More internet woes…

Posted on October 18, 2018 by kdarcy21

My continuing saga of internet access continues at my new place in Crowsnest Pass.

Yes, I called into Tough Country Communications to get an update to see if they’d be abe to provide internet service to me via a relay on a neighbours roof.  The person I spoke to was helpful and said she’d look into it and get back to me.  She did call back and said a tech would come out to my place yesterday afternoon.  So, I waited and watched the NLCS game, no tech arrived though.  So, I guess I need to give them a call back today.  Or, perhaps I won’t bother.  I haven’t decided.  They don’t really seem to be “on top of their game” so I am wondering how their service will be, anyway.  That decision will be made later anyway…

Right before they called me back, I received a call from the local Telus dealer that the Telus Hub I ordered came in.  Same type of thing as the Rogers Hub I am using, just a LOT cheaper to use.  I can get 500GB of data for $110.  Five hundred gig is essentially unlimited for me, I’ve never used that much.  I am buying the hub outright, since I don’t want to be trapped in a 2 year agreement.  The Hub is $279, when I get it, if it works as well as the Rogers one, I will then try to sell the Rogers hub, get some of my money back on it.  If it doesn’t work, I can return it within 2 weeks for a full refund.  They say it should work, but there are lots of factors in play.

At some point in the relatively near future, I am sure I will be able to get DSL here.  I’d guess within a year or two.  Time will tell.

So, for today and likely tomorrow, I will be using Rogers.  I will then try Telus and in the meantime, decide on what to do with Tough Country who really seem to NOT want my business.

Who knew the internet was going to be so complicated?

Posted in Personal, Technology Amazes Us | Leave a comment

It’s Wednesday, but feels like Tuesday…

Posted on October 17, 2018 by kdarcy21

Monday was a long day of driving.  The dogs and I headed to Calgary for their yearly vet visits.  We stopped at Costco in Okotoks on our way, I needed to buy them dog food, they like to eat, twice a day, but they don’t like to get their own food.  Mooches.  Anyway, Costco was fairly busy, but nowhere near as busy as the ones in Calgary would have been, I am sure.  I was about 30 minutes in total.

We stopped at Edworthy Park since we were early for the vet.  The dogs had a good run and got themselves tired out.  Well, Blondie and Twix, Hera was on leash which she doesn’t really care for since she’s not leashed at home any more.  I stopped for a quick bite to eat as well and shared some fries with the dogs.

The vet visit was good, all of them are healthy, good news all around.  I also discovered that when I bring in 3 dogs at one time, I get a 10% discount.  That helps for sure.  No issues anyway and now they are all up to date on their shots.

We headed out of the city around 4:30 or so, perhaps a bit later and stopped in Okotoks on the way home, again, this time to go to M&M Meat Shops.  Okotoks is probably the closest one to my house, perhaps Lethbridge, likely about equal distance anyway.  Their frozen chicken breasts, when on sale are a great deal and they were on sale.  It’s not like I can just hop in the car and zip over anymore, well, I guess I can but a 1.5 hour drive isn’t really zipping.  I had brought my cooler with me so everything was kept frozen for the trip home.

I was back to work yesterday and the day zoomed by.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just a busy day.  I expect the same for the rest of the week I would guess.

Next week I am back in Calgary for a couple of days.  The Babe Ruth year-end banquet is Tuesday evening.  I am going since it will be my last one as I am no longer involved.  It was 5 pretty good years with Babe Ruth.  Three of those years I was the Club Manager for the Rockies.  I enjoyed it, but we did not have the on-field success I had hoped for.  I handled uniforms the last couple of years on the Board and enjoyed that.  I will miss being on the Board of Directors for the most part but I will miss umpiring in Calgary more, I suspect.  I will need to find new things to keep me busy next summer and I am sure that won’t be an issue down here.

So, after the banquet, I am staying in a hotel close to the Calgary office and working in the office on Wednesday.  In the evening, I am going for dinner with an ex-coworker and my current co-worker – Red Lobster for Endless Shrimp.  I am looking forward to that already.

Nothing else planned for this week.  I will watch some baseball, but I am not enjoying it that much this year and I am unsure why.  Perhaps I umpired my fill of baseball this summer, don’t know.  I have only watched a few full games, otherwise it’s bits and pieces.  If the Dodgers make the World Series, I will probably watch less.  Both are good series and right now, it’s anybody’s guess who’s moving on.

Anyway, guess it is time to start my day.  Enjoy yours.

Posted in Baseball, Blondie, Hera & Twix, My Dogs, Personal, Umpiring, Work | Leave a comment

Annual vet visit – for the dogs, not me…

Posted on October 15, 2018 by kdarcy21

Today is the dogs annual visit to the vets.  When I moved to Crowsnest Pass, I was going to switch to a vet down here and then when I thought about it, I figured why bother?  I found a vet in Calgary I really liked and it isn’t that far, plus I go to Calgary every month or so anyway, so I figured I’d incorporate a trip around the dogs vet visits.  I moved Twix up a couple of months, she typically went in January so that all three are now scheduled for the same time.  Next year, I may move all three ahead one month since September weather tends to be nicer than October weather.

I am lucking out today, the weather is supposed to be very nice with high temps in the mid-teens.  The roads are clear and dry, so it should be a good trip to Calgary.  I plan on stopping in Okotoks to go to Costco for dog food and some other house supplies.

I may make another stop or two in Calgary this afternoon, will have to see.  At any rate, it’ll be a fair amount of driving today but at least the dogs like car rides.  My day off will fly by, I am sure.

Enjoy your Monday and your week.

Posted in Blondie, Hera & Twix, My Dogs, Personal | Leave a comment

Another long weekend…

Posted on October 14, 2018 by kdarcy21

This was a long weekend for me, sort of broken up though.  I was off on Friday because I worked last Sunday.  I also worked yesterday and get Monday off for that.  It was slow yesterday, so I wouldn’t really consider it a normal workday.

I didn’t do much on Friday, it was a relaxing day.  I did watch the start of the NLCS and saw the Brewers take game one of that series.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers win game two yesterday to even the series out.

Yesterday, as I said, I worked.  After I finished, I went into town to get some groceries.  I was going to drive into Lethbridge to get the dogs some food, but the weather was not the best and I didn’t really want to drive all that way in a winter storm. We didn’t get a lot of snow, luckily, only a few inches and it will all be gone by tomorrow as temps are supposed to be in the low single digits.

The Astros and Red Sox series started, but I wasn’t feeling well and was really tired so I went to bed, just to lay down at about 6:40pm.  I woke up around 11:10 to let the dogs out and went back to bed and slept until nearly 6am.  So, in total, I slept for around 11 hours – I must have been tired but I feel great today.  Even after all that sleep, I still had a nap earlier today.  Must have needed it, for some reason.

Tomorrow I take the dogs for their yearly vet checkup.  When I moved to Crowsnest Pass, I was going to get a new vet but then figured since it is only a once a year thing, I’d stay with the vet I found and really liked in Calgary.  It’s a bit of a trip, but the weather is supposed to be great.  I think I will reschedule next years trip earlier in the Falls, September sounds good to me.  I have a few other things I can do in Calgary and area, including getting dog food at Costco, likely in Okotoks (it won’t be as busy as Calgary).  Should be a good day, at least the dogs like going for car rides.

So, a short week at work coming up, that’s welcome for sure.  Won’t be as short as last weeks 3-day workweek, but I can handle four.  Hope you have a good week as well.

Posted in Baseball, My Dogs, Personal, Work | Leave a comment

The Story of Twix

Posted on October 12, 2018 by kdarcy21

I have written the Stories of my dogs, Zeus, Blondie, and Hera.  I have not written about my fourth dog, Twix.  It is time to tell her story.

In December of 2016, I joined a Facebook group for Calgary and Area Pets.  I was interested in the posts.  I had no real intention of getting another dog, I already had Blondie and Hera and only insane people had more than 2 dogs, right?

Anyway, I saw a post for a Golden Retriever puppy, the owners had adopted her and for some reason were not able to keep her.  I figured I would inquire, messaged them, they replied but then I never heard back from them, so I figured someone else took the dog.

A few weeks later, towards the middle of January, I saw a post for a beautiful Pitbull mix named Twix:

twix

I messaged the owner and we chatted back and forth a little bit.  The family had just had a new baby and their work schedules changed and they didn’t feel they had the time for Twix.  The lady I was talking to said her husband would text me later.

He did, we chatted for a bit, he asked me a bunch of questions, I asked him a bunch as well.  We agreed to meet the next day at a dog park near my place so that Twix could meet Blondie and Hera.

We arrived at the park a bit before our meeting time and I played one of the dogs favourite games, ChuckIt!.  The dogs were pretty tired before Twix and her owner showed up.

The dogs met and got along well, right from the get-go.  I got to know her owner and he got to know me.  We talked about dogs and I told him all about mine.

We decided to head to my house, he wanted to check out where I lived, he wanted to ensure that if I took Twix, that she was going to a good home.

The three dogs played in the backyard for a bit, continuing the fun from the park.  We also went inside and they raced around.  The three girls were getting along great.

Twix and her owner went home and he said he’d call me later.  We decided I should sleep on it before deciding if I wanted to get another dog.  He called me early the next morning and asked what I was thinking.  I decided that I’d add another dog, dog number three to my pack.  I had a baseball meeting that morning and I’d pick her up after the meeting.

So, around 1pm that day (it was a Sunday), I drove to the south-east of Calgary to pick up Twix and her belongings.  She went very willingly with me, her owner was sad to see her go.  I was surprised that their little boy who was about 6 years old wasn’t sad, or at least didn’t appear to be sad at all.  We agreed that we could meet every so often at a dog park so that they could see Twix.

On the way home, we stopped at Pet Smart to buy some dog stuff for Twix and headed home.  Blondie and Hera were happy to see their new friend again, not knowing that she’d be staying this time.

We did meet up with Twix’s former owners, but only once.  Twix was happy to see them but didn’t try to follow them when we left.  I think she’s pretty happy with Blondie, Hera and myself.

Twix has been with us for 21 months or so now, it will be 2 years this coming January.  She moved with us to Crowsnest Pass and is loving life.  She loves having two sister dogs to play with, going for car rides, having naps with her Dad.  She bonded to me quicker than any dog I’ve ever known.  Although she wasn’t abused (so many Pitbull type dogs are), I don’t think she ever got a lot of love and attention in her early life.  Now, since I work from home, she gets all the attention and love she wants and she eats it up.

She is a great addition to the D’Arcy pack and although I do not regret getting her and giving her a great life, I’ve decided that I won’t have three dogs at one time again.  I’m glad that she’s happy and healthy and happy with my pack of girls.

Bt the way, I’ve read on the internet, 3 dogs is the maximum that you can have, without becoming a crazy dog person, so I will go with that.  🙂

 

Posted in Blondie & Hera, Blondie, Hera & Twix, My Dogs, Personal, Twix | Leave a comment

Excellent baseball, sorry Yankees (not)…

Posted on October 10, 2018 by kdarcy21

Great baseball game last night, from my perspective anyway, being a hater of the Yankees.  CC Sabathia was on the mound for the Yankees, I don’t care for him, likely only because he plays for the Yankees.  I didn’t like Jeeter for that reason and that reason alone.  And, guess what?  That’s my opinion so you can’t say I am wrong, it’s also my BLOG, so there.  Anyway, where was I?  Right, CC was on the mound and was not his usual good pitching self, shame.  The Sox scored 4 runs pretty early and lead 4-1 heading into the 9th.  Boston put in their closer, who, by the way, has one of the (if not the MOST) ugliest beards in all of baseball.  He did not pitch particularly well and it looked like the Yankees were going to win the game.  One shot, with bases loaded was about 10 feet shy of being a home run.  He did eventually give up 2 runs before getting the final out, which was a close play at 1B.  The Red Sox celebrated their ALDS win with sad Yankee fans looking on.  Glad it happened that way, sorry that the Yankees got one win in the series.  At least now, we don’t have to listen to how great the Yankees are, until next Spring anyway.

So, the Red Sox now move on and play the Astros, starts Saturday evening.  In the NL, the Brewers and Dodgers start their series Friday night.  I hate the Dodgers so I guess I am rooting for the Brewers to knock them off.  I can say I’ve only seen them play a few games this year so I really don’t know any of them.  They handled my Rockies with ease, of course, with how the Rockies were hitting, I think any decent Peewee aged team could have done that.  The Sox/Astros series will be nothing short of epic, I am sure.  It’s sad, sort of, that one of them can’t continue to the World Series.  My guess, whoever represents the American League will win and will win pretty easily, as easy as playoff baseball can be, anyway.

I will predict that it will be the Astros vs. Milwaukee.  The Astros will likely take 6 of not 7 games to defeat the Red Sox.  I have no idea on the NL side how many games it may go.  Seeing as I hate the Dodgers, I hope for 4.  We’ll see.

So, a couple of days off of baseball, next action is Friday night.  I suppose I will see what else is on to watch right?  Too cold to do much outside.

Gotta love playoff baseball.

Posted in Baseball, Personal | Leave a comment

That was a pasting…

Posted on October 9, 2018 by kdarcy21

The long weekend for Thanksgiving was pretty relaxing.  I did have to work on Sunday, it was not busy.  I did a couple of restore requests first thing and then didn’t have much to do until later in the day, I helped a user who was in complete panic mode.  It is nice to be able to resolve a simple issue for someone and make their day.  It is also nice that I have not forgotten ALL of my technical skills since I am no longer a tech.

I watched baseball.  The Rockies got knocked out of the playoffs, 3 games straight and the third and final game, at home, where Rockies fans were hoping their offense would come alive was the worst game of the series.  A 6-0 loss to the Brewers who now advance to the NLCS against the Dodgers.  All I can say is I hope the Brewers put the same beat-down on the Dodgers that they did to the Rockies.  The Astros also swept their series against the Indians, it wasn’t even a fair match-up.  I don’t particularly care for the Indians anyway so congrats to the Astros.  They now wait until the Red Sox – Yankees series wraps up to see who they play.

Speaking of that series, the Red Sox ground the Yankees into some sort of paste yesterday, 16-1 was the final.  I am hoping that the Red Sox can eliminate the Yankees tonight, as is, likely, 90% of baseball fans.  There’s a lot of hate for both teams but the Yankees are much easier (for me, anyway) to hate.  Either way, it will set up an exciting ALCS, I am sure.  The Astros are ready and waiting and eager to repeat as World Series champions.

I did not have turkey for Thanksgiving, I didn’t make it into town to buy a turkey breast or anything.  That’s OK, I guess I didn’t feel like going out.

It’s a short 3-day work week this week as I am off on Friday.  I am covering for a co-worker on Saturday though, so that puts a damper on the long weekend, but I am off again Monday.  I don’t normally work any weekend shifts, but I am covering since there were no other volunteers.  I am ok with that.

Well, it’s the beginning of another week, for us Canadians anyway.  Enjoy yours.

Posted in Baseball, Personal, Work | Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on October 7, 2018 by kdarcy21

Yesterday was a relaxing day.  I watched parts of Episodes 1-3 of the Star Wars Saga.  I say parts because I had two naps as well.  I got up just in time to watch the Indians vs Astros game which was a pretty good game, the Astros coming from behind to win and take a 2 games to none lead.  I think the Indians are all but done.  They (the Indians) might win a game at home, but I sort of think it will be a sweep.

Speaking of sweeps, it looks like the Braves and my Rockies may get swept today.  The Braves have yet to score a run against the Dodgers and the Rockies, although they have scored, it appears that they have forgotten how to hit in general.  Guess we will see today.

I am working today, until 2pm.  I am covering for one of the techs.  He owes me.  I am sure it will be a dead day.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada and I am pretty sure that people will not be working today.  People are spending time with their families this weekend.  Well, everyone that is, except for me, I am working.  🙂  It is a change though so I don’t mind and I get this coming Friday off, so I really don’t mind.

Nothing else planned for today.  I will watch the Brewers @ Rockies game, even though I have to stream it and, if you read my last post, streaming is expensive.

Enjoy your long weekend, if you’re Canadian, that is – Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted in Baseball, Personal, Work | Leave a comment

That was a bit of a shocker…

Posted on October 5, 2018 by kdarcy21

I called Rogers yesterday.  I have my phone through a business account since my employer arranged for discounted plans with Rogers.  I wanted to move my Rogers Hub over to my business plan.  In doing so, I’d save 30%.

So, I was on hold for a bit, got the wrong department and was quickly transferred to the correct department.  The woman I was speaking to was helpful, had to check on some stuff.  It took 20 minutes or so for her to do her checks, unsure exactly what she was doing.  Anyway, right before she was going to transfer me to another department, she told me there would be a $35 fee to move my personal account over to my business account.  I didn’t want to pay a $35 fee, so I said, no thanks and come to think of it, could you not have mentioned this when I first called in, it would have saved us both 20 minutes of our lives…

Anyway, I also asked if there was a better business plan available for my Hub.  The short answer was no, there isn’t, but I can transfer you to see if they will do anything.  Do anything eh?  Rogers largest Hub plan is currently $60 per month for a 5GB plan, that’s the base rate.  At Telus, where I will shortly be moving to, their $60 plan allows for 100GB of data.  In my quick calculation, that is 20 times the data for the same price.  Their upper tier plan allows 500GB of data for $110.

I just got my Rogers Hub bill for the month of September.  I was a bit shocked by it.  For 360GB, I was charged $590.  Yes, $590 for a month of internet.  I might say that’s a bit insane.

Anyway, I will be purchasing a Telus Hub shortly and canceling my Rogers Hub service.  I wonder if they’ll be surprised that I am canceling?  I doubt it…  I also wonder how many departments I will need to be transferred to in order to cancel?

PS – I have a Rogers Hub for sale.  Warning, if you plan on using it for actually using the internet, it might result in rather large invoices.  🙂

Posted in Personal, Technology Amazes Us | Tagged | Leave a comment

50cm of snow? That’s nothing…

Posted on October 4, 2018 by kdarcy21

We ended up with about 50cm of snow on October 2.  Calgary got somewhere near 40cm, other places in Southern Alberta were hit just as hard.  Records were broken.  We typically do not see this amount of snow any time, never mind at the beginning of Fall.

The road out front leading to the highway was not in good shape, to say the least, but it was plowed twice by mid-morning.  This amazes me, seeing as any of the streets I lived on, other than 14 Avenue which is a main north-south street in Calgary, never would have been plowed within 12 hours of the storm ending.  I called my contractor in the morning and my driveway was cleared by 4pm.

I have a huge driveway.  It is a semi-circle and about 300′ long in total.  He used a Bobcat to clear it.  The ground was still quite soft so he has to be careful not to dig up the ground but he did a great job.  It would have taken all day to clear with a snowblower, never mind trying to use a shovel.

So, this was my first taste of a nasty storm in the mountains.  As long as it doesn’t happen on a weekly basis, I think I will be OK with it.  Take note though, in future years, you can wait until after the first week of October to come.  Winter is still 2.5 months away after all.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments