roostertailing white behind them. Small canoes with outboard motors will carry rod and line weekend fishermen out to where the big ones are mid channel. Every day we will see a Log boom, a three hundred metre plus long hawser linked scoop of logs being strenuously hauled, bullied and bumped southwards, sometimes northwards, dependent upon destination. Some for processing into paper pulp at the Harmac or the plywood plant on the other side of Duke point. Maybe Ladysmith, Duncan, or across the border to the USA. Maybe once a week we see one of the massive tar black hulled tugs, low and squat in the water, all brute strength and Diesel muscle, boxy white superstructures punctuated by square windows at the sides, hauling the rust and iron oxide squareness of a construction barge.

Overhead come the regular seaplanes on their passenger bearing missions to Vancouver and Victoria, turboprop and radial engines making their own archaic propeller driven sounds. The engine notes as distinctive as music to the accustomed ear, and bearing their own little mystique to West British Columbian skies.

During the summer, especially at weekends, it is not unusual to see lines of assorted boats queuing up to use this relatively narrow piece of water. A motley collection of pleasurecraft from a billionaire’s power yacht, scaled down ocean liners to Kayakers paddling against time to beat the six knot current that rips through the sixty metre neck of the narrows on a normal tide. At Neaps and springs, the current can reach a vicious sixteen and a half knots, forming tricksy vortexes and rips to carry unwary paddlers far south of Round Island before they can retain control. In the winter months this torrent roars, gushing southwards at the flood, but on languid summer days the narrows show their deceptively gentle side; silently running through tidal cycles, patiently grinding down beaches of discarded clam shells to pinhead sized grains.

Near high water mark this material forms whole speckled drifts bordered by crab haunted pebbles and sandstone shingle among man sized boulders of the local sandy grey rock. Otter and Gull discarded crab shells, pink and fragmented, add occasional spots of colour. Two landslide shattered trees sprawl across the shingle foreshore, one supporting colonies of dark blue shelled Mussels where its trunk lies mostly beneath the water, upward jutting branches forming convenient perches for fish hunting birds.

Up and down the strand every sub tidal rock coarsened by the calcareous teeth of barnacle encrustation, and bearing current stunted clumps of bladderwrack. Whip like kelp stems with their distinctive bulbed ends litter the intertidal zone. Tide uprooted eel grass adds highnotes of green to the high water mark. Weathered and discarded logs, refugees of long ago log booms populate the high water mark where they high tides and storms periodically rearrange them like some complex natural game of jackstraws dotted with occasional items discarded from passing boats. Above yellowish grey sandstone lined shorelines the deep upright green of Douglas Firs, Pine and Spruce stand at attention, ready to march over the landscape in countless regiments at God’s bidding.

These are the shores of Dodd Narrows, a relatively small but tranquil location by grandiose Canadian standards. When the humans aren’t about the Common Loon ululates its distinctive wailing cry. Where the Bald Eagles wheel overhead, spotting for passing Salmon or Herring near the surface, in early March glutting themselves on Herring as the shores turn a pale milky green with fish spawn. Shores haunted by Blue Herons and ululating rafts of strangely beaked Surf Scoter ducks.

851 Words minus title

Flesch-Kincaid Grade 11.2

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Is this a hoax?

Dear Account User

This Email is from Gmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every Gmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestion due to the anonymous registration of Gmail accounts so we are shutting down some Gmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account.

Due to the congestion in all Gmail users and removal of all unused Gmail Accounts, Gmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.

* Username: .............................
* Password: .............................. ..
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Google respects your privacy, to learn more, please read our online privacy statement.
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
Thank you for using Gmail !

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Fax: +1 650-253-0000
Google Online Services.

Gmail Customer Support
Sincerely,
Google Team

I use my e-mail regularly, so what on Earth are these guys on about?

Update: One quick google later. It's a fake.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Bang 3


Call from Alexis at the Museum. "Hey Martyn, we need someone to fire the Cannon on Friday. Can you help?"
Well, I'm up for it.

Have been browsing the web for information on our two six pounders, affectionately known as 'Lefty' and 'Righty'. No broad arrow marking so they aren't British Ordnance. From what I can make out they were made by a company called Bailey, Pegg & Co of Brierly Hill, Birmingham, England between 1760 and 1870. Cannon numbers are 476 (Righty, number on back of breech 1) and 484 (Lefty, number on back of breech 7), so it looks like they were originally part of a set for a ship.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Bang 2


Driving home last night, Angie and I were having a giggle about what hoops we'd have to jump through in order to fire a cannon in the UK. In a moment of mirth, I came up with this list;
Volunteers have serviceable cannon which has been restored to working order, they go to Mayor for permission to have a regular noonday gun firing once a week during the summer months to help boost the local tourist trade
  1. Mayor agrees
  2. Local Tourism agrees
  3. Town Council agrees
  4. Local Businesses agree
  5. Local Police agree
  6. District Council contacted; hold Health and safety inspection on proposed site
  7. District Council environmental site assessment, pass on request to County Council
  8. MI5 background checks on these crazy people who want to play with antique firearms in public
  9. Volunteers sent on five day 'health and safety with explosives' course
  10. Medicals for Volunteers
  11. Psychiatric evaluations of Volunteers
  12. Firearms certificate demanded
  13. Volunteers all have to have expensive gun safe's installed at their homes to store black powder
  14. Police background checks on all volunteers
  15. Firearms licence granted
  16. At least six meetings to discuss possible environmental noise hazard of one loud bang
  17. Cannon inspection (Cannon sent to Birmingham for proof firing)
  18. Health & Safety meeting between Police and County Council re firing of cannon
  19. Another Health and safety site meeting between Police and District Council
  20. Police certificate required by Chief Constable's Office
  21. Environmental license required from District Council
  22. Planning permission required from County Council
  23. Performing rights licence required from District Council as this is a performance in a public space
  24. District Council health and safety site assessment for siting of warning signs
  25. County Council health and safety site assessment for siting of warning signs
  26. County Audit officer identifies area of duplication, requests cost cuts
  27. District Audit officer identifies area of duplication, requests cost cuts
  28. County & District health & safety officers meet to discuss demarcation
  29. Council Chief Executive demands action after complaints from Mayors office
  30. District & County Council Health & Safety liaison officer post created @ GBP35,000 p.a.
  31. Vandalism to cannon requires the refurbishment of the carriage
  32. Minority pressure groups protest proposed cannon firing (League against Cruel sports, Anti Islamic defamation league, PETA)
  33. Noise prevention officer files complaint from local residents
  34. County Council Health & Safety site visit
  35. Area coned off two days before proposed firing
  36. Volunteers interrogated for six hours by anti terrorist Police Officers, lose two volunteers for unpaid parking / speeding tickets
  37. Explosives licence obtained for black powder only
  38. Criminal records check on all volunteers before purchase of black powder allowed
  39. Ten kilo's of black powder purchased because EU regulations forbid smaller orders
  40. 40% blasting Gelignite sent by suppliers by mistake
  41. Anti Terrorist officers raid Volunteers private houses again
  42. Gelignite returned
  43. Black powder finally delivered to District Council in error
  44. District Council refuses delivery, passes order on to County Council
  45. County Council refuse black powder delivery as they have 'no facilities'
  46. Powder returned to suppliers
  47. Powder re ordered and delivered to Volunteers house
  48. Anti terrorist squad arrest all Volunteers until intervention of Mayors office
  49. Volunteers released without charge
  50. Cannon sited ready for noon day firing
  51. Cannon given parking ticket by over zealous Parking Attendant
  52. Cannon stolen and melted for scrap by illegal immigrants
  53. District, County Councils fine Volunteers for 'non-compliance' with Planning, Environmental; and performing orders
  54. Volunteers jailed

Compare this with the Canadian approach; I got asked this question last week; "Hey Martyn. Want to fire a cannon?"
Me; "Oh yes please"
"See you at the Bastion at eleven thirty on Tuesday."

My 'training' took ten minutes. I cleaned the cannon, made a charge, loaded and rammed the cannon, set the fuse and fired it. We fired the cannon at noon. I'm still chuckling.

Bang

Today I got to load and fire a cannon. A real live six pounder cannon. I prepared the charge (Under supervision), I cleaned out the bore with a swab / rammer and set the fuse before igniting it. Thus I can state truthfully that I am one of the few people who has blown their wad all over Nanaimo Harbour. I'm completely tickled by the whole thing.

For the past few weeks I've been making replacement Tampions / Muzzle caps for the two six pounder cannon at the Bastion, Nanaimo; taking a mould from the original bronze and iron cap, casting replica's in resin, making a muzzle plug which is bound to the back of the cap to make a water resistant seal, painting and fitting them. Due to a distortion in the mould the new muzzle caps look more in keeping with the cannon than the old ones, which I still think looked smarter, but someone stole one and David, the Museum curator asked me to make a new set. This has been done.

Tetra are just finishing a really cool project, which is the construction of a voice activated switch. A couple of my volunteers are making a new microphone mount to cut down extraneous noise, whilst at the same time allowing the switch to activate the LifeLine service. Everyone is dead chuffed, as am I.

Literally dreamed a really cool idea for a new science fantasy show last night; even right down to the title. Have written a three sentence outline and done a few web searches. I think I've found an original and exciting idea which I think I can get really pumped about. Who knows, I might be able to work it up into a pitch to a studio.

One thing; I keep on getting emails from some blogging service who want me to give them my blog details. No. I've decided not to. I called this blog the 'best kept secret on the internet' for a reason; I don't do links or the whole blogging thing. I just can't devote the time to blogging when I should be writing seriously. There is a little message I'd like to share; guys, if you want blogs to add to your list, please include me out.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Reasons to be cheerful - and not

Ups;
Reason 1: The voice activated switch my Tetra volunteers made worked beautifully first time. It allows the lady we made it for to call for help and also answer her phone. LifeLine are dead chuffed and so am I.

Reason 2: Angie won an award for her work at the museum, and I managed to make two new lightweight tampions for the Bastion display cannon out of resin. Because of problems with getting the right mould release material (Detergent & other mould release agents reacted with the resin) there was a lot of finishing work to do. However, good result.

Reason 3: We've been bumped up the queue for our permanent residency processing by a staggering 18 months! My jaw hit the floor, and Angie and I did a little dance of joy.

Reason 4: Bought a new fishing rod, and now have both Fresh and Salt water permits for all of BC, which should be useful for when Brothers in Law are over this summer. The girls can do their thing (Shopping), while we load up the Bronc with beer and sandwiches and go off and do ours. Yeah.

Downs
Reason 1: My current work contract has not arrived for signing which means no money until it is returned. We've been having a number of late deliveries recently, especially since all the post was re-routed via Victoria.

Reason 2: I have to find my old school and college certificates going back over the last 30 years. This is not much fun as we have to get them a.s.a.p. Also I have to pass a test in French. This is not much fun as although I can get by quite admirably in France, Quebec left me tongue tied and embarrassed at my paucity of fluency.

Reason 3: Immigration Lawyers seem to be incapable of answering a simple question in plain English and getting documents from the BCCT to support Angie's application looks like a real Everest of a task.

Reason 4: Mother in Law is here for the next few months starting Monday; and while Lily is a decent old stick she does tend to turn on the old waterworks at the first hint of trouble. All I can say is that Doctor Who would have signed her up as his 'assistant' in a picosecond as she would fall and twist her heel forcing all the men to get massacred by the nearest Dalek.

Well, the scores on the doors look about even, and I'm inclined to think that none of the reasons not to be cheerful can't be adeptly turned about to our advantage.
On the 'down' front; Reason 1 means I get three paychecks together when my contract documents are finally signed and sealed. Reason 2 means I just have to do some French revision between now and May 30th. Reason 3 is just a matter of asking the right question, and reason 4 isn't so bad as Mother in law will be living at Sister in Laws place in town.

I can always go fishing.

Brainstorming meeting over coffee this weekend for my Tetra guys to work out some solutions to a few problems that have been thrown our way. I have to write some 500 word pieces for the local press so we can get some much needed publicity. Time to get on with it.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Getting better

Spring has finally arrived thank goodness, and we've had the all the doors and windows open this weekend to air our current domicile out a little. This Easter I'm hoping it will be warm enough to open everything up and hoover it to perdition. The pet freshening spray and baking powder shake 'n vac can only deal with so much dog.

Work permit documentation finally arrived last week, ncessitating visits to both Service Canada to update my Social Insurance Number and Service BC for Health Insurance. Hit the front desk of Service Canada at one minute past nine, and were out before twenty past. Considering there's usually an hours wait before you get to see a clerk, that's blindingly fast. Even Angie was impressed.

I have several new volunteers to look after, and things seem to be picking up on that front. Tomorrow is scheduled to be the day we fit a voice activated switch which one of my Tetra guys built for a lady with MS. After that I shall be doing the rounds of the local publications to drum up a little support, and perhaps a few cash donations for Tetra off the resultant publicity. That should amuse my boss in Vancouver.

On the voluntary front, today's little challenge has been fixing the First Nations Intranet display for Nanaimo Museum. Not a little HTML coding was required to remove all the tricksy little external links which were causing the display to crash all the time. The sound has been disabled because the Adobe flash in the remote browser was throwing up conflicts, and since the machine has no Internet connection, there was no simple and direct way of fixing the code by downloading the right update. Hey, I'm only a volunteer for six hours a week, and shouldn't really be getting this deeply involved, except that David the curator knows I love a challenge and will be back next Tuesday with the answer to his problem. Then the display will be sound enabled once more.

A second 'little challenge' for the Museum was working out a solution for duplicating one of the tompions in the cannon at the Bastion exhibit up on Front Street. That's another for next week as it involves making a direct silicone rubber mould off the original, and using that to make cast resin replicas which we will paint. I've also decided to work out some kind of lockable device for the cannon touch holes to stop the late night drunks stuffing sweet papers into them. There's a couple of ideas idling around in my subconscious, and when I go back and take a second look, I'm sure the solution will be pretty simple. Maybe a large Torx headed expanding bolt which fits flush with the top of the touch hole. Unless whichever merrymaker has a large enough multi tool with the right driver head, it should do the trick.

The old Magic Lantern project is almost completed, although with so many other things competing for my time, I'm not sure when I'll finish. Must ring its owner to let him know.

Angie is talking about trips to Victoria and Vancouver, and as we have her Mother coming over from England at the end of the month I'm looking for excuses to go fishing, even if I never do catch anything. Fishing is partly a contemplative exercise; it's not just about getting a big one on your hook, although that would be nice. Haven't bought a freshwater permit yet, as I'm not sure whether or not my two brothers in law will be interested in getting away from the womenfolk for a while. I should really remind both of them that I am bribeable with a decent single malt. Angie can take the girls shopping in the van, and I'll take the Bronco, after a suitable defurring of the back seat. Amos our dog loves having his own seat, but he does shed hair so, even despite a serious shearing three weeks ago.

Tomorrow is buying fishing lures and weights in the morning at Canadian Tire, and dropping Angie off at Literacy Nanaimo while I attend my Tetra meeting. I'll arrange another project meeting in a couple of weeks to get to know my new volunteers a little better over coffee, and update them on what's happening next. Whatever that turns out to be.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Small challenges

Tetra have picked up a new challenge, and I have three new volunteers to find projects for. The challenge is building a voice activated switch for a bed bound lady with MS. The switch has to connect to an emergency service via their equipment. One of my new volunteers is good with electronics, and I've handed the project to him.

Voice activation isn't new, but the challenge is filtering the background noise so that a cry for help doesn't get swamped by the TV. We've settled for a simple solution of a circuit with adjustable gain on the microphone that only reacts at an adjustable noise level. Then it trips the internal relay on the emergency equipment, and the cri de coeur alerts her emergency service provider. This lets her husband get out in the open air for a break for a while. I can only think what a terrible strain on their relationship it must be to have to stay within speaking distance 24/7. Cabin fever can't be in it.

On a lighter note, I seem to be fixing a lot of minor computer problems for friends and colleagues around the non profits locally. Funding is getting scarcer than ever, so they are glad of any help they can get. I'm also scrounging and cadging computer equipment for the local Personal Support Centre, which is due to open in Nanaimo 1st September 2009. Life is busy.

The Museum guys seem to trust me to get on with a job while I'm volunteering for them. Last week was making sure the ground anchors for some storage racking got fitted securely, this week was advising on video file formats and outfitting a video display case for a new part of the First Nations exhibition. It's only one day a week, but David the curator certainly gets a lot of bang for the bucks I don't get paid. I do it because the work is entertaining, varied, and I enjoy the little challenges. It's also a social networking thing, which will pay off when we finally get our permanent residency sorted out, and I then need local work references.

That's the thing about Nanaimo, it's a small city, and everything is personal. You are not a number in the machine here, you are very much a person in your own right, and valued as such. However, there is a flip side to this coin; behave badly, and word gets around faster than the speed of light. Reputation is everything.

Have recently found out about Canadian Vetinary costs. Amos, our fearless (not) hound, has recently been given his anti-rabies shots (3 years) and all his other boosters for the rest of the year, including one for Lyme disease. The bill came as a pleasant surprise. Being used to UK Vetinary fees, I was gritting my teeth and preparing to bite a very expensive bullet. Not only does my handsome mutt eat cheap, he doesn't cost much to keep healthy. This has caused me much relief. Even going to city hall to get a Dog Licence raised a mildly smug smirk. I found that in BC you only need a Dog licence if your local municipality issues one. We live 100 metres outside the city limits, and therefore save CDN$25 a year on him. Good dog.

On the personal front, I've still been feeling a little tense and restless lately. Angie isn't happy with me right this minute because I got a bit defensive when she asked me (For the third time in as many minutes) what I was going to be doing on a particular day, and who I was doing what for. The thing that irks me is that I try not to tell people what I'm about to do, because by the time I've finished telling them, I don't get time to do it. It was this nitpicking tiresome detail that drove me up the wall about UK bureaucracy. Questions like "What are you doing?" delivered in an officious tone, and then when you tell whoever is interrogating you, they want to know "Why?" and I was often sorely tempted to say sharply, "Because the little voices tell me to - now bugger off!" But I'm too polite to do so. That and being treated like a number that doesn't really matter. God, I hated that.

That is all moot. The UK is behind me now, and I will continue to build and work for our future, and the futures of Jo and Laura in this part of Canada. A place to live and work for Angie and I, and a place of refuge for the girls and any next generation they care to present us with.

I have to raise my eyes to the horizon, pick up my metaphorical feet, and carry on. Although I really could do with a break. Mother in law is due to visit for three months starting in May, and the prospect is far from thrilling. Hey ho. Onwards and upwards.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Work permits, stress and other stuff

Immigration to Canada can be a nerve testing business, especially when you see the processing times. My work permit was submitted for renewal in plenty of time, but after a forty minute phone call the other day, I found that there is almost a ninety day lead time on renewals if done via the processing centre at Vegreville, Alberta. The upside is that I'm allowed to stay and work because while my application is in the stack waiting to be processed, I have what is called 'implied consent' to continue as normal.

Angie is delighted because she finally has bagged a proper job and praise the Lord is all smiles again. We went down to the border to get her work permit last week, and for a change everything went as smooth as silk. No hitches, comments, hangups or anything; apart from finding that we had three files open instead of one. However, this is due to our Permanent Residency still in the queue for processing with 18 months still to go before someone actually looks at our application. Everyone was terribly nice to us, even when we went to do what is called a 'Flagpole' which is leaving Canada for the USA, stopping at the border post and after a perfunctory check at US customs, heading back to Canadian customs for the documents Angie needed. "When are you coming for a proper visit?" Asked the US border guard with a quick grin. Canadian customs were likewise easy to deal with. We even managed to catch the 12:45 ferry back from Tsawwassen instead of having to wait until 3:15.

Another pleasant surprise greeted us the following day upon application for a temporary Social Insurance Card Number at Service Canada. "Use your old one." Angie was told. This was a bit of a surprise, as her old immigration documents, including SIN card, were siezed last January by a Border Guard at the Peace Arch crossing. I recall her annoyance at being told "These aren't valid, you shouldn't have them." The Service Canada tax people and even our local immigration officer now say, and not without a little embarrassment, that the guard in question shouldn't have taken Angie's old SIN card and certificate of landing, even if the 2006 immigration rule change rendered them currently unuseable. Said documentation, we have been assured, will be returned upon processing of our Permanent Residency application.

Despite the relative ease of the transition I'm mentally exhausted. I've been living off my nerves for the past four months and it shows. I feel run down and tired, stressed out and just generally out of sorts. Nothing specific, just an all round lassitude that saps my normal exuberance. I've not been on form at all. My usual "go git 'em floyd" attitude is conspicuous by it's absence. Mister Brain is not playing ball, either, and processing capacity is distinctly reduced. Mental tasks that once took milliseconds hiccup like a scratched CD. Trains of thought have shunted themselves into rusty sidings and are refusing to move without half a gallon of coffee and a Tim Hortons Blueberry fritter as fuel.

All of this comes from the last five months when Angie was offered a job, denied a work permit because her would-be employers weren't paying the proper rate for the job, and her endless worrying at the bone of employment has eroded my own resiliance. Now she's all bouncy and chipper, and I feel like death warmed over.

Concerns over money have also been at the forefront of our anxieties, what with the exchange rate doing a nosedive. Only having one shot of cash a month has been worrying, but now we've transferred last years interest on our capital over here, and Angie will be pulling in a modest wage, things will ease up. We've spent close on CDN$1000 on fixing the brake system on our old Ford Windstar van last weekend, and there are costs like the Dog's booster innoculations, wash and trim, and dog licence. Then our Ford Bronco II needs some attention to the parking brake and fuel filter, then I need to replace my old laptop, which has just died. We can afford all these things now, thank goodness.

Upon reflection I think I'd like a Mac, as the retailers still trying to offload machines loaded with the Microsoft Vista operating system, which no-one I know likes at all. The various shops will 'roll back' the machines O/S to XP, but I'd rather have 2000, which is just as stable as XP, and rarely gave me any issues.

Am stopping volunteering for the Canadian Red Cross. Not really for any one reason, but just because I'm not getting anything out of it any more. There was also the issue that I felt excluded over the 150th Birthday celebrations in Victoria on 31st January. Everyone at the Nanaimo office was offered an invitation, even those who didn't want one, but me. I replied to the round robin e-mail, said "Ooh yes please." When asked verbally, yet never got onto the guest list. I'm vaguely annoyed about the whole business.

Have put my name down as a volunteer for the Nanaimo Global Film Festival in March, and will continue my work with artefacts and display building at the Nanaimo Museum. That and attending every meeting under the sun to promote Tetra. I'm confident this strategy will pay off in the long run. By the time I'm done, Tetra will have an office and workshop, so that people who need one-off aids for the disabled can drop in and at least talk to a human being.

The Museum volunteering is useful because we get invited to various functions and it helps us meet people like the Mayor, local MP, and various other dignitaries who can help our cause. It's a slow business, but quite interesting, and in the interim I get to work on old technology circa 1900 like Movie Projectors, Magic Lanterns and gramophones.

I'm currently spending a little time every week restoring an 1890's Magic lantern, the trademark of which is proving somewhat obscure. From what I can make out, it's a common tinplate model which were purchased in bulk by the Provincial Educational boards. The firebox is missing, as is the mahogany slide assembly, but I can fake those and as the lenses are in good condition, another few sessions and I'll have it working properly.

In the meantime I'm still writing and punting stuff out to publishers and agents. Maybe one of them will actually read my work, and like it enough to take a chance on a relative unknown like me. It's like promoting a charity, all it takes is time and persistance.