Thanks for the very interesting email, I must say I practically
feel fatigued just reading about the action packed pace at which you
have been going!. The hike sounded a bit dodgy lol...did you have
porters to carry stuff for you as it sounds like you
should have!. glad you got the Hi-Tecs as they are the same ones I got
for Peru and I have to say they were absolutely fabulous. i have never
owned a pair of boots that were lightwieght and water proof and didn’t
cause me all sorts of blisters while breaking
in.
Was a rather crazy end of week last week as I finally had enough of
how Jesse had been treated at NuWave where we have both been working.
An incident occurred Thursday that left me extremely angry at the owner
of the company and I wound up going and pulling
all of my tools and equipment on Friday afternoon. It is very
unfortunate in that it was a good paying job for me and at first it
seemed as if it would be a great job for Jesse and his friend Steven. I
tossed and turned and got up early and hastily wrote a
letter to Greg regarding my concerns (m I had had a prior conversation
regarding some concerns I had but felt unsatisfied so really wanted to
put it down in writing, see attached). At this point in my life and
after a couple bad experiences with dealing with
unscrupulous business partners and bosses I have developed zero
tolerance and drew a line that I will not cross. Good news is that I
feel very good and have my head held high despite the fact that I am at a
crossroads once again. i believe that if you let
life flow and maintain your morals and ethics things will turn out fine
so we’ll see what happens next.
I have to say that it is a very good feeling to finally have some
time to catch up on a myriad of things left on the back burner as I have
not really had any “Al” time for a long while. Although technically I
have had a bunch of time off from NuWave it
has been filled with either some other work projects or else some
action packed vacations or weekends at the cabin so it is a pleasure to
be able to look after some of my own personal stuff for a while.
Colleen’s foot is mending quite nicely and she has been walking
over to look after some errands a mile or so and feeling good so that’s a
relief as we know how active she likes to be as well.
Very nice new ride you guys got as in the Equinox!. I have to ask
did you phone Rosie and coach her to say that to Corrine regarding the
bike rack?. It sounds a little out of context for her to express her
desire for you to get one wouldn’t you say?.
Wonderful to hear about your new hiking group! always nice to meet
some new people. Speaking of which I have a former work associate who
lives in Penticton now but will be moving to OK falls in October who I
think you would really like. I told him about
you as well and said I would pass his info along so you could maybe
drop by his business and say hi sometime. Sounds like he’s very close to
you so you could go by on one of your jaunts.
His name is Ron Howarth and I met him at a solid works seminar (
the computer design program I use) through one of my former fellow BCIT
instructors who I also met in a solid works class.
Ron and I chatted for quite a while at this seminar and it seemed
he was starting a project that required a bunch of custom fabrication
and welding and did I know anyone? . As it turned out I was available
and started working for him when he was at Optimil
out on river road in Delta. The project he was working on was for
NuWave and that’s where I met Greg and his associates, whom by the way I
contacted offering my regrets at having to pull out of Nuwave to which I
got positive responses and assurances that they
would be in touch regarding some projects outside of NuWave in the not
too distant future as their time was drawing to a close as well.
Trying not to belabour the point but one other concern I had about
NuWave was that it was unclear as to how safe it was as there were
several instances of leaking microwaves and needing to stay away from
some equipment while it was operating but which
one could accidentally stray close to if not paying very close
attention. also after all the time I spent there it still did not seem
that they had made a lot of headway on the research and development end
of things and were still a long way from attaining
any kind of commercially available unit. frankly I actually have my
doubts weather it will ever happen but who knows. i do know that the
investors were losing patience which may have contributed to Greg’s
degrading demeanour.
I’m getting a bunch of head shots and other photos done this week
and am going to get them to my mom to give to her agent. it is another
one of those things I have intended to do for years and will make a
concerted effort. it’s a long shot of course as
i don’t have a lot of acting experience although some from years ago.
Figure i have twenty years of behind the camera work as well which
should count for something. one never knows what they are looking for
and sometimes it’s just a look and experience or
talent don’t come into play that much. With the amount of film work
going on in town I thought the time was nigh to finally get the ball
rolling.
Hope you have a great week, Give my love to Corriandre. Cheers, Al
Hi Selfie People!
Some great shots! You can use some of them for your casting pics!!! Glad Marilyn is on the mend and will soon be able to prance about in the more than active fashion that characterizes her head-on, full-bore approach to life! On the other hand, I must say that I was quite dismayed to hear the very nasty saga of the NuWave Bully. I must admit that I feel precisely as you do about such people for many, many reasons. (At some point, when we have time, I'll share a number of episodes involving much the same sort of behaviour from two individuals, one work-related, the other squash-related that still makes my blood boil thinking about the incidents!) Suffice it to say that I applaud your very courageous and principled actions. Again, I know from personal experience, how upsetting such a situation can be and how difficult it can be to do what your instinct tells you is the right course of action. Furthermore, I think that what you say about remaining true to yourself is far more important than anything else and that you will be certainly be far, far better off. Bravo! Onward!! Fight!!!
Just talked to Clarisse as Cora Lee is making ripe-tomatoe pickle and needed some advice from her Mom. Told her about your comment about bike rack and she chortled! Had meant to say that I'd be delighted if you would like my old one. I'd like to give it to someone in The Peleton rather than try to sell it so let me know if you think you might be interested. I disconnected the wiring, capped and taped the ends and secured cord to hitch on Titanium Green. Wasn't quite sure about how to deal with wiring you'd done so thought that at some point I'd ask Chloë to pop by your place and have you take a look, if that is fine with you, to make sure what I did is safe, etc. I still have the light so I would include that fixture with hitch itself, depending on what new owner would like to do regarding license plate visibility. Anyway, let me know when you have a moment.
In spite of the heavy smoke which has blanketed Penticton since late Saturday, I decided to join the Monday hiking group, led by Al Tinka, a retired teacher from Penticton High who taught Will, son-in-law of Elaine and Ted Keating, very close friends who live on Bayswater, I discovered! This is the third hike I've been on but Al was not on first two. Too, too busy with his orchard as Will would know. He told me that the had seen Will a few weeks ago as he came to collect fruit, if I'm correct. At any rate, another former student, Julien, (?), [Al calls him "Jules".], Ehlers, I believe, knows Will as they went to high-school together! Jules thought that the last time he had seen Will was about 17 years. ago. He and his wife, Heather, live in Paradise Valley, just out of Squamish. Have been there for about two years, apparently. She is expecting their first child on November 23rd, her birthday. Jules is finishing his doctorate, Mechanical Engineering, I think but am not completely sure, at U of Calgary. Heather has a post-doc at U of Victoria, in Environmental Science, I think.
On the second hike, I got to know Anthea and Dave Bryan, and their lovely pooch, Tia. Turns out that Heather is their daughter and she and Jules have been visiting. As well, Will probably knows Jim French, a retired mathematics teacher from PenHi. He was one of the leaders on first two hikes and took me under his wing, so to speak, always extremely welcoming and helpful, (As everyone has been, I must add.), to me as a newcomer to group and hiking in general. Anyway, seems like I'm getting to know loads of people somehow connected to friends in Vancouver! Couldn't agree more about hiking boots. I have taken to sleeping in them as they are so comfortable and quite effective for kicking Lady Mary when she snores!!!
The hike itself was to Conkle Mountain, up above the golf course in Summerland.
Cora Lee dropped me off at the IGA parking lot in Summerland, the meeting spot there, at 9:00 am. There were only five of us, (Smoke was a big issue for many, I gather.), and we loaded ourselves into Kilean's truck. He is originally from Switzerland so it has been very interesting to chat with him over the course of the the three hikes. Took us about five or ten minutes to drive to a small clearing across the road from the gold course and once we'd put on our packs, (Jules only had a water bottle!), we took off. Terrain was far less demanding than climb up N'Kwala Mountain, my first outing with group, so it really was most enjoyable for entire hike. Footing was often spongy with pine needles so very comfortable. A bit of scree, (I think that is the technical term.), at times but nothing that was at all worrisome. Much of the hike was along various ridges so pretty flat and easy going.
About an hour and a half into the hike we came to a point, overlooking Trout Creek, where there was a pretty precipitous drop and difficult rock faces so Al suggested I take an easier route to the eventual summit. Kilean had hiked the other route before so he very kindly volunteered to keep me company. We set off up a slight slope and Jules, Al and Eduardo made for the rock face and its narrow ledges. A fall, apparently could be rather serious, so I was happy not to tempt Fate. Funnily enough, Cora Lee texted me, almost immediately, and suggested I was being a rather timorous and urged me, over and over again, to follow the mountain goats! Fortunately, coverage faded out and I followed Kilean up a reasonably steep slope but not at all punishing as footing was solid and quite comfortable.
At the top we found a fairly well-defined road! He assumed it had been used for logging at some point. At any rate, we walked along, seeing our second deer, and he tried to get his bearings, relative to where we had agreed we'd meet our comrades. Headed back towards the edge of the cliff and followed a fairly wide, flat ridge for a bit. I called out and heard a whistle in reply. In fact, I actually saw one of the lads pass through a small clearing, a couple of hundred feet below our location. We then set off in same direction, up and down a few small gullies, and when we came to the next ridge we could hear talking. A few minutes later we were reunited in a small clearing where we stopped for lunch.
Everyone had brought sandwiches or vegetables, etc., so we enjoyed a terrific picnic for twenty minutes or so. After the refreshing break we headed back in the same general direction but followed a slightly different route. Al is a wonderful fount of knowledge and he would always point out various fascinating landforms, flora and fauna and the like. At one point we came across a number of trees that had obviously been cut with a chain saw and Al said that this was probably the work of someone he knew, (I cannot remember the name.), who had a background in biology/forestry. Now retired, this chap conducts voluntary research on trees in the area, (Comparing tree rings on those felled by natural causes against others cut to allow neighbours to flourish, as this is a managed area, I understand.), to determine their age, possible growing conditions, and the like. Simply a delight to have a natural history lesson in such idyllic surroundings.
Descent was far easier than on Monday's hike, now shod in my spiffy new hiking boots, and I certainly appreciated the walking poles that I'd inherited from Rosie-the-Riveter when they left to return to Winnipeg this past April. Still the slowest member of the group but chaps didn't ever desert me to be eaten by Black Bears as we saw a fair bit of evidence of their scat. Back to the truck by close to 1:00 pm so we were on the mountainside for about three and a half hours. Short ride back to Summerland and we stopped at Good Omens Coffee House where everyone had a San Pellegrino Soda.
Met Pam, another member of hiking group there. She usually organizes Monday's outing but was to take off on an overnight hike next day so decided not to join today. With a bit of backing and forthing, it was determined that next Monday's outing will be to the Three Blind Mice Trail, above Naramata, so looking forward to that. As well, Thursday's hike was settled upon. It will be out of OK Falls, near to See Ya Later Ranch, off Green Lake Road, atop Hawthorne Mountain. While I've been to the winery a number of times, I've never hiked here so, again, looking forward to exploring this gorgeous landscape and rugged terrain.
Wished Pam well on her hike to Border Lake, near Cathedral Provincial Park, and Kilean dropped us off at IGA. Hitched a ride with Eduardo as Cora Lee had taken the Equinox in to All Racks to have a trailer hitch and new bike rack installed. When home, she was still out. While I was away the new glass door for the master bedroom shower had been installed, as well as the glass bathtub shower screen, replacing the very dated three-panel unit. Very pleased with how both looked and a few minutes later Lady Mary arrived so I was able to see the new bike rack. Looks grand and although it only holds two bikes, it will allow the trunk door to open, without any adjustment to rack itself, when not loaded. When carrying bikes, a simple click of a lever allows the rack to tilt back to allow rear door to open.
Back inside to have a shower with new screen. Much more room in tub now so happy with change. Other shower cannot be used yet as Silicon has to set. Chap who installed it will be back today to make final adjustments so guess we'll test it when we know when it is ready. Cora Lee was off to volunteer at Richard Cannings' campaign office, from 6:00 pm- 8:00 pm, just down the street, a few blocks away, so I'd been charged with fixing dinner: salad and a bbq'd chicken. We watched four episodes of Homeland, Season 4, while eating and over the rest of the course of the evening as Cora lee started on preparation for tomatoe pickle. Must away now as I'm charged with dicing oniones and celery. Fondestos from Mrs Patmore in the Downton Abbey kitchen. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Jules, Al, Eduardo and Kilean; new shower doors and Rosita's bike rack!
Hi Selfie People!
Some great shots! You can use some of them for your casting pics!!! Glad Marilyn is on the mend and will soon be able to prance about in the more than active fashion that characterizes her head-on, full-bore approach to life! On the other hand, I must say that I was quite dismayed to hear the very nasty saga of the NuWave Bully. I must admit that I feel precisely as you do about such people for many, many reasons. (At some point, when we have time, I'll share a number of episodes involving much the same sort of behaviour from two individuals, one work-related, the other squash-related that still makes my blood boil thinking about the incidents!) Suffice it to say that I applaud your very courageous and principled actions. Again, I know from personal experience, how upsetting such a situation can be and how difficult it can be to do what your instinct tells you is the right course of action. Furthermore, I think that what you say about remaining true to yourself is far more important than anything else and that you will be certainly be far, far better off. Bravo! Onward!! Fight!!!
Just talked to Clarisse as Cora Lee is making ripe-tomatoe pickle and needed some advice from her Mom. Told her about your comment about bike rack and she chortled! Had meant to say that I'd be delighted if you would like my old one. I'd like to give it to someone in The Peleton rather than try to sell it so let me know if you think you might be interested. I disconnected the wiring, capped and taped the ends and secured cord to hitch on Titanium Green. Wasn't quite sure about how to deal with wiring you'd done so thought that at some point I'd ask Chloë to pop by your place and have you take a look, if that is fine with you, to make sure what I did is safe, etc. I still have the light so I would include that fixture with hitch itself, depending on what new owner would like to do regarding license plate visibility. Anyway, let me know when you have a moment.
In spite of the heavy smoke which has blanketed Penticton since late Saturday, I decided to join the Monday hiking group, led by Al Tinka, a retired teacher from Penticton High who taught Will, son-in-law of Elaine and Ted Keating, very close friends who live on Bayswater, I discovered! This is the third hike I've been on but Al was not on first two. Too, too busy with his orchard as Will would know. He told me that the had seen Will a few weeks ago as he came to collect fruit, if I'm correct. At any rate, another former student, Julien, (?), [Al calls him "Jules".], Ehlers, I believe, knows Will as they went to high-school together! Jules thought that the last time he had seen Will was about 17 years. ago. He and his wife, Heather, live in Paradise Valley, just out of Squamish. Have been there for about two years, apparently. She is expecting their first child on November 23rd, her birthday. Jules is finishing his doctorate, Mechanical Engineering, I think but am not completely sure, at U of Calgary. Heather has a post-doc at U of Victoria, in Environmental Science, I think.
On the second hike, I got to know Anthea and Dave Bryan, and their lovely pooch, Tia. Turns out that Heather is their daughter and she and Jules have been visiting. As well, Will probably knows Jim French, a retired mathematics teacher from PenHi. He was one of the leaders on first two hikes and took me under his wing, so to speak, always extremely welcoming and helpful, (As everyone has been, I must add.), to me as a newcomer to group and hiking in general. Anyway, seems like I'm getting to know loads of people somehow connected to friends in Vancouver! Couldn't agree more about hiking boots. I have taken to sleeping in them as they are so comfortable and quite effective for kicking Lady Mary when she snores!!!
The hike itself was to Conkle Mountain, up above the golf course in Summerland.
Cora Lee dropped me off at the IGA parking lot in Summerland, the meeting spot there, at 9:00 am. There were only five of us, (Smoke was a big issue for many, I gather.), and we loaded ourselves into Kilean's truck. He is originally from Switzerland so it has been very interesting to chat with him over the course of the the three hikes. Took us about five or ten minutes to drive to a small clearing across the road from the gold course and once we'd put on our packs, (Jules only had a water bottle!), we took off. Terrain was far less demanding than climb up N'Kwala Mountain, my first outing with group, so it really was most enjoyable for entire hike. Footing was often spongy with pine needles so very comfortable. A bit of scree, (I think that is the technical term.), at times but nothing that was at all worrisome. Much of the hike was along various ridges so pretty flat and easy going.
About an hour and a half into the hike we came to a point, overlooking Trout Creek, where there was a pretty precipitous drop and difficult rock faces so Al suggested I take an easier route to the eventual summit. Kilean had hiked the other route before so he very kindly volunteered to keep me company. We set off up a slight slope and Jules, Al and Eduardo made for the rock face and its narrow ledges. A fall, apparently could be rather serious, so I was happy not to tempt Fate. Funnily enough, Cora Lee texted me, almost immediately, and suggested I was being a rather timorous and urged me, over and over again, to follow the mountain goats! Fortunately, coverage faded out and I followed Kilean up a reasonably steep slope but not at all punishing as footing was solid and quite comfortable.
At the top we found a fairly well-defined road! He assumed it had been used for logging at some point. At any rate, we walked along, seeing our second deer, and he tried to get his bearings, relative to where we had agreed we'd meet our comrades. Headed back towards the edge of the cliff and followed a fairly wide, flat ridge for a bit. I called out and heard a whistle in reply. In fact, I actually saw one of the lads pass through a small clearing, a couple of hundred feet below our location. We then set off in same direction, up and down a few small gullies, and when we came to the next ridge we could hear talking. A few minutes later we were reunited in a small clearing where we stopped for lunch.
Everyone had brought sandwiches or vegetables, etc., so we enjoyed a terrific picnic for twenty minutes or so. After the refreshing break we headed back in the same general direction but followed a slightly different route. Al is a wonderful fount of knowledge and he would always point out various fascinating landforms, flora and fauna and the like. At one point we came across a number of trees that had obviously been cut with a chain saw and Al said that this was probably the work of someone he knew, (I cannot remember the name.), who had a background in biology/forestry. Now retired, this chap conducts voluntary research on trees in the area, (Comparing tree rings on those felled by natural causes against others cut to allow neighbours to flourish, as this is a managed area, I understand.), to determine their age, possible growing conditions, and the like. Simply a delight to have a natural history lesson in such idyllic surroundings.
Descent was far easier than on Monday's hike, now shod in my spiffy new hiking boots, and I certainly appreciated the walking poles that I'd inherited from Rosie-the-Riveter when they left to return to Winnipeg this past April. Still the slowest member of the group but chaps didn't ever desert me to be eaten by Black Bears as we saw a fair bit of evidence of their scat. Back to the truck by close to 1:00 pm so we were on the mountainside for about three and a half hours. Short ride back to Summerland and we stopped at Good Omens Coffee House where everyone had a San Pellegrino Soda.
Met Pam, another member of hiking group there. She usually organizes Monday's outing but was to take off on an overnight hike next day so decided not to join today. With a bit of backing and forthing, it was determined that next Monday's outing will be to the Three Blind Mice Trail, above Naramata, so looking forward to that. As well, Thursday's hike was settled upon. It will be out of OK Falls, near to See Ya Later Ranch, off Green Lake Road, atop Hawthorne Mountain. While I've been to the winery a number of times, I've never hiked here so, again, looking forward to exploring this gorgeous landscape and rugged terrain.
Wished Pam well on her hike to Border Lake, near Cathedral Provincial Park, and Kilean dropped us off at IGA. Hitched a ride with Eduardo as Cora Lee had taken the Equinox in to All Racks to have a trailer hitch and new bike rack installed. When home, she was still out. While I was away the new glass door for the master bedroom shower had been installed, as well as the glass bathtub shower screen, replacing the very dated three-panel unit. Very pleased with how both looked and a few minutes later Lady Mary arrived so I was able to see the new bike rack. Looks grand and although it only holds two bikes, it will allow the trunk door to open, without any adjustment to rack itself, when not loaded. When carrying bikes, a simple click of a lever allows the rack to tilt back to allow rear door to open.
Back inside to have a shower with new screen. Much more room in tub now so happy with change. Other shower cannot be used yet as Silicon has to set. Chap who installed it will be back today to make final adjustments so guess we'll test it when we know when it is ready. Cora Lee was off to volunteer at Richard Cannings' campaign office, from 6:00 pm- 8:00 pm, just down the street, a few blocks away, so I'd been charged with fixing dinner: salad and a bbq'd chicken. We watched four episodes of Homeland, Season 4, while eating and over the rest of the course of the evening as Cora lee started on preparation for tomatoe pickle. Must away now as I'm charged with dicing oniones and celery. Fondestos from Mrs Patmore in the Downton Abbey kitchen. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Jules, Al, Eduardo and Kilean; new shower doors and Rosita's bike rack!
Still very smoky yesterday so I decided I'd wait until later in the day to go for a ride, hoping smoke would dissipate somewhat. Did a bit and around 6:00 pm I took off. Had decided I'd keep to the flats as I knew any climbs would probably cause me to inhale more of the smoke. This being the case I dipsy-doodled all over town, especially enjoying the stretch along the boardwalk at Skaha Lake Park, watching beach volleyball and a few swimmers as I rode past. The wildfire smoke is, apparently, keeping tourists away and it was certainly noticeable along Lakeshore Drive as there were far, far fewer people out strolling or on the outdoor patios of the numerous restaurants that line the road. Imagine this is what it might be like once school is back and we are into fall weather. Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/878367578#.Vd3-l7lmM_s.email
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/878367578#.Vd3-l7lmM_s.email
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