Grizzly Speaks

Gettin' Busy
Here I am at the Central Library catching up on a few little things. I took in a wee bit of the North Star Commuter line opening. I start working at Magicquest on Monday. I am rather looking forward to that. It looks like it will be a fun job and there's no question we can use the added income. So, I am getting a little peace surfing the web and preparing for not getting a day off ever again. Other events coming up:

I am sitting in on banjo with Riverfolk for a MBOTMA event a week from today.

We have Jhn Huston coming in this week to do his reading of "A Christmas Carol" as Charles Dickens. He will be performing that at our place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.

We open "A Christmas Story" at Mounds Theater (www.moundstheater.org) on December 4 and running that for three weekends.

chirosinger and I then hit the road to spend Christmas with my family in Winnipeg.

The holidays haven't even started and I am looking forward to when they are done and I can settle into a busy but less hectic routine.

Coming up for air
The ocean's surface was still and quiet. Without warning the stillness is broken as a massive shape breaches the surface. A blast from the blowhole fills the air with a fine spray as the massive body shows itself only briefly. The tail flukes rise and fall barely leaving a ripple as Graham decends once again into the deep tp start his new job on Monday. In other news I am once again doing the Narrator part in "A Christmas Story" at Mounds Theatre. We open on December 7th. If anyone is in town for that, i would love to have you there. Stay tuned for show times.

Sitting at the Riverview....
....catching up on bit of reading. I am a little distressed to find out about an old school mate who died last month. Living down here and being a little out of touch, I only just heard about this.

http://tvfeedsmyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/remembering-dan-kenning.html

He was a good sort with a sharp wit and great turn of phrase. I haven't seen him in years, but I m thankful to have know him for that brief time.

Current Mood: distressed

Sea turtles stink!
Not too long ago, Emelio, one of our big loggerhead sea turtles went to the vet for a check up. Now, for you and me, going to the doctor is a fairly simple process. But when you are a three hundred pound turtle, things get a little more complex. It involves a hoist, a very sturdy dolly and a host of people to do the heavy lifting and make sure his eyes stay moist as well as keep him calm so the stress of the whole ordeal is minimized. I can only imagine what the people in the vet clinic waiting area with their cats and dogs must think as they look up from their magazines to see this behemoth of a "pet" getting wheeled in with a wet towel over his face. Not to mention what the cats and dog must think when their olfactories get assailed with an overwhelming and not entirely pleasant waft of sea turtle smell.
I got onto the freight elevator when they returned and wheeled this bad boy back to the exhibit and the stench lingered in there for hours. If you don't want to spend half your salary on glade air fresheners, never have a pet sea turtle.

I felt that!
This weak knee doesn't like bending or twisting in certain ways. Now my wrist hurts, too.

Basement's a mess
I just finished the mainline for my railroad and there is now a complete circuit. I have also made a monster of a mess and there is sawdust everywhere. The next couple of days or so will be spent pulling stuff out from all over the basement and getting it all cleaned up. Dull, tedious but very necessary work. There will be much growling from the basement as I stoop down to pick everything up. It was worth it, though.

Parents gone home
The folks left to return to Winnipeg this morning. Got lots done on the railroad and I miss them already.

Folks coming to visit
While wandering around the art show at Convergence this year, I got a phone call from my aunt who was somewhere in Michigan. She said they were enroute to Minneapolis on their way home from an extended vacation and could they say hi and buy us dinner. Naturally I said of course and we would be insulted if they stayed anywhere but with us while they rested up for the final push to Winnipeg this morning. So, I took them through the aquarium before we said bon-voyage and they made tracks for home. It was an unexpected but delightful surprise. This was the prelude to the long awaited visit from my parents who will be arriving tomorrow. I am working late, but the rest of the week will be alright. there is a big stem train coming through town on July 9th and it is fitting my dad should be here for that. We are very much wanting to see that. He is coming bearing gifts like about 60 feet of HO flex track. That may well be enough to finish my mainline.

RE. facebook spamming
Okay, I have dealt with this problem and it should prevent any further spamming from facebook in my name. I apologize to any and all here who were spammed as a result of my being so gullible as to think FB would be honourable enough to respect my and my friends' privacy. Until their dirty little scheme sees through mine, it shouldn't happen again.
Once again, I am sorry for any grief this has caused.

Facebook spamming
I have been getting emails from friends who are telling me I am inviting them to join facebook. This is not my doing and I was not aware, until now, that this was happening. How can I prevent this without wiping all my contacts from my email list? I would go as far as cancelling my FB account if they are going to spam my friends through me. I may do that anyway. I think that is a dirty trick and no way to treat your clients.

Here I am at Duckcon
You've got to love a hotel that provides complimentary Wifi. Just sayin'.

Rainy days
It rained all day yesterday. What a fine opportunity to get some work done on the railroad. Had some friends over for lunch and then did the logical rainy afternoon thing. We all went for ice cream. Upon coming home I disappeared into the basement and finished my new module. Then I wander round it figuring out how I am going to fit all I want to get into a rather limited space. I think I have it now. More wood to cut, more glue to use up and more recycled hardware to put back to work.
Not that I haven't got anything better to do. I really don't. Accept maybe write songs, record stuff... DAMN!!!!

I got more wood!
I slipped down to Menard's the other day and picked up enough wood for a rather large module for the railroad. This particular part will house both my passenger terminal and freight yard. I guess that means I will have to start buying turn-outs. Ouch! They aren't cheap!

Or.....
I have just set up an account at MyPhoto. Go here to view. http://www.myphoto.com/graylea/1326/5110/, I think.

New RR photos
I have uploaded some photos of my latest railroad project to my facebook page. It seems you can't see them if you are not on facebook. I would have to upgrade my LJ to one I would actually have to pay for (imagine!) to upload them here. So, here's the link. www.facebook.com/album.php

bedlamhouse will want to look at this, I am sure. :-)

A Job Well Done
I took a bunch of older preschool kids on a behind the scenes tour at the aquarium, today. This is one of my favorite things to do at my job and I like to think I do it well. It's always good to get confirmation on that. The person who brought all these kids out here said that she has been through a lot of our BTS tours and said that my presentation was "...by far the best she had seen." Nothing could ruin my day now. :-)

Current Mood: Gratified

Mom and Dad are coming!
First weekend in June my parents are coming down for a visit. My dad is bringing down about 60' of track. I have been obsessively scratch building a wooden trestle and it is almost finished. I need more wood! Just a couple of tiny lengths of 1/8th inch square bass wood dowel. I have been cutting up all kinds of 1/4 inch plywood to make strips for laminated roadbed. I need more wood. I have about six more modules to build to complete the bench work for my projected track plan. I am fresh out of 1x2's and 1x3's. I need more wood. I have no lumber at all for the completion of my trans-basemental railroad. Did I mention I need more wood? Construction has ground to a halt until pay day. There may be another delay for the construction company building the railroad has been contracted to retro-fit a plastic drum for a compost barrel which, apparently, is taking priority. My basement will never be united unless the railroad is completed and we have an overland trade link between the walls.

New Railroad Photos
Here are some pictures of my railroad under construction. Progress is being made. My dad is coming down with about 75 feet of track, so I have been building roadbed like a demon, lately. http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?aid=93656&success=1&failure=0#/photos.php?id=624075758. I hope you can get in there. If you are on facebook you won't have any trouble.

RIP
Yesterday morning at our aquarium, Rocky the 18 year old fifteen pound Atlantic lobster died peacefully in his new tank. Rocky had been a fixture there for many years. His little friend and tankmate, a four inch snapper grieves the loss of his buddy. Rocky's remains are in our fume hood awaiting drying out and his mortal coil will be used for educational purposes, most likely in our Discovery room.

Farewell, Rocky. We will miss you.

Rather Good weekend
I had rather a lot of fun at Minicon last weekend. I had a concert Friday night and I rather surprised myself. I have been remiss in my practice and haven't played out in quite some time. I went through the songs a had selected a fe times before going on and they were acceptably there. I found myself in pretty good voice after the first couple of songs. Some minimal stumbling, but nded on a good note. I got to meet the one and only

sdorn in person. I have known him on line for a number of years. Delightful fellow if not a shameless punster.
Played Money-Duck until much too late on Saturday NightThe best drawing prize of the night went to Erin for her rendering of ducks flossing their bills. Dead dog on Sunday turned into a dance and then we went home to real doga very happy to see us. I don't knw what the dog sitter was feeding them, but they have been turning their noses up at dog food ever since.
we also attended the winding dwn party last night and we have decided we have to get together the MNSTF folks more frequently, if they will have us. Great bunch o' people.

Advertisement