Want new tech - want!

I have been fighting the urge to get a new Windows tablet. I prepared for retirement upgrading most of my tech in 2017 then getting a keyboard for my tablet. It doesn't feel like enough.

About those truckers around Alberta

I could not be a politician. People in Southern Alberta vote conservative. They got a hospital expansion, new windmills funded by the carbon tax and a cannabis growing facility is under construction. Guess who they will vote for again.

Just when I started to get concerned

Very glad AB government not pandering to just one energy sector; they are also brokering deals for the future. Building jobs and looking to the future is a core government function in a capitalist democracy. Renewable energy is the future. During the transition we must support oil of course, hence rail cars, increased refining and reminding the federal government to get the expansion for that pipeline they bought approved.

I tried having a conversation about the trucker deal on Wednesday - everyone at exercise  seemed to think it was awesome. I asked questions like - isn't oil still flowing through the existing pipelines, isn't pipeline construction also stopped in the US and the best one - the pipeline expansion wouldn't kick in immediately so I don't get it. Then I read this and was reminded by Perfesser Dave

... Alberta’s not mad because the Conservatives didn’t build their pipeline, which they think they need, but they are mad because the Liberals are going to build it, but they want the Liberals to build it anyway, and they’re even madder because the Liberals are propping up their industry until the pipeline is finished, even though they say the industry needs propping up, and the pipeline they want isn’t going to make any difference when it’s finished...

Yes, people are hurting now but really - oil has been in flux since I moved to Alberta in the 80s. It's why I made sure if hubby worked in oil field, I did not. So far oil service companies have been hit for last 4 years after a soft bounce back from 2009. What is their business plan?

And truly, there is a pretty significant group of Albertans who would be happy to join the US; live the prosperity version of the bible, destroy the environment, stuff non-hetero people into a closet or send them to "the farm" with the unwanted pets and get rid of the newer immigrants who do the jobs they are paid to do.

Bennie and the Glove

Now that Bennie is over six months old and is pretty solid with his house training, we've decided to make his space a little larger. This introduces new training spaces because what applies in the kitchen may not - in his mind - apply any where other than the kitchen.We continue to be lucky as he hasn't really figured out he could jump over the barrier. He's our first dog we haven't encouraged to jump up on chairs or the bed. Instead we use "up" and lift him up. All his jumping is getting down.

Importing from Google+ using Friends+ Me tool

Friends+ Me has made an easy to use exporter tool that grabs posts and comments so it can be imported to Blogger (and WordPress) It is free to use for up to 3000 posts; after than you can accept truncated data or pay for more. Go to their post on exporting in the G+ migration community for download information.

If you like to be more handsy - download the dropbox files.

Step 1	download all the files from the link
Step 2	click on the exe file to install. If you get a warning, click the small print to run anyway
Step 3	Launch the exporter, it will look for your G+ account. You may have to log in manually by entering your email and password
Step 4	Select the files you want to export and the format you will want for importing. You can export your entire feed or just collections. I know a lot of my stuff is time sensitive.
Step 5	Open Blogger, Under settings, select other. Import Content will be at the top. Navigate to your saved file and select it.
Step 6	A window will launch and show it is working to convert files. I left the window open but once the file has been uploaded, I'm pretty sure it's like google check out and all the work is being done on the server. I told it to auto publish and the posts were nicely sorted by dates.

If you were using Friends+Me for sharing posts across social media feeds, it will use the headline as the post title. It also does some tags automatically. I wish I had been better about using the collection name as the hashtag but I don't want to expand my visibility that much....

I'm back and I'm retired!

I looked up retirement blogs and they mostly seem to be about money or exotic vacations or something unusual the retirees are doing that aren't really relatable to most people. We thought of traveling; going to Australia for F1 or going to the UK for metal detecting but in the end we got a puppy. Between Bennie and Milo hanging in there at over 16 we just feel like staying closer to home for now. What to do with our time? We had a lot planned that would keep us busy for quite awhile. Almost none of it went as planned. I had thought the recovery would be like it was for 2009. This town bounced back pretty quickly. Not so after the oil price collapse a few years ago.

We had planned to sell the house and move to the West Coast. We did put the house up for sale but when we went to the Coast we found we had the choice of retiring or having a house on the West Coast soooo we pulled the house from the market and did some upgrades; updated the flooring upstairs installed storm doors and changed the kitchen door swing. We have some other #HomeProjects planned that I'll update in this space. We also did some stuff I had been putting off - like dropping the landline and culling our cable line up.

The dogs are a pretty big deal. We're trying to do all positive training with Bennie so that takes a lot of time. He's already been in one class and we're doing the 30 day training series with Zak George to keep me on track with training. Add in cranky Milo and our hands are full. 

When we're not leaving town I expected my exercise routine the be settled but after 21 years, NRG4LIFE can't find a venue so I'm doing a new activity - Spin. Did I ever mention I'm not that into bikes? It's very aerobic. I felt like throwing up part way through the first class. I'm better now...and I bought shoes.

10 December is #HumanRightsDay!

10 December is #HumanRightsDay!

Standing up for the rights of others means standing up for the humanity we share.

ℹ️https://on.unesco.org/2UoH4wl #StandUp4HumanRights

Christmas packages sent! 2 by Canada Post and one by @Purolator. With the coupon it's same pricing pretty well for 2-3 day shipping and door delivery is guaranteed.

Christmas packages sent! 2 by Canada Post and one by @Purolator. With the coupon it's same pricing pretty well for 2-3 day shipping and door delivery is guaranteed.

Traditionally I send everything to my dad's house and later in the day the rest of the family shows up, unwraps then can't figure out who got what. Except for the year I shopped early and left gifts only to have them forgotten until I called. I find all those scenarios super annoying. So to let that go, I am trusting tracked parcels. Once it gets to the household, I don't care if they throw it it the garbage, at least they got them to dispose of.

It's an expensive option but it's worth it for my piece of mind.

https://pages.purolator.com/holiday_shipping/en/HolidaySavings/

Good enough for every government but Canada.

Good enough for every government but Canada.

It's all relative. If you accept torture as reasonable or value money over lives you'll accept the assurances. Why torture as a red line? There are already reports 2 of the activists have been tortured. There was a time humanity seemed to agree on what torture was and that it was unacceptable. The US removed that line.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/saudi-guarantees-detained-activists-good-hrw-181207112412291.html

I remember this program at Oakalla. People like to whitewash small town 70s. Now I'm finding out just how horrible boys had it - there was no relief. From sex offender phys-ed teachers to abusive justice system.

I remember this program at Oakalla. People like to whitewash small town 70s. Now I'm finding out just how horrible boys had it - there was no relief. From sex offender phys-ed teachers to abusive justice system.

Parents tended to believe authorities and assume there was a structured program in place. I hope this man has learned to live with his assault like many female survivors do. Letting it inform but not overwhelm his life choices.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prison-assault-award-1.4934363

Vet care has changed for "tutoring". Bennie came home with 3 days of pain killer and a cone.

Vet care has changed for "tutoring". Bennie came home with 3 days of pain killer and a cone.

Actually Bennie was really good about licking, he only had to wear the cone for part of a day. He didn't seem to be in pain but I followed instructions just in case. He also got a chip in case he gets lost. He also got a tag with a bar code scan for quicker access to info.

In other news, Bennie's puppy class is done and we're taking on some different training tasks. Doing much more with "leave it" because he gets very bitey if we try to take things away when they're in his mouth. The spray of treats that Zak George recommends is great for getting stuff back. Also working on him not jumping all over us when we lie on the floor (ie abs). Now he sits and waits for a treat when I do it. Perfect!

Really can't believe house training this time around. Duffy ended up wearing pee pants because we just couldn't get compliance all the time. Bennie doing really well at letting us know when he needs to go out - and it isn't often for peeing/pooping. Pretty sure he'll have the run of the upstairs by the time he's 1 which is nice.

If you have sex in the boss' office which has overt video surveillance you should expect 1) that surveillance to be used and 2) to be fired. It's rare management gets unbiased evidence of misuse of work time.

If you have sex in the boss' office which has overt video surveillance you should expect 1) that surveillance to be used and 2) to be fired. It's rare management gets unbiased evidence of misuse of work time.

Does it have to be said the only time to have sex at work is if you are a sex worker? Maybe on a break but even then...


https://www.ohscanada.com/1003356872-2/

Until I corrected it, Google thought I was a 35 yo male based on my interests. Sure this will go well🙄

Until I corrected it, Google thought I was a 35 yo male based on my interests. Sure this will go well🙄

The last people I would trust to be unbiased would be white, male, USians. Probably because I'm not any of those descriptors.
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/03/air-travel-surveillance-homeland-security/

Moments ago it was snarling in the snow...

Moments ago it was snarling in the snow...

China is good at playing the long game and infrastructure is a great investment.

China is good at playing the long game and infrastructure is a great investment.

Trump's actions are consistent with a US retreat from the world. Interesting to watch China come into the world at the same time. Will the US follow the path Mao did and send progressives and people with knowledge to "farms"?(in this day that would be internet free zones😉 to remove their influence).
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/g20-china-latin-america-1.4929316

Excellent news and just the beginning for employment opportunities. Not to mention losing diesel as the energy source.

Excellent news and just the beginning for employment opportunities. Not to mention losing diesel as the energy source.

Hydro is better. Too bad not supplemented by solar and wind power which could provide jobs for those GM workers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wataynikaneyap-power-project-kingfisher-lake-1.4922788

TL;DR considering consequences of a policy while creating it is weak & immoral; an interesting philosophical position if you're not negatively affected.

TL;DR considering consequences of a policy while creating it is weak & immoral; an interesting philosophical position if you're not negatively affected.

And personally I can see more people ascribing to it as they get overwhelmed with worldwide news of loss and tragedy. Makes their life seem not as bad and allows them to think the bad news are hyperbole or deserved.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1068164241998446594.html

A reminder of what the US was like before the EPA. Regulation works and puts people to work.

A reminder of what the US was like before the EPA. Regulation works and puts people to work.
http://fortune.com/2017/02/28/how-the-united-states-looked-before-the-epa/

Talk about no win. Alberta has to shift away from fossil fuels to thrive in the future but people just don't want to hear that.

Talk about no win. Alberta has to shift away from fossil fuels to thrive in the future but people just don't want to hear that.

Kenney will not do any better and shit on minorities and LGBTQ+ peeps. That cruelty is the upside for his Conservative followers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/notley-oil-production-announcement-edmonton-1.4928921