Doug's Blog Archive

May, 2007

May 20, 2007

Normally on the May long weekend I would be reporting on my gardening adventures but this weekend the weather has been miserable. All I've been able to do is some prep work and weeding. To make the weekend even worse I had a flat tire. In the process of changing it I learned that aluminum rims can corrode and hold like they are welded to the wheel which can make it a real pain to get them off on the side of the road - at least the spare was in good shape so I didn't have that issue to also deal with. We went shopping for Stewart's first set of cleats to play soccer in. It will be interesting to see if they make any difference in his play. The following is a picture of him playing on his team - the "Shockwaves".

Stewart Playing Soccer

May12, 2007

Saw my first firefly on our acreage last night. Another sign that winter is over is that the acreage at Dragonfly Meadow needs to be mowed soon. However, Patrick has our mower apart to be repaired for his 4H small engines class. For all the new parts (piston, valves, gasket, etc) it is going to cost nearly as much to fix it as to buy a new mower. Fortunately, the extra money Wanda is earning means we can finally afford a riding mower. So guess what I've stated shopping around for? In Portage, at the price I can afford, the only two "quality" options are Craftsman or John Deere. There are also RONA, Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart house-brand mowers available but I have a concern with their longevity/serviceability. The following is a picture of Patrick with the dissected mower engine.

Patrick At Small Engines

May 5, 2007

Wanda is working for Elections Manitoba as an assistant returning officer. She will be working everyday until a week or so after the election on May 22. It is a new job with big responsibilities, new people to work with, and long hours. The job has barely started and she is already looking forward to it ending. It does however mean some extra much needed money for the Dragonfly Meadow household.

April, 2007

April 28, 2007

We have been using bed-sheets made of 100% bamboo fiber for the past few months. I was skeptical how well they would work but I’ve been impressed. Bamboo fabric is softer than cotton and dense and smooth like silk. Additionally the fiber comes from a rapidly renewable resource that doesn't require pesticides to grow. The only issue for me is that it is a fibre from Asia and not North America. I would recommend that people purchase a set to try them out – I suspect you’ll be impressed.

April 21, 2007

It is spring and the spring molds and pollen are in the air and my allergies are kicking in - my eyes get so itchy. It doesn't help that I'm cycling to work and it seems that the wind is always against me and injecting dust particles into my lungs and eyes for the entire 1/2 hour trip. Oh well if this is the price I have to pay to have nice weather I guess I'll suffer through.

April 14, 2007

Lately our yard has been invaded by wild turkeys. We seem to have several different small flocks that regularly visit our yard and especially like the area near our bird feeder. Certainly we've had wild turkey flocks around in the past but this is the first year they've become daily visitors to Dragonfly Meadow. Others in the Gainsborough area have made the same comments about turkey visits to their yards so the turkey population must be up in our area. The following is a picture of a particularly showy male wild turkey that was in our yard.

Gainsborough Wild Turkey - April 14, 2007

April 8, 2007

Happy Easter. Even though it is colder than normal It must almost be spring – No Easter Rabbits but I did see the first Robin in our yard today and the thatching ants were active on their mounds.

The thatching or "mound ants" construct mounds from small sticks, grass stems, and leaves and engage in "herding" and maintaining aphid colonies on plants – including our apple tree. They maintain the aphids for their honeydew and protect the aphids against natural control organisms such as wasps and ladybird beetles. They are fierce predators of other insects and as “leaf cutters” can damage the buds of apples, saskatoons and other fruit trees in the spring. They will swarm to attack and they can bite quite hard and usually spray the area they have bitten with formic acid to produce a painful sensation which can result in a blistering of the skin if it is not washed. They are very common in our yard. I took a close-up of some today, the picture is below.

Gainsborough Thatching Ants- April 8, 2007

March, 2007

March 31, 2007

I thought it was spring? I saw the first Canada Geese heading north about 10 days ago. I've seen a woodchuck at the edge of our yard the last couple of mornings and last night even though it was only 3 C there was a large moth trying to get into a window from outside. But when we woke up this morning there was 1cm of snow coating everything outside and the forecast is for a heavy snowfall tomorrow. You think being a long-term Manitoba resident I would know better than to get my hopes up so early in the year.

I've spent the last couple of days mainly working on our cellar. Most of the original wooden "walls" have rotted and the sand sides have started pouring through and weakening our house foundations and causing some house shifting. So I've had to shovel the sand back up and build new walls to hold the sand in place. I also had to install some telescoping jack-all poles to correctively raise-up some sections of the house. Fortunately the boys were able to help so the work wasn't as much as it otherwise would be.

The problem is that our property has a high water table - the cellar floods almost every year about a month after the snow melt (thus the urgency to get the job done now). Usually the flooding depth is only a couple of feet but two years ago (the wettest year on record) it came up to within 4 inches of the soil surface. Besides worrying the bejezus out of us, it was a final straw for the cellar walls.

Additionally, I can't use treated wood so the repair is likely only good for a decade or so. The groundwater is used as a water source and treated wood (which contains arsenic) is probably not a good choice, even though it would last longer.

We are only 1000 feet from the drop-off to the Assiniboine River this means that we not only have the naturally high water table from being on top of "wet sands" but we also get a "head effect" as the ground water tries to flow out into the Assiniboine but can't exit fast enough - so the water table rises and backs up - partly into our cellar. Living on wet sands is interesting - the water table can come within 4" of the soil surface but normally it is so dry that we have cactus growing in our back pasture (no I'm not exaggerating).

March 24, 2007

This past week I went to the MRAC annual meeting in Brandon. The main speaker at the meeting was Curtis Remple a former Grad Student contemporary from the U of M who is now involved with the Functional Foods and Nutracutical Centre at the U of M smart park. I found his talk interesting because I particularly appreciate the very logical way they are approaching development functional foods and nutracuticals in Manitoba. They are trying to determine fractionation "streams" from (and into) the biofeuls, biopolymers, food security, and health sectors, that are complementary and then develop them if appropriate for Manitoba. Additionally, as someone who suffers from high blood pressure and cholesterol problems I found his explanation of the physiology of "Metabolic Syndrome" and the roles of various components (e.g. LDL, HDL, macrophages, etc) in causing arteriosclerosis, type II diabetes, and myocardial infarctions, particularly interesting.

Thursday evening I took the 4H Introductory photography class to the new Portage La Prairie Wal-Mart to have a tour of the photo lab. It was an educational tour and the students got to take home a free photo and I was able to capture lots of good photos of the kids touring. It was a surprise to me, although it shouldn't have been, to learn that they use a similar chemical process to develop digital images as they use for film processing. On that day the photo-lab had about 15% of their jobs being film processing and 85% of their jobs as digital processing. Certainly this reflects the dominance of digital photography these days and doesn't bode well for me getting a good price for my used Pentax ME 35mm camera.

I was checking the web stats for country of origin for visitors to the Dragonfly Meadow web site and observed that a new organization has been visiting my web site - the "US Military". It may be purely coincidental (but not likely) that it is related to the fact that I have recently added a downloadable version of a presentation that has the following title: "Public Information Databases: The Agri-Marketers "Secret Weapon". I suspect the term secret weapon creates a red flag for the US Military search engines. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.

March 16, 2007

I recently picked up an APC Mobile Power Pack to use with my Palm T3. It is about the size of my palm and takes about 4 hours to completely recharge. It has a USB port for output so it can be used to recharge or power any electronics that would normally use a computer's USB port (e.g. iPod, cellphone, Palm). Shopping around I found that other external battery pack options were either more expensive or not readily available in Winnipeg.

My Palm T3 is approaching 4 years old and doesn't keep a charge for much more than an hour and half of straight usage. I have found that with the APC Mobile Power Pack I can type on my Palm T3 for a "full day" without recharging. Alternatively I have found that the fully charged APC Power Pack has been good for at least 4 to 5 complete palm recharges. Even while the Power Pack is charging I can supply power to my Palm. I did consider replacing my T3 battery but felt that an external battery, that would provide power for a longer period, is useable by many different gadgets, and doesn't involve any installation hassle, was my smart choice.

The APC Power Pack I picked up cost me around $70 CDN from a big box chain here in Canada. To charge my Palm I use the "USB to Palm" charger cable from my Palm travel charger kit, which I already had - so there was no additional cost there. Now when the kids tie up the home PC I know I can still do my “stuff” at the same time without battery level low concerns. A picture of the unit attached to my Palm is in the following picture.

APC Mobile Power Pack Attached To Palm T3

March 11, 2007

This time of year is a family events time of year. Starting in late January and ending in early March I have both my parents, Wanda's and Patrick's Birthdays and Valentines Day to boot. Given that I enjoy baking cakes for these events it can mean a fair bit of baking. I came across some neat candles at the dollar store I used for my moms cake this past weekend. They spell "happy birthday" a picture of them in action is below.

Happy Birthday Candles

March 2, 2007

I've noticed I’m getting shadows and red-eye with my Pentax ist DL built in flash. A "bounce" flash can correct this so I've started shopping around for one. Apparently old flashes can have too much voltage in their shoes and can damage a digital camera - so I can't just buy the first used one that comes along. However I will shop for a used one - new name-brand ones cost in the $300 plus range (e.g. Pentax AF 540 FGZ , AF 200FG) - nearly as much as the camera. I am looking for an under $100 flash. I've seen recommendations for older Vivitar 283 & 285 - but these have trigger voltage problems and need a $50 adapter. Alternatively I've seen recommendations for the Nikon SB-24/25/26/28 and the Sunpak 383. Additionally if I go new then the Vivitar 730 AF may be an option. We’ll see what comes my way.

February, 2007

February 23, 2007

I spent today interviewing for a Summer Student at the U of M. I have done this over 17 times and it is rather routine now. It is interesting how my questions have evolved over the years and so have the students. For example I will likely drop my computer skills questions from future interviews because if they are attending University or College it is given these days that they have adequate computer skills for our needs - that wasn't the case even 5 years ago. The students are also all trained to do interviews now - dress up, eye contact, etc, whereas years ago it was largely "just show up". It is actually harder to pick students now than in the past because it is harder to tell the keen from the not so keen - they all have their "act" together.

I went over to the University Center during my break. Just like the "olden days" Ditch ball was happening in front of Architecture and there was a line up at the coffee outlet (Tim's). Wandering around campus I felt like just another Student - but at 47 I know I certainly wasn't. I guess that what happens when you spend 10 years of your life going to school and/or being an employee of a Campus that doesn’t change much - it continues to feel like a "home". This also emphasized to me how much of a blur the last 17 years away from University have been. For some reason the last 17 years of SITCOM (Single Income, Two Kids, One Mortgage) lifestyle doesn't seem to fit as well. Just mid-life angst I guess : ) The following is a photo I took of the main Agriculture Building at the U of M.

University Of Manitoba Agriculture Building

February 18, 2007

January, 2007

January 27, 2007

This past week the new Wal-Mart opened in Portage. It is the "super-sized" model selling food, automobile services and garden supplies. It has been fairly busy as a new store but because it is so large the "crowds" don't actually seem that bad. Formally the Wal-Mart was in the mall roughly a quarter kilometer to the west. The Safeway store that is the other anchor of the mall is also pulling out leaving the mall very dead. There are all sorts of rumors as to what will move into the Mall. The latest I have heard is that RONA is moving into the old Wal-Mart location and Dufresne Furniture is moving into the old Safeway and Canad Inns is building a pub in the old Dufresne location. We'll have to wait and see what happens. The picture below is a picture of our new Wal-Mart - not any different then any Wal-Mart anywhere is it?

Portage La Prairie Wal-Mart - Jan 2007

January 20, 2007

I have been traveling to Winnipeg about once a week for meetings or presentations. I am finding parking in downtown Winnipeg much harder than ever particularly towards the middle of the day. Most of my "usual" lots are full and I have to spend 15 to 20 minutes looking for open lots or even a meter somewhere close to the government buildings downtown. I think it because of all the new offices and people downtown (e.g. CTV, MTS Center) but others at work blame the fact that there appears to be more single occupant vehicles driven to downtown. I don't think it is because there are fewer parking spaces - at least I haven’t noticed that – just more occupants. Parking for 4 to 6 hours in a parkade runs around $6.00 in Winnipeg which given the demand probably isn't that bad. My main annoyance is that if I know I am arriving downtown between 10:00 or 2:00 I have to plan to leave an extra 1/2 hour early in-case a parking spot isn't readily available - that was rarely an issue in the past.

January 14, 2007

I've spent some recent time investigating using non-standard fonts on my Palm. I use a Palm T3 which has high resolution font capability. There are a large number of software packages that will allow you to customize font use on your palm - I have tried Fonts4OS5, FontHack, Font Smoother, FontSubst, & FontBucket. I think I have finally settled on FontSmoother.

One of the main software packages I use on my Palm is an outliner package for the Palm called ShadowPlan. When ShadowPlan uses the default fonts it is cumbersome to read because the default font is too large for the tabular setup that I have setup on Shadowplan. Shadowplan is FontBucket compatible and I have used and created good FontBucket fonts that work well with ShadowPlan at High-Res but it is seems redundant to me to have FontBucket on my system because ShadowPlan is the only software package that will use that font software.

In my investigations I have found out that the recent version of FontSmoother (v2.04) can change the font on ShadowPlan and most other software packages I use on my Palm. I have also found that the Font "Charter 15 aa ker" is so far my favorite (best) font for reading files on ShadowPlan. I find for my purposes that the Charter 15 font has the best combination of small size and readability. To use this font I do not need to check the high-res font option in ShadowPlan.

Stewart is one of my students in my 4H Introductory Photography Class. I had assigned “homework” from the last class and we went out today to take some pictures. It was -24 C and felt much colder. The last class was on photography safety and the homework assignment was to safely take a picture of something that might otherwise be unsafe to take a picture of. We took pictures of a flowing and icy edged Portage spillway and a nearby electrified fence hydro substation. It felt colder then we expected and even the AA-battery power of my Pentax ist DL camera rapidly dropped so that midway I had to replace my previously fully charged batteries with warm ones from the vehicle. Below is a winter picture of the Portage spillway on January 14, 2007.

Portage Spillway On The Assiniboine River - Jan 2007

January 5, 2007

It is the New Year so I should be telling you my resolutions. I won't bother because they are the same as most everyone else’s and I will likely have the same poor success with them as most everyone else - if not then I will gladly brag about my successes at some later date. How is that for positive attitude : )

One of the reasons I started my blog was as a "public service" - to document or communicate some solutions I develop or ideas I encounter. That way maybe others with similar interests can waste less time or have access to alternative approaches or opinions. The search tools in google and other search engines makes this possible - just put it in your blog and someone with a similar problem might visit to read that section.

For example I think it is worth while letting everyone know about a 500g BeeMaid honey container we purchased a couple of months ago. It is unique in that it is a squeeze bottle - why haven't they done that in Manitoba before? You just flip the lid, squeeze the honey onto your toast, then pop the lid down and put it back in the cupboard. I was concerned that the honey might crystallize or that the squeeze opening might plug up - this hasn't happened. Kudos to BeeMaid for providing this option.

I have also spent some recent time adding some conversion factors to my HP48G calculator. The calculator does have a very thorough set of built-in conversion factors but it is limited in terms of agricultural conversions. For example it has the American Bushel conversion but not the Canadian Bushel which is about 3% larger. It also does not have the Hectolitre conversion. When I looked up how to add these conversions to the calculator neither the HP48 manual or web sources were very clear on how to do this. So I thought I would document here how to add these Unit conversions to a HP48G.

(1) The first thing you need to do is to decide on a four-letter (or less) abbreviation for your variable(s) of interest. The American bushel is abbreviated BU so I decided to abbreviate the imperial (Canadian) bushel as BUI. The hectolitre was abbreviated as HL.

(2) The next thing you need to do is to know the conversion from an existing unit variable to your desired unit variable(s). In the case of BUI and HL that is:

1 bu = 0.9686 bui & 1 HL = 0.3523 bu

(3) Next you press the VAR button and then create the following line 0.9682_bu 'BUI' with

(a) 0.9682 done using number pad,

(b) _ done using --> _,

(c) bu done using --> Units, vol, NXT, NXT, NXT, bu,

(d) 'BUI' done by keying it out using a,

(e) Then hit STO.

(4) Follow a similar approach to enter the line 0.3523_bu 'HL' and create the HL variable.

(5) You then need to press the CST button Then create the following line {1_BUI 1_HL} with keying methods similar to that previously described. This entry line is a "list" of the conversions you want to have stored in the CST directory.

(6) Once you have the "list" keyed you then enter it into the CST directory by using <-- MODES, menu, menu.

(7) Now when you hit the CST button you should see the BUI and HL conversion factors. These can now be used the same as any other unit conversions on the HP48G.

My oldest Son Patrick said I should liven up my blog - the new year is off to a great start with both food containers and calculator formulas in the same section. I hope my server will be able to handle the readership : )

December, 2006

December 29, 2006

We had three Christmas meals this year. The first on Christmas Eve at my parents in Gimli, followed by Christmas Day at home, and finally Boxing Day at my brother-in-law's apartment in Winnipeg. It was a traditional turkey feast at each - despite that I managed not to tire of Turkey. Not even the leftovers for the following week. My favorite "new' way to eat turkey leftovers is as a part of a toasted turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce (new to me) as a sandwich spread- Mmmm.

The Portage District Scouts & Cubs did a 5-pin family bowling night tonight. It was fun to watch the kids and their parents bowl and have fun. I think Patrick even had the occasional flash of fun. I designated myself as photographer and took some good and some not so good pictures. If nothing else it was good practice. It appears that what I need to learn most of all is how to get my Pentax ist DL to take better quality photographs when taking photos of objects in low light conditions when you are in good light conditions - the reverse works good. At least being digital pictures I can do some correction through the software. I find that I have to up the overall brightness and contrast around 10% and then further adjust the midtones 40% to 60% - then I end up with a decent picture. Below is a picture I took of Stewart bowling.

Stewart Bowling At Southport

December 22, 2006

I start two weeks off today. I was hoping that all I would have to do on my holidays was home and family related things but that isn't to be. I have a couple of Yield Manitoba articles to complete over my holidays - they are due my first day back. I had too many unscheduled things come across my desk in the final couple of weeks before my holidays that I had planned to use to complete these articles. At least writing articles is more enjoyable than some other "homework" I could otherwise have to do.

December 17, 2006

November, 2006

2006–11-26

We took a family getaway this past weekend in that faraway city called Winnipeg : ). We stayed on the 10th floor of the Pembina Holiday Inn. Our room had an interesting distant view of downtown Winnipeg. A picture of the view follows.

Winnipeg Downtown Panorama From Pembina Hwy

During our getaway we did some shopping and touristy-type stuff like taking in the Festival of Trees at the Conservatory and touring the Dalnavert Museum and House. This Victorian era house was built in 1895 for Sir Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929), son of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The following is a picture of Wanda and the boys in front of Dalnavert House.

Wanda and Boys in Front of Dalnavert

2006-11-17

I particpated in a MAFRI staff Leadership course for two days this week. It was led by Leigh Quesnel of HQS Consulting Services (www.hqs.ca). It was one of the best short courses I have participated in for a while. The objectives of the course were to define leadership, discuss its relevance, review the concept of leadership and legacy and to establish a means to enhance our leadership capacity. The course emphasized that although good leadership includes good management it is much more than that. Managers focus on systems and structures whereas leaders focus on people. Using the "Kouzes Posner Leadership Challenge" wording - leadership can also involve modeling, inspiring, challenging, enabling and encouraging. The leadership qualities of great leaders are that they are visionary, collaborative, skilled, innovative and mindful.

As organizations MAFRI and MASC are likely to be undergoing a process of continuous change - in order to assist a sector which is also under continuous change - agriculture. This is likely to be the new reality for many institutions - if they are to survive - they must evolve.Leadership can be defined as the capacity to influence people to move willingly in a new direction so as to contribute to the common good and leaders can transform either situations, or organizations, or people - that is why MAFRI and MASC is encouraging development of leaders in it's organization.

Leaders are also increasingly important in the modern world because of their ability to make progress on unprogramable problems. The world has continued to become increasing complex. Continuous rapid changes in technology and globalization has led to unprogramable problems (new & everchanging) becoming increasingly more common than programable problems (old and fixed). Programable problems can be addressed by "adopting" solutions whereas unprogramable problems need solutions to be "adapted". Managers are suited to adopting solutions whereas leaders are better suited to adapt solutions. In fact because in many instances we are "going where no man has gone before and when you get there it is likely to be different then when you started" there may be no "solution" possible. To adapt a solution to an unprogramable problem the best approach is likely to consult widely and engage in a process of trial and iteration. According to the instructor leaders will be required to accomplish this! "The past years were the times for managers, these are the times for leaders".

As part of the course we completed a Kouzes Posner self-test for leadership skills. Although I expected my "encouraging" to be weak (I partially blame our Corporate Culture) I was also humbled by how much poorer I did on the modeling, inspiring, challenging and enabling aspects of leadership than I would have predicted. By focussing more on thee things hopefully I'll become more of a leader.

One of the main messages of this course is the following "Contrary to the opinion of many, leaders are not born leaders. Leaders are made by their own effort, integrety, hard work and commitment. They choose to be a force in the process, they chose to make a difference."

2006-11-12

Yesterday was Remembrance Day. Stewart participated in the Portage services as part of his Scout troop. It was interesting to see all the uniforms, RCMP, Air Force, and even some men in oriental (Chinese?) military uniforms – I assume they are involved in flight training at Southport.

Remembrance Day seems all the more meaningful these days with Canadians fighting and dying in Afghanistan. The other day we went for coffee at the mall Tim Hortons and it was half full of soldiers. It was obvious how they arrived - there was a bunch of LAVs, gun turrets and all, with student driver signs on them in the parking lot. I assume they were from Shilo. It gave me pride to see the variety of strapping soldiers, male and female, that make up our armed forces. However, it was also disconcerting to think that in less than a year I could be reading about one, or more, of the soldiers drinking coffee beside me dying in Afghanistan. I guess in some ways we should be thankful that modern wars have relatively so few fatalities. The current Canadian Afghanistan casualty number since 2001 is 43 - during the 1st World War, in a single battle, the Battle of the Somme, there were 1 million casualties.

2006-11-04

This past week I took Stewart out for Halloween after his music lesson. He had great fun running from house to house, shouting "trick-or-treat, and getting treats. Patrick is "too old" to go out anymore. Unfortunately it was a bit cool out and given the recent snowfall many driveways and walkways were slippery. There were fewer kids out this year and I observed many of them go for a fall on the ice - fortunately they were all okay and Stewart never fell. Normally we get a couple of carloads come to our place - we had none this year - all the more goodies for us (unfortunately).

November 1 was "Take a kid to work day" where Grade 9 kids can leave school for a day to sample real world employment. Patrick came to work with me. He helped me with some simple spreadsheet work and stuffed some envelopes for Cindy. It seemed to be a longer day then he was used to and he "really appreciated the coffee breaks". I enjoyed the opportunity to show him off to my peers and give him some exposure to what "office-life" is like. Also it was an opportunity to let him know more about the important role of MASC in rural Manitoba and the small part I have in it. So, if nothing else, I hope he at least appreciates better what his dad does : )

October, 2006

2006-10-27

I found out this week what our lady beetle infestation earlier this fall was about. Apparently many people have been complaining about very large clusters of lady beetles on the sides of their homes and getting into their homes this year. Apparently these clusters are mainly a species that is relatively new to Manitoba called the multi-coloured Asian lady beetle. It has only been in manitoba since 2000. In it's homeland this beetle has evolved to overwinter in cracks on white cliffs and the most similar on the open prairies is our buildings. It can be identified by the black "M" like pattern on the white part of the thorax in front of the wings. I used a closeup lense on my new pentax camera to take this picture below. I could't do close ups with my old HP725 digital - it is nice to have this option again.

Manitoba Asian Lady Beetle

2006-10-20

I received my Pentax *ist DL Camera today (pronounced "Pentaxest" D.L.). I purchased it on-line from Black's - the order and delivery were problem free. I've been holding off for years in buying a digital SLR camera and I finally gave in to temptation. With this big ticket aquisition Wanda no longer needs to worry about getting me an anniversary gift, birthday gift, christmas gift etc - for the nextl year (or more).

For those of you who are interested the Pentax *ist is a 6.1 Megapixal auto-exposure and autofocus digital SLR with built in flash. It also uses AA batteries (readily available) and SD storage cards (already have some). What really sold me on this camera besides the value price was that it is compatible with the old very good lenses I had for my Pentax ME Super. I thought this additional benefit was of greater utility until I looked on ebay and saw that my $300 lenses from the 1980s could be purchased on ebay for only $25 to $50!

The Pentax*ist DL has "idiot proof"operation settings which are all I've really used so far. To get full utility from the camera I'm going to have to learn the manual features - this will gradually happen as I get more comfortable with the camera.

2006-10-15

We bought the kids some new captains beds this weekend. I'm amazed at how expensive twin beds and mattresses are. We did find some relatively inexpensive ones locally and bought them. One reason for their lower cost is that they are assemble your own - so I spent 4 hours putting them together. It was relatively painless except that the instructions include parts that were not exactly as illustrated - but I was able to sort it out - at least all the parts were there and everything was predrilled and lined up well. It will be interesting to see how long they hold up to the kid's wear and tear.

My brother also had his 40th birthday celebration this past weekend. We went and had a good visit with all. It’s hard to believe that his son Jack is also turning one this week and great to see Daphne writing her name and all – she is really progressing. It is really interesting to see how everyone’s children are growing-up, including my own.

2006-10-09

Spent Thanksgiving weekend seeing my parents and my brothers family in Gimli and then hosting my two brother-in-laws the following day. Despite the wind they helped me finish putting a steel roof on our barn - so at least one major project was done this year. Their help was really appreciated. We worked up until supper to complete the job and Wanda wasn't too happy about having to do the supper on her own - it turned out great anyways.

September, 2006

2006-09-30

Today was a ladybug day. It warmed up to over 25 C and the heat units were enough to cause a flush of ladybugs – the North wall of the house and the south wall of the garage probably had at least ten ladybugs per square foot for most of the afternoon. With snow likely on the ground in a month it doesn't seem like good timing to me - but who am I to question mother nature. When we were outside working in the yard we got so many on us you had to have someone brush you off before entering the house. Even with the pre-entry cleaning we let so many in that we had to use the vacuum to catch the 100 + that were flying around the house in the evening. I hope tomorrow isn’t as bad.

2006-09-22

This past week I was in Onanole or a two day workshop. Part of the workshop was a creativity/bonding exercise of your choice. My choice was to do geocaching in the Riding Mountain Park region. Geocaching is a bit like a scavenger hunt - but you use a GPS unit and at some of the hunt targets there are containers or caches which may be hidden that you try to locate. If you locate the cache you sign the enclosed logbook and can exchange an enclosed trinket for one of your own.

August, 2006

2006-08-29

I can now get my "pay as you go" Evolve cellphone "cards" from several locations in town (e.g.. Mac's). This really makes it convenient to update my cell phone time - I no longer have to go to the MTS outlet and have them tell me they are out of cards and loose my carryover time.

2006-08-25

This past weekend we took the family camping at Wasagaming in Riding Mountain for an early long weekend. We had a good site and the campground was relatively unoccupied. Each night the sky was moon free for the first part and the stars and Milky way were very visible. Also each night around 10:00 we got to see the space station do a pass over us. Didn't see much wildlife even though we went for a drive to the bison enclosure - didn't see any bison there, they were in the bush - they aren't called "wood bison" for nothing. The kids had a good time swimming in Clear lake and Lake Audy. While swimming in Clear Lake we had our most memorable wildlife encounter. Stewart had a close encounter with a young Muskrat which appeared disoriented and swam into the public swim area and within 6 inches of Stewart.

Camping is supposed to be the poor man's choice for vacation. But by the time we paid the federal park and camping fees, bought firewood, went through Poor Michael's Bookstore in Onanole, and had many trips to Clear Lake for Ice cream, etc, it ended up being an expensive "camp-out".

On our way to Riding Mountain we took a detour to my elementary school stomping grounds near Rivers Manitoba. We visited what was the old Obado airbase - all the old PMQs have been removed and the roads and lots have largely been overgrown. Even the railway I remember spending many hours as a kid walking along was gone. It also struck me that everything I remember as a kid being so far, and so big, really wasn't. Except for the main hanger - it is big, it is still there and is being used for Hog production. It was fun for me to show off my old stomping' grounds to my family - even though it isn't much to see nowadays. Its hard for me to fathom that many of my memories of the base are close to 40 years old already. Even the more recent memories of me going to Air Cadet Gliding School and getting my glider pilots license at the closed base are close to 30 years old!

2006-08-18

This past week a cougar was spotted at the Portage spillway not too far from our acreage. The family will have to be a little more observant and careful when out in our yard or going for walks. We'll also have to keep our eyes open for tracks. The neighborhood cougar may also explain why I haven't seen many deer in our area lately. I've also been taking my bike to and from work most days - I'll probably be a little more sensitive to my surroundings for the next while - I don't think I could out-pedal a Cougar :)

2006-08-11

I spent a day making a new yard sign for our acreage. I put a sheet of clear lexan plastic on top of the old plywood sign that was peeling. I trimmed the lexan to match the shape of the old signboard using a utility knife. I then sprayed the lexan with krylon spray paint for plastic and l;et it dry. I then printed off a poster of the sign logo and text I wanted using an Intermove poster program called Ace Poster. I then cut out the poster using a scalpel so that I could use it as a stencil mask. I then sprayed one side of the poster stencil with stencil adhesive and overlaid it on the sign. I then sprayed the sign with spray paint to give me the text I wanted. I removed the stencil mask and voila - I had my new sign. All our previous yard signs have been painted plywood and they only last for about 5 years before they need to be replaced. I'm hoping this new "plastic-based" sign will last longer. I’ve recently heard that there is a new provincial government policy regarding property signage along roadsides (even if it isn’t advertising) and I hope I won’t have to take down the sign after putting in the effort to renew it.Here is what the new sign looks like:

The New Yard Sign

2006-08-04

I read a recent article in the Winnipeg Free Press on how cell phones are becoming the next "PC". It is interesting to think about it. There are roughly three times as many cell phones as PCs, they are found all over the world and are generally more reliable as portable gadgets than portable PCs. They also keep getting smarter, smaller and faster. The newest cell phones have computer like features – processing power comparable to a mid-90s PC and the ability to send e-mail, browse the web and even can take and store pictures. Personally I prefer to keep my cell-phone separate from a PDA but it does mean I have to carry twice as many gadgets – maybe the next generation of cell phone/PDA technology will convince me that that an “all-in-one” is the way to go.

July, 2006

2006-07-28

When we were in Winnipeg to pick up Patrick from his canoe trip we went by Wanda’s and my old apartment block "Chelsea Court" near the legislative buildings in Winnipeg. They are all boarded up now and will likely be demolished shortly. Our apartment was beautiful with stone exterior, steam heat, hardwood floors, fireplace, sunroom, claw toed bathtub, etc Also the complex was home to many Winnipeg celebrities over the years from ballet dancers to Fred Penner. I guess the apartments had aged so much that renovations would be more costly than tearing them down and rebuilding something else - it's a shame. Well we were there we grabbed some hollyhock seeds that were growing on flowers around the buildings. Hopefully we can grow some on our acreage so that we can carry a little bit of the “courts” into our future - even when they are gone.

2006-07-24

Things are really dry here. We really need rain. We have to water our garden at least once a week to keep it surviving - let alone produce anything. I let the Swiss Chard get droopy and now it is inedible - it really tastes bitter now. At best we will only be able to eat new leaves now. The drought and heat is a particular problem since the Explorer is running hot and the air conditioner is shutting down. We've recently replaced the thermostat so I don't know what the problem is - hopefully it is something inexpensive. It is in the garage today being looked at.

2006-07-14

Wanda is back from her census job in Yellowknife. We survived OK but after three weeks of playing "Mr. Mom" it is nice to be back to a two parent family again.

2006-07-10

June, 2006

2006-06-30

I was looking forward to the Portage La Prairie Library annual book sale which started this week. Surprisingly all they had for sale at the current time is fiction books and of the fiction books very few are science fiction – so I haven’t bought any. I was looking forward to being one of the first to go through their non-fiction : (. It’s just as well as I am still working on the books I have purchased in the past. Currently I’m plugging my way through Tony Robbins "Awaken The Giant Within". This book describes how our unconscious beliefs control our behavior and how we can make immediate changes to accomplish our goals - Interesting, but bigger than it needs to be. I also have a copy of Steven Levitt’s “Freakonomics” on my Palm to read in those “between” times (between meetings, during kids swimming lessons, etc). This book explores questions like which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? Etc. I like to read, but after a day at the office largely spent reading and writing it is really hard to find the motivation or time to tackle a book - these ones are taking a while.

2006-06-25

The last couple of evenings if you go outside as the sun sets you will clearly see why we named our acreage “Dragonfly Meadow”. There are easily over 1,000 dragonflies zooming around our one acre of mowed yard – hopefully eating mosquitoes. This is exceptionally early – normally it isn’t until July or August that this Dragonfly outbreak usually occurs.

2006-06-16

May, 2006

2006-05-26

Saw a couple of rare sights at our birdfeeder recently. We had a couple of wild turkey hens and a tom at our Birdfeeder. The tom had a classic look as he was in full display with his chest plumped out and his tail feathers fanned out. I hope that our “flock” won’t get much larger than this. Neighbours about 3 miles away have a flock of 80 that regularly visit their yard. We also had an Eastern Bluebird quickly visit our feeder which is a very rare sight around here.

2006-05-19

April, 2006

2006-04-30

I recently heard a radio show where the cleaning expert guest was raving about how environmentally friendly and effective good Microfiber cloths were for cleaning windows and other things. I remember thinking we should pick one up. Well guess who called that night but an old friend who is now selling Norwex products (mainly microfiber towels) part time. Norwex sounds a lot like a Tupperware/Amway business so I don't want to get too involved - but we did order some cloths to try out. I'm looking forward to it arriving so that we can test it out - or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse not to clean the windows now : ).

2006-04-23

A while ago we were in Winnipeg and in order to give the kids a feel for the urban experience we took them on Winnipeg Transit. It was a short trip, the bus was about half full and a good mix of people were on the bus. Adult bus fare was $2 and the kid fare was $1.65. That meant bus fare for our little adventure alone was $14.60. Although I didn't have to worry about parking or vehicle security and I can appreciate the fact that we were being environmentally friendly. My gut still said we would have saved money by taking the car (even though on paper insurance, depreciation, and maintenance costs might say otherwise). It also made me appreciate more how families who can't afford a car likely don't find transit a much more inexpensive alternative.

2006-04-16

On a recent trip to the dump to drop off some old carpet I encountered a couple of turkey vultures. They were at the edge of the gravel road feasting on a road kill hare. It struck me as odd to see them here in Manitoba and that they were here so early in the year. In the 15 minutes it took me to dump my load they, and the road kill, had disappeared. That got me thinking about other animals I have seen in recent years that I never saw as a kid. In the Gainsborough Hall area I now see annually wild turkeys, tree frogs, coral belly snakes, and long-horned grasshoppers. I have also heard that there are flying squirrels around and I'm fairly certain I saw one land late evening well helping with a Cub Jamboree on Island Park. It makes me wonder whether the environment or climate is just better for the wildlife now or whether I was just less observant 35 years ago.

2006-04-09

March, 2006

2006-03-25

Patrick asked for and received a 2GB iPod Nano for his birthday It is a slick small device that can store and play a large amount of mp3 type files (songs, audio books, etc). At first I was a bit envious because I initially thought his iPod was "cooler" than my minidisc player and I began to think that I should be saving up for one. But after thinking about it I realized that the iPod it really isn't better than a minidisc player and that a newer version minidisc player/recorder would be the smarter purchase - if I buy anything at all.

Why minidisc (MD)? Many MD players are also high quality recorders - ipod can't do that. MD players are more robust - iPods are notorious for breaking down - typically lasting for only a little more than a year. I have a MD player/recorder that is roughly 5 years old and still going strong. The MD player is expandable - if I need more "space" I can buy more discs at roughly $10/GB (HiMD) - the iPod is not expandable. The MD player has a removable battery, the iPod doesn't. I think the ability to change the battery is important, especially if the player lasts for more than a year. The MD has a more durable finish - mine looks nearly as good as new after 5 years, whereas iPods are notorious for scratching up. The main advantage of the iPod for me would be it's smaller size and no need to carry around additional media - but the reality is that the MD and it's additional media is small enough.

2006-03-18

I recently attended a "Value Chain" seminar. It emphasized how in this competitive world producers need to compete on the basis of business design. That is the only way left to compete - a producer's ability to produce more for less can only go so far and every competitor is doing (or will do in time) the same. A producer needs to become a preferred supplier by cultivating "value" to buyers. For example: making yourself a preferred supplier (traceability, superior product, help with marketing); making it easier to purchase from you (supply on demand, supply multiple products); or filling a niche (preferably a premium value niche - health food, fine foods, organic food, convenience food). The "chain" portion comes from successfully reflecting the collective needs of the consumer, retailer and producer. For example product packaging would not normally be a traditional concern of producers - but it can make a big difference in marketing and valuing the product. This in turn will impact producer returns. The value chain concept suggests producers should be involved with product packaging along with retailers and consumers. Prior to this seminar I loosely equated value chains with vertical integration - I now know that isn't the case.

2006-03-11

I am finding the pothole situation this year ridiculous. It seems particularly odd to me that in this age of engineering marvels that we don't build roads that last. I know you can have things fast, cheap, or high quality - pick any two only. I just don't see how government works out the cost/benefits because it sure can't be cheap doing the on-going repairs. There must be some materials scientist or engineer out there who knows how to build a better road.

2006-03-04

At the recent MIA Annual Meeting they revealed some new member's benefits that I want to check out. One of particular interest is the cell phone plan. For about the same amount as we are paying for Wanda's cell phone we can have a buddy plan, with more minutes and with two new phones (and newer features).This option will be the benchmark for comparing any other plans in future. We'll be looking into this seriously when Wanda's current plan is done in a year. Maybe by then my company, MASC, or the provincial government will offer some special personal cell phone plans for their staff that I can also check out.

February, 2006

2006-02-24

I was listening to the radio the other day and they were discussing how some of the most famous progressive thinkers in the world often have a hard time accepting the progressive ideas of others – particularly if they had not thought of the ideas themselves. It is ironic that on the one hand these individuals can be some of the most progressive thinkers but on the other hand they can also be some of the most closed minded. It struck a chord with me as I have encountered this frequently in my 30 years of working. Some of the people I have most admired for their abilities as innovators or leaders often surprise me by outright rejecting or stalling good ideas - I guess even progressive people are human too.

2006-02-17

They main purpose of this web site was to get my thesis information available - and it is working. For both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. thesis I have been averaging roughly 5 complete downloads a month and another 5 thesis literature review section only downloads on top of that. In a year or so I'll start checking to see if it is translating to citations.

January, 2006

2006-01-28

I have been thinking about the "What books you would take to a desert island?" question. I really don't have a good answer as I don't really read for pure entertainment anymore. I used to be really into science fiction and true adventure type books as a teen and young adult but I haven't read any non-fiction in ages. I now only read to learn - mainly self help type books (e.g. David Allen's "Getting Things Done", Jeff Davidson's "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Reaching Your Goals", Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - to name a few recent ones). The self help books often help me to understand why some things happen in my life - but they usually don't help me do things better. Generally when I have time to read for entertainment I feel guilty and end up working on some chore or special project. The last thing I can do is relax and take some time and read non fiction - although I know I should. I'm a bit like the scholar who when asked if he had seen the recent article on such and such replied "My good man I do not read articles - I write them! So the reality is that on that stereotypic desert island I would probably prefer to spend my time writing rather than bring a book to read.

2006-01-20

I recently checked out some websites along the lines of  '100 things to do before you die'.  I was surprised to see that I have done a lot of the things on these listings. For example:

• Survive in the Wilderness - When I was in Air Cadets I spent one summer camp in "survival training", which unfortunately included getting lost during one orienteering sessions in the Alberta Rockies. Since then I have also done my share of camping and even taught 4H Outdoor Living courses.

• Scuba Dive in The Great Barrier Reef - I've never been fortunate enough to get to Australia but while in Kenya I did skin dive several times in the Indian Ocean off of the Coast of Mombassa. There was certainly no shortage of tropical fish during my swims.

• Climb on Mt. Everest (8,850 M) - I haven't climbed Mt. Everest - but I have climbed Mt. Kenya (5,200 M) during one of the worst times of year to do it. It was difficult enough to do that. In my group of 10 climbers only 4 of us made it all the way to the top. To experience snow and frosty wind chills at the equator is certainly one of my favorite memories.

• Go on Safari - I did many Safaris over my two years in Kenya. I have seen lots of African wildlife close up in their natural habitat. I have watched lions kill a gazelle, migrating wildebeests, giraffes eating acacia, scavenging hyenas, slumbering leopards, and parades of elephants. I even went on a multiday camel safari where we explored a game park while carrying ourselves and all our supplies on camels.

• Take in the Indy 500 - I have never done that but I have taken in the Kenya Safari Rally. Not only as an observer but as a helper. To me this off road racing is superior to its city slicker cousins.

• Get Close to a Wild Animal That Could Kill You - Well camping on Safari I was often within feet of all sorts of dangerous animals with nothing but a nylon tent separating me from them. I once drove to Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya and there was no room at the lodge I planned to stay at and it was getting dark. So I set up my tent on the beach away from the crocs that were on the opposite beach about 1000 feet away. When I woke up in the morning the closest croc was sunning himself within 20 feet of my tent.

• See a Tornado or Hurricane - I have never been near a destructive one of either. However, over the years as a cloud watcher I have seen several Tornados start but not touch down. In fact I remember one day at the Peony Farm back in the early 70's when we were playing outside and we all saw at least 10 tornados start - it was surreal - but it wasn't.

• See Northern Lights - Living in rural Canada, this is something I experience most nights of the year. Some nights are more spectacular than others, but it is always neat to see.

• Float Along The Nile - I haven't floated along the Nile but I have been in a boat on the Nile which took me to the Amun Island Hotel on an island in the Nile. What I remember most was looking out my hotel room and watching college students drumming, singing and celebrating (Graduation?) as they floated along the Nile in a longboat.

• See Birth of a Baby - I have assisted with the Birth of both of our boys. In fact our second son was even born at home. Been there, done that.

• Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride over the African Serengeti. - I regret not having taken a balloon ride when I was in Kenya. However, I did get the chance to travel as a passenger in both small planes (two seaters) and a glider - including spotting wildlife.

• Visit the Athenian Acropolis - When I was in Athens it was the first destination I walked to from my Hotel.

• Soak in the Mud and Waters of the Dead Sea - When in Israel one of my tourist destinations was a quick stop at the Dead Sea. I got to walk in it but I never got to soak in it.

• See the 7 Wonders (or at least the Great pyramid) - I have been to Egypt and toured the pyramids and other sites including Abu Simbai. In 3 days of flying and driving I saw most of what tourists see in Egypt - but don't remember much. It was too much, too fast.

• As far as Canada goes I have been to every province except Newfoundland and have taken in most of the Canadian tourist stops: CN Tower, Niagara Falls, Bay of Fundy, Peggy's Cove, Rockies, Banff, Stanley Park and Granville Island.

So I've done at least 15 of the top 100 things people recommend that people "try before they die" and feel very lucky to have done them. The next step is to look at the other 85, add some uniquely my own, and prioritize what I would like to do. Particularly if there are any that are affordable and can be done as a family.

2006-01-13

I was shocked to read in the farm papers that my Ph.D. advisor Dr. Ian Morrison recently passed away as a result of a horse riding accident in Alberta. It was unexpected and brought back many memories of him and his family. Wanda and I even house sat for his family one summer. He will be missed and we hope his family is coping with their sudden loss.

2006-01-06

I spent more time than I would like trying to get a $10 Bluetooth USB dongle working so that my Palm T3 can wirelessly connect to my desktop PC and surf the internet. This particular brand of dongle (CSR Corp hardware using ICT Blue Soleil software) is not covered in any of the palm/Bluetooth web pages (the one web page even recommends against it). My attempts to adapt other instructions for other USB Bluetooth dongles were unsuccessful. The Blue Soleil will work for file transfers but I can not get it to surf the web over a psuedoLAN on my desktop. If I can find a patch for the more traditional competitor's software I might be able to make it work – but no luck so far.

2006-01-02

I've been thinking about my personal response to the classic "the few favorite pieces of music you would bring to a desert island" question. I think I would bring some 70's "progressive rock" pieces from Yes, Genesis and Queen, maybe throw in some Supertramp, Boston and a few new age and classical Baroque pieces. It is not like I don't like more modern artists and music it is just that my favorites tend to be those from my teen and University years.

December, 2005

2005-12-26

November, 2005

2005-11-30

I recently had to ship a large number of forage samples to the U.S. for Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) Analysis as there is no Canadian Lab doing this analysis at this time. It was a real pain. I had to go on-line and register my company as a "Food Company" and obtain U.S. recognition as a food shipper. I then had to package every species for analysis separately for possible phytosanatary inspection. Every box had to have accessable customs paperwork on the outside and other info inside. Then I had to go on-line and pre-notify US customs that the material was coming (on a website that although relatively friendly has drop down menus with over a 1000 categories from which you must choose - very intimidating for an unsure newby). To complicate matters our main Courier (Purolator) was not recognized on their web system as an air shipper (but they are) which added to the confusion. The samples were shipped and did arrive and I have started to receive the results through email - so I must have done something right.

I understand why the U.S. feels they need this system and the basic process chart likely looks reasonable, but the practical implementation is onerous. This experience has really shown me the practical "paperwork" problems Canadian exporters to the U.S. must have to deal with. This must be especially problematic for small businesses.

2005-11-22

I am a fan of quotes and have a collection on my Palm of nearly 1000 that interest me. One night not too long ago I woke up in the middle of the night with an original one that I wrote down. I feel it describes the reason for anger in many people and how it should be dealt with.

Anger is the mask of guilt and shame. Pause, reflect, solve your pain. - Doug Wilcox

When I have some time to be creative I'll try and put together a series of similar style quotes for some of the other major human emotions. So far the emotions I'm considering are:

Fear, Sad, Happy, Lonely, Guilty, LowSelfWorth, Beauty, Confidence, Pain, Confusion, Love,and Motivation.

We'll see what comes together.

2005-11-12

October, 2005

2005-10-30

I recently revisited my "Myers Briggs" personality analysis and reconfirmed the personality type best suits me. I fall into the "introverted thinking type" or more specifically the "ISTP" type. The Myers Briggs personality analysis was developed as a modification of the typology developed by the famous psychiatrist Carl Jung. By knowing the personality types of yourself and others it is supposed to enable you to better understand yourself and manage relationships - professional or personal. I recommend everyone do a Myers Briggs test (lots of questionnaires on the web) as it is one of the more understandable and useful personality tests I have done.

I am an ISTP type which occurs in about 6% of the population. The ISTP motto is supposed to be "Doing the best with what I got". ISTPs are straightforward, honest, and pragmatic people who prefer action to conversation. They tend to make logical and private decisions, stating things clearly and directly, just as they see them. Because they are analytical, ISTPs are most interested in the underlying principles of things. Curious and observant, ISTPs tend to be convinced only by hard, reliable facts. Because they are realists, they are able to capitalize well on available resources, which makes them practical with a good sense of timing. Quiet and reserved, ISTPs tend to appear cool and aloof and are inclined towards shyness, except when with good friends. They tend to operate on impulse, so they are quite adaptable and responsive to immediate challenges and problems. Because they thrive on excitement and action, they usually like the outdoors and sports.

2005-10-22

I became an uncle again today. My brother’s wife gave birth to a 5 lb baby brother for Daphne very early this morning. He arrived earlier than planned but everything seems to be OK. My only other nephew is 18, and doing his own thing, so it will be interesting having a young nephew again.

2005-10-20

I just returned from consultation meetings in Richmond B.C. A geomatics company in B.C. is trying to develop a remote sensing/GIS pilot application for crop insurance and wanted input from the provincial agencies. I stayed at a Hilton hotel but Paris didn’t come by. The meetings were productive but the schedule and weather (drizzly) was such that we didn’t get to do much in the way of touristy things. Normally when I go to conferences I have a problem falling asleep but it was reversed this time in that I fell asleep easily but woke up early and could not get back to sleep. So it was nice to get home and finally get a full night’s sleep.

2005-10-15

September, 2005

2005-09-24

This past week I had a couple of unproductive days at work. I received a new "work station" to replace my traditional desk and nearly an entire day was spent packing things up, setting up the work station and unpacking and shifting things around. I have placed my L-shaped work station in the corner so that when people come in I have to turn around, but it makes my office seem much more spacious. It also seems that the the "study-carol-like" placement means that I have less distractions. Time will tell if it is a more productive setup, but so-far so-good. Additionally this week, another day was largely wasted as my computer was switched over to Outlook 2003 from Lotus Notes. Naturally there were a few glitches but surprising the glitches were not limited to Outlook but also Excel, Word, and Windows XP authorities. It took a while to get things straightened around but between internet FAQs and our IT people it appears to be sorted out. With Outlook functions work in a more seemless manner and as a result I think I will be much happier with it than Notes.

2005-09-17

This year’s excess moisture didn’t hurt our garden too bad – mainly because of the mild to warm weather in the late summer after the flooding. Although the garden was set back during the flood period it recovered well. We had a bumper crop of snap beans, cucumbers and peppers. Our tomatoes were good except that blight prematurely ripened the plants. Onions, carrots, zucchini, melons, and pumpkins also did well. Although shorter than normal our sweet corn was also a good crop – just ask the Raccoons who ate most of it before we could. Generally it was a great year for Dragonfly Meadow’s garden.

2005-09-11

August, 2005

2005-29-08

Dragonfly Meadow has finally been listed on some search engines. Yahoo was the first (within a week), then MSN (within 2 weeks) and now I'm just waiting for google (?).Hopefully adding a within site Google search engine will help with this - we'll see.

2005-21-08

The boys were upset this weekend when they found out that FOX is replacing their favorite saturday morning Anime type cartoons with Bratz and G.I. Joe cartoons. It is interesting to contemplate how these recent cartoons may be mirroring current american society. Bratz being glitzy females with attitude and ethnicity and G.I. Joe reflecting the current "U.S.-militarisim-is-OK (with our troops in Iraq and all)" attitude.

2005-20-08

We did a day trip to the Peace Gardens on Friday via the St. Leon wind farm. The wind farm is certainly worth the drive by. It looks almost alien in the rural landscape, but befitting what I might have imagined 2005 to look like back in the 70's - but I'm still waiting for my rocket pack.The peace Gardens were like the tourist brochures said they would look - lots of beautifully arranged colorful flowers. What was most disapponting was that both the floral clock and the world trade center girder displays were smaller than we expected.The boys really enjoyed the concept of jumping back-and-forth across the US/Canada border.

2005-17-08

I have just spent the last few days tent camping with the family at Spruce Woods Provincial park. It was fun camping and watching the kids paddle boating, playing minature golf, etc. However it seems that once again our tenting attracted rain. We had to cut our camping trip short by one day because of a rain on the last night - this is becoming an annual event! Oh well, even cut short it was still worthwhile doing.

2005-12-08

Patrick just returned from his 2 week canoe trip near Camp Stephens Kenora. He had only one word to describe his trip -Awesome!... Not bad for someone who had not even sat in a canoe before this trip.

2005-11-08

I was surfing the other day and found out how I can use Goldwave software to convert my Audible Books to Mp3 format. I can now listen to the audible books I have purchased over the last couple of years - even on Audible non-compatible hardware. In my case it particularly bugged me that I couldn't listen to my audible books on my Sony Minidisc player and now I can. I can now discontinue my Audible subscription, until I catch up on my listening, without any concern over software glitches or discontinued services limiting my ability to access the Audible books I have paid for.

2005-10-08

I have registered this website with many of the major and not so major websites out there. So far none of the "bots" have been by to record my web site - but hopefully soon. I don't care if I'm on the top of the listing - but I do want to be at least there. Especially since my one thesis has it's most utility in Eastern Africa and being on the web is likely the only way many researchers there will be able to be aware of it and be able to access it. It is interesting to me that some of the search engines say they will not list web sites that are "under construction" - in my mind this seems backwards. If the site is not being updated (under some sort of construction) then it is likely the one that is the least useful as it is now "dead" or contains outdated info.

2005-09-08

I am a fan of David Allan's "Getting Things Done" GTD system. I subscribe to the GTD_Palm Yahoo group messages and read many of them with great interest. What I've found is that there are many people facing the same irony as me - we waste more time trying to find the perfect set-up, constantly tweaking our to-do lists, etc. that we don't get as much done as we should.

2005-08-08

I used to have a Palm IIIxe with a keyboard and GPS and then I got a Tungsten T3. With the T3 I needed a new GPS and a new portable keyboard. Then after a little bit of surfing I found the "Bridge" <www.midwestpcbdesigns.com >. For roughly $20 US I could continue to use my Palm IIIxe keyboard and GPS. Although a little bit of jury rigging is required to make the hardware designed for the IIIxe fit the T3 - this is easily done. I would highly recommend the Bridge for adapting older hardware to newer Palms(especially if you have hand-me-downs or can pick them up at discontinued item prices).

2005-07-08

This is my first bog on my new website. The main reason for the blog is to get stuff off my chest. It won't be primarily a journal like most blogs, but more a collection of hopefully useful tips, thoughts, or half-baked ideas. The intent will be to publish something on an a pseudo-regular basis of at least one blog a week.