Corry or Bust

OK, mock me if you wish, but I love Coronation Street.  Years ago when I lived on the acreage and had no cable TV I got into it.  Sunday mornings the options were Tribal Trails, some French channel and Coronation Street.  Well the Street won.  At first I didn't understand half of what they were saying as characters have various english, scottish and other accents.  Not to mention the different terms and expressions for things.  Daft, Fancy man, cow, pint to name a few. 

When I was a kid that whiney theme music would come on for the street with the cat crossing the roof and I would tune out big time.  Who knew I would watch it one day.

Watching the Street has made me HATE American soap operas.  Anyone that compares them really hasn't watched it.  They are nothing alike. 

American Soap

• Beautiful People
• Rich
• Young
• Own Cosmetic Companies (at 19)
• Have had mysterious illnesses but lived.  Have crashed on deserted Islands but have lived to boff another womans man.
• Storylines that last forever. 

Coronation Street

• Not beautiful people
• Mostly poor working people
• All ages, actually many not young at all
• Die of actual things like heart attacks
• Die in one episode
• Drink, laugh and have pretty funny sense of humor (very Canadian like)
• Complain and row (fight) and have normal problems

Tonight on the street all kinds of crazy shit happened.  Like major! One minute people are drinking at the local and then buildings blow up.  There is more to it than that but good lord the story was intense.  These people actually seem real and it was stressful to watch.  That's good TV.

Coronation Street is actually extremely popular in Canada.  I watched a show about why this is.  They said that Americans watch American Soaps because they want to watch people they want to be.

Canadians watch Coronation street because they like to watch people they feel they relate to and are more like.  I thought that was interesting.

Anyway...My name is Tammy, and I watch Coronation Street.  Now its out there...I can't wait to see tomorrow night!

Till We Write Again

Well farewell sweet blog.  Its been a slice but I would rather not see you for a few days now.  I am not saying goodbye forever, just think we need a little bit of time apart : )

This year's summer blogging challenge was just that...a challenge.  I think I had a bit more inspiration last year as I covered lots of topics. But I didn't want to revisit them all again so I was trying to mix it up a bit.  Anyone that knows me knows I love cheezy music, ponchos, animals, food, gardening and movies.  This year I thought I would mix it up with a bit of my wow playing prowess.  I thought I would temporarily take the pressure off Chad and Cliff as the game playin guys.  Although Cliff opened us up to a whole world of board games.  Some of these may come in handy as we build our games room this winter.

There were some great articles about business which I really enjoyed and can really relate too. Also some on essences and babywearing.  Now I could be inclined to get a sling for my cat but somehow I think that would be crossing a line ; 0    Mr. Wookie Cookie has a most impressive toy collection and the mugs!  Wholly crap, that is a lot of mugs!  I enjoyed Earls posts very much as I am also a Photoshop using Liberal.  Actually truth be told in the old days, I used Corel rather than Photoshop.  I worked for the feds and they always used to buy Canadian products.

One of the funniest conversations was the one between Shaun and Liam talking about their favorite moments in "So you think you can dance".  It's somehow ironic that I am posting about WoW and they are exchanging dance videos! ; )


So all in all a good challenge year.  I managed to post every day and tried to mix it up.  So although I won't be blogging every day, I will try and give my space a bit of attention here and there.

Codecs

Every so often I download a new movie to watch either in the Theatre room, or on the TV via HDMI or even on the laptop.  The last few have given me grief  as they have audio, but it is really faint.  We thought at first was something with one of the outputs or drivers, but then when I looked back at some previous movies they didn't have this issue. 

So it seemed that it wasn't the laptop but something with the downloaded video.  When you look at how they are recorded there are various audio and video formats used.  I have come to learn that codecs often hold the secret to success.  I updated my XVid Codec but to no avail.  Then in looking through the properties I realized the Audio codec was AC3 Filter.  I searched for this codec, installed it and walla!  Great sound again.


We watched the movie Thor and I liked it.  Sure it was kind of cheezy, but entertaining for me.  I am a sucker for a good action movie, and I like when a super hero saves the day.  Ok..hunky dood with a magic hammer, but hey, what's not to like!?

Our current system of gathering movies to watch is not all that great.  I currently burn them to play downstairs.  Plus our dvd player seems to have a habit of stopping a movie near the end.  I could be making things up but it seems to be any movies over 1.5gbs.  Thor was 1.7 and the last time watching the terrible Tales of an Ancient empire it puked it out as well.  Although in that case it was a bit of a god send.  I am not sure how much more we could have watched the vampire chicks with the terrible dollar store teef!


So there is always some new challenge keeping up with technology, but it is always nice to figure something out, especially when the solution is free.

Chalk it Up

Usually we try and eat home cooked dinners and part of  being successful at this is having ingredients handy.  I hate having an idea for something to make and then being 1 or 2 ingredients short.

As we run out of things I like to keep a running list so that when we go for groceries we pick up those necessities.  I usually have scraps of paper kicking around and half the time I forget to throw them in my purse when we go shopping.  So I thought it would be handy to have a chalkboard in the kitchen so when we are cooking/baking we can write down items as we use them up. 

We have lots of scrap wood in the garage and I am always looking for a project to make.  So I found a board and sprayed it with chalkboard paint, made a frame and painted a couple peppers on the top for decoration and walla....a chalkboard.

Sprayer Parts

It was good to have an extra day off this weekend.  The weather is awesome for this time of year and the sky is beautiful Alberta sky blue.

Today we got ready to spray our driveway with sealer.  We had exposed concrete pad poured a year or two ago and needed to re-seal it.  You can use a pump hand sprayer which does the job pretty well.  So a few weeks ago I picked one up from Canadian Tire. 

Just as we were ready to start spraying we opened up the sealed box and half the sprayer was missing.  Man that's a pain.  So I drove to Canadian Tire and picked out a new one.  I opened up the sealed box in the store to ensure the missing part was there, and it seemed to be.  I left and came home and we started again.  Now this time, there was ANOTHER part missing from this one.  For Frack SAkes!!!  What a pain in the ass when you are trying to get something done. This time CHAD went to Canadian Tire and got what seemed to be a fully complete $29.99 sprayer!! (3rd time the charm).  I am betting that sprayer making company is not ISO 9000 certified!  Actually I think they pass out weed on the boxing line.

Eventually we got going and got about half the driveway done.  It looks really good but we need another pail of shiny goop to put on the rest. So that was our exciting Monday : )

Skills to Pay the Bills

Tomorrow is Labour day.  Now as much as many of us complain about our jobs and going to work, ultimately our jobs pay our bills and afford us life styles we would like to have.  It's not very much fun to not have money to put food on the table or have shelter over our heads.  I think about all of the different jobs I have had and the experience I have gained as a result.  My first job paid me $3 an hour and today I make...well..lets just say a lot more than that.  Here is my work trajectory:

Shoe Salesperson at Agnew Shoes - I was 15 and worked part time for 3 years

Receptionist for the Federal Government - All 250 peoples phones went through my switchboard.  I couldn't run to pee without having backup as it was so busy.

Mail Room clerk for the Federal Government - Processed bags and bags of mail daily, sent Telexs and tons of faxes (new technology then).  This was more of a physical job than very mentally taxing.

Comunications Officer for the Feds - Did this for years, set up Ministerial visits for Federal Ministers.  Coordinated events and Internal/External communications.  To say this was hectic is to say the least.

Information Officer for the Feds - Travelled around Alberta, NWT Region to give seminars on how to do business with the feds (procurement process).  I presented to groups from 20 - 200, learned a lot about public speaking and thinking on your feet.


Business Officer for the Feds - Seconded to the Business Link and advised people how to start business, export, do market research, etc.  We consulted with entrepreneurs and advised of grants, regulations, business licensing, all that jazz.


At the Business Link I learned a lot about technology, taught myself how to build web sites and web design.  Used my creativity to make myself the Web Wench for the Link. 

Applied to Fujitsu and got a job as Web Designer and introduced Application Design (prototyping) to our current account. 

Took role as Business Lead on account and now do management functions.  Not as fun as web design, but the application solutions side can be really interesting : )



So that is my path to this current Labour Day.  I am lucky to have a great job, have had the opportunity to learn along the way and make new gigs for myself.  There are many people in the world that work much harder jobs than I for a lot less, so I consider myself lucky every day.

Fuzzbutt and Thor

We are gradually getting closer to the finish line on the Blogging Challenge.  I am hanging in there and haven't missed a post, however some days I am grasping for a bit of content.  So today I will just share some pics of our critters.  One is totally crazy and one is a scardey cat, but that's ok, no one is perfect : )



Thor is our big orange suck or Shadow man as Chad calls him.  He follows me around from room to room and wants cuddles all the time.  He isn't quite the normal aloof cat people are used to.  He is crazy..he just is and gets some prozac to keep from pulling his hair out.  It seems to take the "edge" off and overall he does ok.  He likes to get a pet on the head when people come over.

Princess Fuzzbutt is very sweet, she always looks kind of grouchy.  I don't think she is but her face looks that way often.  She hates Thor with a passion but loves the window ledge and FOOD.  We have started calling her "Fat Fuzz" lately and she is on a bit of a diet.  I understand, it's not easy being a curvy girl.

Friday

It's the weekend..yay! I feel like I had a pretty productive week at work. I got out a proposal in pretty record time. I never have trouble with the writing part of these things. Coming up with scope, approach, deliverables and such are a breeze. But I don't love Microsoft Project for project planning. I don't even think its the tool itself, I just think it's my knowledge of it. I have always muddled through using it, setting up constraints, predecessors, fun stuff like that .

As Cliff talked about their awful SAP implementation I am always mindful of coming up with meaningful tasks for things, and covering the bases when it comes to testing, training, etc. Over the years I have done a lot of Project Management by the seat of my pants and its always a learning experience. It can be a tough job. You need to set client expectations, ensure you are delivering what they need/want, make them aware of constraints. Sometimes you are the nice guy, sometimes not so much. You have to work with and motivate your team to get the work done. You need to mitigate issues hopefully before they arise, and deal with ones that hit you square in the face.

I keep adapting my style. I have probably become a lot firmer with everyone over the years. When I say firm this isn't usually a negative thing. Its a matter of being very clear about expectations and dealing with things quickly when your spidey sense is tingling.

One of the guys on our project team told me he really admired my style because he said I stay calm and help the team to brainstorm resolutions. That was a nice compliment. I have realized I am often a facilitator. We have a lot of smart people so you really have to tap into their knowledge. I feel like I am a wedding planner at times, there is the caterer, a DJ and a bartender. They all know their individual jobs, but if you don't bring them together at the right time and in the right place, there isn't a wedding.

The other day when I was watching a house flipping show, I realized that half of those guys use the "pissy bitch" method of project management. Their tactic is to yell at everyone and demand shit. It is usually some poor Mexican contractors they are reaming out. It drives me nutz and makes me angry. Your not much of a leader if you just intimidate the crap out of people!

So the next while is looking pretty busy, but I don't mind as I prefer a bit more going on than less. The days go faster and I like the synergy of doing some new stuff.

So that was the week, it was good, but bring on the long weekend!

Show Me the Way

Tonight when we got home from work, the last season of Oprah was on..a repeat it was.  She was catching up with some old musicians.  One of the guys she had on was Peter Frampton.  He was sans his long curly blonde locks but sang a few of his old songs. 

When I was young, some of the older kids were sooo in love with Peter Frampton.  He was a bit before my time but I still really liked his sound.  I remember some of my cousins wanted to take off to go and see him in Concert in B.C.  I don't think they ever did, but they talked a good game.  One of the songs that I really like is "Show me the Way".



While I was looking for a youtube video of this song, I laughed at one of the comments beneath the video.  It kind of sums up peoples various memories that are usually attached to a song. : )

One night in the mid 1970's, I was a young teen invited to party with older cool kids. Got to drink, got to "smoke", got to make out with a REALLY fine-ass girl. Show Me The Way started playing on the radio. I remember thinking; 1) beer tastes great 2)This girl was SO hot and 3) Peter Frampton is just the coolest.
Next morning, as I barfed my spleen into the toilet, I realized:
1) Beer tastes like shit coming out
2) That chick was ugly as hell.
3) Frampton was still DAMN cool.