Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Clearing out "stuff"

I tried to put together my mic and recording equipment yesterday.

Mic - check!
Mic power supply - check!
Cables - check!
Computer - check!
M-audio interface - ...............

SO, search the last known location, no luck.
Search most boxes in the garage, no luck.
Search crooks and crannies through the house......

No luck.

Stop searching and settle down, think more than look.  If I can find in in my head, I should be able to find it.

BUT, most boxes in the garage were shuffled all over as we helped my eldest sort out her stuff.

So everything in there has moved.

And now I've moved them around as well.  Which really didn't matter since I didn't know what was moved where anyhow.

It is just that when I start to get a little stressed I may not see what I'm looking for even if it is right in front of me.  Yes, my desk and work area looks quite the mess, but I know where everything is.  If anyone "helpfully" stacks all my papers and puts everything in nice neat order I'm lost!  Of course, it looks much better, but I have to sort through it all several times before I know where everything went.

So I have asked everyone else in the household if they remember seeing the missing box and now have a possible lead.  I'll try to find it again today after work.

Talk about killing momentum!  Ugh!

I'm still trying to get things moving.  With the passing of Grandpa and other things it gets hard.  I'll have to find out when the service is going to be so I can book the time off work.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Lee's answer....

Our instructor has replied to my query with a rather emphatic "yes!".  Of course, it is in my court as to what I want to do, but he feels I could do voice for animation/commercial things.

I will have to go over my notes on putting together a demo again.

I will also contact the local voice places to see if I can get a job or two, raise funds for getting back on Voices.com

Wouldn't that be a hoot.  Go from maintenance electrician to cartoon voice guy!

Why not?  It's not like I have to loose my skills or qualifications in order to try it out.  I just have to fit it in somewhere.

I had thought that the next learning curve was going to be sailing.  That will still be in there, but if I can actually do the voice thing, I should have more time to do the sailing thing.

So, the challenge is to get going on the voice acting while maintaining the electrical work.  Build up the the voice work enough to (maybe) stop the electrical work?  Really?  Could that work?

I guess it could, we will have to see what I can put together and push ahead.

School will be starting next week, our daughter is very excited to see all her friends again.  I suppose this unofficially ends summer.  :-(  No boat on the water this year, between the vehicles dying and everything else.  I will keep practicing in my head though, it seems to help with other skills so why not sailing?

OTM Traiing

Well, we finished off yesterday with Mr. Tockar.  It was a lot of fun, and we all learned a lot!  I currently have a small plot running through my head based on one of the voices I did.  I'll get it written down before it fades off, maybe we (as a former class) could produce it?  Hard to say.

Almost everyone else in the class were involved in the arts somewhere.  There were several actors, one guy who is already doing voice work, graphic artists, one fellow who is in the US Navy and me, the trades guy.

I realized after we left that I hadn't asked the one question I was hoping to get answered;

 Is voice work something I am suited for/can do?

Lee said we could contact him with any questions, so I will have to send him a note sometime today.

We will be getting all the tracks we recorded on the weekend.  Maybe I'll post one or two if they are good enough.  Maybe even if they are NOT good enough...  just for fun.

I'm sure I'll have more to say later.  For now, time to get to work!

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Voice work with Mr. Tockar, Day 1

Half way done and I have homework!  He wants us to be off-book for at least one of the "sides" (scripts) tomorrow!  So not only do I need to come up with two different characters for each read, I need to memorize them as well!  I haven't done THAT in a few years!

Maybe, if I pretend that it is electrical code.......

As for the other parts of Day 1.....

Everyone thought my Chicken was funny.  Lee said that no-one he has heard in the last couple of years "billboarded" the parts of dialogue I did.

He also requested I do my "Christopher Lloyd" voice for one of them.  We were asked to do accents as well, to pick ones that would challange us.

SO, I'm also thinking we will be asked the same for tomorrow as well!

He teaches from what he knows works, and does a fine job of it.  I will have to have a serious look at the sailing timetable and work timetable if I want to actually do this right.  I don't think I will ever be a Mel Blanc, but if I could even do it for a bit that would be awesome!  :-D

I think I want to try to do a couple low-register characters tomorrow.  Today's (except for one) were all higher.  I may halve to do some drill commands on the way there.  We will see if that still drops my voice an octave or not!

Friday, August 26, 2016

Tomorrow's class....

Tomorrow I have my first voice class.  I hope to see if it is something I can do.  I haven't done much acting, but I have always enjoyed making voices for puppets etc. and playing.

It is a class of 10, and I am going to try and go in and over-do it.  That should put me at a normal level.....

Some small stories....

Short sleep last night.  Our daughter had a friend over for a sleep-over, which isn't a bad thing.  but having them wake up and raid the kitchen at 4 AM wasn't very good.  :-(

I think the long rant the other day was just me working through some thoughts and reflections on life.
 I had been thinking about how my Grandfather was younger than I am now when he first held me.  He was there with as many questions as I have about life and the how and the why, holding his first grandchild.

He was happy, at least he looks it in the pictures.  I think he was still questioning what it was all really for.  23 years before that he was in France not believing he was going to see another week.  In what felt like a few days, he is holding his daughters child and is a grandfather.

He talked to me a few times about the war, no long in depth things, usually just short little ones.  We were talking about shooting and hunting once, and he mentioned that the open sights on the rifles they used could be aimed at a mile, but the post would completely block out the person you were aiming at.  You could see them coming, and though you didn't want to shoot this stranger you had to choose if he was going home or if you were.

He never talked about those sorts of things with enthusiasm or like he was re-living some glorious past.  It is a horrible thing to be put in that position, to treat other human beings that way.  At least now we are recognizing that the result of combat IS PTSD and it is not an exception, it is the rule!  I would question the mental health of anyone who could go through that and come out "perfectly fine".

Of course his generation still had the hold-over from WWI and you were expected to just keep your chin up and carry on.  After all, we wouldn't want the officials back home to have to acknowledge  any negative consequences to orders they gave.

Don't get me wrong, there are times when that sort of thing is the only way to stop evil.  But I think we need to recognize the full consequences for everyone involved and not allow the great wheels of advertising  to cloud our vision.  At least in WWI our officials were up-front and called it what it was;
PROPAGANDA

There was even a book written about it with that title.  They were amazed at how effective their techniques were in turning peace loving citizens into German hating fanatics.  I don't know if they realized that they were cashing in on the public trust in order to send tens of thousands to die in a pre-computer game of World of Warcraft.

And there was my grandfather, caught up in the middle of it.  I remember when I was little, I knew he had been in the war and that he had fought in France.  When I was in the corner store (Red Top) I would read the war comics and imagine what it was like to fight the evil Nazi forces, and how heroic that would have been!  Weird War, Sgt. Rock, Unknown Soldier, G.I. Combat, I wondered if my grandpa ever saw any of the planes or tanks in the stories, or captured any Germans.  I could not understand, being small, the horror that war is.  Those books didn't show it beyond some lifeless bodies in some pictures.  They did not overtly make it desirable, but the heroes lived to fight, not to go home.  This was in contrast to the stories I heard from the one combatant that I knew.  He talked about how they all hoped to get a "nice" injury and be sent home, like a nice leg wound.  It strikes me now how bad it must have been because this was while penicillin was just being tested.  A "nice" leg wound could easily cost you the leg, maybe your life.  But that was better than staying.

He told me of one time in France he and his partner dropped into their foxhole while some shelling was going on.  When they came up, their radio log book had a hole punched through it from shrapnel.  They both lamented that they hadn't had their legs stuck up in the air, they could have gone home!

Later, while digging another foxhole, they came across a wine bottle that was still full.  Gramps didn't trust it, but his partner drank.  He became very sick, and the next time grandpa saw him he was heading to a plane and going back to Canada.

Not Grandpa, his former partner.

Grandpa was just healing up from a wound and was being sent back to the front.  The other fellow had recovered completely from whatever had ailed him, but they had decided that he should be discharged!  Grandpa sure wished he had joined him in that drink!





Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Keepin' the Faith...

There was a little clip someone posted the other day, about Stephen Frys reaction to being asked what he would say to God when he got to the pearly gates.  It was a good clip, though many Christians I know would be horrified to hear me say it.

The YouTube clip is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suvkwNYSQo

He makes some very compelling arguments, and few Christians have compelling answers.

Why do we not have answers?  Imagine if you will that you are in Rome back in the early days of the Church.  If the early church only had the arguments that most are using today, I can not understand why anyone would change over to the "new" religion.  But they did.  In large numbers.

I hear so many Christian simply say how it is because the "wise of the world see it as foolishness" and because "they are not called."

This is not an argument, this is a cop-out!  I think we are missing something very fundamental about our faith when our fall-back is that "they are not called" or "everything happens for a reason".  Neither of these are true or helpful to anyone.  I think we need to examine what it is we believe about God, ourselves and authority because if there is no other argument to be made, why would anyone come at all.

I have a few thoughts.

First, I think we have allowed ourselves to miss represent God and what He has said.  Second, I think we do not understand the responsibility that comes with the freedom we have.

Often we are taught (and tell others) that "God is in control" and that he is "in charge of everything that happens".  Really?  Think about that carefully.  If that is totally true, then no mater what I decide to do, it isn't my fault.  Hmm.  Part of us knows that isn't true.  Also, all the evil that happens must be because God wants it to happen!  I think you are beginning to see the issue now.  It is this conflict of training that (I believe) caused my dear Grandfather to leave the faith after/during the war.  He saw things that he wished he hadn't, and all he had been taught is that it must all be because "God wills it".  Does he really?  If we believe in a loving God, who is pure and Holy, then either He isn't who he says he is or our statement is false.  Ah, but how do we reconcile an all-powerful God with events that appear to be either out of His control or that He is allowing?  My theory is that we do not have a real grasp on our responsibilities as humans.

Remember the parable about the vineyard owner  who leaves managers in charge?  Remember how the managers abused and mishandled the envoys of the owner?  Tell me, what level of power were the managers given over the vineyard?  Well, they were in charge.  If they wanted they could have burned it to the ground.  That is the level of authority and freedom they were given.  Now step back to Genesis and notice that humans were left in the management position here.  Hm.   Are we free to believe what we want for good or ill?  Yep.  That tells me that we have been given autonomy of thought and will along with the authority to act.  The early church were considered radical because they recognized a Higher Authority than the government and would not bow to Rome if there was a conflict between the two structures.  That was why they were persecuted, not for believing in Christ but because they recognized and acted with the authority that we have been given.  They were willing to be the better way and walk in it regardless of the consequences.

Now, I have met Christians who believe that only Christians have this kind of authority.  I find no basis for this in scripture and in fact the way much of the world runs shows that this is not true.  I theorize that for far too long the church has avoided teaching the authority side of things because how can you control people who you have taught that they are truly free and powerful?  You can't.  The "Church as a Business" model will not function because there is no one "over" anyone else.  In the early days we see Paul taking the Corinthians on over this idea of equality when they started to break into factions, following different leaders.  It was a radical shift of how humans had structured themselves in community.   They preached and lived that all were equal despite the culture around them.  They didn't do it perfectly, and there are lots of letters grappling with that.  But they understood that they had the authority to choose and the responsibility to do the better thing.  They were still free to choose different.  And it looks to me that they understood that.

So, I guess I believe that this wondrous universe was set in motion and that we have been put here to live and enjoy and be caretakers of the place as far as we are able.  There are some things that we can do little about, and there are things that we have caused ourselves that have tragic and long-lasting consequences.  I think we have a tendency to take credit for any good that happens, and then shove the "credit" for the bad onto a God that didn't step in and save us from the evil.  Kind of like how the banks loved to play the market when they were "winning" and how it became the "responsibility" of the Government (everyone else) to bail them out when the crash happened.  Like privatizing the profit from an industry and socializing the clean-up costs to everyone.

Stephen (in the interview) asked about bone cancer in children.  Good question.  Is it possible that we have not been careful with our food supply and chemical industry and have actually caused this jump in cancer rates?  We know now that researchers have often "adjusted" data to fit their curves and theories for years, so how are we to tell what actually is happening?  Maybe the same thing, maybe not.  Am I being heretical to say that God has left us to look after things and carry on?  I don't think so.  Are Christians giving support to the families of these children, making sure they do not lack for treatment and living funds?  Are we there beside them with simple human contact for encouragement and mourning with them when needed?   I believe that there are definite evil things that happen in this world, and I believe that we have a responsibility to oppose them.  I do not think we will always be given the reason as to why they are happening, and we have to admit that we don't know and not make up trite off-handed remarks as an answer to make us feel better.  I don't know how to oppose cancer in anyone, but if we found out that one of our major industries was the cause of it I believe we would have to lobby for its abolishment.  Things like that need to be shut down immediately (in my opinion) regardless of the "cost" in numbers in a bank somewhere or "jobs".  I would have to stop buying/using the products.  Do whatever I can to stop it.

Well, that was a bit of a rant.  I think that the struggles that my grandfather had were drifting around in my mind.  I don't know if he ever worked out his questions.

I hope so.




Rollin' Along

With some creative shuffling, we managed to pay off the mechanic and now have our van back and running around.  Yay!  This will make the weekend much easier.

Not as windy last night.  Too bad, it was nice with the cool wind blowing in through the window.  The sound of it through the trees in the area.  The noises the gusts would make on the window screen.

Instead, this morning it was the sound of cats crying at each other.  Not quite the same......

I managed to get to work in time to do my workout today.  I was late on Monday, that and my Grandfather passing meant I just couldn't push myself to to get up stairs for the 15-20 min I would have had.  But today, I got one in.

Now, to get this battery replaced in one of the beds.....

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Mechanical misbehaving

To try and rid us of frustration, the shop where our van (a Fourth Gen Caravan) was taken was told to go ahead with the repairs; a (successful) $850 "make this problem go away" bid.

I'm sure that the brakes are as good as new, but I find the price to be a little high for changing front discs and pads!

Grumble grumble murmur murmur....

The place we took our van for repair had been very nice to us when we took our old van in, not charging us anything when they found major engine problems that were non-economically repairable.

I think they just made up for that.

They called shortly after lunch to tell my wife that the van was ready.  I'm guessing they used standard parts, so about $250 worth, and about 2hrs labour at say $50/hr so they should have made about $500 profit on this one.

I know, "where on earth could you find a mechanic for $50/hr?!?!"
I'm looking at what they might be paying the workers, not what they charge for shop time.

$500 isn't bad profit for maybe 3hrs of work.

Of course, now we have to pay them before we can get the van back.  This should be interesting.

Pay-day isn't until next Wednesday.

....The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round,.......

It will make getting to my class this weekend interesting.  I'll have to plan out how exactly to get there on the bus.I'm sure we can cope.  It's just frustrating.  It increases our travel time by a large margin and limits out activities to places close to home.

Not that we have lots of things a long way away.  But even grabbing anything from the store will take 40min (20 min each way) of walking from the house instead of the 5 minute drive.

Ah, poop.  If it isn't one thing, it is another.  Do we really need to feed of of each other like this?  I don't mind paying reasonable amounts to get things done that I need done.  To pay someone $250/hr to do something I could have done, that just doesn't seem reasonable.

Maybe I will think of it as paying them $250 for checking out the old van and $250 for fixing this one.  It may make me a little less grumpy towards them and everyone else and let me be more gracious.  We did, after all, agree to the work at that price.

OK, time to check on some of the equipment here.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Monday, Monday....

What an off day today was.  I could hardly concentrate on anything.  Even got a call from the M4 tonight; a door wouldn't lock.  I headed over and got it working again, and that is two hours of overtime.  Which is good, because one of the brake pads on the new-to-us van let go sometime in the last couple of days.  There is the most awful sound of metal on metal, grinding and shuddering.  I knew the pads and rotors were going to need replacement, I had hoped they would have lasted a little longer though.  Ugh.

It still seems surreal to think of the world without my grandfather in it.  Not that I would expect to get over it all in a day.  I guess I am recognizing our family loss in the scope of the life of the society we live in.

This is happening every day.

Our elders are disappearing as we rise to take their place, as unqualified as we may feel to do so.  With our general lack of understanding about what the previous generations went through, I wonder if we will be able to avoid the mistakes they made.  I'm not talking about just the facts that the history books tell us, but about the real human hopes and fears that lead to those decisions that shape our world today.  It is only the stories and beliefs we remember from them that will be conveyed into the present or the future.  If we don't bother to learn and understand what they went through, then what will become of the lessons they learned?  We need to learn from the mistakes of others, for we will not have time to make them all ourselves.

I am late getting to bed tonight, with the call-back to work.  That leaves me four days to practice the assignments for the class this weekend.  At least I should be able to get to sleep before midnight.

The wind is blowing around the loose boards in the fence, clattering them like a large wind-chime.   I hear  a gate bang occasionally as the swirling air demands passage.  It should make for a nice cool night, though I might have to go out and latch that gate.  The banging is a little too abrupt!


Mourning


At about the same time I was wrapping up my writing last night, my grandfather joined the ranks of those who have gone before.  He was surrounded by family telling him how much he was loved.

The celebration of life is being planned for the end of September.  It may seem odd, but a couple of my cousins are having weddings, this weekend and then in another couple weeks.  Grandpa wouldn't want to impinge on their joyful events so we will have it after.

Even though he had a long and full life, it is sad to see him go.  He was the last of that generation in our immediate family.  That time period is now something for us to read about, no longer in living memory.

I'm not sure if I will be able to work very well today.  We will see.  If I can't, I'll have to take a sick day.

Vigil

Tough weekend.  First, my grandfather and his failed health, then the last 'hip concert.

Both because of cancer.

Cancer sucks.

I sit here yawning my face off, checking for news on gramps.  I dread it, yet know it is coming.  He hasn't eaten or drank anything for three days now; even a healthy strong body would be in dire condition, never mind one suffering from cancer and chemo.  At least there was an opening at the hospice house.  We did some electrical work there years ago, I remember the kindness of the staff despite the harsh job they had.  I've been told that my family is visiting with him, turning him over every few hours and giving him medication for pain.  He will not be alone, that is certain.

I had thought about running to Vernon to say a final goodbye, but would that be for him, or for me?  I was there a couple months ago and had a visit with him.  We chatted about his metal detectors, I showed him a booklet of war stamps I had found inside some of my other grandfathers things and he talked about how he had used his money from the stamps to buy a sack of peanuts.  It kept him in snack food for weeks!

There would be no talking now.

I'm not sure what would have happened to cause him to become unresponsive.  It wouldn't be his choice, I'm sure.  Maybe this has happened so that he can rest at the last, stop driving himself forward.  He learned to push to survive so hard during the war I'm sure it is quite the ingrained habit.  I'm not saying that is a bad thing, I think you should push ahead for as long as you can.  I just hope he is comforted as much as he needs.  He has not lost his mind to age, as sadly happens so often now.  Some might think that not being aware would be a good thing, but I don't think so.  He has lead a long life despite the circumstances he faced, I think he saw no reason to not simply keep on living!  And why not?  Fall was coming, berry picking and mushrooms and hunting.....

But his body has finally worn out.  That wonderful ability of our cells to replicate and heal injury has gone rogue and has wrecked the whole system.

Perhaps these last couple of days have been this way so he can come to an understanding of his life.

Perhaps these are things we tell ourselves to allay our own fears of the end that will find us one day.

For myself, I don't believe that this life is all that there is.  So tonight, as I sit in the dark waiting for news I can not change, I send out silent prayers that Grandpa John will forgive all who have wronged him as well as himself.  I pray he knows that we love him and will miss him and his smiles.

I'm sure that there is a parade of all his comrades who went before waiting to welcome him.

Especially Gump.

And there will be peace.

In only a few more years there will be no more veterans of WWII left to tell their stories.  If those remaining are like my grandfather, they have stories that they have never told, about things they hope no one ever has to know about.  I hope some tell their stories in full, about the things that we humans are capable of in those circumstances.  We enjoy the heroic tales, but gloss over and silence the uncomfortable ones.  The ones that show the madness that war brings.  Those are the ones we really need, I think.

We need to stop lying to ourselves, and mistreating our veterans.

Anyone who has been sent to active combat will need lots of counciling and support, and should be given it free for as long as it is needed.  I also think that the first pension payment for veterans who were under fire should be a cash payment in gold and silver based on face value.  (Gold Maple Leaf coins are $50/oz and silver are $5/oz).  Same for widows/families left behind.

Why?

Because it would be insanely expensive.  We would have to think long and hard before committing troops to any action.

Because we have the audacity to think being a soldier is just a job.

We ask these people to go into places on our behalf and face things that challenge the notion of civilization and sanity!  The cost has always been incredibly high, but not for most of us back home.  Put that kind of price tag on it and maybe we will start to pay more attention to what we commit our brothers, sisters and children to.  If it can't get to our hearts, lets give a kick to our pocketbooks.

I just checked, no news yet.  Work tomorrow, it is now after midnight and I need sleep.  I think I will take some Ibuprofen first; I feel the start of a headache.  :-P

I know this post hasn't included anything specifically about sailing,  just life.  But really, shifting to a life of sailing will include all aspects of life.  Even unpleasant ones.  I could avoid talking about them, but then it wouldn't be the story of an ordinary tradesman changing, just some dressed up facade with painted smiles all-round.  I don't want to do that.  That's not life.

Well, not mine anyway.  Goodnight.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Mixed Bag......

Well, today is certainly a mixed bag.  I received some very helpful advice on what to start studying from the folks over at Affordable Adventure Cruising and started to read up on that.  That was great!

On the other side of things, my Grandfather was unresponsive this morning.  He has been in chemo for several weeks and has cancer.  The family is gathering, sadly he is losing this one.  He received his final medal for his actions in France earlier this year, I hope he knows how much we all care about him.  His wisdom and knowledge and stories will soon only come to us from his memoirs which he lovingly wrote out over the last few years.  I like to read his recollections of the war in November as part of Remembrance Day, to bring into focus that these historic events were experienced and worked through by real people who didn't know if they would make it through the week.  Despite the horrors he faced, he never gives up pushing himself to go and do the things in life he wants to if he is able.  Even with the cancer, he pushed to get chemo and any surgery that might help.  He is not one to roll over and just pass on!  I hope to have the same attitude when I am 92.  He never stopped going hunting or fishing or metal detecting or smiling or giving kind words to his grandkids.  He is by no means perfect, but he would rather be the one to ask "Why not?" instead of "Why?".

It just points out again that though wonderful, it is a brief life.  The things we feel are so important need to be held up to the harshest of light if we wish to avoid the disappointment and loss of misplaced priorities and time.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Seasons pass.....

I was out raking some old leaves off the lawn and looked down the road.  I know that it is past the middle of August now, but it is still upsetting to see the traces of yellow start to appear in the trees.  It feels like summer just started a few weeks ago, but it is time to start gathering school supplies and clothes and look at what the fall will require.  :-P

I'm really needing to change something, and soon.

Only one response on the car so far, from a wrecker who will pay $120-$200 and come haul it away.  Maybe there will be another, maybe not.  If not, then by Friday it will be gone somewhere at least.

I'm also looking at other ideas to make my income stream more mobile, lest location dependent.  Very hard to do with a trade!  Hard to fix or wire something when you are not physically present.  I think that perhaps teaching electrical would be a bit more maneuverable.  Set up a proper on-line class with live feedback and posted transcripts and solid examples.

Until then, I will get busy with the jobs I need to do here at the hospital.  It would do no good to jeopardize my job when there is nothing to replace it yet!

Onward and upward....

Monday, August 15, 2016

August moves along...

Well, that was an unproductive weekend as far as the garage clean-out was concerned.  I almost got through.......one box.  :-(

Now, it is true I didn't get down to the boxes filled with old course materials or old textbooks.  Also, I did take advantage of the three days of no rain and I cut the lawn (before the rain reached us again!).  I am not giving up though.  I know that I can get it dealt with.  I haven't spent the time to "wade in", so I can't expect it to magically dissolve away in front of me!

I've signed up for the full website on Affordable Adventure Cruising and now can read the full books and articles.  It appears to be knowledgeable material written by knowledgeable people who seem very self aware of their biases and limitations.  I hope to have time (at some point) to actually read through the works in depth.

I've also got a response from the fellow who runs the classes at Ghost Lake.  There may be a Sept. class in the works!  That would be great....IF we can get the $$$ together.  Other than that, the course books and log book cost is $50 per student.  So if even only one of us could go in Sept. and the rest follow in the spring we could study the materials for a modest price.  He seemed very much against the idea, citing others who tried to study on their own and suffered poor outcomes.  I understand his misgivings.  It has been my experience that very few people can actually learn through correspondence-type training.  That, effectively, is what he is seeing with us studying at home.  He must have missed the part where I said we would all be taking the course either this fall or in the spring.

 I guess I'm just following what we did years ago with flight training in cadets.  By the time we sat down in actual ground school we knew almost all the material inside-out and backwards!  I see no reason why the same study practices wouldn't work for sailing and seamanship.  I'll have to write the sailing course instructor back to clear up any misunderstanding.

So, I have another week to try and get out into the garage and tip things away.  At least I managed to get the one old beast on Kijiji today.  If not gone in a week, I'm ready to drive it to P-n-P and wave goodbye.  It would have been nice to get something for it, but it is old and, honestly, used up.  It certainly doesn't owe us anything!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Mid-August View

Stormy again last night.  Garage still full.  :-(

The last classroom session for cruising has been moved to the last weekend in Aug, the same time as my voice class.  :-(

Still, I don't think the universe is conspiring against me.  I am getting beyond depending on the need for some expert to take me through every detail of training.  Yes, they will have many pointers from experience, but the basic information is not going to be any different.  I can learn to tie knots on my own.  I can review the parts of a boat and sails and rigging on my own.  The first aid safety information will be a review/specific application adjustment for me.  And the meteorology/weather will also be a review/specific application adjustment.  Same with charts and navigation.

Well, that is an encouragement.  I had only glanced at the pages of expected knowledge for the basic cruising standard and had felt some trepidation.  I see now that a lot of it is information I already know, but need to structure differently in my head.  I will have to contact the fellow putting the class on and see about getting the course material to study on my own.  I will see if I can come in at some other time and do the exam/hands-on testing to pass the classroom portion.

I finally have pictures of the dead car to post it for sale.  It needs work, but still runs.  With any luck, it will be gone quickly.  That should cover the last payment on the voice class, and free up space in front of the house.

It has been a week since the Brooks Faire, I will ask Radar if she has a place for a future forge/hot work area.  I could then get the smithing gear out to the ranch where it can be used/played with.  We couldn't go to the faire this year, our daughter was visiting that weekend.

I was in the yard last night and looked over at the boat.  A few leaves and bits sitting on the tarp that covers it, it seems almost disappointed.  It is not meant to be a lawn ornament.  Like ourselves, it was built for more than that.  Just like a lot of the bits and pieces I have accumulated.

I have been offered a gas generator by a fellow at work, a 6 kW model.  He was going to take it to the dump if no one wanted it.  He had been using it, but bought a new one with an electric start.  I should be able to do a quick fix-up and repaint and sell it to someone who needs it at a good price.  I'm thinking of putting a better muffler on it as well, to quiet it down since I've been told it is pretty loud.

Only a few calls so far today, that is nice.  I'll need to follow up on a parts order that I sent the office a couple weeks ago, we really need the parts but they may have balked at the price.  Security equipment seems to be able to command quite the premiums, and we lost some in a lightning strike a month ago.

I will have to learn more about the options for the blog page.  The posts feel more like a stream-of-life place, so I will try to extract useful data to easy to read pages on the side.

We have been reading through a couple books this last month.  Nerd Fitness and The Four Hour Work Week.  They certainly can be inspirational.  Not exactly my philosophy, I find there is a bit of a cold self-centered edge to the execution of some of it.  Also, Four Hour doesn't fit well with a service trade job;  there isn't any way to telecommute and replace a receptacle or service a motor.  Nerd Fitness seems to take a broader approach, leaving the adaptation more with the participant.  Both help show that the biggest limiting factor we face (in developed nations at least) is ourselves.


Thursday, August 11, 2016

Garage View

I managed to get a picture of the mess in the garage.


Maybe I can get to attacking it today?

It will a start.  I will need to get good at dumping if I expect to move us onto a boat.  Some things like furniture will just go as the house does.  Other things, like our extensive library, will be a little harder to part with.  I am wondering if a sea-can to store the things we just can't bring ourselves to get rid of would work.  In an ideal world, we would be able to buy a boat and a little place on the coast with what we would get for our house.  But right now that will not happen as we are in a downturn and Vancouver Island is in some kind of boom.  I suppose that if we found a lot that was inexpensive enough we could still do it.  Build a house when we return to land.  There are options.

We have found out that the sailing class has been moved to the same weekend as my voice class.  Grrr.  That's annoying.  They sound like knowledgeable people, and they use a C & C 41 for training on the coast.  I'm not sure what they use on Ghost Lake.  I will see if we can get the course material now for study, then take the class maybe in the spring?  Sept.?  How long do we want to delay?

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Wednesday Blues

I managed to cook at home last night, which gives us a couple meals worth of leftovers.  Yay!  Much less expensive than eating out.  Though I can really see the price increases at the store now.  20% or more on some items.  I wonder if they will increase our wages that much next year?  HA!  FAT CHANCE!  We will just have to do things smarter.

Have to still get out and into the garage.  I'll post a picture when I do, since I know I'm not the only one who has "stuff" fill any available space!  It feels sometimes that there is just too much that needs doing.  I think it is just my impatience talking though.  The boxes of things took many years to accumulate, it shouldn't be surprising that it will take several days (or weeks) to disperse it.

Of course, I could just go through wholesale and pitch things.  That does fight against my desire to do what I can with what I have been given.  So much of our society is self centered and self serving, we dump/discard perfectly serviceable goods because it is easier to just buy new later.  We keep the story of stuff going because we can.  Because it is easy.  Because we have socialized the negative impact and privatized the profit.  Oops, ranting again!  Sorry!

The papers I can recycle, the books, maybe the used bookstore?  Or maybe I could take some training on marine electrical systems and then teach/advise/design/repair systems for others?  A definite idea.

I should see if there is a market for an electrical systems repair instructor out on the water;  if that would be something that others would like to see.  I was an electrical instructor at a technical school for four years, and really enjoyed it and was good at it.  I'm trained in aircraft maintenance and am a Certified Master Electrician and a Safety Codes Officer here in Canada.

"I'm still a young man you know, I've got prospects!" - Phillipe the Mouse (Ladyhawk, 1985)

Still, it feels at times that there is more motion backwards than forwards.  There are opportunities, they will require work but could pay off well.  It is just pushing ahead with the groundwork.   We will see how tonight goes....

Well, it is raining quite hard this afternoon.  It doesn't look like I'll be able to drag much out of the garage today.  Maybe I'll look at what on-line training is available instead.  The website Affordable Adventure Cruising looks to have a great deal of good reference material, though it does cost a small fee to access everything.  To have access to such a body of knowledge and knowledgeable people will be a huge asset considering what I'm planning.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The plans of others......

Here is a link to the plan of someone else who made the change to the water;

Estrallita 5.10b - The Plan

They have recorded a great deal of information, awesome for reference!


Optional equipment

Just a quick list of equipment I think would be great to have for the whole document-the-change and voyage thing.....

Drone Cameras: at least two plus parts

With the new top-of-the-line models not only do you get HD video, they can auto-home when batteries are low.  This would make for some spectacular shots while underway, as long as it could handle the wind.

Fixed cameras on board.

There are times when everyone will be busy doing the needed work aboard and nobody will be able to man a camera.  From what I have read, most people would like to see footage of how storms and rough seas are handled.  With a few fixed cameras and a DVR video server (which I already have) the entire experience would be captured for editing.  I have a few cameras, I would need to get a couple night vision ones as well.

A robust computer X 2 (or more)

Humidity plays havoc on electronics.  So does salt water.  I would think having a solid working machine for navigation/auto-pilot mapping that backed up every half hour (or so) to a remote drive would be good.  I think that a spare machine that would be powered down in a water tight case and mirrored to the active machine once a day would be good.  I'll have to read more about how others are doing the management of electronics.  My perspective is that of someone who has never done this.

Duplicate mission-critical electronics

Be it GPS or alternator, at least one back-up stowed safely away in a water tight box.  Electronic bits also in a Faraday cage.

Just 'cause.

Sextant and a proper chronograph.

A sextant because no amount of electronic interference will block out the sun or starts, and being able to use one properly is something I consider to be as valuable as being able to plan a series of dives using the dive wheel.  Technology is awesome; having the skill and knowledge to go without it makes a huge amount of practical sense to me.  I will not put myself in the position of having to cancel a voyage over a software glitch, or having to miss a departure window because solar activity made the GPS flaky.

(Besides, Capt Morgan looks better striking a pose with a sextant and not a smart phone!)


I'm sure there are other items that I do not know about yet that will be required or will make life that much better.  I am still at the stage of ignorant incompetence about much of cruising; meaning that I do not know what I don't know.  That will change as I start to study the needed skills.

For now, dumping stuff into the bin is the challenge.....

Friday, August 5, 2016

Building a plan...

So, how to go about this "shift"?  Without a plan, it will never happen.  Everything will keep running in the same channel it has been and years will pass.  So a brainstorming is a good idea (IMHO)

Fund raising:  What is happening in the world and how can I do or show something different.

I know there must be others out there who would like to do this too, but perhaps want to see it done by someone else first.  I know there are many blogs and vlogs that show people striking out on the water, but most seem to be from an office environment.

What is it about us in the trades that we do not see this as an option?  Perhaps it is the dark side of the old work ethic.  The part that says you should stay in your stable job and do the stable things to keep society functioning and everything in its proper place.  Except I am not a thing, and who is to say what my proper place is?  Many good things come from a stable income and skill set; a house (mortgage), retirement savings, family, and many others.  It isn't until I look at trying to change the course of life that the scale of the channeling is visible.  Oh, I am free to change alright.  The cost to do so will be most of the larger "good" thing that being a tradesman brings!

It reminds me of my experience in university, when I tried to take an "Art" class while working on a physics major.  Being in the "Arts and Sciences" I naively assumed that I would be able to take a class on drawing or painting or sculpting.  I quickly discovered that the "Art" available to me was one or two English classes, maybe an economics class!  WHAT!?!  Yes, I discovered that university is about producing a product (the Graduate) for a market (corporations) and had little to do with "Higher Education"   It was a horrible disappointment to me as I had always had art as a class alongside my sciences and maths.

 Now I am in a trade, have taken much training and have definite skills, yet find the same forces at work to direct my "freedom" to where I "fit"!  There are so many things that would recommend trades people for the cruising lifestyle!  First of all, we can learn many technical subjects and how to apply/alter/repair them without much difficulty.  We often operate complicated machinery with great skill.  We are very good at assessing hazards and keeping ourselves and others safe.  We often understand the equipment we work with better than the engineer who designed it.  So why would a change like this be considered so "out- there"?  I don't think it is.  I'm sure it isn't for everyone, but the social cost and dollar cost seems to me to be way out of proportion to the act of trying it out.  I have been checking out rental rates of the boats and it will take a couple of years of squirreling $$$ aside to even head out and try it for a week!  Maybe a doctor or Jr exec. could just head out on a lark but generally not a tradesman.  I suppose there is an unspoken worry that if all the trades people were to run away to do what they dream of, who would be left to do the work of keeping society's machinery running?  In my opinion, we (as a society) have taken specialization and the enshrinement of the specialist too far.  We have entered the realm of co-dependent enmeshment  to try and guarantee our own importance in our various groups and it will not end well.  Perhaps a successfull departure will allow others to take the steps needed to break out of the ruts we are building for ourselves and our children.  After all, the rules of society are just modes of consensus and not laws to live by.

In order to make this a useful story to follow, I will need to lay out all the details of where I'm staring from and what changes are being made along the way.  So why not start now.

STARTING POINT

Current Job: Maintenance electrician in a hospital
Trade background: Residential and commercial work.
Other training: Aircraft Maintenance, Industrial First Aid
Licences: Drivers Licence, Pilot Licence, PADI diver
Marital Status: Married
Children: Two, one out of the house, the other in grade school
Spouse employment: Yes
Housing: Own (Mortgage)
Vehicles: One 2007 Grand Caravan  One project car, Two dying cars.

No summer cabins, vacation condos, RV's.  One cell phone (flip phone) no data.


WHERE I"D LIKE TO GO

Job: Reef survey diver, voice actor, trades instructor for remote places. Skilled sailor.  Inspiration for others.
Housing: a 45' to 50' yacht.
Other: It would be nice to have a few things stored back on the land.  Ideal if it was at our own property.  Maybe a place that could be rented out while we are away?

Now, to build the steps between the two.....


Garage...

I unloaded the loose bits from the front of the car last night.  Sunglasses, old cutlery etc from the glove box.  Inverter from under the seat.  Old jam blister packs from the console space.  I think I'll leave the stereo in.  It would be nice to have out, but is it worth my time?  I would have to take apart most of the console and dash to remove it, then put it back together with the stock radio.

The bigger question would be, what do I need it for?  Wanting something and needing are two different things.  Really, a lot of what I have stored are things I want; not immediately useful but when needed invaluable.   But how many "just in case" scenarios do I need to be "ready" for?

So here is my plan.  I have boxes of papers (notes, course books etc.) that I don't really "need" since I'm not teaching anymore.  There are also several boxes of books on electricity, motor control, power electronics etc. that I don't use.  Is it good info?  Yes.  Do I need to make myself into a library?  No.  I am always reluctant to dispose of books though.  Being non-digital, they are not subject to solar flares or power bumps.  But they do take up a great deal of room and weigh a lot.

I had visions of opening the garage last night and emptying box after box into the big blue bin.  When I started opening the boxes, I found lots of bits an pieces of other things, not papers.  After four boxes I was discouraged, having only found one small stack to recycle.  I have a hard time throwing away useful things, even if I don't need them!  Which means I need to build a plan about who might need some of this stuff and start delivering it.

Blacksmith Bits:
I have assorted pieces of smithing gear; small forge, bucket of coal, chunks of iron (anvils and stock).
I had hoped that Radar (STALC) would have a smithing space set aside and I could gift it to her.  OF course now isn't a good time for that since it is the middle of the jousting season and she is run off her feet.

Books:
If I'm going to try to put together any kind of on-line course, I will need to set that up before pitching out the books.  I could be successful is such a venture if I don't do what everybody else is doing.  I could limit the class size to a couple people, charge more than pennies a lesson and make sure the students understand what is going on, not just know enough to pass the exam.  Question is, do I have the time to start such a thing?

Electrical bits:
Man, do I have a lot of bits and pieces!  From fixture bridges to breakers to other parts.  It is nice to have them hiding there, I know though that I have needed to access those bits maybe once in the last 10 years.  That is a lot of storage for limited use.  There are also lots of parts for cosplay "projects" that have never got off the ground.

Networking bits:
I have several little routers and hubs for a networking project that I never got done.  It was to get WIFI out to the barn and maybe over the hill at Radars.  I have the technical info I need, I just need a few more parts and to build the antennas and install the lot.  I think I wold still like to do this one.  It would give me some valuable experience in bodging networks together and extending wifi.

Dalek Parts:
The Dalek we built for the Expo is in the garage.  It needs repair and then finishing if we want to keep it or give it to someone.  I wold like to finish it so that Dana could roll around the hospital here for a day end entertain patients.  Then, maybe give it to the fellow who is working on his big wood one?  Let a comic store display it?  Something.  It would be nice if it were seen and enjoyed.

Old Tires:
The old snow tires from the van need to go into the old van so when we sell it they are gone.  Same with he tires for the car.  We need to swap wheels between the vans since the tires are better on the old one.  I can do that, it should only take a couple hours.  :-P  Then I need to get the ads out and get them gone!

Other than that, I might write the fellow who is offering training on Ghost Lake to see about getting the course material to study.

Running one generator today.  Only 2.2 megawatts.  ;-)  Five minutes left in the test.  Time to watch the shutdown and make sure everything is working correctly.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

A 3 megawatt day....

I sit here, listening to the generators hum away in the floor above me as I monitor their operation.  I am currently putting out 3MW, about half of what the building is using.  Everything this week has been operating well, no surprises.  As cool as it is to have this as part of my work, I still can't see doing this for the next 20 years.  I just can't.

Some of the other sailing blogs have given me other ways to look at changing.  The one couple bought a boat, and took their training on it after.  A big advantage I see is there would be no reason to rent a boat to train on, and you are learning on the boat you will be using.  It would mean that the jump has been made before the absolute certainty of liking it is known.  A cruise with someone else first would seem sensible.  

Barb found a guy at Ghost Lake who does the cruiser training.  I will have to see if I can get my hands on the course materials ahead of time to go over myself.  I want to know that I know this stuff, like I know (at least knew) aircraft data.  He also does the marine VHF certification, which will be needed.

Gen 3 fuel tank is nearing the 50% mark, I need to watch to ensure the fuel transfer pump comes on to top it up to 80%.  It is loaded up with 2MW of load, still not 80% full load.  I can hear the turbochargers high pitch wail with the load, even through the concrete floor.  20 minutes to go yet.

I've been thinking about the possible electrification of the imagined sailboat.  It would be an interesting exercise, but it might over complicate the boat as well as take up needed space.  Though the motors would be smaller, the battery bank would be larger and I still want a diesel gen-set to be able to power the craft if needed.  It would be mechanically simpler to just drive the prop with the diesel, but there would be a fallback of solar/wind with the motors.
For batteries I would think of using LiFePO4 cells due to their amazing cycle life and lack of toxic lead.  They are expensive, but with over 2000cycles they should last over three times as long as lead acid.

The pump worked just as it should, the tank is at 80% and the valve closed, pump shut off.
Only a few minutes left in the test.  Then back to the main building for our monthly meeting.

My daughter and parents are driving to Calgary today.  They will be staying with my sister, Catherine will be coming down to sort through her stuff.  I need to start purging my stuff tonight or she will not have any room to do hers!  The recycling bin and garbage will be empty, so I will have somewhere to dump things.

Only a few minutes to go.I should get my head back into the "work" mode.  For now.  This idea that I am this certain cog meant to do these certain tasks is a bit wearing on the emotions.  The truth is that there is another way.  I just have to decide to live it.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Quiet...

Not really much to say about today.  I did manage to have a look at some more blogs about how to get out sailing, which was good.  I''ll have to list them here tomorrow, when I have a full keyboard to work with.  It was encouraging to see that others have done this successfully before.

Stormy night...

Not so successful yesterday.  We were invited out to the latest Star Trek movie, which was alright.  We didn't get home until late though, so no garage clean happened.  We did get some reading done.  I also managed to cook dinner up.

With limited sleep, I'm having a hard time remembering what things I need to look up today.  :-/

Also, I'm running the generators at work.  At least I get to produce 2.6MW/hr today....

Monday, August 1, 2016

Slow.....

Well, I managed to find out how much cash I could get for the dead car.  Not much!  A workmate said that if I could drive it to PnP they would give $300.

Their on-line "estimator" offered $69.  A little more than the value of the gas in the tank!

I guess I've got to do some fuel transferring....

I also need to chuck a bunch of stuff from the garage.  Our eldest is coming to sort her stuff and she will need some space to do it.  That leaves me with a couple days.

We will see how tomorrow goes.

Play the long game....

I tried to get something done today towards the shift, and managed to get a little progress.  I registered for a weekend class on voice acting.

I'm sure you are wondering what a class on voice acting has to do with heading off on the wild blue sea.  Well, I will need some way to earn some money that is not tied to one specific place.  I'm not a big writer, but I have always liked doing puppets and voices.  I think it is worth a shot.  By doing an actual class I hope to get professional feedback so I can decide "Yay" or "Nay".

The rest of the day was doing a family event of sorts;  we decided to head down to Kensington here in Calgary to see how their "Diagon Alley" event was doing.

They did not expect the crowds they got!  The police had to come out and shut down the streets!  Merchants who had participated had run out of the 'Potter treats and items that they had prepared, some having line-ups that took hours to get through!  Several shops we went through described it as being "...busier than Christmas!" and scrambled to bring in more staff.

There were lots of house scarfs and shirts, wands, pointed witches hats and broomsticks.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time.  Perhaps they will make it an annual event?  At least they would be ready for the crowds next time!



I was a bit disappointed in how little I did to move things ahead.  I have to remember I'm trying to play the long game, to build things carefully forward and not rush headlong into trouble.  If I cut corners it isn't going to work.