The Milners
	Time is not on your side - it is with you for the duration of your life but it never sides with you.
Blogger Gary's Photos Jeff Milner Rea in Calgary istockphoto Phil Scoville funny videos Slashdot Boingboing J-Walk del.icio.us Gmail Gary Phil Greenspun SummerRain The Gauntlet Facebook Archives October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009	Thursday, March 31, 2005 Job Satisfaction Continued - posted by gary @ 12:27 PM   I don't think that I explained my position very well earlier. I'll admit that I wouldn't have any job that didn't come with some sort of pay, be it money or the promise of something in the future. For the purpose of this theoretical question we must assume that you will be able to maintain a non-poverty level lifestyle, have a car, buy clothes for your family, and possibly even take time off for a short vacation. Imagine two possible career tracks. They are both reasonably secure positions, one career pays more, but you will enjoy the other career more. Do you go for the money or do you go for the job you will enjoy? I know I would put up with a job I disliked for longer as the wage rises. I would also be more willing to accept less money to do a job I really enjoyed. I think I would go for the job I enjoyed. Obviously, I couldn't do a job I really loved for little to no money. Something like that can only be done as a hobby. That's why I photograph weddings for the accolades of family and not for a career. However if I could be sure of $10/hr as a photographer I would drop my $12/hr job at the warehouse in a second. Reading that last sentence leads me to believe that I would need satisfaction and security to make up for a simple $2 drop in wage. Or at least the same amount of security that I have at the warehouse, which for me is pretty secure. This is somewhat of a difficult question for a lot of people because there are more than two variables that can easily outweigh each other depending on amounts. I could be convinced to do a terrible position for copious amounts of money, but I could also be convinced to do accept great position for a moderate amount of money. Security, unfortunately takes at least somewhat of a back seat, at least for the time being. For one thing, I'm planning on quitting my job in less than three months to move to the far side of the world, a place I've never even visited. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Body Odor - posted by Jackie @ 6:33 PM   Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged but I'd like to share a few emails discussing BO aka body odor. A friend of mine had a funny question about it and relationships. The reason she was asking is because she's leary of dating a guy who someone told her that the guy doesn't shower everyday, and apparently he sometimes or frequently has BO. She didn't think this would bother her and this is what she said: "Today I was with a family and I was playing with the daugther who was sitting on her Dad's knee. The Dad had mild BO- not so rank I couldn't breath, but rank enough that I noticed it and didn't love it. Now with ideas of [the guy] aside (because that's not the real issue here) what do you guys think about the BO of someone you love? Are you better able to deal with mild BO when you really care about that person? Or is it always the same?" My email reply to this was: "My opinion of the BO issue at hand is that it's not okay to start dating someone if they have BO, because, when you begin to start to feel comfortable with all the humanly gross things out there, it only gets worse. However, it is good to date someone who showers everyday, then when they "let it slide" once or twice later on, it's alot easier to put up with. On that note, don't get me wrong, they shouldn't get into your bed without a shower (NOT NICE, EVEN IFYOU LOVE THEM)." My female friend, named Blaine replied: "Amber, I think that if it's just a matter of [the guy] not showering and not a matter of him having a horrible natural bodily aroma, then it's totally curable, making him worthy of dating material. Go for it. but follow Jackie's advice as well." Laura Hanna came back with this response: All I have to say about dating someone with BO is, if it interferes with your attraction to that person, then cut out, but if it doesn't, then its perfectly OK. Having lived with a housefull of brothers, I would also like to note that even the best of them will get smelly at times in the privacy of their home, so whatever baseline level of BO this guy gets will only increase once you become a part of his inner circle and are subject to periodic exacerbations of BO, such as after exercise. On a different note, Amber also added: "One time I was watching Arrested Development, which I very seldom do, and there was a line in which the guy said: You know what you should do? Change your "but"s to "and"s. I have to say it's a good piece of advise. For example.... ok, I have to admit I can't think of anexample at this moment, but give it a try sometime. Here's what Blaine said about switching the "buts" to "ands": "I can't think of any possible ways that changing buts to ands would come in handy. I mean, I would try to think of more possiblities, AND I don't want to??? .....no BUT I don't want to." And Laura Hanna responeded: "I am also a little unsure of exchange of the word "and" for "but". If it is done to correct a grammatical error in which someone has used "but" when they should have used "and", then I fully support it. Actually, misuse of the english language is one of my biggest pet peeves. I just wish people were more smarter about that. I also dislike when people chew with their mouthes open." Then I got an email from a long lost friend Sarah Nykolaishen responding: I love you, but you have BO. I love you, and you have BO. You see Amber, these words are not interchangeable. Opting for the first addresses a 'problem,' where as the second is an acquiescence. Anyway, I gave it some thought. I figure Jackie's gota really good point with her policy on 'getting into bed when you're smelly is not OK.' Because then, you're likely to stink as bad as he does. I also agree with Jomamma's [Laura Hanna's] opinion that breath is more of a factor. Here's what I really think. [This guy] is probably going to smell because he's been exercising. I think this type of BO tends to differ from others; for example, Old Man BO, which is just a result of being old. I guess. If he smells like Old Man BO, well then you've really got a problem. Maybe he's lying about his age and he's actually 40! -Jackie click to comment 0 comments links to this post Security, Satisfaction, Money - posted by gary @ 10:28 AM   Last night at work, I was with the part-timers for a good portion of the day. The ones that work there twos days a week after school to pay for books and Ichiban. It's a real pleasure to work with these guys because they are in school and a lot smarter than the majority of the rest of the crew. Somehow we got on to the topic of what is most important to us in a career. Job security, job satisfaction, or money, and how would we rank the three. The first nine people all gave different answers. Which was somewhat of a surprise. Some of the answers weren't surpirsing at all though. One guy in particular, probably in his mid-to-late fifties gave an answer that was very predictable. He said, "Having the job is the most important", so he values security, then money, then satisfaction. It wasn't surprising to me at all because of his age and the fact that he was working in a warehouse doing labour at his age. Another kid, younger maybe in his early twenties, an anarchist/punk rocker type said satisfaction, security, then money. Which wasn't surprising to me because that seems how he approaches just about everything. I said Satisfaction, Money, Security, but really overwhelming amounts of any one of those could over power the others. Mainly overwhelming amounts of money could keep me in a job I was indifferent to. There is no wrong answer though, only poorly formed reasoning. What do you think about it and why? -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Tuesday, March 29, 2005 Perth, Australia - posted by gary @ 11:14 AM   We've decided that we will be going to Perth, or at least somewhere in the Western half of Australia (Yes I know that's like saying we're going some where in BC, Alberta, or Sask.) Since it will be winter in Australia when we get there, we want to go to a place that will be a little warmer, and Perth is it. After the first three months, we will likely move on around the Southern coast of the continent. Really the locations and dates are still a little up in the air. There has been some talk of going to New Zealand as well. I guess we'll just have to see what comes our way. -Gary Milner Labels: australia, perth click to comment 0 comments links to this post Sunday, March 27, 2005 June Trip - posted by gary @ 8:52 PM   It looks like Tracie's little sister, Amy, is getting married in June. We'll most likely be flying out to the wedding. The cost of the ferry alone is the price of a one way ticket (not including stupid airport taxes and saftey features that don't work anyway taxes). This photo is of me at the park where Amy wants to get married. It's a nice park not far from the capitol building in Victoria. Tracie and I went there in 2003 during our trip to BC. The Transcanada Highway starts in that park. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Attack - posted by gary @ 10:19 AM   I found this discussion on Plastic.com. Please keep in mind that hurting 5 year-olds is wrong. The question: How many 5 year-olds could you take on at once? The specifics: 1. You are in an enclosed area, roughly the size of a basketball court. There are no foreign objects. 2. You are not allowed to touch a wall. 3. When you are knocked unconscious, you lose. When they are all knocked unconscious, they lose. Once a kid is knocked unconscious, that kid is "out." 4. I (or someone else intent on seeing to it you fail) get to choose the kids from a pool that is twice the size of your magic number. The pool will be 50/50 in terms of gender and will have no discernable abnormalities in terms of demographics, other than they are all healthy Americans. 5. The kids receive one day of training from hand-to-hand combat experts who will train them specifically to team up to take down one adult. You will receive one hour of "counter-tactics" training. 6. There is no protective padding for any combatant other than the standard-issue cup. 7. The kids are motivated enough to not get scared, regardless of the bloodshed. Even the very last one will give it his/her best to take you down. 8. How many do you think you could handle, and what fighting styles/combat moves would be most appropriate? Do you have any tips/tricks that might be helpful for dealing with likely problems, such as (but by no means limited to) human-wave tactics, ankle biting or eye gouging? 9. Your thoughtful contributions will no doubt be of great service to the community. Here is one of the responses: "Wolf Pack" The children, enjoying the superiority of numbers, may have better luck with a "wolf-pack" technique- surround the adult and attack from the flanks and behind. As the adult turns to address those attacks, the children she was formerly facing can attack as well. I'm actually having a hard time understanding the presumption that the children should use human wave and frontal assault tactics, because that removes two of the children's greatest assets- nimbleness and energy. Attempting to draw out the adult, make him swing at kids he can't hit, seems to be the wisest course for the kids. Most five-year olds can run any adult into the ground, so "keep moving" could backfire. A vicious pack of children can harry an adult into exhaustion at very little risk to themselves, and an exhausted adult is easy pickins. Nature has had a lot of time to develop strategies for lots of small creatures to take down bigger ones. Kids could learn a lot. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Negotiations - posted by gary @ 1:43 PM   We got a call from the first couple who came to look at the house yesterday. They want to come by Friday and discuss buying the house. We're both pretty excited, because that means we can probably have the house conditionally sold after only having the house listed for one week. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Monday, March 21, 2005 You Must See This - posted by gary @ 11:53 PM   This is the coolest thing I have seen all week. It is the Dragon Optical Illusion. This little dragon appears to be looking at you. But if you rotate the base this way or that the dragon's head appears to turn the other way... There is a video you can watch and a file you can download to make your own! I'm making mine right now. It's too bad for me that I don't have any colour ink for my printer. I'm sure it will work with grey paper too. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Best Buy Really Was Today - posted by gary @ 7:17 PM   The other day I went to the grand opening of the new Best Buy store here in Calgary. Really, I don't know what possessed me other than the fact that they were having a draw for $500. While we were standing there, the Best Buy guys were holding little contests and giving away prizes such as gift cards or in one case concert tickets to some mediocre band I had never heard of. I went in a contest that consisted of doing your impression of something. The only thing I could think of was to do an impression of Tom Cruise shouting, "Show me the money!". It was by far and away better than the first two contestants but only somewhat better than the last contestant. Unfortunately for me the last contestant was there with his university freshmen buddies (who acted more like high school freshmen, by the way) and so they cheered the loudest and I ended up not getting the $25 gift card. A little while later, the lady supervising the ordeal gave me a coupon for $5 off a $10 purchase for participating. Then after standing there, in the freezing cold for 45 minutes, they held the draw and I didn't win. You could probably tell, because I would have posted about it three days ago if I had. 15 more minutes passed and they let us into the store. I wandered around for a little while and the lady came up to me and gave me a $10 gift card. It really made my day because I probably wouldn't have used the $5 off a $10 purchase with out it. I decided to buy a copy of "The Three Amigos" with my free $15. We haven't watched it yet, but I'm getting excited just thinking about it. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post PUBLIC TRUST - posted by Bob Milner @ 8:52 AM   According to a newspaper article in this mornings paper politicians and automobile venders continue to be the most distrusted people we know, while firefighters, nurses, and farmers are the most trusted. A marketing poll said that 16% of people trust politicians. Car salesmen are trusted by 18%. Firefighters are trusted by 97 %. Nurses are trusted by 94% followed by farmers at 91%. Doctors scored 89% and teachers scored 88%. I guess there were others included in the study but they weren't included in the article. Most conspicuously absent were the figures for lawyers. I think they should have been mentioned and I think they should rank about the same as docters who should be ranked pretty much equal to gaming house operators. Why anyone would rank them above a car salesman is a mistery to me. click to comment 0 comments links to this post Sunday, March 20, 2005 Potential Buyers - posted by gary @ 3:40 PM   We had our second group of potential home buyers come by today. It's exciting to know that so many people that see our ad are actually coming by to see the house. I think having the photos along with the ad goes a long way in trying to get people to come in and see the house. Update: Another couple came to look at the house just now. That makes three groups to go through in two days. Update #2: a third couple came to look at the house today. They seemed pretty interested but want to come back for a second viewing with one of their parents. I suppose that if they do, they want to get the house. About the Shriners, Dad is correct. You must be a mason to become a shriner. When you wash their faces in the snow, make sure that Mom takes lots of photos for Flickr. I would like to see it happen. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post HERE'S WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE SHRINERS - posted by Bob Milner @ 3:25 PM   A few days ago my daughter asked me what I knew about the shriners. I said that all I knew was that they are masons. Well, you should have heard the scoffing and guffawing coming from both Jackie and Glen. I wish now that I would have bet, and the bet would have been that both guys who lost the bet would have to have their faces washed in the snow. The fact is that applicants to the shriners have to be third degree masons just to be able to apply for membership to the shriners. Anyone else doubting this is welcome to bet me and then get their faces washed in the snow. click to comment 0 comments links to this post Saturday, March 19, 2005 Why I Haven't Purchase the Camera - posted by gary @ 11:29 AM   A few posts down, I mentioned that I haven't purchased a new camera yet, and Adam commented that he thought I was buying one when I lost all the weight. Well I haven't lost all the weight yet. My goal was to go from 245 to 205. I weight myself today (no like yesterday, I'm cool I'm calm I'm gonna be ok so take a look at me now, cause it's your last look, your last look forever) and I weigh 212 or so. I still have about seven lbs left to lose. Unfortunately for me, the last seven pounds are the hardest to lose. As for Robert Blake, I heard that in celebration of the NCAA basketball tourneyment, he will be taking on the winner of the Michael Jackson trial with the winner of that advancing to take on O.J. Simpson. But the most interesting thing about the Robert Blake was the gunman outside caught on video shooting a lawyer. Police said William Strier, who apparently was angry that Gerry Curry was being paid from his trust fund, fired a revolver from close range at the lawyer just outside the Van Nuys courthouse on Friday. Curry was hit several times in the upper body. Gerry Curry was the divorce lawyer for Stirer's wife. click to comment 0 comments links to this post Barretta found Innocent - posted by Bob Milner @ 9:46 AM   I just have to comment on the Barretta case. Here's the deal. He wasn't found innocent, it just wasn't proven that he was guilty. I'll buy that because noone saw him do the murder. But isn't it ironic that he got away with the murder after the stupid story about leaving his gun in the restaurant? That story was like wearing a neon sign saying I'm guilty. Isn't it funny that he thought that nobody would be able to figure out that he could have had two guns instead of just the one he left in the restaurant. It was a well known fact that his wife was a rotter and he hated her. He should have bought her off instead of killing her because he claims the court case cost 10 million dollars and five years of his life. He better hope that the lawyers desearve the money more than his wife. Personally I don't think they do but that's a whole other topic. I'd be more than happy to elaborate though , if anybody asks. click to comment 0 comments links to this post Friday, March 18, 2005 Pictures of the House - posted by gary @ 9:16 PM   Here are some of the photos of the living room. I stitched them together in photoshop. The top two, of the living room are the first two that I did, and are my favorites. I got quicker with practice and by the end, I could make one in about half an hour depending on the complexity/clutteredness of the rooms. I like the photo of the basement as well. We got a phone call about two hours after the house was put onto Welist.com. Tracie talked to the man and answered all of his questions. It has given her a lot of faith in the system. So if you are looking for a house for sale in Calgary go ahead and click the link. click to comment 0 comments links to this post House for Sale - posted by Tracie @ 5:23 PM   Want to buy a house in Calgary? In Country Hills? Buy ours....it's for sale. Take a look at www.welist.com/calgary.html. Look in the drop-down "by community" section on the left hand side for Country Hills and we're the blue house at the top. -Tracie, Soon to be homeless and happy about it! click to comment 0 comments links to this post Monday, March 14, 2005 Washer Fixed - posted by gary @ 11:03 AM   We had our washing machine fixed today. The timer was shot, and it wouldn't go into the spin cycle. It works now, probably better than when we got it. In other news, the price of digital slr cameras has come way down from when we bought that first one at the Gauntlet. The one I'm thinking of getting is down to S1050.00 + memory card and extra battery. I get the feeling that the whole thing would come in at less than $1500. Which is a lot more realistic than the $4000 the gauntlet spent two years ago. I guess that I just have to save up my pennies, or put it on the credit card while Tracie isn't home. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Saturday, March 12, 2005 Happy Birthday Jeff - posted by gary @ 12:55 PM   It is my brother Jeff's birthday today. I hope he gets to have a pirate party. Happy birthday Jeff. -Gary Milner Labels: birthday click to comment 0 comments links to this post Tuesday, March 08, 2005 Painting the House - posted by gary @ 1:20 PM   We finished painting the trim on the front side of the house. Let me tell you, it looks a lot better. I guess that just leaves the deck of the deck and one or two bedrooms on the inside. I wish we were designers, but we will probably just paint them the same poopy beige that they already are. Last night I had a really good conversation with my brother Jeff using a program called Skype. It lets you do voice communication over the internet for free. If you want to talk to someone who doesn't have a computer, you can use it to call their telephone for 0.02 per minute. Jeff has already purchased 10euros worth of time and used some of it to call Anna in Edmonton. I guess I'll have to pay into it when I move to Australia. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Sunday, March 06, 2005 Painting the Deck - posted by gary @ 9:53 AM   Tracie and I finished painting the railing on our deck yesterday. It looks a lot better now. We decided to paint it white, and it was a good choice. We're going to paint the deck of the deck grey. Tracie is getting really excited about going to Australia. We are almost done painting the exterior of the house. When that is done we will do an extreme cleaning and then put our house up for sale. I also got a flickr account. Right now there are a few pictures of some of my Brother-in-law Dann's reptiles. I will be adding more soon. Gary Milner's Flickr Account -Gary Milner Labels: australia click to comment 0 comments links to this post Friday, March 04, 2005 Visa Application - posted by gary @ 10:55 AM   I got a response to my visa application. Dear GARY MICHAEL MILNER, This is to advise that you have been granted an Electronic Working Holiday Visa, Subclass 417. This visa allows you to make your initial entry into Australia no later than 12 months from the date that this visa was granted. Your initial entry to Australia must not be after 04 March 2006. This visa permits you to stay in Australia 12 months from the date that you first enter Australia. It provides you with multiple travel to Australia, which means that you can leave Australia and re-enter Australia as many times as you wish during your 12 month stay. It looks like we'll be leaving in a little over four months. We're in the process of painting the deck. Tracie did a lot of it yesterday. It's really surprising how long it takes to paint the railing on the deck. We're also going to paint the deck of the deck with a second coat of paint as the first coat is wearing off a little. When the painting is done, we'll start super cleaning the house. -Gary Milner Labels: australia click to comment 0 comments links to this post Wednesday, March 02, 2005 More Work - posted by gary @ 7:18 PM   We had a stat holiday a little over a week ago and instead of giving guys overtime, they gave some of them Saturday off. That Saturday we had a crew of 7 guys instead of 13. Luckily the stars had aligned and the guys scheduled to work were the ones who actually work and the ones not scheduled were the lazy ones. It was a pretty heavy night with 1100 pieces needing to be shipped and not the normal 800-900. The funny thing is that, we got done at the same time we usually get done with the extra people. It's funny how you can get rid of six people, add work and still come out on time when none of the lazy people are there to get in the way. -Gary Milner click to comment 0 comments links to this post Web milner.blogspot.com Only an undetermined number of posts will be shown, the others will be moved to the appropriate archive. If the comment you want is gone, look in the archive. Top mainpage atom