Remembering, RTS and Real Estate

The word of the week is incognizant.

Apr 17 – A Day In The Park

Nothing like spending part of a day off outdoors in Victoria...

Before we spent a few hours happily playing Dragonwood at Murchie's downtown over tea, my lady and I stopped in at Beacon Hill Park for an hour's walk. While we were there, we visited the Petting Zoo... and it was FULL of peacocks!

Seriously. I counted at least 20, and more I couldn't see around corners and in trees. Here's some of the best pictures I took, and it's worth noting that the peacocks are the kings of the park, they'll walk right around you:

I love, repeat: love that I live within walking distance of a park filled with peacocks. I love that they're free-ranging, not behind fences, but will wander where they will. I love that they're there year-round, and I can go see them any time!

It's great living here, and sharing the experience with my lady is all the more special. Love. It was a good day!

Apr 18 – The Biggest FLGS

One of the ideas I'd love to see myself take up is to open a gaming store.

Heck, I'd love to open up a combination bookstore / gaming store / patio café / retro arcade, maybe with a side of a maker-space too boot: they all compliment each other.

Like any business though, the capital outlay is pretty hefty and on top of knowing what you're doing, you also have to be prepared for the long haul until your profit margin stabilizes. Many small businesses don't make it through the first two years, and that's in large urban areas with good economies.

But some do make it, like The Sentry Box... impressively so, too!

Located in Calgary AB, this FLGS( Friendly local gaming store )is HUGE, at over 13,000 square feet, and has been around for almost 4 decades. They stock over 100,000 items, including a book section the size of most normal bookstores, and almost every current boardgame on the market. They even have their own incredible 'tour' video, professionally done with great music, which really gives you an idea of the scale of the place:

If I ever come into a tidy sum of money, I'll consider The Sentry Box as a template for how to run a FLGS right... on a big scale!

Apr 19 – Ghost In The Shell

Tonight was movie night!

My lady and I went to see Ghost In The Shell, at the local Yates St Cineplex. We sat in the comfy 'lounger' seating, which I have to say is a far better movie experience than in the past. It makes sense to put lower-selling movies in the lounger theatres, where you can charge more of a premium for comfort, and as a bonus the smaller audience size with more space between people means less distractions overall.

The movie was decent, but not spectacular: there were no 'wow' moments for either of us. I've not actually seen the original anime, though I have seen the TV series anime, while my lady hasn't - it was an interesting experience for the both of us, from different perspectives. Both of us liked the movie, but I don't think either of us will want to see it again anytime soon, in the main because the story was fairly predictable and familiar, and the CGI special effects( though gorgeous )were not as groundbreaking as the original anime's were decades ago.

I also managed to luck into a 75% off Steam sale on GITS last weekend, which is odd as Steam usually doesn't carry videos, just video games. Anyway, it was celebrating the release of the new movie, so for $20 I got the old anime, the newer 2.0 release from 2013, and 3 mini-trilogies from the animated TV series.

Meaning there's more GITS goodness to come - sweet!

Apr 20 – Remembering Kristen

Yesterday, it was 25 years since the murder of Kristen French.

For anyone not from Canada, or even Niagara, you may not be familiar with the tragedy that occurred there so long ago now. Kristen, then 15 years old, was one of many young girls attending my high school, including my sister.

What happened to her, and others, traumatized the city, and the country.

It was hard to grasp back then, the magnitude of what happened and how easily our community had gone from a safe place to one that's we knew harbored a sadistic murder the likes of which had never seen before in Canada, or anywhere.

I won't sully this blog with mentioning the details, but instead speak to the ramifications briefly. I feel horrified that this could happen to someone for my community, from the very school I attended, and that it could have been anyone I knew: friends, family, neighbors... no-one deserved such a horrible fate.

I like to think that the tragedy also served as a reminder to be more cautious and mindful of one's everyday life, to know that monsters can hide in the most ordinary places and can take the most beautiful of us unawares.

As with all tragedies, we must never forget, and so here I mentioned Kristen French once again in the hope that in the years since her loss, we who were touched by her loss have tried to make the world a better place...

Apr 21 – Free Starcraft!

It's actually free!

As a prelude to releasing a remastered version this summer, this week Blizzard has put up the full Starcraft series for download free for anyone!

That's one heck of a giveaway!

The original Starcraft was released on March 31, 1998, which is 19 years ago, I had a long time for a game to stay continuously part of the gaming community without much in the way of updates for modern systems for years at a time. 

For those of you not familiar with the game, Starcraft is the king of real-time strategy games( RTS ) and has been since its release. The reason? Apart from its excellent multiplayer component, it's one of the most perfectly balanced RTS games ever released, meaning that skilled players can match wits against each other in battles that are fun, furious and only last a few hours, which is great.

A bit of trivia: for some reason, Korea fell for the game completely, and Starcraft has been the unofficial pastime of the country almost since its release, though that's come to an end recently in 2016 as esports in that country have switched to newer games at long last after a series of Starcraft scandals - go figure. For while there though, it was by far the most popular game, and I doubt we'll see it's like again.

I'll be playing more of it, likely late this year, as my lady's a HUGE fan of the game series, and I need to polish up my skills if I'm going to hold my own against her!

Apr 22 – March For Science

Today was a protest day, in 500 cities around the world.

All because of Strumpet, the POTUS. In case you didn't know, Donald Trump is not big on science. In truth, he's a climate-change denier, and has long been short on seeing the need for science in the world, as this long list shows. Check out some of today's protest signs too!

I really like the video below that I found, as it nicely encapsulates the need for science in our world. It's 15 minutes of time well-spent watching, I feel:

Today's Science March nicely coincides with Earth Day, another reminder that we're all on this planet together... and there's nowhere else we can go, as yet. 

Better to make the best of things here, while we still can.

Apr 23 – Monied Morons?

Real estate in Victoria is expensive... but the following downtown home is just crazy - in more ways than one.

What looks great on the outside...

Looks fairly ordinary, right? Yet they're asking $2 million dollars...! And wait until you get inside... it's unreal, and horrifying; the decorator should have their license revoked, or at lease reviewed. I couldn't live in a place like this:

... sometimes isn't. Click if you want to burn out your eyes with the awful details.

It's like a nightmare vision of Donald Strump's urban vacation cottage.

I seriously doubt anyone's going to buy the place at anything close to the asking price, and I know myself, I wouldn't pay anything above what the land was worth, since the house would have to be gutted to the studs( again! )to make it livable.

Some people with too much money really don't know how to spend it... and it's a shame that they're unlikely to come to me for such advice.

One can only hope!

That's all for now... I'm almost back to Full Steam Ahead on my novels, which is incredibly exciting! Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months!

Easter, The Electronic Life and Errant Explosions

The word of the week is inscrutable.

Apr 10 – Video Games and Life

This is amusing...

For some people, life is video games, and reality takes a second seat. I know for myself, when I first moved to Victoria, my online life was far better than offline. But I've never confused one for the other, or thought better of time spent in pixilated worlds rather than the variegated confusion of what I wake up to daily.

But, you can learn some things from video games, as it happens...

Strangely enough, I also this week came across the Strategy Guide To Life, which also predicates how life is like a video game - is someone out there trying to make a point?

If so, I could use an extra life at this point... or some gold coins!

Apr 11 – Blockhouses?

I love innovative housing ideas.

In fact, there's so many of them out there these days, that it's hard to tell which ones are viable and which are pipe dreams... and which might even be scams.

In my tiny house research, I run across quite a few 'neat' ideas that look great in concept but are rather lacking in execution. I like the prototype pictured below, which folds down to be transported in a standard shipping container:

Looks pretty cool, eh?

The company's website has a variety of designs, both residential and commercial, which I think is a good sign, though none are yet ready for sale. I'm less enthused by the fact that there's no actual pricing listed on the site, and that they list the warranty as only 1-year. Still, a rather cool concept, and one that looks fairly durable.

But: where do you put all your stuff when you have to pack things up?

Apr 12 – Slapped, Sorta...

I was reprimanded at work today.

It was about as light a wrist-slap as I've ever received... and it was for doing too good a job, oddly enough. We've been seriously short-staffed for the last couple of months, down 2 people from our normal complement of 7, and this week someone was on vacation, so with it being stupidly busy of late things just aren't getting done.

I've been trying anyway, and today I was told to stop.

Which is hard for me to hear, as in my head, it means I'm not doing my job, and people are waiting too long for answers they need. But that's not my decision to make, as people who make more than I do are ultimately responsible for how long it takes, not me, as it's not physically possible for me to work any harder. It's also telling that I've been in the same Admin position longer than anyone else, and everyone knows it.

Similar to my own Not Impressed face...

It's also a big sign that it's time to move on, like always - past time, really. I've noted that in past jobs, once the stress ratchets up to these kinds of levels, something's going to give, and in the past that was usually my patience with management to get their heads out from between their cheeks and do something. For MMart, it was simply for them to ignore the problem until staff burnout happened, and at Staples, it was to hammer home sales numbers until people's heads popped.

For my current workplace, it's simply a lack of staff all around, as there's no retention policies: people are free to leave as they choose, though in my case I haven't been able to find a better position... yet. I've got several applications in for some decent positions in other ministries that are far better paying than my entry-level job, so it's only a matter of time until one of my applications pays off.

In the meantime, I'm being rotated off the Admin front-line position next week, so I'll be far less stressed in dealing with people's stupidity.  That's even harder to take than the sheer volume of inquiries, and there were a few this week that made even my blood boil for a bit: never a good sign, though I had the thought that it's got to be hard being that dumb and trying to get through our modern life...

Apr 13 – Peak Smartphone?

I activated my new phone's SIM today.

Meaning my original OnePlus One is officially retired, and none too soon: between the random reboots and losing the cell signal multiple-times-a-day, its time is done. I've been using the LeEco Max2 for a few weeks now on Wifi only, and it's been great: fast, responsive, a gorgeous display, great battery life... everything I want.

I also think it's going to last me at least another 2-3 years.

It's funny that the upgrade cycle is around 2 years now, well-established by smartphone manufacturers and cell mobility companies, especially those in Canada whose contracts have dropped from 3 to 2 years to reflect the same.

Which is why I started buying my own phone, to avoid contracts.

Years ago, the only way to get a decently fast phone was on a contract, as they ran around $600 or more for a device that wouldn't stall doing anything more than email or text messages. My OnePlus One was the successor to my Samsung Galaxy SIII, which had been unable to keep up with my daily-use demands after only a year, so the OPO was a breath of fresh air and lasted me 2 years.

It's stunning to think of how quickly the market has changed in 5 years.

Some people think that we've reached 'Peak Smartphone' which is a curious concept: the price-vs-performance ratio has about peaked, and that's a good thing. It means that I went from paying $500 for my SIII, to $475 for my OPO, to $250 for my LeEco... and each has been at least twice as powerful as the previous. So in 2-3 years, I predict that I'll be upgrading to a phone that will likely cost less than $200 and will do all I need it to in a day, quickly and competently.

I'll leave the $1400 iPhones for other people with deeper pockets.

Apr 14 – The Last Jedi Trailer!

It's here! Our first glimpse of the next Star Wars film!

And... it's almost beat-for-beat the same as the trailer for The Force Awakens...

While the latest trailer suggests 'stick with what works' to me, I don't mind: they're making new Star Wars films, and I'm willing to overlook nitpicking by folks about marketing if the film itself is worth seeing. I'm also hoping that the creators of the upcoming film have listened to the criticism of The Force Awakens and are actively working to make the story as tight as possible.

The rest will follow from there.

Apr 15 – Scams

Well, looks like I got taken with a Kickstarter.

Along with 70,122 other people, that is, and there's little that any of us can do about it, as Kickstarter's not going to do much besides hand-wringing. Their policies are clear that there's no guarantees with backed projects... though I have to say, I don't think the 'buyer beware' clause should apply to scams.

Which is now what my $22 Kickstarter appears to be, according to some sources.

Seems that criminals with smarts and resources are flocking to crowdfunding, able to work the system to gather, in some cases, millions from unsuspecting backers though slick up-front campaign designs for what sound like good ideas.

Then the scam park kicks in.

The delivery date gets pushed back because of 'unforeseen problems' such as manufacturing defects, higher shipping costs, or whatever-excuse-sounds-best. There's many examples of crowdsourced projects that didn't complete, but not all that many of them qualify, in my opinion, as projects whose creators meant from the get-go to scam backers of their funds.

It hasn't soured me on continuing to back Kickstarters, as it has many other folks, but I'll sure as shootin' be triple-checking where my money's going to go from now on.

Apr 16 – Explosive Easter

I made something blow up today. But first, my PT-109 boat sailed for the first time:

It floats, looks great... and will be even better when I add a few details.

Heading over to my parent's place today for Easter dinner, I was all excited: I had a new TV stand with me, all set to attach it to the standless plasma they've been holding there for me since late 2017.

Unpacking the stand, I got everything ready and started assembling things, putting the base together in preparation to attach it to the TV when done. The instructions were awful: a single page, with 3 steps and no actual English instructions, but that's what you get when you pay $65, not twice that for retail.

Then the base exploded: tempered glass went everywhere:

That's a bedspread the box, and remains of the stand, are resting on...

Fortunately, the stand was parallel to me at the time, so I only received a small cut on my hand, and most of the glass shards went to the sides, not at me, or my eyes.

I have to say, there was no indication in the instructions that I should have been even more cautious than I was already in tightening the screws, or even HOW tight they should have been. After the initial shock, I was able to bandage my hand, and then clean up the mess in about an hour with my sister's help. It was surprising how many tiny shards, the size of matchheads, got everywhere; we had to use flashlights from many angles to find many of them, and the vacuum wouldn't pick some up due to their small surface area.

So, that's a bust - literally. After I calmed my frustration at this setback, I thought about what to do next, and I think I'm going to have a co-worker's hubby make me up a steel plate to weld the remaining top half of the stand to. It's still perfectly good, and I feel a steel base will better be able to hold the weight of an 80-lb plasma TV, rather than a tempered-glass base, rated as it was for that weight. But it means more months of delays before that can even be attempted... but hey, it means I don't have to worry about it, and can focus on my novel

Whatever. Easter dinner went smoothly from that point on, and I managed to pack away a deliciously large portion of it, compared to what I've been able to eat for the last few months - huzzah! And after dinner, my family( with my lady! )played 1.5 games of Dixit, which we all thoroughly enjoyed... score one for my lady for suggesting it for this evening. It really helped soothe my simmering annoyance at today's setback, and to just relax with my family. 

It's a late posting tonight, and I'm fortunate to still have Day 4 of my long weekend tomorrow to finish a few things, including some writing, that I've been trying to get to for the last few days. It's actually a short week, as Friday is my regular EDO, so it's like a mini-vacation for me this week... 

Device Deliveries, Disappointment and Decompression

The word of the week is moribund.

Apr 3 – Lockitron!

It's here, at last!

For those of you somewhat new to the blog, the Lockitron is the first Kickstarter ever backed... WAY back in November 2012, which is four and a half years ago! Here's the updated video, showing their newest product, the Bolt, which replaces the older Kickstarter version that I originally paid for:

I picked up the small but heavy box after work today and opened it as soon as I got home:

It finally arrived, after SO LONG!

I eagerly spread of the contents and got ready to install the lock... and it was then that I realized there was a problem: the KEYWAY on my apartment door lock was altogether different from the one Lockitron had included. So I can't use it.

At least, not yet. After going through the Lockitron Forums, I found a few threads that covered this issue: apparently Lockitron Bolts are only being shipped out with the most 'common' keyway, and the 'Key Match' cylinders for locks like mine will be sent later once they are finalized and made available.

So, it's not all bad news: things are still In Progress, per the Lockitron community forums. I also found out that while there is a shortage of the Bridge units( connecting the lock to the 'net )these are just backordered but still scheduled to get shipped once supplies are replenished.

Guess I'll have to wait another few months, but hopefully not so long that I don't hit the five year mark this November...

Apr 4 – Just Another Tech Guy

That's me.

Tonight I finally realized that I just don't know enough to get an IT job, and that if I want to move in that direction, I will have to dedicate more time than I want in order to get certified in various areas to make myself competitive.

There's a big difference between being the smartest tech guy in an office and applying for jobs located in an office full of tech guys. Up until now, I thought it was just a matter of time before I moved on to a better job as a technical support guy with the government, but I realize that's not going to happen unless I get more training to add various certificates to my name.

Sure, I can fix most day-to-day problems in my office without having to call HelpDesk, and it's nice to be called on by my co-workers for such, but I’m not getting paid any more. I can put together a home computer like nobody's business, understand the ins and outs of the vast majority of hardware issues, and even take a stab at software troubles, but I'm not actually trained in any of that: it's all hard-won experience on my part.

Which doesn't sell well on a resume, or so I'm learning after the last year of applying for tech support positions without success.

So, I'm switching my focus to applying for other types of positions where certificate qualifications aren't the keys to doors that aren't opening to me. I'm still going to revisit things like getting ITIL, CompTIA+ and MS Office certified, but those are going to take place later this year: I must finish my novels first, or I'll never get them done at this stage of their progress.

Too much to do, too little time and energy to budget...

Apr 5 – Hey There, Stranger

A friend posted this video this week, and I think it's an excellent commentary on getting in touch with yourself again as a creative person:

https://vimeo.com/190063150">Hi Stranger from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

Which is really what I was doing during my Land Mark forum at the end of March two weeks ago.

I was extremely nervous, even fearful, for the 2 months leading up to the forum, so much so that I was suffering from stomach problems that made me unable to eat a regular meal without pain: I was that nervous about What Would Happen to ME.

Would all the things I'd worked so HARD at in my life be swept away, be proved invalid or shallow? Would I learn about such core-persona-altering things that I'd emerge a 'new me' against my will? Would their concepts force me to rebuild my life all over again, as I found the truths I took for granted to be assumptive lies?

Would I still be me, and keep all the things I loved about my life, the loves IN my life, that are the foundation of who I am? Or would the 'me' I loved die, and be replaced with an Other?

Well, the entire weekend experience can be summed up as follows:

Day One - interesting, the concepts gave me much to think about during the entire day, overall I was satisfied that I've learned a few things.

Day Two - much of what's covered irrelevant to my life( I've a great family, job, relationship, goals in mind, etc )so the many 'mending fences' sessions today weren't at all relevant to my life, though they were revelations to many there.

Day Three - leading up to the Big Reveal, I was quite nervous... then I was vastly disappointed to learn what their 'core' teaching was. Rest of day = irrelevant.

Honestly, I wanted to just up and leave halfway through the 3rd day, but I stuck with things out of respect for the forum leader,  volunteers and the other forum members. I saw that the forum WAS making a difference in many other people's lives who were attending. Big, life-changing differences.

For me, it didn't: all I got were a few thinking-tools and months of stomach cramps.

Why? Because I've already done much of my own 'heavy lifting' in my life already to deal with numerous major crisis I've faced, and those all have brought my family closer. I've made myself into someone that others, and myself, Ken respect and admire, through my own effort and sheer willpower. I've read widely, including solid selections of many philosophies, so that I can ask myself hard questions and continue to build myself in positive ways every day.

In the end, I must thank Land Mark for showing me that I *am* a good person, that WHO and WHAT I am are something to be proud of, and to be grateful for having the life I do.

I just wish I could have found that out without the months of proceeding physical pain from nervous anticipation, and paying big $$ for a course I already knew much of the contents of anyway. I'll leave you with this short talk by Alan Watts, which nicely sums up all the above things:

Apr 6 – Throaty

Work's going well, but it's busy. Real busy.

I've been talking non-stop on the phones for almost 2 weeks straight now, and it caught up to me this morning: I lost my voice for a few hours. That's rare, and an indication that I need to step back.

Not to mention find a better position where I don't need to chat non-stop to people for 7 hours a day because we're low on staff, and because that's the job.

Thankfully, I work in a place where if I need to, I can step away. My coworkers are able to take up the slack and my supervisor has my back 100%: we're a solid team and we know how hard we are all working of late.

It's a funny thing though: so many people have moved on, except me, and I'm the one keeping things together around the office for our team. I've got the experience, skills and patience( not to mention a good sense of humor about it all: vital! )to act as the rock against which all our problems break and fade away.

But when I lose my voice, it's a big indicator that we're rather stretched.

Fortunately, I regained it after a few hours and a few mugs of hot honey lemon tea( a sure balm for sore throats! )and was able to pick up things again. Yet I know this is part of the continuous government cycle of Hire Staff, then Keep Them just long enough for them to find a better position elsewhere, and then Start Again with new folks. Retention is never something that's discussed, oddly: everyone wants to keep moving around. It plays merry hell with staff levels... and I can't imagine what it's like for smaller or less team-oriented offices than ours.

My ship will come in, I just have to keep calling... even if I lose my voice occasionally.

Apr 7 – Hark! A Munchkin!

Well, I backed Munchkin Shakespeare this week.

You think I'd have learned my lesson after waiting so long for my Lockitron, but no: I backed about a dozen things on Kickstarter over the last five years, including my Pebble Time, and almost all of them have delivered although many have taken longer than expected which is all part what Kickstarter's about: Cool Stuff, but Delivery Not Guaranteed.

One reason to back a Kickstarter: value for money!

However, anything to do with Munchkin is a different ball of wax, as it's backed by Steve Jackson Games, who have been around since 1980, putting out games like Car Wars, Ogre, GURPS and of course, Munchkin. They really know what they're doing.

So I felt that my money would be pretty safe in their hands, then of course it didn't hurt that the Kickstarter was a massive success from the beginning... I guess there's quite a few people out there who love Shakespeare, puns and Munchkin as much as I do!

Delivery will take place towards the end of 2017, and I can't wait until I get the chance to read some of the puns that SJG has crafted with the Bard in mind...

Also: today was Bus Success Day! I managed to get everywhere that I needed to go, do what I needed and move on again in a total of 3 hours, with perfect timing to catch the next bus each time! I was pleased with myself, as I managed to meet a friend for lunch, then get some grocery shopping done in a home again well before 3 PM. The good timing meant I could get quite a few other things done at home on my day off, for which I was grateful.

Apr 8 – *Sniff*

Despite my precautions while riding the bus yesterday( gloves, not touching my face )I managed to pick up a bug of some kind and it bloomed into full force today.

My girlfriend and I still went to Sidney in the morning, for the second in a series of seminars about the publishing world being given by my friend( and publisher )Ben Coles. It was again a fascinating look into the business side of the industry, and I was pleased to learn that my own efforts to learn about how things work have made me at least passingly conversant with many of the concepts that he presented today. I was left with the feeling that, overall, what I'm expecting in terms of sending out my own book are realistic and that's comforting: I'm not wasting my time or otherwise fooling myself about what needs to be done to get my books out into the world.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening nursing my cold and watching the remainder of One Punch Man to the end. It's a fascinating series that I looked into on Netflix and really speaks to the writer in me with its focus on what happens to a superhero when they're the most powerful being in the universe... and they don't know where to go from there.

The final episode was somewhat disappointing( SPOILERS BELOW!! )but I think I expected it, as it's almost impossible to wrap up a series of ultimate power with an ending that either satisfies completely or doesn't feel contrived or clichéd:

Apr 9 – How To Be Happier

In keeping with this week's theme of learning about yourself, I ran across this gem, narrated by the beloved Robin Williams. Miss that guy. He embodied the concept of bringing light and happiness into other people's lives, despite one's own burdens.

Sit back and let his words move you, as they did me today:

If you need more motivation towards happiness, and aren't sure of what may be holding you back, then look no further than Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now. It's one of the better lists I've seen, with solid no-nonsense advice in simple terms of how to discover and eliminate bad habits holding back your Happy.

I may have dodged a bit of a cold bullet, in getting sick over the weekend, as I have full access to all I need to get better at home rather than at work. Fresh air, rest and temperature control are all things I can't easily get at work, along with extra water and the ability to doze off at need now and then. My nose is already less troubled from the extra attention, and I hope that the next few days will see the bug beat a hasty retreat!