Analog Prizes

Advent has a lot of meaning. God sent his Son to Earth to take on physical flesh and blood because He loves this Earth. God's love for Earth is in direct contrast to the Greek dualistic disdain of the physical world as they believe it can not be as valued as the heavenly forms.

So, in honour of the Incarnation, I'm going to share some of the things of this world that have meaning and value to me!

Yo-yo - This might be my only toy. I pull it out every few months and give it a few zips to keep up my skills (which are adequate). Again, I like the weight and feel of the wood and that I can replace the string when required. I could use this yo-yo for the rest of my life - no need for replacement. 

My Wisdom Teeth - Amber is super grossed out by them, but I think they are awesome! I had them pulled in '98 I think. My dentist had me in a headlock so he could yank them out and fortunately, they all came out whole (and beautiful!). I keep them in a little leather pouch I made at summer camp when I was 13.  

Commemorative 400th Anniversary Canadian Silver Dollar of the First Acadian Settlement in 1604 - I don't go for much shiny stuff, but this was a must have coin. I picked it up at the post office in Robichaud New Brunswick in 2004. 

Razor - replacing blades in this solid implement costs me a few cents. I like the weight in my hand and that it gets really hot in hot water. Go stuff yourself Gillette!

Lord of the Rings Box Set - I found this 2nd Edition, 9th Printing, 1965 vintage set in a book store in Edmonton and I couldn't resist buying it. Only one of the books still has a sleeve, but the pages are still very crisp and I would be surprised if anyone has ever read this copy. I just checked eBay and there are 18 copies available there from $75-$405.

Wedding Band - I've been wearing this for over 14 years and I still think it's great. We got white gold just to be different. I like the silver look anyway. I have ECCL. 9:9 engraved on the inside. Amber's choice: Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Beret - My friend Kiki bought me this wool hat in Annecy, France in 1997. I do feel a little strange wearing this in Calgary where no other men wear berets, but it keeps my head warm and I like how it looks. I got it at a hat store where they make hats. They measured my head!

Billfold - One of the real problems with wallets is that they can get so thick. This little gem fits my drivers licence, health card, insurance card, bank card and 2 credit cards. It also has a billfold for cash or receipts. I love its sleek, leather feel and that it has metal in it.

Swiss Army Knife - Who doesn't like these things?! My first one was red and was stolen in Banff, so I replaced it. Then my second one got stolen in Guatemala, so I replaced it in Antigua with this black one. The case is fantastic too - think nylon canvas with a belt loop. I used to carry it on my hip for my Guatemala years. Now, it's frowned upon to be carrying a knife in school... I use it for so much.

Marathon Training for Marathon III

2.5 months after running the Calgary Marathon, I decide to run the Victoria Marathon over Thanksgiving weekend in October. This gives me a mere 8 weeks to train, but since I was already somewhat conditioned from the spring I figure this won't be an issue. I had 17 weeks to train for my first marathon and 16 weeks for my second one.



I am half way to the marathon now and I have run 174 kms staying on target with my training regime with the exception of 2 runs when I was sick for a weekend. I experienced some rather severe shin pain in the first couple weeks, but the pain hasn't carried further than that and only resurfaces when I play tennis (mysterious). I have supplemented with a bit of ultimate frisbee and cycling to work.

The RunKeeper app has been fantastic in tracking distances and paces and even providing my training program. The connection to friends who are also running has been encouraging and even delivers a level of accountability. Yesterday I discovered the RunKeeper site which allows for far more analysis. I even downloaded all of my runs and imported them into Google Earth to show all the trails I have pounded in Calgary, Radium and Red Deer in the last 4 weeks.



My longest pre-marathon run is coming this weekend (and the heaviest running week too at 79 kms). I still have 167 kms total to run. The best part is that I really enjoy the runs when I have the time. The cool weather is definitely a bonus too!

Noteworthy Apps

Since having my life greatly altered with an iPhone 18 months ago, I have come to appreciate the impact certain apps have had in my daily life. A few noteworthy ones:

DAY ONE: This is a journaling app that allows you to make entries that get backed up to DropBox, include photos, automatically notes the weather, location, etc. As one of my life goals is to keep a daily journal for 5 years, this one has proved invaluable because it is so fun to use and review with photos. I make a point of taking a unique photo each day to keep it fresh and so far I have journaled for 161 straight days. I love that I can publish the entire thing as a PDF in the end too. It's existence is also the main reason I have neglected my blog the last 6 months.

FOG OF WORLD: This is madness for a map fan like me. I love turning on the app when I travel new places to clear the fog from the map.

THIS AMERICAN LIFE: I got hooked on this NPR program this past spring and so the app has been a mainstay on morning and afternoon commutes (and long distance drives with the family). Since the only way to listen to archives is online through a flash based program, I had to buy the $2 app and it's worth it being able to access the 500 episodes. I'm working my way back, so I'm on episode 438 (2011).

GUITUNE: $1. Cheapest and most convenient guitar tuner I have ever bought.

BEER BUDDY: A perfect way to track the brews you've tasted. It can scan beer barcodes, access the ratebeer.com database for ratings and reviews, allows you to add your own ratings, etc.

R400 on the Road Again

After taking Blaise on his first real ride, almost 14 km, around our local neighbourhoods, I decide to invest some serious hours in cleaning up my bike. This summer I celebrate 10 years since I cycled from Tsawassen, BC to Robichaud, NB. In that time, I have not changed my chain or replaced the tape on my handlebars. I haven't replaced the brake or gear cables either, but I'm not going to try that without some real help.



I've had a new chain with me since the trip as well as a Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur component. My chain is filthy and is probably stretched like crazy so it's definitely in need of replacement. The derailleur is better off on my bike than in a box, so I'm going to swap it out too. I pick up a chain breaker and some new handlebar tape. Four or five YouTube videos and about six hours later, everything works well including the gears even change nicely. I managed a good cleaning of the bike and the rear cassette too.



Feels like a new Cannondale R400 now.

Scaling Down

The media response following the XL Foods in Brooks, AB shutdown over the last couple months has been a dominated by concerns to make food safer: more regulation, more measures to safeguard the quality of the meat. What is remarkable is the silence regarding the state of food production in Canada and the alarming trend of centralized food processing. This trend is evident in nearly all types of food. I will use XL Foods as an example.

XL Foods was processing about one third of the beef in Canada. Beef from all over western Canada was being processed by workers who had no stake in the company owned by Nilsson Bros. which suggests the care they take in processing is probably directly proportional to the care which their employers take of them. It also means that if a rancher wants to sell their cattle, they have fewer and fewer options of buyers.

Of course the visible goals of centralized food processing is to offer lower prices to consumers and to present standardized quality to the marketplace. Below the surface however is the desire for economic dominance and a strong competitive arm in a global market. Over time, mammoth food producers have absorbed small producers. With the incredible volume of meat that one packaging plant can export, they can easily undercut any small time producer. This is basic capitalism. Who are we to argue with allowing one group to push out another group, especially if it will cost us less for that particular product?

The problem is that it is not a one-dimensional issue, the dimension being economic. The environmental impact of massive feedlots and waste from large scale processing can’t be easily ignored. Drive through Brooks on a hot summer day. What about turning the vast majority of a population into employees rather than small business owners? Is it a benefit economically to quell any possible incentive for someone to open a butcher shop and employ half a dozen local people who may or may not be shareholders in a small business?

In regards to food safety, the multinational corporate mantra has been “if we’re bigger, we can afford better safety standards.” This has brought a wave of standards that can only apply to large meat plants. A small operation would not be able to afford the types of equipment needed to implement the new regulations. This implies that a small butcher shop would carve up your roast with dirty knives in back alleys riddled with drug needles and rusting cans. However, small businesses have a far greater interest in safety standards for a number of reasons. They know their clientele. They simply wouldn’t want to be the cause of a serious illness like an e-coli infection. Another factor is economic. If a small processing plant gets a reputation for not being safe, it wouldn’t be able to survive. In addition, the regulators would shut you down anyway. What about the cost of the product? With a greater number of meat processors purchasing from ranchers and then selling to consumers, you have the natural laws of competition keeping prices fair for both producers and consumers. These motivations do not apply to the large corporate producer.

What about the food itself? When a kilogram of ground beef arrives at SuperStore or Safeway from XL Foods, it can contain meat from hundreds of different beasts. If one of them was sick or if the feces wasn’t washed off of it well enough, then any kilogram of ground beef with that particular animal’s contaminated meat is also contaminated. This multiplies the risk to highly unreasonable levels and spreads it across a vast and unnecessary geographical area. Let’s assume just one large piece of beef was contaminated in the e-coli outbreak that crippled XL Foods this fall, despite their unprecedented 21st century safety features. The meat from this one source of contamination caused illness from Newfoundland to British Columbia and could have also brought infection to the United States if their food inspectors had not stopped it. 1800 products were recalled. And by products, I do not mean items. This represents thousands upon thousands of items pulled from shelves, many of which were statistically safe, but had to be discarded anyway. This is a massive waste of food.

How does a local community move away from massive, unwieldy and crippling structures like the XL Foods Meat Processing Plant? Or the growing number of discount megastores? Or the governmental pressures to globalize local markets by opening up trade with international producers and consumers? Or culture’s taste for exotic foods and electronics? Or regulations making it difficult for smaller operations to function? Are we too far gone? Have we yielded completely to the comforts and convenience of for-profit banks, chain stores, and processed food?

My hope is that the symptoms of these monstrous systems surface sooner rather than later. People will awaken to reclaim their local economies, to revive the good of the local trades and skills, to diversify the local food production, and to remedy the broken relationships we have with our neighbours. In the mean time, I choose to gradually wean myself off of the comfortable and convenient and begin participating in my local economy.

If this resonates with you, pick up Wendell Berry’s collection of essays: Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community. It is a magnificent book.

Adobe Premiere: Things I Like

As I updated my operating system on my iMac from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion, I was led to believe that my old copy of Final Cut Pro would not work as it was designed for PowerPC and not the new Intel processors (as it turns out, FCP still works). So, I had to decide to either buy the major let down of Final Cut Pro X or the Adobe Creative Suite 6 which includes Premiere (very similar to the older version of Final Cut). I opted for Adobe which I get cheap as I'm a teacher (and there was even a $50 off sale!).

This is my initial positive response to working with Premiere:

• Drag video or audio only onto the timeline
• Nice titling options
• Seamless work with other CS6 apps (Audition (audio editing), Encore (DVD authoring), AfterEffects, Photoshop)
• Media Browser access to all my files
• It works with all kinds of video
• Marker Window with visual view of all markers
• It looks and works so much like Final Cut Pro

Sorting Video Files (with help from Automator)

Something I really appreciated about the old Canon miniDV camcorders was that the timestamps they recorded onto each clip was visible and useful in sorting footage in the old iMovie. More recently, as I edit home movies in an old Final Cut Pro suite and as I mix and match footage from my Canon ZR950, Nikon D90, Flip, iPhone 4S, and from videos I scam from friends, the footage is more difficult to sort on a timeline.

Enter Automator! I've used it before for renaming files, but I had no idea I could retrieve the timestamp and have it included in the file name.

So, here's how I do it:

1. open Automator (you need a Mac to do this)
2. choose Workflow
3. drag all the video files you want renamed into the right hand part of the screen (something like "get specified movies" becomes an action), you can keep dragging items into this action
4. drag "Copy Finder Items" action from the middle column below the list of files, pick where you want to copy the renamed files to, don't choose replacing existing files
5. drag "Rename Finds Items" - this changes its name automatically to "Add Date or Time to Finder Item Names"
6. pick your renaming options - I choose Add Date or Time/ Created/ Year Month Day/ Before Name/ Dash/ Space/ Use Leading Zeros
7. click Run (top right)
8. be delighted

Then, you can put videos in the correct sequence, use the correct date in a title, etc.

iPhone 4S

I own one now. Pretty fancy machine I must say. I added something to my calendar with a voice command. I downloaded a couple hundred songs through iCloud. I set up my banking.

So what was the straw that pushed me over the edge? There were a few things.

- my little Nokia was not useful enough to carry around so I never used it
- as I plan to update the OS on both my laptop and iMac, the ability to synch calendars, email, address books, photos, music, etc is so handy with the iPhone
- using our iPad has shown me how handy a pocket version would be
- since we're moving, we can move away from a home line and both go mobile (Amber got an iPhone too)

I can't slack off and not label stuff!

Fact One: We are selling our home and moving so I am packing.

Fact Two: I am an archivist. I think it is important to maintain records of our past - letters, recordings, photos, videos, a few mementos . . .

Fact Three: We have twelve labelled cassette tapes of either Amber or I speaking sweet messages to each other when we were long distance dating or music recordings - me playing guitar back in junior high and my high school jazz band recorded for a CBC program).

Fact Four: I also have 8 cassettes that have nothing written on them.

Fact Five: We no longer have a cassette tape player.

What am I to do?

Saga: Man vs. Toilet

November: Amber alerted me to a pool of water in our family bathroom (we have 1 1/2 other bathrooms). The leak appeared to come from the toilet and it was a substantial pool of water, so action had to be taken. Amber mopped up the water and I turned off the water supply. Not wanting to put my family on the street, I decided against calling a plumber and chose to take a look at the toilet during the Christmas break - we have 2 other toilets after all.

December: With time on my hands, I watch YouTube videos demonstrating how to dismantle a toilet safely and what parts are typically the cause of a leak. I figure I will be able to spot the broken parts if I take the throne apart first before heading to Rona to buy the replacement parts. I get all the water out of the bowl. I catch the bit of water from the tank as I unhook it. I place the tank on the ground, unbolt the bowl and lay it on the ground too. Disturbing the bowl means I have to replace the wax ring at the base - now a disgusting black sticky mass. I figure this is likely the cause of the leak anyhow... I note the rubber washers holding the tank to the bowl seem a bit iffy too, so I decide to replace them too.

Returning from Rona with new parts in hand, Blaise assists me in reassembling the can. With the water supply reconnected, I flush triumphantly!

Amber informs me of the pool of water by the toilet a few hours later. She mops it up. I shut off the water.

January: It seems clear to me that, as I am still an amateur plumber, I must not have put the wax seal on properly. I inspect the toilet carefully to see if I can spot any other issues. None spotted. I pick up another wax ring, dismantle the entire toilet and swap the recently replaced with an even newer wax ring. After reassembly, I flush and water gushes from the middle of the toilet. Clearly, I've made a mistake in reassembly. I clean up the mess this time. Take the tank off and find that the spongy ring the tank sits on has probably seen better days. I pick up a new one, certain that victory is at hand. Now you can tell by the number of paragraphs that follow that I did not cure the ailment. Water doesn't gush now, but hours later, the telltale pool of water reappears. I mop up and shut off. I need time to think.



A week later I decide that the leak needs to be traced. The pool of water is always in the same place because it is a low spot on the bathroom floor. But where is the water coming from? I choose to set up a timelapse. I sprinkle green Kool-Aid crystals on the ground, put my laptop on the counter, setup my tripod and camera so it can see much of the floor around the toilet, turn on the water and flush. I return a few hours later... nothing. It's toying with me. I know there's a leak, but it's not manifesting itself for me. I flush again.



This time a green line appears along the right bottom rim (as you can see in the YouTube clip below) and spreads like a plague to where the water traditionally pooled. Aha! I've caught it on film. But this doesn't tell me anything I don't know. Water could be dripping off the tank, rolling down the bowl, flowing to this side of the toilet edge before it touches any Kool-Aid. I'm foiled again.




February: Having taken a few weeks to cool down, I am ready to re-engage the monkey on my back: "Hello toilet. You have a purpose. I want to help you fulfill your purpose. Let's work together so I can get on with living." I take a more tactile approach. I turn on the water, flush. Flush again. Then I hug the toilet, touch every washer, bolt, and cool curve. Something is amiss where the water supply connects to the tank. There is moisture. I check a few minutes later and sure enough, there is a water drop. Victory will be mine. I have hope, mingled with doubt based on my previous defeats, but light is shining on this scourge now and I can move forward.

I decide a simple tightening will solve it. I haul out my big plumbers wrench and tighten the nylon bolt, dry the area and wait. Wet again. Hmm. How about more tightening? Worth a try, so I repeat. No success. Well, I may as well look at replacing that part. Another trip to Rona reveals that the components to this piece are not sold separately. Everything up to this point has only cost between $1 and $3. Replacing the ballcock (I know, right?) will cost $18. I'd like to find an alternative solution. I try teflon. It fails. Water is leaking out of the tank through a rubber washer, so maybe if I put a rubber washer underneath and not just above? The guys at Rona tell me that I should just use plumbers grease and stop-leak putty. I buy the putty as I have grease at home. After a big mess and a sad realization that the guys at Rona may not know what they are talking about, I give in. During the frenzied experiments, I ask Amber to help me move the shelf from behind the toilet. As we lift it, it jostles the ceramic lid of the tank, and crack, the corner breaks off. I need to buy some contact cement next time I'm in Rona. I walk into Rona to find a dual-flush toilet on sale for $130. While I'm tempted, I resist the temptation since I would have to find a way to rid myself of my current toilet. I return to the familiar "Sinks / Toilets / Showers / Bathtubs aisle and fetch a ballcock. A quick install later, some flushing tests, check-ins every hour for 6 hours and VOILÀ! Mission accomplished. Toilet loses.

To iPhone or not to iPhone?

I expressed this carnal dilemma on facebook last night:

Zaak thinks an iPhone is terrific, found an ideal monthly plan, has his wife's permission to get one, but still can't list enough reasons why he "needs" one. He guesses he'll just keep his money.

Not surprisingly, I got 15 comments. I'll get to those in a minute.

What I didn't post was my full tech needs and resources. 

• I currently have an iMac (on it's 4th year) on which I do most of my personal work (design, video, email, photo & music library, website, address book, calendar, Skype with family, etc.).
• I have a school MacBook Pro (also on it's 4th year) on which I do all of my school work (making assignments/tests/lesson presentations, email, grading program, media class prep), cohousing work (email, proposals, committee work, Skype, etc.), and where I do most of my web browsing and blogging (I'm on it now). 
• I have a first generation iPod Touch 8 GB (which my students think is totally retro) on which I listen to tunes at work during preps, play Angry Birds, use as a calculator, check my email / calendar / address book, look at maps before traveling to a new location in Calgary, and check the news/blogs on the rare occasion my laptop isn't around and I have wifi). I have tried reading books, the Bible, and blogging from my iPod, but it just isn't a very fulfilling experience.
• I have an 80 GB iPod Classic which serves as our entire music library. It's hooked up to our receiver in the living room and it comes on long car trips. 
• I share a Nokia mobile phone with my wife that we usually forget to bring with us or forget to charge. I use it to text for carpool rides (about 10-15 texts a month). When we do remember to bring it with us, we'll call home to ask if there is anything we can pick up on the way home (the answer is usually "no"). We've never exceeded the 50 free minutes on any given month.
• We also have a brand new set of Panasonic wireless home phones. We spend about $30/mo total to have the home phones including all of our long distance.

So, what more could an iPhone (or an Android smart phone*) add to my life?

• iPhones are a thing of beauty, not unlike a mountain vista or a glorious symphony. My life could be impacted just by the beauty (harmony, intention, power). 
• The odd time I am a little lost in Calgary, I could use the G4 network and the maps app. 
• Amber could have full ownership of the Nokia or we could cancel that $15/mo subscription. 
• I could shoot video and take impromptu photos rather than having to drag my Canon miniDV camcorder or Flip Cam and my Nikon DSLR around everywhere. 
• I could update my facebook status from almost anywhere. Something I barely do at home.
• I could give my kids my iPod Touch to play with. 
• I could adapt enjoy more apps that I have been unable to try/use because my iPod is so old (3.5 years!!). 

Other than that... I can't think of more options. All of these would be super cool. Being able to carry my Nokia, iPod, and Flip all in one is pretty cool - though I rarely have more than 1 of those in my pocket at a time.

Is that worth $60/month (plus the cost of the phone) for the next 3 years (about $2,650 total including tax, fees)? I would likely spend a couple more hundred dollars on apps etc. too.

Now for the facebook comments:

• Dean, Isabel, Janis, Cate, Marta and Karry LOVE their iPhones and believe I would also. I agree.
• Sara, Justin, Helen, and Landon suggest alternatives: Androids, something cheaper. Reservations? Yikes!
• Mom, Petra, and Trish share my dilemma. Yup.
• Lawrence and Jon discourage me from giving in to my wants. True, true.

So how would an iPhone impact my life? This should be my question.

Yes, I would have a marginally (?) richer tech life. 

Would I likely have my nose glued to it all day and all evening? Probably, knowing my experience with my iPod/MacBook/iMac. This likely means less facetime (irony?) with my family. 

The pocketbook** would suffer. 

As a whole, I will have become more materialistic, though I've already achieved gold status, so what harm could an iPhone do?

As a global citizen, would owning an iPhone be better for everyone? I believe that is a resounding no. The factories aren't exactly a place where I'd like my children to work, so why would I support the employment for the Chinese. The materials used are likely mined unethically and may even contribute to wars around the planet. But again, I'm already a global criminal by the amount of energy, food, and technology that I consume, what's one more gadget?

Finally, the tough question, and one I am reluctant to post here, but hey it might generate a good discussion. I should iterate: I am not judging those who own and love their iPhones. This is my struggle, but maybe it is yours too: Can I as a professing Christian own an iPhone based on the reasons I've posted? I'm not sure I can. And I type these words with sadness because I really, really want an iPhone.

• My money could be spent more generously, in a more giving way.
• My time could be spent in relationship, rather than entertainment.
• I should consider the full, global impact of my spending as the ripple effect is great and terrible.
• Can my purpose here on earth (to be used by God for the restoration, renewal, and redemption of the world) be better accomplished using an iPhone? (maybe?)

And this applies to far more than just an iPhone. It demands a re-evaluation of my entire life.

* I'm already fully integrated into the Apple Borg, so would an Android phone fully integrate itself with all of my Mac stuff? I was at a loss trying out my coworkers new Android tablet.
** by using this word, do I disqualify myself from even being able to buy an iPhone?

Mont Blanc 360〫

This is a really cool virtual trip over and around Mont Blanc. It's produced using a new camera called yellowBird. On this particular trip you can take photos and direct where the camera is looking, even at the helicopter above you. Wild.

A Brand New Car

I've never owned a brand new car. I like it.

When the maintenance on our previous car was going to cost upwards of $5000 when the car itself was not worth that much, we made the decision to go car shopping and unload our Audi. We ended up at the Toyota dealership near our house with every intention of getting a 4-5 year old Matrix or Corolla. We were convinced to spend $3000 more on a brand new 2011 Matrix with far better financing.

It had 37 km registered on the odometer.

Despite our desire for a base model (5-speed manual transmission, no A/C, no power windows or locks, etc.), it has numerous features that are standard to new vehicles these days. I just hope they don't cost a fortune to fix. I plan to drive this car until it expires. We've registered over 2000 km in less than a month already.

Huge thanks to our friends who loaned us their car while we shopped (I sold the Audi in a bit of a hurry).

Cleaning House with Kijiji

High on my list of things to do this winter is clear out some of the accumulating furniture and stuff in our basement. I photographed all the stuff and posted 11 items to Kijiji. This was almost 2 months ago and I've been able to unload 5 of them. Time to repost what is left.

What is frustrating is that so many people email "Is this still available? I can come get it tonight." I reply that it is still available and that tonight would be fine. I provide a phone number and address. No response.

Sure beats a yard sale in February though!

ipod lint

jack will not stay in

ipod's port is jammed with lint

needle jimmies free

2001-2010 Decade in Review

2001: Shave my head for the first time, work as a youth pastor at Red Willow Community Church in St Albert AB (Events: Just Shoot Me, Gerta's Eclipse, and fall retreat in Nordegg), canoe the Mackenzie River in NT, camp at Elk Island National Park, attend plays at the Citadel Theatre, travel to Halifax NS for Peter's wedding and Cormier Village NB after a 7 year absence, wake up to news of attack on twin towers on radio, spend Christmas in Smithers BC.

2002: Amber graduates from U of A, church trip to Guatemala and touring afterward, Pépère passes away, continue pastoring at Red Willow leading prayer meetings, leading worship with Kurt and getting kids to YC, substitute teach and then teach language arts and media part time for Edmonton Public Schools, camp at Elk Island, travel to Hope BC for Tey's wedding and Moscow ID for Bethany's wedding, Christmas in Lacombe AB.

2003: Finish my first year teaching at Winterburn School, Amber teaches for six months in Calgary, taken temporarily by Quixtar, cycle across Canada (5858 km) with 8 friends/family, move to Montreal QC and teach science and math at Greaves Adventist Academy, attend the Lord of the Rings trilogy screening at the Paramount Montreal, spend Christmas in NB.

2004: Travel to VT, CT, MA, and NY in the spring, sponsor school yearbook, begin Zaakistan blog, eat very well at various parties in Montreal, run through NDG, friend Stephanie passes away, teach summer session, buy first iPod, drive across North America with stops in NB, MI, WI, and SK, move to Spruce Grove AB to teach music, band and math at Living Waters Christian Academy, impregnate Amber, take Spanish classes, put on school Chrismas concert, host family Christmas.

2005: Put on school spring concert at LWCA, mail out support letters to work in Guatemala, Amber gets huge, enjoy 4 couples friends meals, begin playing Settlers of Catan, Blaise is born, pack up and move to Red Deer, travel with baby to Hazelton BC, Squamish BC, Moscow ID, Montreal QC, Cormier Village NB, move to Tactic Guatemala with Impact Ministries to manage the child sponsorship program, produce promotional material, and guide short term teams, deliver relief supplies to Lake Atitlan following landslide devastation, sell Ester Buck, buy Kia Rio, travel to Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Antigua, and Copán Honduras.

2006: New school opens in Chicoy, we are robbed while at church, move to house at KM 185, complete first film, turn 30 years of age, visited by Saison, Mom, Papa and Red Willow team, travel to El Salvador, Honduras, Lake Atitlan and Tikal, hike the falls at Chilascó and Pacaya volcano, produce promo video, database, website and slideshows for Impact Ministries, listen to Stanley Cup Edmonton Oiler playoff run online, Amber gets pregnant, screen Strength and Honour: Cycling Canada Coast to Coast at the Montreal International Film Festival, travel to Montreal QC, Cormier Village NB, then Christmas in AB and BC with family.

2007: Two new schools open in Purulhá and Mocohan, we achieve Guatemalan residency, deliver and install 90 ONIL stoves, endure 2 month cough, Acadia is born at home, visited by Will and LWCA team, hike up Purulhá mountain, continue to produce promo videos, guide teams and manage sponsorship program, buy and care for goats with René, join Facebook, Tactic is flooded, take course from Chalmers, deliver 640 pairs of shoes, April spends Christmas with us.

2008: Drive through Petén, Belize, and Quintana Roo to spend holiday with family in Playa del Carmen Mexico, visited by Salomé, Shane, Peter, Red Willow team, Alan and Justin, cycle to Salamá with Garth and Walter, travel to Rabinal, back country near Tactic and with group of friends to Rio Dulce, receive interviews with World Vision Mali and Bearspaw Christian School Calgary, move to AB, buy car and home, niece Abigail and nephew Kai are born, travel to Smithers and Hazelton BC for weddings, teach Bible, Spanish, PE and media at BCS, Amber's sisters live with us.

2009: Begin attending New Hope Church, continue teaching at BCS with math added to the subjects, drywall the basement, spend summer holidays in NB, NS, PEI, BC and AB, buy year passes to Calgary Zoo, attend Leonard Cohen and U2 concerts, start small group, Kylik, Alanna and Indigo winter with us, endure -58 C (with wind chill) in Edmonton, host big family Christmas.

2010: Join Whiskeyjack/Dragonfly Cohousing, begin playing Stone Age, attend Pastor John's book meetings, host Amber's family visit, watch the Vancouver Olympics, Camp with family in Rocky Mountain House, travel to Smithers BC, speak at Katepwa Baptist Camp in SK, celebrate 10 year wedding anniversary in Waterton Lakes National Park, attend several amazing concerts, start teaching Calculus and stop teaching Spanish, cycle to work, April visits from Syria, spend Christmas in Edmonton with my family.

I praise the faithful and ever present God for this blessed decade.

Wikileaks - Crimes come into the Light

Yesterday morning, after hearing about Wikileaks in the news for the last few weeks, I thought I should check out the official site at wikileaks.org myself only to discover "Safari can’t find the server 'www.wikileaks.org'." Later, I heard on the news that "someone" is jamming the Wikileaks site. I had however found a mirror of the site and found a couple of the links that worked (and still work as of the writing of this blog): nyud.net and wikileaks.de for example.

As the site is under attack there are limitations, but you can download the Iraq War Logs (a 354 MB spreadsheet) torrent file and watch the leaked video Collateral Murder. The Iraq War Logs detail violent encounters of the US military during nearly the entire invasion and occupation.

The video (the short version is embedded below) was leaked after the US military kept it secret for over 3 years despite Reuters' request to have it released because two of their reporters had been gunned down in the unprovoked attack.

I won't describe what happens in the video. It is brutal. It is the sort of thing God sees daily, so I encourage you to watch and sense what He senses, except He made both the victims and the murderers.

Used Luxury Vehicles

Posits:

• People who buy new luxury vehicles generally replace their vehicles within five years
• Vehicles do not typically require any major repairs in their first five years.
• People who can afford to buy new luxury vehicles, do not typically drive them into the ground as they can afford alternative transportation for long distance trips.
• Five-year-old luxury vehicles cost about the same as new midrange vehicles, but they have all the perks of luxury vehicles and they probably will not have registered many kilometres so they will garner appeal.
• The cost of repairing luxury vehicles is high - highly specialized parts and high dealership labour rates.

Conclusion:

• Do not under any circumstances buy used luxury vehicles.

Near Misses

This spring I installed the latest Mac OS (Snow Leopard) and my rather old version of Final Cut (video editing software) did not run well on it. I researched online for a few weeks and was prepared to dish out some money to buy the latest version of Final Cut Pro ($1199). As I was shopping around on eBay and Kijiji and online I decided to take another look at patches for FCP and OS 10.6. And there it was, a simple, free fix saving me over $1000.

In June, I got a flat tire on my road bike. Didn't bother repairing it for a couple weeks because of non-stop rain and then the sunday before the last week of exams I decided to patch a bunch of tubs and clean the rear gears really well. I ended up messing up something inside my rear wheel which I had fixed, and as I put the rear wheel back on I saw that it was rubbing on my frame and brakes. I brought the bike into M.E.C. (who now deals their own bike) on my way to the south end of Calgary and the techs there showed me how my frame was bent and how it was going to be impossible to fix. I should go to Bow Cycle who deals Cannondale and see if they can get me a crash replacement deal on a new frame. That's what I did and when they got back to me I was faced with a $950 frame (simple aluminum road bike frame from Cannondale). I decided to pursue the used bike world on Kijiji and found a great 15-yr-old Specialized bike that suited my purposes. I asked if I could try my wheels on it and my rear wheel was rubbing against this other bike too. I didn't buy the $600 bike. Yesterday I brought my bike and wheel back to Bow Cycle. After trying a good wheel on my "bent" frame, I discovered my frame was just fine. My rear wheel is getting redished toward the drive side and the axle is getting an overhaul: $30.

Calgary Transit

$2.75 to ride the train or bus in Calgary. Not a terrible rate really.

Our family used the transit system for the first time in Calgary on July 1st to go to Prince's Island Park for the festivities and to avoid the parking chaos. I brought change in case the machines didn't take credit card (which they didn't). So, I walked up to the ticket machine to buy Amber and I a ticket to discover that it requires exact change and that it only sells one ticket at a time. My two toonies, one loonie, and two quarters could not purchase two tickets.

Really Calgary? You can't get machines high tech enough to spit out change or sell tickets with a credit card or more than one ticket at a time. Really?