Inside Out Christmas Tree

 Here's an inside tree that appears to be outside. ooooo....scary stuff kids. It's actually a reflection on the kitchen window looking out at the arbour and shrub in the backyard. I know...I have no life. But who else do you know... who shares upside down and inside out christmas trees with you? Huh?

Upside Down Christmas Tree

 

 I took this shot while the afternoon sun of a Chinook sunset bathed the living room. When I downloaded the pics I rotated to correct this one. Presto! Upside Down Christmas Tree....the easy way! I am such a genius!

May the season... not turn you... upside down. 'Cause that...may likely...cause a frown. It's all about perspective. Be happy.

roberttherobot in cyberspace

dogs who eat poop shouldn't get bikkies

HDFOOTSHOT

What a difference a day makes.....Ref likes my laptop I guess.   Har...har

peace & love.................................. from the man cave of MrB.............................aaaaaaaaaaah.....in HD.

"Shame on Shaw"

“Shame on Shaw”

We have endured three years of poor internet service with Shaw. The past month has been particularly bad, with the internet typically down several times a day for minutes or hours. Over the past few days we have had three phone calls to Shaw Support “dropped” (by Shaw), including one which I had been in the recorded messages wait cue for forty-five minutes! Sorry Shaw…I would love to “Just click on Online Amy” to solve my problem. Problem is I can’t click…Shaw Internet is not working.“ This morning we awoke to no internet AND no phone! (We foolishly added our phone to our Shaw bundle some time ago). Drove my wife to work and she phoned and was “in the Shaw cue” for 38 minutes on the phone and then was disconnected.
 I then drove to Shaw downtown to obtain customer service in person. “Sorry Sir. We have no technical support at this location.” Does the north east…ask I? “Yes” replies he. I then drove to the NE Shaw to register a complaint about our outage and the incredibly bad phone support service. The girl at the desk says they have no process for filing complaints but a co-worker says she could send an e-mail to someone who will let technical support know I have a complaint. OMG.
 She eventually excuses herself to go backstage to check on something. As I stood waiting for about 8 minutes another customer comes in and walks up to another available customer service rep beside me. “Can you take a number please sir?” asks the rep of this single person. No one in front, no one behind. Back he walks to the machine and pulls his tab, returns to the rep and presents him the ticket. OMG! Next customer with a different rep, same thing, only this customer says “I think its out of tickets”. A Shaw guy comes to put more tickets in and proclaims; “The ticket was just stuck”. Hilarious. My girl comes back and speaks to me so softly I have to lean over the counter and point my good ear to try and glean some info from her. “ I’m sorry sir we don’t have any technical support at this location”. OMG! (Insert head shaking and a long pause to compose myself.)
 Ok. My third reason to be there was to upgrade our TV plan to full meal HDTV (only another $16/month) to fuel the new flat screen and HD box I had recently purchased. Yea I know, what a fool am I.
 The kicker…our HD upgrade channels were up by the time I got home! My wife at work had contacted a customer service support rep. But only after waiting in the phone que for 56 minutes!!!!. Our phone line flickered back on about 12 noon. The internet has now come back on at 3 in the morning after a twenty hour outage…but the phone call to Customer Support this evening to activate my new HD box? The icing on the cake; The usual “We’re sorry. We are currently experiencing extremely high call volumes”, “Just click on Amy"… 20 minutes in the cue. Operator puts me on hold for 8 minutes. Something eventually bumps and clicks on the line. I hear a faint voice and the sound of someone typing. Her headpiece is on her desk, and I can hear her standing and talking for a couple of minutes to a co-worker as he is typing. She goes away…forgets about me…and I listen for 12 minutes to this guy typing! I scream into my phone. “Helloooo!? Can anybody hear me!!!?” (among other things)  Nope. Some more clunking as someone moved her headset and then that old school busy signal just blasting in my ear at about 95dB!  Another 45 minute customer service call has again been terminated by Shaw. OMG. Shame on Shaw. No wonder the ticket machine is out of numbers. Better fill er up because there’s 150’ of Shaw main line feeder cable with broken concentric, sagging lines, stretched lines and broken strapping behind my house. Been like that for two years! If it comes down this winter there may be a few thousand more dissatisfied customers just like me…so angry they can’t sleep. Clicking away themselves. Writing down their thoughts and venting frustrations to send to someone somewhere, in Cyberspace.
 Don’t even think about phoning.
Don’t even think about going to a Shaw outlet. But if you do…make sure you grab a number.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

11/11/11/2011

I always try to spend a few moments of respect reflecting on my dear Dad on this date. It occured to me today how sacred the moment in time of remembrance is. Regardless of how busy we are, how much or how little we show our respect we must always remember. And so, on the 11th  secound of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this century I took a moment in time to honour my Dad and all vets...lest we forget.      

US South West Road Trip

I have always loved rocks and stone and hence longed to travel to the US south west. Towards the end of April 2011 I headed south on a 3 week (solo) road trip. I had been researching my trip for at least 6 months, and had a very long wish list of sites to see. My primary destination was S Utah, and my first stay was Arches National Park in the SE where I camped for three days. The scenery was absolutely stunning!

These towers of sandstone are really impressive and are commonly in long rows. Sometimes with pathways between them! 

One of the many sandstone arches for which Arches NP was named.

 This photo was taken from my camp site before sunset. The shadows from the trees were so cool.

 This is a portion of the area in Arches named "Wall Street".

 The gigantic "Double Arches".

Nearby was my next destination for one night of camping on the high mesa of Dead Horse Point State Park with spectacular views of the Green and Colorado Rivers below.

US SW Road Trip

I have always loved rock and stone and headed out around the end of  April 2011 for a grand (solo) road trip to the US south. My first destination was Arches National Park in SE Utah where I camped for three days. The weather was nice and sunny...warm days but really cold nights. @ an elevation of 8,000 feet the freezing and windy nights really caught me off guard! I bought a cheap tent in Moab from a crappy store. The first night in the Arches camp ground I forgot to tie the cord around the tent pole crossover. The wind was so strong that it was flattening the tent! After fixing/modifying/pegging and weighing down the tent I managed to brew up a pot of Tim Horton coffee with my new propane stove. Mind you, I had to do it on the tailgate of the truck with numerous pieces of windbreak/plywood etc.encircling the stove. I had put on about 5 layers of clothing and dragged out my new "girlfreind" as I jokingly called "her" to spend the night under the stars with. (Skywatcher 10" computer-controlled Dobsonian telescope. Complete with loads of eye-pieces, accessories and a portable power supply to run it. Too bad I forgot to bring any usable and current star-charts!) The scope and mount took up about one third of the area in the back of my canopy truck! I set it all up and tried it out for a while with little success. As my hands and nose got colder and colder the scope was getting pretty sand blasted. Not good for any expensive optical electronic device. I had to wrap her up in a tarp as best I could and shut her down for the night. Into the new tent I crawled. I layed there for about 45 minutes listening to the deafening roar of the tent flapping in the cold wind and tried some ear-plugs. No good. "Ok...guess I have to sleep in the truck tonight." Problem was I had brought sooooo much useless stuff! (Two folding chairs, Elliots' bicycle, etc.,etc.,etc.) After starting up the engine and sitting in the cab with the heater blasting for 15 minutes I reclined the front seat and eventually caught a few zzzzs! What a start to my trip heh!? I loved every moment of it. Even the "Iced (frozen) coffee" in the morning.

Bobs Favorite Sunset Photos

California sunsets are as unique and amazing as the state. There is just some kind of magic in the air that says; This is California! I extracted this image from a video I took while driving (yea I know) out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

This is a profile of the terrain in Canyon Lands National Park in SE Utah.

Arches National Park/Utah. The sandstone formations here are incredible. The contrasts and colours at sunset really adds a formidable and beautiful depth to the structures.

"Just another sunset somewhere" near the end of a days drive in the US.

TheLindsay4 in Maui/2011. Taken on the walk down to the beach at Ekahi Village in Wailea.

"The Gateway". Standing in this spot really makes me feel centered in the Universe. Behind me stands the great Haleakala, the lush grounds of the complex, and the pathway which leads down to the wonderful main swimming pool of Ekahi Village. Through the gate and down a few stairs lie the beach... which is the thresh hold of the ocean. The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet. The atmosphere the skin. As our world turns and the sun sets, here...am I.

We stuffed one last evening trip to Black Sand Beach in Makena Landing and took 23 gazillion pictures of this tree and a lovely sunset.

The sunsets from the lanai at our condo were awesome!

"What about Bob?"

Hey...how's it goin eh?

 I have been inspired by my son Elliot's blog page. It looks like a great way to share some pic's and thoughts. I have always wanted to make a music video set to photos and videos from my travels. This may be a good beginning!