3D Astronomy display

This weekend has been busy with Joanna being here as part of her Summer break from Uni, and we've been looking after her. Lots of Motherly hugs from Angie to make up for the long absence. We look forward to doing the same for both Laura and Joanna after they graduate next year.

Taking a break from family matters, on Saturday I dodged off to the Museum to help out setting up a 3D Astronomy display with members of Nanaimo Astronomy Society. The end results are as seen below. Photographs by me, original images by Pal Virag and Nanaimo Astronomy Society




There are a whole heap more, but they tend to look a bit samey at the low resolution images I have available.

Fired

It's cannon season once more, and this lunchtime I persuaded Angie to come and video a noon firing at the bastion. I quite enjoy this little Summertime task, done in addition to my other voluntary work at Nanaimo District Museum. Corinne, one of the museums Summer students, does the speech and tries not to fluff her lines bless her little cotton socks, while I do the grunt work of loading, ramming and firing. Between the two of us, we've got the drill up to a reasonable standard, although seventy two seconds from load to firing isn't quite Navy speed. It's a performance for the tourists, and we treat it as such.

I always find the bangs quite satisfying, although today just as we dropped linstock to charge, two elderly people attempted to bypass the safety rope which we place around forty feet directly in front of the muzzle blast. This noontide we had what I describe as a 'good detonation' and gave our would-be interlopers quite a scare. Perhaps they will pay more heed to the numerous 'do not pass - Cannon firing at noon' signs we put up all around in future. The abject look of terror in their eyes as the gun fired a cloud of smoke and polystyrene wadding at them gave my darker side a brief twinge of amusement.

We were also graced by the presence of a Japanese TV crew who filmed the firing, which is why I was hamming it up a bit with the exaggerated 'parade ground' behaviour. Normally I don't say "Ma'am!" at the end of every command confirmation. Not that I think anyone noticed.

Tuesday is our Museum day, when Angie and I take a break from the day jobs and help out with research and displays. Angie, being the brains of the outfit, mainly handles research, while I help out with displays. Mostly this involves constructing displays which the display staff haven't got time to do. Like the overhead projection array which will be used for this Saturday's Astronomy event. It also means refurbishing and cleaning some of the mechanical exhibits, and generally trying to be useful by restoring various artefacts to working order.

This afternoon's result was a mounting stand for a Mine Rescue Rebreather unit, shortly to grace the inside of the new Coal Mining exhibit. Made out of two pieces of 5mm perspex shaped and bent with a heat gun to support the straps and mask, the intention was to display as much of the unit as possible with the maximum safety. David the curator liked the end result and dropped one of the display helmets from archive storage on its 'head' with a view to fitting a miners lamp. Debbie, the Museums General Manager also seemed quite pleased. The overall effect, once we get the lighting right, promises to be quite spooky.

Next weeks job is the mine lighting display, where we'll be trying to demonstrate the light given off by mine illumination devices such as Davy Lamps etc. As space is at a premium, that may prove quite a challenge. We've done voice overs for the miners biographies, researched events and characters from the past, and generally supported the full time display staff, who have had their work cut out designing and troubleshooting the rest of the mining exhibit. Today they were busy painting the coal seams in and fitting 'support' timbers.

Below is three views taken in late May just after the contractors had finished rendering work on the interior of the exhibit and the floors had been cleaned. Rene and crew usually work constructing film sets for the Vancouver movie industry, or 'Hollywood North' as it is referred to locally. From a bare framework of blue painted steel sections it's come a long way. When you walk past the entrance it really is like being underground, and all Rick Slingerland's design work has really paid off, despite a mountain of hitches and hangups.

Having been involved almost from the beginning, both Angie and I are really looking forward to the opening of the mine exhibit. The end result of everybody's hard work promises to be very good indeed, and in some ways deeply poignant, especially when you read the casualty lists from various local mining disasters which I've heard referred to as a 'deadly tithe'. Safety records like those from the late 19th and early 20th century would nowadays rapidly see charges of corporate manslaughter brought against the mine owners. But then those were other times, and attitudes were different.

I like it, there's always something to tweak my curiosity on the nose. David has tantalised me with the promise of working on a very unusual outboard motor in the near future. One that doesn't utilise a propeller, but instead has some sort of oar based propulsion. Sounds interesting. Very interesting indeed.

Moving

A lot of moving going on of late. Over Christmas and new year I moved house. Angie had the common sense to absent herself to visit the kids and her mother back in the UK, leaving me on my ownsome to do everything.

At the Museum there is always motion. The new Coal Mining exhibit which I've been helping out with every Tuesday, the Bastion Cannons, which have just had their carriages refurbished, and the contents of Nanaimo Bastion itself. While the Cannons are Bailey and Pegg six pounders, the Carronades have a 'P MMM 1809' foundry mark on the barrel. I'm sure there's some form of reference out there somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

The two Bastion Cannons have had their carriages refurbished prior to safety checks on the barrels prior to firing, and we spent last Tuesday morning putting the carriages together for moving. The Quoins or elevating wedges, were fitted before we moved the carriages out of the old Museum premises before fitting the iron shod wheels. Cue much wisecracking about wheel balancing and tyre mileage. Then they were loaded and despatched to have the barrels remounted, which is a specialist task.

The Bastion, or the 'leaning tower of Nanaimo' as it is coming to be known needs around a quarter million dollars to remove, recarpenter and replace rotted structural timbers. At present, the temporary expedient of steel bracing is holding everything together. The only problem with said bracing is the weight of structurally unsupported steelwork putting extra stress on the internal wooden structure, causing it to sag to one side. For example; inside the first floor the main cross timber has two heavy steel C sections bolted along either side running almost, but not quite the full width of the first floor. The rot within the cross timber has spread to the point where the bracing C sections bolted to either side are beginning to have an adverse effect on the structural integrity of this historic building. The only real cure is to strip out the old 10 by 12 inch Cedar cross and supporting timbers and replace with new ones. The new timbers will need to be Fir or Spruce, as the City building code quite rightly doesn't allow Cedar as a structural material.

My own pet project, which is currently an overhead display projection on a nine foot diameter printed satellite photograph proceeds in fits and starts. Focal length is an issue, simply because even with a special short throw lens, there is not a great enough distance between the projector and the screen to fit the projected image. Next week I'm talking to an Astronomer with a view to rigging the current setup to create a special 3D solar display relayed via the Internet from a solar observatory on Mount Benson. Providing I can get into the workshop up at the old annexe, I can build a slightly better overhead projection setup, which should give almost a full image width, but what with me only there five or six hours a week, time is not on my side. Still, it's all interesting stuff, and there is so much to learn. Pictures may follow.

Real life continues to throw surprises my way. On top of being scavenger-in-chief locally for Tetra, I've been asked to serve on the board of Directors for another non profit. Unpaid of course. I swear this whole town would cease to function without volunteers. Not that I mind overmuch, it's just that paying work I'm allowed to do is currently a bit thin on the ground. This, along with recent currency fluctuations, have necessitated a clampdown on spending. Once the right piece of immigration paperwork is stamped our immediate restricted financial situation will ease as I will be able to take up several job offers without breaking the immigration regulations and risking deportation.

I have heard tell of would-be immigrant families who just get fed up with the long wait, give up and go back to their country of origin. All we can do in the meantime is keep up the voluntary work, try and keep our skill sets current and hope for the best.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Autumn

Fall has begun, the Maple and Birch are turning, and the time has come around to restart hawking my 130,000 word manuscript around the publishers. Not a prospect I care to face, but an unsold manuscript is just so much wasted time. So sell I must.

While the long wait for publisher replies continues, the realities of life intrude, and a day job must be found. To this end I have enlisted on a month long programme which I hope will help me land a full time job in this new land. Have spent the past week simply on establishing what kind of career I am truly suited for. Four separate personality assessments have been completed; Myers-Briggs and three others. The supreme irony is that they all said more or less the same thing, I'm a Computer Technician who has an aptitude for Technical Writing. Which is more or less how I used to make gainful employment in the UK before the ageism kicked in and younger and much cheaper people got hired way ahead of me. Ended up scraping the bottom of the barrel fixing Printers and working cheap. Financially, it was getting pretty desperate. I can only shudder when I think of those times.

Now after a massive leap of faith, both Angie and I are enjoying life here in Canada. We have made our mark locally and hope to continue to do so.

The new Museum is up and running, and as soon as David the Curator comes back from a three week lecture tour in Alaska of all places, I'm sure we'll be getting phone calls to help out with further reconditioning and cataloguing artefacts. Angie has acted as an informal educational consultant for the new schoolroom exhibit, and I think my next project will be on the Coal mine or First Nations displays.

The Diver hanging up in the rafters is my latest contribution, and seems to work quite well, although if I'm asked to do another 300 shelf liners I might be tempted to demur.

Pleased to say I have just bagged a new project for the Tetra Society to adapt a controller for a clients mechanised bed, and am told by my Red Cross friends that they want to hire me, although I have to wait for another five days for the vacancy to be pushed my way. Apparently my application has needed to be okayed at National level because I only have a temporary and limited Work Permit at present, such are the complications that immigration throws into your lap. Am thoroughly delighted that Angie has been hired as a Teacher on Call for a local Private School. When all the work permit hoops are finally jumped through we can both take on things that previously were forbidden to us. I will be legally able to take on all the occasional paid jobs that keep getting nudged my way, and Angie can do some freelance home schooling work which one lady has been determinedly chasing her to do.

Summer has been pretty busy. My Mother came over for two weeks and we took her to see where my cousin lives on Saltsping Island, introduced her to some of Angie's old family friends over here and showed her around Victoria. Got a letter a week after she had returned to England to the effect that had she known about Canada forty plus years ago, I would already be a Canadian Citizen. I'm just pleased that she approves of our move. God bless you Mum. Two weeks after Mum's visit Angie went back to the UK to see Jo and Laura established in University, returning via Air Canada and Harbour Air in the Rain. Verdict; England is an interesting place to visit, but you wouldn't like to live there. She was glad to get back to British Columbia.

Went fly fishing with one of my visiting Brothers in Law and caught not a sausage, nor a fish for that matter. Saw hundreds of the things, but they just weren't biting for some reason. By Ian's intent expression you can see the frustration with which he was viewing the situation. Poor guy, he was so determined, but after we'd both lost a couple of lures each, at five we reluctantly called it a day. I'm more of a sea fisherman myself, and like a boat kicking under my feet and the taste of salt spray on my lips.

Amos, my dog, had found what the Bears do in the woods and much to my disgust rolled in it like it was body lotion. I scolded him thoroughly and towelled him down as best I could before consigning my disgraced mutt to the back of the Van with all the windows open. Angie has mooted getting another dog, possibly a Beagle in a couple of years, so Amos can have regular company while we are increasingly not at home.

Regarding communication with our hyperextended family, what with one time zone and another, we have nothing but good to say about Skype. This morning we were talking to Jo on a Skype call and it's a wonderful thing for setting your mind at rest. You get to see the body language, and the microphone picked up Jo's conversation with friends in the corridor when they dropped by. I have a feeling she's enjoying Manchester University a lot, especially if the kissing noises I heard were anything to go by when a dashing young male caller knocked on her door while we were talking. In the short time she's been there, she's fallen in with a terrific crowd by the sound of things, and I'm truly pleased for her. Voice over IP connections allow this kind of detail, and to do it for free, well, a big virtual clap on the shoulders for all the guys who make it possible. Thank you.

Ouch

Have elected to stop volunteer work for the next three or four weeks. I worked hard yesterday, fixing up a 70 pound diving display dummy for Nanaimo museum yesterday before my old knee injury tripped out. Served me right for electing to carry the thing down a gravel slope hundred and fifty metres from the old premises to the new place. My knee can go months, years, without playing up, then a mis-step or a slip takes me all the way back to square one. All this despite two bouts of surgery on the offending limb. Rather like snakes and ladders.

While I was sitting in the staff room, trying to coax the offending bits back into place, which is a particularly painful process, one of the staff came in and made a sarky comment at me like I was malingering. The phrase used was; "Well, I'll leave you to your suffering." What was specifically offensive about it was the tone in which this was delivered. In candour, there is a distinct impression that the person in question has 'issues' with my presence as a volunteer at the Museum.

This being the case, I think a short leave of absence is called for. There is the MSS to sell, Tetra work to do, and a family event to deal with. Ars longa, vita brevis being the case. That and my knee needs rest to heal properly.

Name check

Well, another little bit of local recognition. Tonight is the gala opening of the brand spanking new Nanaimo Museum.

A lot of hard work has gone into getting everything where it is, and tonight the local dignitaries come round to make speeches and have a look at the result of all the sheer graft put in by the volunteers and staff. Angie and I have been pitching in where we can, and I am mightily pleased to see several of the items I've helped restore on display. Am also dead chuffed to see both our names up on the dedication board just inside the museum door, as well as the Powers Cameragraph I worked on in its brand new home.

It's not quite the same buzz as seeing your hard wrought phrases in print and on sale in a bookshop, but it's getting there.

Tonight I shall be donning my best and only Marks and Spencers travel suit, best shirt and shades. I shall sip a spritzer or Ginger ale in a champagne glass because I'm driving, and maybe do a bit of hob-nobbing, or its Canadian equivalent.

Now all I have to do is translate this into a bit of publicity for the Tetra Society. Get my guys some new projects for Fall, raise some public awareness and money for my pet cause.

What I do when not writing

Well, there's the day job, and then there's restoring stuff like this for the new Nanaimo Museum. The top picture is of a 1909 hand cranked and much modified Powers Cameragraph No 5. The filaments in the hand blown Edison manufactured lamp look sound, and the lenses are in the main intact. Having spent some fourteen or so hours on this machine, I think with the addition of some electric cable and replacement reel mechanism, it would function perfectly.

As for the Columbia wind up gramophone. After a little spit and polish it worked perfectly, and in the photo is playing an old 78 record of 'It's a long way to Tipparary'
I love old technology like this when it works first time round. What else is good? Oh yes, Angie passed her BC driving test first time. The sun is shining. Wonderful.

Big month

What with one thing and another, early July 2008 has been quite intense. The best news of all is that I passed my British Columbia class five driving test first time. Written exam was Tuesday, the actual driving test this morning.

The test centre is a far cry from the miserable, dour experience of an English Driving test as I recall them. The staff smile. They chat, they banter, they celebrate your good news and commiserate with your bad.

I can understand the principle, Canadians like to be happy while they work because there's no percentage in being a sourpuss. Their business is to check your competence as a driver, not put you in a pressure cooker and send you through the whole bloody business several times because your nerves got in the way of your driving. They go out of their way to ensure you are relaxed and paying attention to the job in hand, which is driving a vehicle on the road. A big thank you to Elizabeth one of the counter clerks, Ken the examiner, and the irrepressible and very much larger than life Kat at the Nanaimo Drivers center.

In addition, the Tetra Society of North America, the disabled charity for whom I am Nanaimo's area co-ordinator undertook and completed their first project recently to help a little girl with a long term degenerative disease of her nervous system. All we did was fit some additional bannisters in her home so she could get up and downstairs more easily, but that's the way things work here. People give of themselves because they want to. I just wish we could find a few more projects for the local volunteers. There's a lot of legwork involved, and being new to Vancouver Island just drives home how personal everything is. Stuff is arranged through contacts, and to be honest, I'm struggling a little at present. However, nil desperandum and I'm putting my other talents to good use for the local Red Cross and the shortly to re-open Nanaimo museum.

The Local branch of the Canadian Red Cross has moved, and all the volunteers put their shoulders to the wheel. I helped out with a bit of computer wiring and some of the decoration, and everyone else has just pitched in and worked wonders.

As for the museum, Dave the curator handed me an ancient piece of movie technology and asked me what I could do with it. The Powers Cameragraph Model 5 was in pretty fair condition for a hundred year old hand cranked projector, so I've cleaned it up as best I can and it goes on display shortly, sponsored by the Shaw, the local cable company. Dave has intimated that he has another piece of kit he wants me to perform the 'laying on of hands', (A very useful talent for the IT support engineer as I once was) on an ancient phonograph.

I really feel like we're beginning to belong here.

Update: I got an award from my friends at the Red Cross last night! Totally bowled over, chuffed to bits and generally speaking quite pleased with myself.