MOB Industries

2009-06-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

My latest adventure... keeps me in Canada this time though.

We'll be back to write more later. For now, here is a video of the new house.

2008-07-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Well, time flies. It has been a while. Spare time for me comes around about as often as common sense in the house of commons.

Anyways..today prompted me to contribute to something fun. Sounds fun. A party.

An email out of the blue requesting an image as part of their theme. A poster of sorts. Time will tell and hopefully display for us the result.

So, in anticipation of my conditions for my donation... I encourage the details of said party as part of my comments for this post.

Cheers Herman and friends. Have one for me.

RJDK

Be done with winter....

2008-02-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

Let’s see if it can manifest itself.

2008-01-26T01:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and all that.

I have been taking a wee break from writing here. Seemingly nothing seems as inspiring and interesting as the trip to Russia. So, that being said...I am motivated.

Funny thing this time of year. Recovering from spending money and waiting to see how the government is going to screw you once you get your T4. Income tax should be abolished. The guy with that as a campaign promise would get my vote.

It doesn't matter who you vote for really. For once I am actually optimistic about the American election. Not that I could vote in it. I am thinking Obama should get in. I could hardly ignore the fact that Oprah was backing him up. Colour will have an impact too. The 2000 election had a racist agenda in Florida. Y'all watch Michael Moore, right? Alex Jones? So, colour may play a factor. Oprah has a lot of money. I suspect if the campaign is genuine, there could be very little effect of lobbying or bribing one of the richest people in the world who I would expect is providing her own lobbying in the direction of Obama. This might be the change everyone needs.

The religious front I can't get past though. The religious right. When you watch that crap on the electric box thing with the lit up glass and pick up an American channel spouting off about all the nothing they think they know and feed it mercilessly to the ignorant. When the western religions push their presence on the east it obviously causes a lot of upset. YAWWWWWWWWNnn!!...Iraq anyone?.... The Middle East can't stop fighting amongst themselves for religious differences, so the missionaries in camouflage... you know the story... and for that they get to bleed and die there. Why I suppose I am stating this is that religion should have no place in politics. Especially in western politics. Multicultural as we are, there are represented religions existing in North America from all over the world actively trying to make a go of it here. Most of those people immigrated to the land of immigrants to start something new and leave their sometimes terrorizing pasts behind in the country they left. So, as a united country we should respect the families and countrymen of our home countries. There is always a group saddened by any military intervention. I would think that the sadness would have to be unquestionably justified. Sadly, it never is. Now, this ties me back into economy. Wars, banks, markets,pollution...pick a topic shall we.

Housing is a good one. This poorly run town that I live in hasn't a clue on community planning. Find it, love it, exploit it, destroy it...burn, plow and pave...all the things that I moved here for are going away. I wanted to be out of the city, closer to the sticks, out of the city... but, it is a city and traffic is a huge problem. We are about 6 overpasses away from having something functional. Throw in another 80 round-abouts and we're good to go. But the labyrinth they are building has no connecting roads and mile upon mile of criss-cross cul-de-sac subdivision causing the ugliest clear cut of land imaginable. The demand to be here is very high and the once beautiful treed valley is a concrete jungle with a churning white summer pond directly adjacent to it. And ugly. People buy here to have a vacation home and the realtors, appraisers, banks all get to inflate prices and interest the wealthy to build massive ugly blocks of building to use once or twice a year for a week at a time. You know the scenarios. Whistler was the same way once. Then the jobs didn't pay enough for people to afford to live there and work. So they left or they share accommodations. If the push is to turn all of BC into a big park and exploit the hell out of it so it gets used and used like (insert analogy here) eventually worn out and ruined. The problem is that what they are wrecking will take many years to right itself.

Once humans cleanse the earth of themselves and the bugs thrive and die off and the climate naturally cycles again, then good old Ma Nature will bring it all back to balance. But that takes time and humans are lazy and impatient, so naturally it will all be done half-assed and too little, too late.

Kids look away...(Who the FUCK cares about Brittany Spears?) Stop feeding the machine. When you buy and soak up that shit, then it does nothing for humanity but poison it. The tabloids, "reality TV", all that crap could be put to better use. Telling the truth once in a while would be nice. From any publication for that matter. Speculation is dangerous thing on the ignorant mind. Especially spun and slanted it becomes what they remember and repeat and get repeated to them..until it becomes truth to them. Accepted really. But treated the same.

So, eat better, move your ass a little, and stop waiting for the magic pill that will make you better. Convince yourself of something different for once. Make the difference in yourself first. Comfort is not in the name of the pain that ails you. Chronic this and Hyper that are all terms used to specify more and more detailed and unique "illnesses" that they treat with a pill, or scare you into placebo vaccines, or turn you into a guinea pig. There are a lot of "new" trial drugs all the time. I stopped going to the doctor when every visit was an offer to try something new. Find balance. You don't have to be a hardbody.

To the government of that country just south of us:

If you happen to be surfing porn or browsing the web for lawyers to defend your corrupted customs officials and happen upon this blog, then please read my suggestions for boosting your economy. Firstly, feel free to declassify cannabis from schedule 1 and free up a few million wasted dollars every year. Then with the money you save you can go and arrest yourselves I guess. You are all crooked bastards tainted by the positions you were elected to. The greatest of intentions flipped into the same pile of shit with a new batch of flies picking at it. Can't help yourselves. So, if there is anything holy it will call for hanging of the war crime ridden leaders that cast upon us the rules of engagement and Geneva conventions and succumb to the punishment of their own creations. Wars for commodities are an atrocity. Look it up if you like. Compare the notes. You will be surprised what you read.

That's it for me. I think I made up for my a few months of not typing. It is good practice anyways. Cheers

RJDK

2007-11-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

This was the view from the 28th floor of Hotel 71 in Chicago.

2007-08-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is swearing in this blog. If a word is fitting, then I will use it. Sorry to the yungins that are possibly learning more useful slang on the internet. I am just giving back what was given to me. I am such a giver. Selfless giving is all it is. Grandpas taught me well. Grandmas taught me lessons for saying what Grandpas taught me. I remember when I was a little shit though. Things were different back then. Never swear near your parents is always a safe bet. But, I did. Oh well. On the playground, on the ice, on my bike, in my truck, in the bar, at the police.. and now just at myself usually.

So, if I can say one thing to an impressionable young mind is that...

you didn't hear anything from me.

2007-08-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Okay. Last post was Idabel Lake. I thought that it might be fun to post my summer so far pics. So, here goes in no particular order....

Shuswap Lake houseboating

Osoyoos Lake boating and just Osoyoos pics...

Silver Star biking didn't get camera worthiness. Mostly because I would crash and destroy my camera.

Wishing you all well... and talk to you soon.

RJDK

2007-08-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

2007-07-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

2007-06-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

2007-05-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

2007-05-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

My Blogger is back in English... that must mean... I AM HOME!!!!! Another ridiculously long day on Tuesday. We were up at 4:00am Moscow time and I got home at 7:30pm Kelowna time and throw in the 11 hours difference and that makes for a long day.

So, it went like this...

We got the plant running and all was well, we were ready to fire up the second half (maybe) and shortly after our tour of the operating portion...KA-FKIN-BOOM goes the most important pump in the process. Contrary to recommendation, they decided not to repair the broken spare pump months ago and that pretty much left them crippled. So, the next days we just gathered up our things and tied up some loose ends and left them with an operational plant, once they fix their pumps. We had many challenges getting us to that point. Simple things like keeping our power turned on, or convincing the peasants that a tea kettle plugged in to our power bar will shut us down, or leaving fuses in place, you know, the little things. There was no sense of urgency from anyone except our group and in the end, they invariably end up with the fruits of their labour. Spoiled and tainted, half-assed and marginal. I commend our crew for getting us as far as we did. The rest is up to them.

So, after we left site, we had a few minutes to clean up and we decided to try out the Beer House for dinner. We found this place beside the outdoor market and decided to drag the welcome ones out for a farewell dinner. We followed up dinner with vodka and beer and decided what better than spend out last night in Zheleznogorsk bowling with our friend Slava. It was not at all what we expected as the place was new and had pool tables. It was like this place should have been brought to our attention weeks, if not months ago. We had a good time. It also helps to pay your tab as you are leaving too. That usually prevents getting chased down and bothered for money. We realized some things in Russia were inexpensive, but free was not an option apparently.

Sunday, we had a lazy day and got ourselves prepared for the train ride. One final tour of Zheleznogorsk by foot and some last minute souvenirs to escort us home were in order. We ventured out to a few patio pubs and had a few pops for good measure. Not much else to report really. We were seen off by a few friends and ventured out by train at 10:30. A trip through the night, yet again, would land us in Moscow.

We got to the hotel very early and ended up having to pay for two nights to secure the room that early. We would not be staying 24 hours, but still that cost us for two nights. A deal at twice the price. $325 Canadian per night. Plus a $20 breakfast. I got my moneys worth in food for sure.

We went out to Arbat Street for the third time in my Russian experience and picked up a few more souvenirs. This was probably going to be my last day in Russia for some time, so I decided to pick me up a few trinkets. A mentioned, I got myself a Khabibulin Russian jersey with Russian letters and spelling on the back. It is clearly a knock off jersey, but where else would you get one. My son ended up with a similar Russian jersey biz letters and numbers as the small ones aren't normally printed on. Another meal at the Hard Rock Cafe and we had to get our shit together for a hockey game.

Canada vs USA was at 8:15. Fortunately for us we had center ice seats, Row 14. Unfortunately we were in an arena that only had 20 rows of seats. We sat in front of the media boxes and directly behind a group of Americans. Hard not to rib them a little as they were down 4-0 after the first period. We mde a few comments that were pefect in the moment. They would lose their lustre being described here.

So we made it home and I am going to enjoy a few days off to hit it hard again Monday. My interior travels are about to begin as my international travels will fall by the wayside.

Another day in the life of RJDK... will finally be back to normal. As nomal as I will let it be.

2007-05-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

We made it to Moscow again. Somehow we lined up tickets to Canada vs USA at the world hockey championship. I will be there in my new Russia jersey with Khabibulin spelled in Russian on the back.

Pictures to follow.

2007-05-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

RJDK live on location...

the only thing working harder than us is our toilet brushes.

It has been a long week. The plant is up and running. One half anyways. We have taken the hands off approach to site specific training. Let em go at it because they have to figure it out sometime. So, I am taking this time to write this. My job was done correctly the first, second and third time, so I get to hang out on standby. Keep myself awake with some blog entries.

Last weekend we ventured out to the outdoor marketplace biz camera, so being that it was a nice day and all, what better than to leave your camera at the hotel and miss out on the Russian public life. Too many funny and different things to list. We wandered around for a while and checked out all the booths. There were many rows all semingly repeating themselves as far as stocked merchandise. Shoes, panties, watches, jeans and all the best China can provide. We are always looking for Zheleznogorsk memorabilia, but as this town has no travel infocenter, there is very little for touristy knick-knacks. We settled for a couple of wrenches for the site operator who was continuously borrowing mine. I have lost more than hair on this job. Amazingly the tools can be replaced. I have to watch as we get closer to the day so that I don't forfeit on bringing home the prize possessions.

Anyhow, we went to a new eating and watering hole by the market. The entrance was shaped like a big oak barrel and we thought what better than to try this place out. It looks like we can get a beer at least. Us three Canadians can at least order that. Food on the other hand was a little more challenging. JM randomly slected what we thought would be a kabob of some sort and ended up with a fine piece of BBQ beast. A couple more beer for good measure and we walked back to the hotel. On the way we spotted a coffee shop/pub that we decided to stop and sit to have a beer. We were exhausted from the walking and needed to be hydrated. Plus, I walk a little faster than my beltline challenged companions. They both told me to slow down and if anyone knows me, I walk slow. Well, unless there is a reward waiting for me and I will race to it. More or less an agenda free day, so we made the best of it.

We carried on after the walk to the local beer/food/liquor store and picked up a few road pops and a few extra for poker. My room turned into the Zheleznogorsk Casino and somehow I swindled a few rubels from my workmates. Another butter and mayonnaise free dinner followed and we spoke our minds freely at the dinner table.

Through the week we having been hellbent for startup and seeing the light at the end of the train tunnel. A few hiccups with power and we were on our way. We have now implemented the "no kettle in the office" rule as the added poer on the circuit shuts down all of our computers and renders us useless with a running process. I have been playing operating instrument guy doing a bunch of loop tuning and getting the plant running and to balance. My typing now should be an indication of how that went.

Yeah..yeah...it is about the job, but we are just about done.

We had a big blip the other day and we dumped a small lake's worth of water on the floor. When you can't measure anything and the system sees zeroes everywhere, amazingly everything pumping stops. The water overflowed in bunches and we scrambled to get the system down without flooding the place. After some investigative inspections we determined the cause and fired it all back up again.

During one of our startup mornings, a mob of company brass decided they would conduct a very vocal and loud discussion directly adjacent to our temporary control center. With me at the healm, I was listening to commands over the radio and responding with commands via our interface. I was unable to hear my radio and quickly turned to the mob becide me and silenced the works with "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I do mean silenced. As loud as my vocal chords would allow, the group immediately stopped talking. Of course they all turned to look at the cause and my shit eating smirk gave me away. I could care less. I couldn't hear my radio or myself think.

So, we are nearing the end of my Russian adventure and in doing so we are planning our trip home. Just so happens Canada plays USA in the world hockey championships in Moscow on the day we are cruising through. We are lining up tickets for us. What a beautiful way to end a trip as far as I'm concerned. If I am lucky I will get some autographs for the little man back home. Definitely will have pictures.

The boss just walked in, so I should look busy. Well I must look busy because I am typing away and he is across from me ignorant to my preoccupation. I have a ton of respect for the guy as he has been placed in a nasty position, and I don't mean prison love kind of position. It has been a challenge for everyone. I am glad I am not at the top. Some days I get riddled with questions, but today as I say, I am directing more than doing. I won't be here in two days, so the people need to take it over. I call it transitioning my usefulness. Rightfully so. When you work through lunches and suffer through late dinners, I will call this time some form of reward for efforts.

I am going to go take some pictures. Talk to you all soon.

2007-04-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

Lazy day....

and the Canucks better not shit the bed again. I fell asleep only to find out that they lost. We watched parts of it and most of it with one eye open. Then I slept until 1:00

Plus, I didn't get radiated this week. Always a good thing. Here is my watch with the nuke unit in behind.

Anyways, we went for pizza last night. Acccompanied with beer of course. A little Siberian Corona for good measure. It is our weeekly adventure from the hotel. It would help getting your reserved table when you can understand Russian. We were given a table for three not realizing someone had reserved a table for nine. We were moved over right after we ordered our beer. Sending three Canadians in the first cab was probably not a wise move. We can get to the pizza place and order beer, but after that we are lost. Gawking like retards again and again. Them talking louder and slower doesn't make us understand any better.

So, we are on to another 60 some odd hour week starting tomorrow and repeat repeat the butter, cheese and mayonnaise meals. Spaghetti is so much better "biz mayonazum". I can ask for my meals "biz" many things now. Turns out the Russian menu hass more on it. The "Roats Beef" is always popular. I was eating onion on my last trip too. Turns out our newest member to the Russian trip family has the same birthday as I do. He doesn't like onions either. Stewed clear is fine, raw and heaping on a plate is just short of eating it like an apple. I had to push that aside a few times before I figured out "biz loook". Onion free meals from here on out. Except at the mine site. The cafeteria lady likes to make us cold salads with onion. I just eat that fast. Shorter time on the tongue right. She apparently loves cooking fish with bones all through it. If the taste doesn't make you gag, the bone lodged in your throat will help that along. Thankfully, we have yet to get the jellied fish smudge thing again. Irony will kick me in the ass. It will be served tomorrow now. Just because I mentioned it.

Anyhow, I am off to eat another bowel lubricating meal.

2007-04-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

My Blogger is still in Russian. What a way to make things work easier for people. Default language apparently is triggered by the IP address of the country you are from... or in rather... in my case. If anyone knows how to set my language back to just English, then please let me know.

We have had an interesting week. Lots getting done. Today we finally had a short day and tomorrow we are resting. Well, resting after the hockey game at 4:00 in the morning. Tonight we go for pizza.

We enjoyed some mixed emotions this week. One of our translators has become good friends with a bottle. I have seen people abuse alcohol before, but this is sad in every sense. We chuckled when we first saw him and thought to ourselves, "what else is new. He is feeling no pain." Shortly thereafter he was being helped to his room to avoid embarassment. I was told once that you can never know the story that is untold of how a person deals with their life outside of the realm in which you are familiar with them. Whether it be work or play, everyone has a secret and private side that is discussed very little. We can only hope that he realizes what he has brought upon himself and turns it around before he hurts himself. He has been unfit for work the last few days and probably unfit for walking around as well. After dinner last night, this guy was standing in the hallway as his toilet supply line disconnected and flooded his room. He seemed to have come around and was coherent again, but we figure by his demeanor this morning, he continued drinking through the night after he could regain entrance to his room. Unless of course, he started his day with booze.

On a happy note, we discovered one of our companions working a different job on the same site is a Polish man that has lived in Poland, South Africa and now Australia. We were discussing how many languages were in different parts of the world, and in doing so, I called him by his African name (click)Tomas spelled !Tomas (Russell Peters anyone) He could not contain himself as he obviously had never heard the joke and could relate as there are many people that speak with the clicking and knocking jaw sounds of tribal tongues. Laughter is contagious and him being in tears brought joy to the table after our intoxicated translator scraped up his pride and went to his room.

I need a nap before dinner. I'll write more tomorrow maybe.

2007-04-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't get radiated. Maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime...

here are some pics

Нажав "Готово", вы сможете изменить сообщение и опубликовать его в своем блоге.

I think that means my picture went somewhere...

Tell you more later.

2007-04-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you quit your job overseas...

...just kidding... we told that to one of my bosses back home in a text message. That got his attention. He said he could actually picture me throttling someone and just packing up and leaving. Ha ha. Don't let the foul mouth and tattoos fool you. I am a very peaceful person... unless you piss me off of course.

Anyways, we have been continuing on with the same old. Varying amounts of success for sure. I know I always say I won't bore you with job details, but today I am reading up on nuclear density gauges and need to keep my wits about me for zaftra utrum (tomorrow morning). BUT, I got a watch to use for the duration of my stay. If you thought you had a fancy watch, then ask yourself... does it have a built in digital Gamma radiation indicator? In simple terms it is a Geiger-Muller tube technology with a DER registration and indication range of 0.01 - 4000 mSv/h (0.001 - 400 mR/h) and it even tells where the sun is in the sky by means of two little pointer stick things spinning in a circle. Unfortuantely, I have to give it back. Fortunately, I have yet to hear if it has any form of warning signal to tell me to back away from the Cs-137 source...

Tomorrow, should be fun. Another day in the life of RJDK. If anyone is worried for my sake, don't be. The radiation is lower than what a lightbulb emits under normal operation. When and if it fails... I will be running away like a man trying not to radiate himself. They have these things in breweries too. Here I am only to setup the electronics portion. The Source and detector needs to be handled by somebody licensed by a nuclear authority and be willing to put their yetsa (balls) on a chopping block if something were to ever to go wrong with one. Same rules for Canada.

But, good news... we got the Profibus network back down to 1.5Mbps. Woohoo! It was so obvious why it was different than the others.

So, other than work, we spent last night having a little hallway party here at the hotel. We thought it was a great idea so nobody had to have the intrusion into their room and be left with a late night straggler or a big mess. The hotel security said "nyet" to that after we devoured our 10 pizzas and were starting in on beer and wine. Apparently some big shot was coming to the hotel and they didn't want us there or something. That was the excuse anyways. We were on the third floor and all the fancy rooms are on the other floors. (I know because my room ain't as fancy as the 5th floor President's Suite with slippers and housecoats.) So, we migrated to another room and actaully abandoned the party due to a MSN message from the boss. We talked work for a few minutes and then felt very safe with the distance to begin bashing him a little. He wasn't entirely pleased with the "Rob quit" joke. We found it amusing. After all the lightwieghts went to bed, we ventured out for beer and settled down with a little Life of Brian. We almost watched it all. Most of it with one eye open and then called it a night.

Sorry for text only too. I haven't turned my camera on in a few days. Plus, my blogger is all in Russian now. Опубликовать means publish I think. Выйти is logout maybe. Going by feel and memory here. this was saved as draft the first time. Ha ha.
I can read and pronounce the words, I just haven't a clue what they mean. But, so far my Russian is improving. I can insult fluently. Even the other day I showed my proficiency in "hello, how are you?" only to confuse the guy into thinking I understood what the hell he was going to say after that.

"Zdrast vuyt ye" I said
"Zdrast vuyt ye" he replied with a much more authentic Russian accent."Kagdyila?" He then asked expressionless.
"Kharosho" I answered questioning my pronunciation. "A u vas?"
"Normana" He replied. After a short pause... "blah blah blah nyet blah pashol nahooie blah eta blah blah sivodnya?"
"I don't fucking know what you just said man" I replied as I resorted back to native tongue and not my typical native tongue as that would have sounded more like
"Hay, anywaycse... dat sound crazy talk. Fkem-eye sposed ta-no?"

My laughter provoked assistance from the technical translator known to us as Stas.

hmmm.. Hockey I am missing.I am working on a playoff beard though. If I feel so inclined I may get up at 5:30 to stream Team 1040 and listen in on the bums. I also hear my buddy Brad is bagging some goals out east too in his playoffs. Amazing what happens when you are allowed to actually "play" hockey.

Weird news.Thankfully we didn't tour the Kremlin today...

http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=world&articleID=2614747

We were there a week and a half ago throwing money around. Literally. I hope the beggars didn't get trampled. I can't say the same for the pushy junk peddlers.
"Why Nyet spasiba? Come buy Russian souvenirs?" Some of them you feel like doing a little nyet spasiba their noses flat to their faces.

So, on to reading again. I am motivated by some Lamb of God blasting into both ears. Thank god for Ipod. Some would think that this would negatively impact my thinking ability, but for some reason I am reading really fast and my head is bobbing a little. It is all good.

Talk to you all soon.

RJDK

2007-04-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have a shower curtain!!!!

We made it to Zheleznogorsk. Funny how it doesn't feel like I left. Here is how it went after the train ride...

We arrived at 6:48 and 38 seconds at the train station and made our way to the minibus van thing waiting for us. Short trip and we were at the hotel so we could check into our rooms and get cleaned up a little. We then piled in to the all familiar bus and ventured out to the mine site. Our morning was very hectic and we were scrambling to piece together where to start and where others had left us off. The office quickly filled with varying people all varying in their opinions as to what we should be doing. One particular fellow wasted a bunch of the chief's time with "plan" questions and essentially made for lost time. He was asked to leave us alone and to actually never return.

A site orientation followed for the newbie and I took him on a tour of the plant to show him what we'd be working on. We cut our day short at 3:00 and went back to the hotel to get settled in.

Saturday and Sunday was a holiday weekend for most back home, but as we were in a totally separate fundamental bible belt, Easter was a holiday much the same as Valentine's Day or Halloween. Recognized, but not celebrated as a holiday. We worked all weekend and endured meetings of the minds to evaluate, formulate, investigate and many other -ate words. If not for the 15 hours of sleep Saturday night, Sunday would have been painful.

So far we have been only eating, sleeping and working. Monday was no different. Somehow I ended up getting corned by the aforementioned "plan" questions guy and offered my two cents. My answers did not seem to be sufficient for him which begat question after question after stupid remark after stupid question after braindead reasoning before I passed all responsibility on to commander in chief. Unfortunately the commander was in the hotel with seared salmon flu and was personally greeted by the same "plan" question guy. He ended up with the nickname Jackoff. Jackoff was then told to nu yevo nahooie (F-off in Russian - I have mastered that one) but continues to ignore the requests and is apparently too stupid to know how irritating he is. Stupid can't recognize self-stupidity I guess. I know he is stupid and I could always be smarter.

We plugged away at our nagging issues and tried to make progress. So, other than the job, we are not doing much else. It snowed here today and was hovering around freezing. I packed for the temperature I remembered being in before I left the first time. No dice. I am wearing an extra shirt, but really it isn't too bad. Just wet and snowing.

I promise I won't bore you with job details.

But, that is all we have been doing is working and is in the forefront of my head. Second to wishing I was home and this prison sentence would end. It isn't that bad honestly. Just have lots to do....

2007-04-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Moscow...

this was my view from the 16th floor of the Belgrad hotel. A deal at twice the price. Room and breakfast came to 7181 Rubels. 22 Rubels to our Canadian peso makes for... $326.41 for one night.

Tired as all hell, we just got to the hotel that night and slept. It was after midnight is all I remember. We had our driver arrange to have us picked up for 11:00 the next morning.

We got up and ventured to the third floor for a buffet breakfast only to be surrounded by white collars and suits. I cared very little of the big huge pig I made of myself eating two full plates of food. 13 minutes later we were done breakfast and got out of there. I took a few more pictures from the room and got my things together. Thought I would show off my Russian style Chicago roll...

A pile of money I would keep close to my balls at all times. Right next to my passport.

So, we were met fashionably late by our driver and he toured in circles to the office of our contact people. Being that nobody had a plan of any sort we were greeted with "Hello, what are you doing here?" Confused we explained we needed train tickets and would gladly come back later after business hours to have dinner with one of the bosses. Turns out he was going to be traveling with us. Last minute plans aren't beyond him either I suppose.

So, we killed the afternoon touring Moscow (now that I am a seasoned veteran) and went to Red Square. The sky was as blue as a blue sky (how poetic?) and we wandered around side stepping the old beggars and young souvenir salesman.

We made a short video on how fast your wish coins become "SCRAMBLES". Less than 2 seconds I figured and sure enough. If they were younger and more nimble it would have been less than two. So, the thing goes like this... people stand by this star by Red Square (apparently the marker for all destinations to be measured from - citation needed) and make a wish and drop their coins. Much like any wishing well in the world, but.. as soon as the ching of a coin hit the ground, there is a group of people scurrying in to grab it up... so enjoy the video..

After a complete loop of Red Square, down Arbat St. and a venture through GUM shopping mall, we were met by our driver to take us back to the office. We met up with the boss and he took us out for dinner. We chatted, drank a beer and had a customary shot of vodka naturally. A short walk back to the office, we then were treated to the difference between nice cold vodka and mediocre warm vodka. No comparison. Cold it is and always will be.

So, to make a longer story longer.. we made our way to the train and seemed completely effortless the second time. Even easier with someone that has done it many times. One more beer for the road and that was to help us to sleep. Octagonal wheels said otherwise. I slep a whole hour or two, but not much.

If I missed anything, then read the train post back a couple months and that will describe it. More or less the identical trip from there.

2007-04-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

We made it...

Much like the last trip (read back a few posts) we made our way to Russia via Frankfurt. We had seven hours to kill in Frankfurt so we hopped on the Flughafen something or other and went to Mainz to walk around. Without trying to venture to far and away from the train station we meandered through town only to find ourselves in the maze better known as Mainz. We found ourselves enlightened by the scenery and architecture of Europe.

After an hour or so of walking, we decided to find a watering hole for a beer and came across a pub filled with locals. seemed safe enough to eat at, so we had ourselves a pint and some bratwurst. Why not?

After considering to eat and run, we finally were able to pay our bill and be on our merry way back to the train station to go back to the airport. We navigated a left and an extra right turn for sure, but we made our way back with little trouble. We had only 26 minutes of train ride and but it let us see the area rather efficiently.

So back at the airport and we just hung out window shopping duty free and took the time to get acquainted with another travelling companion.

Off to Moscow...again...

2007-04-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ok. This one is a test. Short video on my last working day. I dumped some music to it so y'all don't have to listen to the bus grinding gears. They are square cut gears for sure. Also, the windows were never cleaned...so, sorry about that. You will be seeing precisely what I did. At least on this trip the bus did not break down.

Every so often there will be a batch of trees boring you, but wait it out for some of the scenery. It'll give you an idea of the middle of nowhere we were in. Also, view in original size as the upload did not fare to well with resolution and video quality. Youtube would only let me have 10 minutes, so I went with Google Video.

I am proud of the closing credits, so let it play, ignore it and just watch the credits if you like.

Talk to you soon.

RJDK

2007-03-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently I leave Tuesday.

2007-03-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know the last one was brief...

We ventured out with Roman first thing Friday morning. March 9th. It took 45 minutes to get us to the airport from our hotel. Much like other parts of Russia, we felt like we were driving in a scene out of the Simpsons. Exaggerated, but not far off, we drove for a few blocks in one direction and then busted a u-turn in the road and traveled the way we just came. We crossed over three lanes and took a right turn. We drove for a bit and then off on another off ramp. It seemed we did this a few times. So, renting a car and navigating through Moscow should be a piece of cake. To Russians I suppose.

We arrived at the airport and we all had issues getting our tickets. We had all changed our flights and used 3 different methods of doing it. We were all dealt with in 3 different ways and all received different treatment. Not at all stupid or bizarre, but we got through. (Sarcasm intended). "Thank god for Ipod" we relaxed in Moscow's SVO airport for our final hour in Russia.

Flight was short and sweet to Frankfurt and the 3 hour flight wiht the 2 hour time change left us in Frankfurt at 8:00am. Since we left Moscow at 7:00am, we had an extra two hours of drinking time on Friday. And then some...

We sat in the airport and indulged on a Munich breakfast which consisted of beer and sausages. We killed a few hours lounging in the waiting area and recharged our Ipods for our 9.75643 hour flight to Vancouver. Very uneventful really, but we were very tired. PLus, we knew there would be free beer on the plane.

So, we finally got to load up and make our way to the plane and unlike some of the other normal airports I have been to we had to go through a gate, down stairs and load onto a bus. The bus drove us out onto the tarmac and we then got onto the plane. Some massive piece of metal and motors and Lufthansa or something written on the side of it, I didn't care I just wanted to get in. The endless line of people all had to funnel in one door and we eventually dropped our lazy asses down on our seats. Our stopover in Frankfurt lasted 4 hours and change, but felt more like 6 or 7.

In flight I was asleep when they handed out the two pronged headphones to be able to listen to the movie in stereo. So, on went the ipod and on it stayed. I napped with it full blast apparently and awoke in time to order a beer. Food was served shortly after and with that came another Warsteiner. My travelling companions brought sleeping pills with them and I was not about to try mixing my poisons, so I just kept a steady flow of beer coming.

After my beer induced nap, I was again reliving that whole episode again and seemingly a few hours had passed. With one eye open checking for anything interesting on the video and screen and outside ambient temperature reports, I came in and out of consciousness for the rest of the trip.

We arrived in Vancouver at 1:00 local time and gained another 10 hours to our day. We were met by family (not mine) and bosses that entertained me until my connecting flight 5 hours later. We were late getting my ticket to Kelowna, so I had to drink a few more beer to help me pass the time. Just to wash a meal down of course, but considering I had just passed 26 hours in a day, it still wasn't over yet.

I said my goodbyes to my bosses and waited in the waiting area for my flight trying to stay awake enough to protect my belongings. It was another Ipod filled hour and we then began to board the plane. What I did not even notice or realize was that my ticket was first class for the short trip home. Front row, leg room, high back chair and I was clicked in and gonna nap til Kelowna. I was then awoken by big rude man asking me "Would you like to sit over there all by yourself?" "NOT AT ALL." was my reply and back to sleep I went. I think he mumbled something about sitting next to his wife or something all chipper, but I couldn't be bothered. If we were to compare stories, I believe he would bow down to me. For the rest of the flight my shit eating smirk spoke volumes for how he must have felt. Not another word was spoken to me from the man that was left to sit beside me dejected and away from his wife. He was mistaking me for someone who cared I guess.

So I arrived in Kelowna greeted by loved ones and lived happily ever after. The end.

Well, until the phone rang. I am going back to Russia Easter weekend.

To be continued...

2007-03-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

So, I figured I should do this before I forget what happened...

We went to Moscow as described. Got there first thing in the morning on Mar.8th. We had planned on Stas take us around and tour us, but with his bad back and plans to meet up with his brother, he invariably bailed on us. So, we went to the Oksana hotel and checked in by 7 something. After a short nap and breakfast we ventured out curbside and flagged down a cab. It was actually pretty easy considering he was just parked there. We got in and just said "Kremlin". "Pit sot" was his reply. So, since I knew my numbers, 500 was his price in rubels. I tried to negotiate a lower price by just saying lower numbers, but no sale. 500 it was.

We got to Red Square and got the cabbie to pull over by St.Basil's Cathedral and we got out and walked from there. The architecture there is second to none. The whole area and city for that matter. It is very elaborate and detailed.

So, we wandered aound and checked out the shopping on Arbat St. looking specifically for hockey jerseys. We stumbled upon some..ummm...souvenirs. Can't say yet cuz pops doesn't have his yet. :)

Anyways, we wound up the day with dinner and crashed early in anticipation of our 4am wakeup call to get ourselves to the airport. Roman would be waiting for us at 4:15...

2007-03-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well, time for another update...

The last week has been really hectic. Trying to get completed before I have to go. 12 hour days and then dinner and bed has been about it. We worked a shorter day Saturday as we had plans to take out one of the locals for his birthday. We went to a diiferent restaurant and I unfortunately made a spectacle of myself doing a Rob Special dance solo on the dance floor and had the whole place watching me. It was hard to avoid the attention of course. So, the owner dragged me up and got the music going...that was all I needed. All eyes onme for some reason. Clapping and hooting and as I lifted my shirt to show my abdomen, the music quickly changed. Haha. Cheers from all around. It was a send off for my co-worker as he had to leave to get out of Russia before his visa expired. So, after dinner we went to the train station and helped him with his gear onto the train. A few extra rubels and he was upgraded to a VIP car as his ticket was good for a shared coach with 3 others. There wasn't enough locks for his suitcases so, we had to get our friend Sergei weave his magic.

Sunday morning was a continuation of Saturday night. I was entertained to cognac and private Russian lessons. I am well versed in basic Russian language. I can speak Tarzan Russian and communicate somewhat effectively. I actually have most numbers down from 0 to 100. Enough to get by. Most of my job uses numbers, so that is very helpful. Anyhooo... on to Monday...today...

I asked for some assistance as we are down to only 2 and in doing so I ended up with 13 helpers. Two of them spoke some English. The rest just followed me around. Our translators bailed on us today, so that made things very interesting. I was directing a full Russian crew and trying to get them to work independantly. Here is your job and call me when we are ready to test. Five minutes later they would drag me away and say "Okay. Test now". No change. Same issues as before. Wires crossed and backwards function.No, like this...and show them the issue and they were needing direct and constant supervision. So, my day was very interesting. I laughed though it all and actually got a bit done.

So, by Wednesday I am out of here. Start my long trek home. we got our train tickets today. So, we leave in the night and will arrive in Moscow in the early am. We have planned for a day in Red Square and to do some shopping. We have to saty the night as our flight leaves the next morning.

I will keep you all posted. The next few days will be interesting and busy all the same.

2007-02-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

I have my eyes on
A distant horizon
Somewhere between
The crude and the mean

Still I know
Heel and Toe I'll go
Do what I must
For those that I trust
Because for today
My dawn is your dusk

This leaves me hollow
But, my heart I'll follow
Back and around
To familiar ground
That I have my eyes on
As my dusk is your dawn

When this is all told
And you I can hold
Just for the pure sake
And the look on your face
For tears and smiles
Of days gone by

I've had my eyes on
The dew on my lawn
And to hear you say my name
Again with our days the same

So as my dawn is your dusk
and your dusk is my dawn
My heart will find you
While I am gone.

2007-02-25T05:11:00.000-08:00

Another day in the life....

Last few days were something to be remembered and forgotten all the same. Thursday was just a regular work day. We are experiencing our challenges for sure. It has not been the easiest job in my career. Language barrier becomes a distant second to the lack of organization and inherent dysfunction of all concerned parties. It is very hard to stay motivated when every day is met with another roadblock. We have had to adapt to the daily changes and still have an expiring visa looming in the near future. My bitterness is probably evident.

Friday was a national holiday here in Russia. So, we did a little shopping in the morning and then celebrated man's day with our go between guy, Sergei. We call him Sergei Front Right, as he sits in the front right seat on the bus every morning. Very kind and generous fellow. So, we indulged in food and vodka in my hotel room. An idea sprung on me that we would make a video tribute to my dad, as it was his birthday on Thursday. I am still compiling the footage. So anyways... One led to many more and mixed with beer and food, my activity was interrupted by a late afternoon nap. After a few hours of recovery, we migrated to a local pub for a change of scenery. The patrons of the pub soon discovered it was my birthday and made the best of treating me to a ton of attention. I was cornered every chance by mobs of people. Mostly curious of me just being foreign and in doing so, I was constantly questioned and greeted. Very flattering. I felt like a celebrity of sorts. Just short of signing autographs. We stayed out until it actually was my birthday and after a brisk walk home, we crashed for the night in preparation for our work Saturday...

Saturday morning, I was saluted by a happy birthday song from the crew in both english and broken english simultaneously. We put in a shorter day and came to the hotel for a late lunch. Three customary toasts to me and I switched from vodka to sprite. Hair of the dog...and made my head come back around again. A few casualties from Friday night bailed on dinner plans of pizza and beer, so we were left to just 5 of us to continue the celebration for me. Not an ideal birthday as I could not be home with the ones I love, but they made the best out of having to be half way round the world from them. The delay between posting here should now be evident.

Today is now Sunday here. We again worked a short day as the bus brought us back for 2:30. I am feeling remarkably okay, but wanted to spend some time by myself to reflect a little. My patience is wearing thin on the amount of meetings to discuss why work isn't getting done. Requests have been made to compile massive list of defect items, when the majority of equipment isn't ready. I figure it is easier to say what is done rather than spend a bunch of time defining the deficiencies. I just think if there was less time talking and more time planning, we would be further along. The point of my trip was to come and setup everything as it was ready for me. Bait and switch. I am having to bore y'all with details now.... sorry for that. Thanks for the ear (or eyes I suppose). Rant over.

It looks like I will have to come back here also. Maybe a month later. I am not convinced that it will be as interesting the second time. I have been here almost two weeks and the novelty is wearing off. As is my hair. I will save all my true thoughts for when I am home.

Nonetheless, I am still alive and probably to be sober from here on out. March 8th is another national holiday, so with my visa expiring, I will probably start my voyage home on the night of the 7th. The exact opposite trip as my arrival. Train to Moscow in the night. May or may not need a night in Moscow to meet up with my plane ticket. Off to Frankfurt, then to Vancouver and then to Kelowna. Who knows what the recovery time will be. I am expecting the jet lag to hit me harder on the way home.

Well, that is enough for now. We'll see what the next few days bring. I am hoping for some real progress, but optimism is a poison pill the same as hope. Gotta keep my spirits up.

Miss you all and love you more.

RJDK

2007-02-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Okay time for a new chapter...

I have internet access in my hotel finally. Thanks to some very crafty people. I wouldn't be surprised if they were reading this as I type it. Haha.

Anyways, Friday was the last day, so we'll fill you in since then. Saturday was a work day. Nothing special. Came to the hotel after and played some cards with the guys. Drank beer of course.

Sunday was a complete write off. We were invited out to Maslaneetsa. That is the annual festival here welcoming springtime. The whole town came out in -10 C weather.

So, the afternoon we gathered with food and drink (vodka) and celebrated with the locals. The people from work took us out and they showed us how to celebrate Russian style. We played "don't try to keep up with the Russians". So, after 4 bottles of vodka and 6 hours, we went ice skating. I found out that there is absolutely no edge on Russian rental skates. Could not scratch a nail with them. Might as well be spoons taped to the bottom of my shoes kind of bad. Now, I have hip bruise, but the pain was only felt on Monday morning for some reason. ey-ey-ey...head was not that sore.

The crew we have here are very good natured. Awesome sense of humour. When we translate our Russian back to English we mimic Tarzan talking and it is absolutely hilarious. We sound just like that. Simple words to get a message across. The same comes back to us by some that learned English in school and never used it (like Canadians and French). So, as you can tell from my typing, I am communicating in baby English and distorted by Russian.

I am now able to order a complete breakfast and get what I hoped for. Orange juice (fresh, fresh squeezed), oatmeal without butter?, 2 yogurt, black tea, and sometimes a ham and cheese bun thing. The bun thing I still have to point at in the menu, but other than that, I am speaking the order.

What else....counting. I can count to 10 and I am working on 11-20 this week. Some odds and ends just get written down on paper. Paper is a wonderful thing. Even better when you remember your pen. Big numbers I just say each number from left to right.

The language is easier to say than to read. That's why we have our translators. They are very good. Technical translators. Worth their weight in gold. So, we treat them to cognac and such. Well, just give them a bottle and let em go at it.

Well, now that I ahve internet in my hotel, I will update more frequently. Hope everybody is doing well, and we'll talk to you all soon.

RJDK

2007-02-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

2007-02-16T21:39:00.002-08:00

Friday Feb.16th in Zheleznogorsk

Today was the first real day of work start to finish. Our normal day consists of getting up in the morning and showering (no shower curtain by the way), head down to the plush hotel restaurant for breakfast with the crew at 7:15 and then into the bus to work by 8:00.

We arrive at the second biggest iron ore facility in Russia. Very eerie to see. Looks like a scene from a movie. Every aspect of our day revolves around translators asking questions for us. Even this morning, our site safety orientation was translated sentence by sentence and we just had to smile and nod. Due to the fact that we only now speak 6 words of Russian, we are accompanied constantly by translators. Sergei is our young translator and doubles as a mining technologist of some sort. Stas is the other translator from Magadan (Ewan and Charlie anyone?) and we are inundated with Alexanders or Sergeis. Except for Yuri and Dmitri, everyone it seems is named Alexander or Sergei. 50/50 chance usually of getting names right.

So, that is where we are now. Without boring you with details of the job, we are getting our way through to get the power on to many things so that we can start setting it all up.

We are served lunch on site. Today’s meal consisted of beet sauerkraut dish, a fish in gelatin dish, sweet water, roast beef, rice, pickles, bread, cheese, grapes and then tea. I was a little confused as to which bowl was what, so I mistakenly put salt in my tea. At first I thought the tea was different, then realized I was actually an idiot. We asked the translator to get me a new cup, but when he asked for me, he dropped the idiot part from the translation. We obviously don’t leave the lunch room hungry.

At 4:00 today, we left the site by the same bus we arrived in. It is about a 20 minute drive from the hotel to the site. We have been doing everything as a group, so the time I get to myself before dinner is when I document my day here. Because we only have internet connection on site, I type in advance and then just cut and paste the post for the blog.

Tonight we had planned on going for pizza. The hotel restaurant is very nice, but we are overwhelmed by the very rich food and were feeling like a familiar meal. So, we crossed town by cab and went to the Pronto pizza place. One of our translators was leaving for Moscow for a few days, so this doubled as a kind of dinner to see him off. We had many beer and many pizzas and just talked for a few hours. Eventually my slang English became a curiosity of our young translator, so I had to teach him some good old Canadian slang. I like to think of myself as a goodwill ambassador of sorts. Unfortunately, I will not disclose here what I taught him  Those that know me can well imagine the new words our friend has is in English arsenal.

We made our way back to the hotel for night cap. The hotel restaurant is a multi-use facility and we went there for some Armenian cognac and beer. There is a dance floor and DJ adjacent to the restaurant, but we did not venture to go dancing. Laughter is universal so with help of translators, we made a point of sharing our jokes and stories.

Another day is done and is one day closer to being home... Mar 10th I have to leave Moscow. We will have some long days ahead. Lots to do.

Talk to you all soon.

2007-02-16T21:39:00.001-08:00

Thursday Feb.15th Arrive in Zheleznogorsk

We rode the train through the night and arrived in Zeleznogorsk at 6:40am. We were met by our co-worker JM and our translator Sergei. We piled our bags into a small car and drove to the hotel. We had to temporarily check into a room (Presidential Suite) and wait for our rooms to be prepared. I was going to take a picture of the room, but I actually thought that we were going to get to keep the room and get another one like it. They moved both of us out later.

We went to site and did the meet and greet, but the respect for us was shown by allowing us to go and get cleaned up and caught up on sleep. I had the same clothes on since Monday morning. Socks were changed in Frankfurt because my feet were killing me.

We arrived back at the hotel by lunchtime and they had a cot and a bed for us. PA hung out and watched a movie as I showered and went and had lunch with Sergei. After lunch, I went and had a nap….4 hours later I was awoken by the dinner phone call reminder. That was the best sleep I had in years. Just that tired is all. Drool everywhere kind of tired. Haha.

We went down to the lobby and we were to hand over the keys to the presidential suite and we were given keys to the next two rooms on the same floor. Big difference. Half the size, no shower curtain and no little shaving kit, housecoats or slippers. Oh well, decadence for a few hours is okay. The hotel clerk as she gave me my key was able to spit out a few words in English to me. MINI BAR. I had a water and had to pay up. So, 15 rubles later, I was into my new room. Nice all the same, just not as big or with all the fancy attached to it.

We had dinner as a group and then got acquainted with the other crew with conversation after. By 10:30 we were all asleep.

2007-02-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Feb.13th and Wednesday Feb.14th

Well, as the last post stated, we flew to Frankfurt and hung out for about two hours. The flight from Vancouver had some electrical issues about 2/3 of the way through the movie Scoop and the screens retracted back into the ceiling. Being that I was curious to see who done it, I listened to the remaining portion of the movie. The electrical issues continued as the cabin lights would just come on and off at random. Fortunately for us, we remained in the dark. The flight attendants were going around and placing dark stickers on the lenses so that the passengers could sleep. It was a long flight of about 11 hours. We flew over Greenland and the outside ambient temperature showed as low as -95 Deg C on the screen. There were two full meals and 1 and 2/3 full movies. I indulged in some free gin and tonic and drank countless glasses of water in anticipation of not having a lot of good water in Moscow.

Because of the time change and flight duration, we couldn’t help but lose a whole day off the calendar. We left Frankfurt at about 3pm Frankfurt time and the flight to Moscow was only 2-1/2 hours. We did though lose a couple more hours in time change. The customs in Moscow was what we were geared up to be cavity searched, but only PA set off the “coloured guy” flags and was made to x-ray his bags. My tool bag was on his cart as we didn’t discriminate luggage at the carousel and loaded it all on two carts.

We were met by Roman, our driver, and he quickly guided us through the maze of cabbies and out into the parking lot where his van waited. We piled in and watched him pilot us through the hellish Moscow traffic. We were traveling 5 km/h and needed to go 15km. Do the math on that. We were very short on any Russian and he was only in possession of 16 English words, so we had to sign/gesture/communicate for him to phone our contact people and get us to the train. PA and I both picked up a Russian Lonely Planet book to help us translate. Roman laughed as I said “hold me” in Russian. Those books have absolutely every phrase you could imagine. After a short discussion about hockey (just naming Russian players and nodding) we finally got onto the main street and were able to change to a gear higher than first in the van. As we passed the landmarks in Moscow, Roman would say “Gorbachev..office” or “military...musee: and we would just gawk at the bright lights and immense cultural differences. Finally we pulled up to a gate in a commercial area and we pulled through and parked. This was the office building of the contact people responsible for our travel. Partly responsible anyways. We had coffee and cookies and waited for our English speaking contact person to set us up with our train tickets and feed us.

Natalia arrived at 9:00pm and was a very cheeky but polite escort for us as she took us to a local eating establishment and purchased for us miscellaneous food items for us to “try”. She smiled at everything that was before us and had us wondering how much of the food were cow testicles or something. Nonetheless, the food was good and we had to hurry to catch our train. We arrived back at the office where we had 10 minutes to check e-mail and then off again with Roman to the train station. Thankfully Roman led us to the train and took us right to our car. Only my name was in English on the ticket and good god if I would have been able to navigate to the train by myself in the dark. We said farewell to our new friend and hauled all of our stuff into our cabin. Two men with 7 bags made for tight quarters. We were met by the train mom and she was speaking in Russian to us. We were having trouble understanding what she was talking about, so we assumed passport and found out after that she was offering bedding for us. Exhausted from traveling, we pretty much layed down and tried to sleep. The octagonal? wheels prevented me from sleeping much. Ultimately I slept less than 2 hours in 2 days.

2007-02-13T01:29:00.000-08:00

Passport photos are never flattering...

Well, today is the last day I will spend in Canada for some time. Sleep is something I will cherish when I am free of any emotion. So, for now... I will lead y'all in to the adventure I am about to begin.

If you have Google Earth on your computer... then 52°20'4.49"N Latitude and 35°22'25.22"E Longitude are the coordinates of where I will be close to.

So, here is what I know for now. I am flying to Vancouver 11:00ish Feb.13th. I will be fashionably late for the cavity search and then proceed to the plane departing from Kelowna. The plan is that I arrive in Vancouver around noon. From there, I know this... I will be flying to Frankfurt, Germany... hopefully with a passport. Gotta pick that up in Vancouver with my visa. I would expect it to be at the airport with my traveling co-worker. If not, then I fly home and veg out and watch hockey.(That would never happen. Not without the massive scene in the airport and the deranged man being hauled away on the 6:00 news. That would be me)

Then, we wait in Frankfurt for our connecting flight to Moscow. Some point after we arrive in Moscow there will be a train ride south. I can't wait to use the train washroom. I have heard how marvelous it is (Picture to follow)

Eventually we will plane, train and automobile our way to the coordinates as above and realize we are half way round the world. Shortly thereafter, I will shower all the stranger hair and drool from the commute off of my shoulders and arms and possibly even unload all my shite.

I am planning on having just enough stuff with me. Tools, clothes and a backpack full of entertainment electronics, toilet paper, sacrificial toilet socks (for when I run out of TP), 3 pairs of 8-day underwear (in case luggage goes to Tanzania), a bag of white powder to amuse the border people, the anarchist cookbook for light reading and my "How to fly 767's for Dummies" book. Unfortunately for me, my sense of humour will be packed away until I am in comfortable space. I will probably gawk like a retard with Sesame Street overload at all the sites and invariably miss something.

Only time will tell, I guess.

To all that are going to keep up with me, I will do my best at updating this regularly.

2007-02-10T01:26:00.000-08:00

2007-01-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well, today I made the decision to adapt a more reader friendly approach to posting. I have edited most previous posts for blatant rant infested swearing and such. Contrary to how some may think, I actually have a child and he is very impressionable. Not to mention brilliant. He reads between the lines here and asks amazing questions. Most importantly he thinks for himself. Who'd think that an 8 year-old could do that. Not the public school system. Shut em up with Ritalin and wonder why they have health issues or social issues later.

So, as promised to some verbally I am going to start posting books that are very influential and inspiring. Let me know if there are some I may need to review myself. So without a better way to do this...we'll just start here..in no particular order or rank

Look to the right=============>>>>>>>>>

I changed template finally

That should get you started. I will probably touch on each of these a little when I get a moment.

At some point in my life, these books found me and opened my eyes and my mind. Some are fun, others are truly insightful.

Make yourself one that makes a difference in the world. We must abolish the apathy.

2006-12-26T01:21:00.000-08:00

Older to be younger

than a record's overcome her

Traded life for a number

and here we're left to wonder

why?

She's possessed by the skies

to change questions to cries

for seven year old eyes

that be too young to realize

Well done mom,

would you like another look?

I would rather see tomorrow than my name in a book

and I thanked you for the option cuz you let me set a goal

but, i can't nail the coffin or backfill the hole.......By myself....I'm told I want to fly....The youngest in the sky....I get to decide....All by myslef I get to see....

a life cut short by myself and me - RJDK

Hmmmmm....Let's talk hockey.

I love hockey and always have. As long as I can remember. Problem is that I remember too well. The current call for change has me wondering about that sniveling freak the NHL calls a commissioner; Gary Bettman.

Why does the game need to continually be changed or screened for ways to improve the game? These dickhead analysts on TV will just about drive you to drink sometimes. Why aren't they talking about this shit with other sports. Soccer nets aren't getting bigger. They don't give 2 shits if a game ends 1-0. Football isn't about to cutback on contact because a few people get hurt. Baseball can lull you to sleep watching a pitcher warm up. History of the particualer game can be maintained by leaving the fundamentals alone.

My latest shift was triggered by a viewing of someone's idea of how the nets should be restructured. Some fucking oval tubular thing. The "four by six" is the standard and dimensions of the net opening itself have never changed. Why should they? Not because some prick wants to increase TV market share in the USA. by trying to increase scoring. Essentially to spark interest in new market cities.

The forgotten stronghold and premier fan base for hockey is in Canada and the north is usually ignored in favour of the larger American cities. In recent months, some American city arenas had about 1/4 capacity some nights. Every team in Canada had near sellouts.

Even as the salaries have increased over the years, the revenue sharing has helped the smaller Canadian cities to be able to compete. The trend I am noticing now is that the watered down league with so many teams are trying to establish a new sport to an area where it is normally foreign. When hockey works as an attraction, there is no need for reminder that it is there. If it is affordable and available then there would be no issue.

Some teams in the southern states only warrant a minor league franchise with the fan base that is there. There are plenty of them as well. Coast to coast on the continental US looms a very large minor league professional hockey system. Canada boasts the predominant junior leagues and therefore major junior and tiers of junior teams are everywhere based on town or city size. The major Canadian centers carry the larger professional franchises, of course. With the number of minor league teamsin the US, it is no wonder that many people will go to a home town game rather than go to a major city. Typically the major city has a fan base that is also distracted by baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR racing, etc..etc.. The NHL wants to attract some of these people and they are sticking their fingers into the mix every year with rule changes and adjustments.

The main rule changes or nuances that I can't stand at the moment:

In no particular order...

1. The "No Zone" for goalies. I call this the Hasek rule. Part of this rule I like. Keep people like Hasek from wandering around and freezing the puck in the corner. What I don't like is that you can reach the no zone from the crease. I am just waiting for the day in the playoffs when this rule bites someone in the ass with a bad call. The diagonal should probably be at the same point on the boards, but the intersection with the goal line should be moved way over. Maybe even 90 degrees from the boards but at least further from the crease.

2. Instigator rule. I do accept fighting as a part of hockey. Goonery is a different facet that should be outlawed, but a good one-on-one tussle is what both of those people want to do. Consensual, motivating and also a release of emotion. You would never know what it was like unless you have ever been caught up in it yourself. Sometimes people do stupid things to your friends, as teammates, on the ice. A reminder of the ability to self-police the ice is welcome to keep all players in check. It prevents a deliberate injury attempt by someone having the person know that he will get more than a penalty for inappropriate play.

3. TV timeouts. Especially icing calls after a long stretch without a whistle lead to a 2 minute TV timeout. They have made it so the team that ices the puck can't change their players, as icing is usually carried out by tired players trapped in their own end. So, these TV timeouts let the players rest and take away the momentum from the team that just applied the offensive pressure. To me, that is taking away the ability to keep any flow to the game. It should be a hurry up and drop the puck if the offensive team is lined up type ruling. Offensive team can change if they want to, but they should dictate the faceoff. Not the fucking TV station.

4.Kicking motion. This is bullshit usually. A guy stopping on the ice taps a puck with his skate as he slides into it, is a goal. OR if he turns his foot to direct a shot in, is a goal. But, the league officials have this "kicking motion" that must be evident to call off a goal. I have barely seen one called that I have agreed with. Normally because it is the head office in Toronto ruling by replays at whatever rink in North America. They usually sit for 4 minutes talking to the ref on the ice over the phone and discussing the video replay. The on ice guy doesn't see the replay. I think he should. This would give him the ability to be on the same page as the video goal judge. The on ice ref sees it in real time so fast during the play, maybe the refreshing of the senses via video would be welcome.

I will carry on with this another time. But, maybe for now we should think more about getting a new commissioner than a new set of rules.

Merry Christmas.

Go CANADA go. World Juniors start Boxing Day.

Games are changed by the players.

2006-10-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Whistle the be whittled
anthem of the fiddle
Perhaps we need little
effort to feeed riddles

And now the misread
has found instead
feathers for his head
avenging since long dead

We want the dirt and
every last grain of sand

We want the time back
to give our lives back

You will pay
in every way

so, ignore the shit taste
sticking it to paleface - RJDK

Well, who'd a thunk an idjit lyke me could spell enough words to be published in the newspaper. This should offfer a little juxtaposition and perhaps reflect the spin on my letter. My last post was word for word what I sent to them in an e-mail and today, I am showing you the printed version. Edited, as is everything.

All the news you hear or see is partial truth, or straight bullshit. They claim to edit for berevity or legality or what have you, but if there is anything offensive to be said, that must be suppressed. I am not saying that my run on letter is perfect, but some of my points were reliant on some additional information. I could have gone off on that topic for days, but I had to keep it short for space and word constraints. Still, they just put it however they want it and think they are getting the point across. More true with real issues. World issues.

Anyways...here is the printed version....

Oct 06 2006
To the editor:
Re: letters regarding methods to maintain air quality (Sept. 29 Capital News).
The notion of having cars either equipped with expensive monitoring equipment or participating in a mandatory inspection program is just another example of armchair activism without real thought. Sure, we would all love clean air, but implementing expensive and ineffective means to go about it are beyond reason.
AirCare in the Lower Mainland is an absolute farce. The safe work practices that must be adhered while working in the inspection facility prevent the “inspector” from examining your vehicle with more than a mirror on a stick. Then they connect a questionably calibrated sampling system up to your car and then climb in and abuse your vehicle for 10 minutes so they can present you with a lovely page full of useless numbers and your total amount due at the bottom.
The commercial vehicles seem to get a free ride in this matter.
The low income people that can barely afford an old car end up having to pay for multiple emission tests and get a “conditional pass” for spending $500 trying to make their cars meet the standard.
The rich guy gets off with the cost of the inspection and has a cabin or second house in a town outside of the “mandatory inspection area” so can insure and drive his car under his second address and skip the mess altogether.
Also, the idea of OBDII is great on vehicles equipped with it out of the factory, but who do you really think is going to spend the amount of another car on fitting their older car with all the sensors that these emission monitoring computers look for.
How about this? Drive less and only where you need to go. Figure out better time and resource management.
Car pooling is great if that works for you, but there is always the forgotten needs of service people and salesman that rely heavily on their vehicles.
The HOV lanes were added in Vancouver to help the flow of traffic and usually they are empty during the rush hours.
Plant more trees around your house if you want cleaner air.
The only part of any of the letters I do agree with is making the large conglomerate commercial buildings comply with emission controls. Large industrial facilities are normally given a bad rap but emission control is usually a top priority for them and they are reminded of it constantly by public outcry.

2006-09-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I wrote this letter to Kelowna Capital News because people are stupid. Lets put in cameras, lets implement bullshit systems and policies, lets beg for food and give it away at Thanksgiving, on and on....

I'm bitter. Can you tell?

Here's the letter....

I am writing to comment on the letters regarding methods to maintain air quality (Sep.29).

The notion of having cars either equipped with expensive monitoring equipment or participating in a mandatory inspection program is just another example of armchair activism without real thought. Sure, we would all love clean air, but implementing expensive and ineffective means to go about it are beyond reason.

AirCare in the lower mainland is an absolute farce. The McJobs it provides along with the true inability to do anything but collect more tax is about all it is good for. The safe work practices that must be adhered while working in the inspection facility prevent the “inspector” from examining your vehicle with more than a mirror on a stick. Then they connect a questionably calibrated sampling system up to your car and then get to climb in and abuse your vehicle for ten minutes so they can present you with a lovely page full of useless numbers and your total amount due at the bottom. The commercial vehicles seem to get a free ride in this matter. I have choked on black smoke from commercial vehicles more than once and still the guy in the family car gets stuck with the bill. Better yet, the low income people that can barely afford an old car (let alone a brand spanking new semi-emission friendly plastic shell with a motor), end up having to pay for multiple emission tests and get a “conditional pass” for spending $500 trying to make their cars meet the standard. The rich guy gets off with the cost of the inspection. And still, again the rich guy that has a cabin or second house in a town outside of the “mandatory inspection area” can insure and drive his car under his second address and skip the mess altogether.

Also, the idea of OBDII is great on vehicles equipped with it out of the factory, but who do you really think is going to spend the amount of another car on fitting their older car with ALL the sensors that these emission monitoring computers look for. If you have ever had to replace an emission component by itself without any labour, then you may comprehend how much an entire system fitted into an old car would cost.

How about this? Drive less and only where you need to go. Figure out better time and resource management. How many vehicles do you see in summer just “cruising the strip”? Electric trains are good for kids and the elderly with no real agenda, but on a day to day basis, commuters on their way to work would favour a direct route rather than transfer 5 times to all the buses and connections to get them to their destination. My sister was a transit user in Vancouver for many years and her route was like a sailboat tacking across the ocean. Most people would turn down an extra hour each way of commute time as a trade for sparkling clean air.

Car pooling is great if that works for you, but there is always the forgotten needs of service people and salesman that rely heavily on their vehicles to get them to and from places as a single occupant per vehicle. The HOV lanes were added in Vancouver to help the flow of traffic and usually they are empty during the rush hours. Good idea, but not very practical. People have come to rely on their vehicles.

Plant more trees around your house if you want cleaner air. I notice in these lovely new subdivisions how the whole place is burned, plowed & paved with little vegetation. That might be a better start don’t you think. Fix your own back yard before you go and irritate the lives of many with more regulation and law.

The only part of any of the letters I do agree with is making the large conglomerate commercial buildings comply with emission controls. All these big box stores generate a ton of emissions from large gas burning HVAC units going all the time. Next time you are out, look at all the stacks on these buildings. I’m sure they can afford to clean their exhaust gas with scrubbers and catalytic reduction. Large industrial facilities already have enough to deal with, but are normally given a bad rap because they are obvious targets. Emission control is usually a top priority for them and they are reminded of it constantly by public outcry.

P.S. I also agree that an obituary should be open to lost animal friends.

*The P.S. part was added to shut up some stupid bitch that was insulted by someone putting the loss of their animal in the obituaries. I say get bent and take your two bit opinion with you. Some people have animals as their only TRUE friends because the rest of the stupid morons in society are always scheming to screw you over and benefit from it somehow.

"Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position....such a heavy burden now to be the one born to bare and read to all the details of our ending...to write it down for all the world to see....but I forgot my pen...shit the bed again......"

"Speak for yourself. Question authority."

2006-07-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

THE SIMPLE ECONOMY MANIFESTO

Most people are going to read this and discover that there is a simpler way to be. Deep down we all want the same things.

The Prohibition

How do mobsters get rich? If you said dealing, you are probably right. The prohibition of alcohol allowed for people to turn a profit for a product in demand. People just plain wanted it. A large number probably didn’t care. I wasn’t there to know.

The current dealing in “illicit drugs” in ALL communities seems to stand as a similar practice. There is an underground network setup and functioning rather efficiently making steady profit. Once alcohol was affordable and could be bought commercially, it became a background noise. You know it’s there, you don’t pay attention to it fully, and every so often it satisfies a craving so, you go and see what it is about.

Being that this is about what we refer to as “drugs”, I can only believe people will change their way of thinking by calling it something else. Spirit Lifters.

How did the crime problem go away with prohibition? Alcohol became regulated.

So, if you haven’t figured out where I am going with this, here is what I propose we do. It may seem outrageous at first, but it does require an open mind and the ability to forget all old thought patterns. The current system has not worked, has never worked and never will work. I don’t like to say never, but it only makes sense to try something else.

With all change there is a transition period. It will take time to round up and coordinate resources, but the simplicity of it is the reason for me writing.

Are you thinking “GET ON WITH IT!!!”?? Okay.

Regulate all drugs and let people do the drugs they want to.

There is so much money spent trying to prevent drugs from international travel. I won’t get into conspiracy theories about Government assistance in importing drugs. “Go and watch TV. Keep yourself occupied. Don’t mind me. I just have a war to fight over here in Vietnam. I might borrow your son or daughter for awhile. Yep, they’ll get home safe.” Daily propaganda.

The black market tax associated with illicit drugs is the whole root of the problem. If the drugs were in such large supply and pure, but still accessible, people could get their medicine and treatment without killing or stealing for it. No death. There just should be an outlet where you can pick it up. Hey, they have these places already. Pharmacies.

Pharmacists have some pretty potent drugs on their shelves. One could easily become addicted to any of them, but for the most part you are going to only get a small bottle at a time. I’m thinking regular folks here. Not the extreme cases of unfortunate people needing massive medication. That’s a whole other topic. Well, a spin off. Freeing up money and resources to direct attention to real issues like environment, health, smart economics, equality and research. People that are sick might get hope from money being put towards research for their new superbug that is immune to all of our bandaid fixes.

In these so called “Pharmacies” you can equip yourself with whatever a doctor considers you able to administer to yourself safely. See the relationship. Go and see a doctor and explain your needs. If you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to pay for a dose of medication, then you can carry on with your day. You wouldn’t have to be trying to scrape together $20 for a flap of some concoction that has been cut and buffed up and inflated to look like more of the drug you are after.

What this society needs is for people to be responsible for their actions. If you kill somebody while intoxicated by anything is not right. The idiocy of one can compromise the privilege of many. Some whiskey drinkers beat their wives. Others call it “Scotch” or “Bourbon” and are sophisticated. Every man has his poison. For some, they need help. Their poison has taken them over. The balance has shifted and the reason and logic vanishes.
“Who could do such a thing?”

The NIMBY's will be up in arms I'm sure, but we would expect to be able to rationally dedicate an area in any town or city to be a safe district or implement the comfort of your home law. You would be entitled to fulfill your habit as long as certain criteria was adhered to and that while intoxicated you must remain in your yard, but preferably in your house under certain conditions.

Drunk in public is already a punishable offense with a ticket or a trip to the room for the night. No different. Out of line in public you will get reprimanded. Furthermore, you will be held accountable for all of your actions whether intoxicated, or not, in public.

2006-06-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Bow to your master,
Be down on to your knees.
Call to your captor,
For mercy you will bleed.
Drown out my laughter,
Scramble if you please.
You're not a factor
I fear only me.

Soon to be a reality........

Happy summer to anyone that reads this.

Every time I set myself up with a plan, life takes over and kicks me square in the balls and says "No way are you going to have time to do that!"

So, today is the exception to the sore nuts. I will make time. So, to make a long story longer....

Here is a thought...what is more offensive to you? If I politely asked you to stop your big flap jack boobs from smacking off your gut...or George W. Bush and his inbred cousins. If I hovered over your plate of food at the dinner table and farted on it, only to realize that a little turdlet shot out and landed on your steak...or the idea of the continued FAILING war on drugs. If a filthy crack whore popped a pustulous sore in front of you...or the idea that your freedom is being slowly pulled from beneath you by means of popular vote.

Let's think about every other point and specifically the very last point.

Every proposed idea has ramifications and the possibility of negative side effects. The idea of cameras everywhere doesn't frighten people when they are said to be used for safety of the public. All in favour say..... HOLD ON. I agree cameras in certain places are essential. BUT, who remembers photo radar. Bad use of a camera. Webcams of naked ugly people. Bad use of a camera. I could go on and on, but I am sure the filthy crack whore pus is enough to fill your head with a bad painting for a while now. More laws and more security is not the answer. Look up life in Germany pre-WWII and see what constitutes ideal living....hmmmm...is that where we are headed? There are very interesting similarities to the current state of affairs going on in the world and specifically the USA.

Here are some to ponder...just Google..hmmmm.....East Timor. Huh? Where the is that? Well, it was a modern day massacre of thousands of people. Allied forces at work. Every ounce of war has some background political agenda. What we are told is a whole other story.

What we need is less secret police, less "intelligence" groups lacking the fruit of their namesake and ultimately less law. Keep it simple. The more complicated it is, the more maintenance it requires and the more likely it is to fail. They have to keep making laws to curb the people that abuse the current laws. Soon there will be so many laws that people will be confused as to what they are allowed to do. Overwhelm the courts with petty crap, then all the unpaid fines for paternal law enforcement all because nobody had the balls to say "STOP! You stupid morons with your heads in the sand. Put your half-witted ego aside and any desire at bettering your political career aside for the benefit of the people that elected you.

Government of the people for the people by the people. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

The revolution has begun. The leader has yet to step forward. The face will be known the moment it is shown and the lynchings will begin.

Another rant at society to wake up. Turn off your bloody cell phones. Take your headphones off your head. Turn off your bloody TV first and foremost. That has got to stop. Nauseating as it is. Just wake up and think for yourself. Too much stupid going around and that is contagious. More than avian flu. More than SARS. More than every other catch phrase illness to sway you into more fear and consumption. Does anyone hear about SARS anymore? "Oh, they kicked the crap out of that at the source." Like hell. I would speculate that that whole SARS epidemic was just another mutated flu bug messing up the program. El nino, la nina, weapons of mass distruction, 9/11, PATRIOT ACT...

That's what you get for eating tortured food. Stressed out birds and skinny calves and fat pigs eating fat pigs and cows being fed mysterious farm scraps. What have we become?

All I can say is prepare for war. Resist immunizations. Eat smarter.

.....and join the revolution.

If I offended anybody with my comments, then please take them to heart because you are probably in need of listening and this just may hit home more than you think.

2006-03-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

HAPPY MARCH!

MARCH...TO THE BEAT OF THE WAR DRUM.

Counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drum......pay no mind to the rabble....apc - MJK and co

PREDICTIONS...I have heard from a bird that the word is to hide all that you have for the
time is to come to beware the timewave. The I ching by King Wen and the calendar of the Mayan can be considered to be saying that the solstice on the twenty one becomes the day in twenty twelve of the twelve moons in the year that awareness will find a new form. Beware the eye of the illuminati. Consider the timewave. Zero on the timeline like Chuck D is to rhyme time and the homo sapien will suddenly shift and evolve into the luminous. The shamans and the witches will bring us to the divine and time will be standing still; forever to and fro. Timewave brings the time warp and the world as we know it will be what evolution intended and what creation stands to believe was the intention all along.

2006-02-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

Happy February!

The month of my birthday.

Good things coming in 2006.

I have a new real job.

www.encompassgroup.ca

BUT!!!!! We are close to printing a couple sets of limited edition prints. We have some very talented artists working with us to develop the image we want to debut with. We will not disappoint.

A first impression should not be bad because the bad impression is the one remembered.

Well, my first post was a rant at society. This time I feel a little more peaceful. A lot going on is all I can say. Busy new year.

Went like this..... applied for a job, worked at my old job out of town, hired for new job while on last day out of town with old job. Monday I quit. Tuesday I went to the coast to bust me arse for 2 weeks. Then 2 weeks of sweet FA at home really. Just a blur of activity defining the first days of the rest of my life. Quitting was fun!!!! I was called names and everything. I obviously felt better about the career move than they did, but hey.....it's a long story. A piece at a time. Gotta learn, gotta grow. Can't stagnate. That sums it up.

Money people, money. Invest young and be rich younger. Unless you are freakishly wealthy from a genetic defect that made you millions in the circus. Ummmm....no.

Anyways, look for the shirts to come out to some stores in Western Canada. We might even sell direct.

Our women's clothing line is also available. We have our topless line. They are clear in colour and weightless. Very cool. Wear without a bra if you like.

Wish all that read this the best of 2006.

Talk to you soon

2005-11-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

Where do we start?

Apathy seems to be a good place.

Do nothing, say nothing and be nothing. Walk the line and conform. Do as I say, not as I do. Do not try to set an example.

Anti-war does not mean pro-terrorist. Anti-church does not mean ... alot of things.

Why is it that as a society we can talk but, we are not allowed to speak our mind? We can voice our opinion in the quiet and the comfort of our home. We can voice our opinion to each other, as long as it does not conflict with political agenda.

Designated protest areas. Police presence to protect the public and the officials. So they say.

Laws are in place to protect people from themselves. There is no accountability for ones own actions. You can not take the law into your own hands. You don't have the mental capacity to do so. You are not intelligent enough to determine right and wrong. You need to be told. And yet the laws tend to outline the rights of the criminals and does nothing for the victim. As a victim, you are not guilty. You are insignificant. You are there to assist the prosecution for an action against another person or thing. Whether you were the victim or a witness. The consequences for being the victim or witness can be as detrimental as are for the criminal. Major difference being, after the system is done with the victim or witness, they are back to paying taxes and providing for themselves at their own expense. Essentially paying for their own protection and by keeping the criminal alive and well fed. Anyone who has had the misfortune of being involved in the criminal justice system can attest that the system is as problematic as the individuals that make up the reason for it.

Ultimately. People should be accountable for their actions. Whether they are intoxicated or otherwise. There is seemingly an ability to plea bargain by pleading guilty to a lesser charge for a shorter sentence. How does this benefit anybody except the criminal? The victim gets to see the offender again sooner than later. The bleeding hearts of society need to realize that their armchair activism and protection of human rights is far too general. Criminals should have some rights, but they should also have limited rights. It would appear that the guilty have more rights than their victims.

The time for change is long overdue. Sit back, relax and watch as your vote determines very little for democratic change. Be aware of what you hear and see.

Ask the questions. Question the answer.