Late last year, I had made a decision to leave Tech Solutions Canada Ltd., the company I helped start, owned shares in, etc.  I will not go into details on that.  I dont want to be ‘that’ guy.  Long and short of it, it was time to move on.  As of beginning of February, all my shares were successfully sold, and have no ties to the company at all.

I accepted a position with Glacier Media Group based out of Vancouver.  More specifically, the Prairie Newspaper Group (PNG), the group that looks after the Saskatchewan/Manitoba region.  Even more specifically, Estevan Web Printing. I have taken up the position of IT manager for the PNG, where I am dealing with all the locations’ computers/networking/software/servers, etc..  Estevan Web Printing is the local company that runs the printing press that prints all the newspapers in Estevan, Weyburn, and about 30+ more per week.  This is a very large, busy, yet very organized operation.

On top of that, there has been some recent news in regards to Estevan Web Printing that I have known about, but is finally public.  This is from this article.

The Globe and Mail newspaper has hired a new company to print its Manitoba and Saskatchewan edition.

Glacier Media Inc. will begin printing the Globe starting this fall out of its printing plant in Estevan, Sask., the Globe said Wednesday in a news release.

For decades, the Manitoba and Saskatchewan edition has been printed in Brandon, Man. by the Brandon Sun, then trucked to various points in the two provinces.

The Sun is owned by FP Canadian Newspapers which also owns the Winnipeg Free Press and other publications.

According to the Sun, its contract to print the Globe expires at the end of September.

The Globe said the move to Estevan — 311 kilometres southwest of Brandon — takes place as the paper prepares for a “significant redesign” to take advantage of advanced printing technology.

It’s a multi-year agreement, the company said.

Yes, that right, Estevan Web Printing will be the location where the Globe and Mail for Sask/Man region’s paper will be printed, 6 days a week.  In order to accommodate this, Estevan Web Printing is going through a 10.2 million dollar expansion of its current facility.  My job is also to take care of the press’s electronics side.  With new press technology, the press is very automated, and where there is automation, there is a computer part of some kind.  From the servers, to the cabling, to the plate machines, right to the press, there is a lot of electronics that I will deal with on a day to day basis.

I am currently sitting in a hotel in Toronto, where we are for meetings with the Globe and Mail in regards to quality control and implementation details for the new equipment (and the ‘significant redesign’ details).  This is the second trip I have been on, with my new position.  I was sent to Vancouver the week after I started to meet with head office, and get to know some of the people and procedures.

Let me just say…its a whole new world.  So far, I have enjoyed EVERY waking minute of it.  I love to be in a position where I am learning something new 5 to 10 times a day – at least.    I am honoured to be put in this position, and to be part of such a large, yet local, operation.  The company that I am now with, has been GREAT to me, and I have no doubt that this will continue for a very long time.

Anyhow..thats the update.  People keep asking me what I am doing, what happened at the last place, etc.  So now that the Globe and Mail stuff is public, I figure now is as good time as any to let people know what I’m up to, other than taking pictures of my daughter.

Taking care of myself.  When I met Jamie, I was working from 8:30AM till 6 or 7pm every night, sometimes without dinner, coming home, eating crap, and drinking coke until 1 or 2 in the morning.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.  I felt like crap.  I was sick, unhappy, moody, just miserable.  When Jamie and I met, and moved in, we started making meals together, going to bed at a decent time, and above all, eating right!  My life changed almost entirely overnight (but generally a week).  I had more energy, mornings where the worst thing in the world to deal with, and there was structure.  It was great.

Clothes,  Funny.  Last night it was made mention that Jamie was a result of about 50% of what clothes I wear.  She corrected my sibling to say it was probably closer to 75%.  I have to agree, and I am happy about that.  Jamie makes me want to look good, and feel good wearing better clothing.  I have a ways to go, but she is supportive about the whole situation, and for that I say thanks.

Sydney.  If you don’t know who Sydney is, your seriously coming to this blog for the first time (hint:scroll down).  Jamie gave me the second best thing (in order of them happening, not importance) since we got married (the first being Jamie herself).  A Baby.  Sydney has changed our lives in so many ways (ALL of them good).  We really don’t know where we would be without her.  Why am I thanking Jamie?  I am generally a selfish person (really, most people are), and the thought of kids scared the hell outta me.  Having Jamie as a partner made me WANT kids with her.  And when it happened, and you hold that girl in your hands, lay her down to sleep, or see her smile when you come home, makes it all worth it.  Jamie did the hard part of whole situation, really, what do men do, rub their back, and then generally complain about it when they do it anyhow.  The birth was quick, and the side effects don’t go away in a day, and for the entire process, I thank her.

I cant get Jamie anything to repay her for what she has given me, there is no sum of money, or object that I can give to repay the debt.  This morning Jamie and I woke up to the day of our 2nd year anniversary.  Some may laugh and  say ‘big deal, its only 2 years’, but to me its the best two years that I have had in my life, and I look forward to the rest of my life with her.

Telemiracle 34-22.jpg, originally uploaded by HackerJL.

Another sucessful year for the Saskatchewan Kinsmen and Kinettes, as we broke the 4 Million dollars mark just minutes before the show ended on Sunday. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

This year 2 of my sisters, Kendra and Monica came up (Monica was there last year) and worked phone shifts. A great time was had by all.

All pictures can be seen here.

As you can see, she is getting to be a little order these days. As of a few days ago, she is now 8 months old. She is getting to the point that she is noticing things, interacting more, and finding a lot of things quite funny. Between laughing and copying you on whatever she can, she has become quite the little entertainer. Fine by me, when they come this cute, who’s going to stop them?

As I got caught up on some picture editing that I have been putting off, I recently found myself seeing a common trend on all pictures related to Sydney. She always is sleeping. Thats not the case in real life, she does wake up, but something serene about her when she is sleeping. In this picture, she latched on to the sock (which she pulled off moments before she fell asleep of course) and was out cold. I figure socks are cheap in comparison to dolls and teddy bears other kids need to fall asleep!

Yup, at just 7 months (8 months now) she already has furniture. Thanks to Michelle and Dallas, she has her own pink chair. Although she just really started to sit by herself, its now part of the living room setup, and I don’t think she will put up with the dog trying to lay down for the afternoon on it.

Sydney Xmas 09-4, originally uploaded by HackerJL.

Sorry for the delay, but things have been busy in the personal life…more on that in the future. None the less, I have finally finished the picture editing off of her first xmas. You can find the entire set here. Some of them look familiar, just hang tight, the new ones are at the end – in the order they were taken.

Yup..thanks. Dough-head.

Just after Sydney was born, my brother Stephen thought this was the perfect gift for a new one. Dont get me wrong…its funnier than hell, but still, I feel as though letting her use it is just wrong.

For those who dont know, this was our first christmas for both us, and our daughter Sydney.  I really didnt know what to expect, at 7 months old, I knew she wasnt going to tear open the gifts, know what they are and be able to thank the person for them.  We do Christmas at Jamie’s mom on the 24th, which involves going over in the afternoon, having a few drinks, eat snacks and try to help with supper (I am not really good in that situation – Kathy is REALLLY organized).  After supper, we retire downstairs where we have more drinks, and open presents.  Sydney did well with the presents, she was very happy, and for the most part, just wanted to bang on the boxes, or eat the wrapping paper.  Thats expected.  Between Jamie and her mom, I got some really great things.  On the christmas list, I asked for a Wacom Bamboo tablet (for picture editting) and a spyder3express (for color calibration – pictures again).  Kathy got me both of those!  Jamie got me a gaming chair.  It has a subwoofer and speakers built into the chair – its amazing.  We got it home a few days ago, and tried it out.  Wow!  Now I need to get the basement finished for permanent placement of the chair.  All in all, the night went great, ate too much, drank too much, got too much.  Good problem to have right?

On the 25th, we headed out to my family farm.  We had made plans to be there around 8AM, but didnt make it out there till about 8:30 after bathing and feeding Sydney (which we were planning on doing out there).  Once we arrived, we found pretty much everyone still sleeping.  Once we got them up, had a cup of coffee and ready to go, we all openned presents.  After that, we had dinner, relaxed all afternoon, played a few games, and then had supper.  At the end of the day, I once again drank too much, ate too much…but had a great time.  Jamie and I headed her home early to get Sydney to bed, and we went shortly after.

I think at christmas, we realize that its rush rush rush to the big day, and its great and all, but just sitting around eating, knowing that we are all in good health, good company and love one another is the best thing that I can ask for.  The presents are nice, giving and receiving, but the company beats it all.  I am kind of happy its all over, just for the stress being gone, and knowing that its a while before the next go round.

I have this weekend off, due to Jamie and her mom going to Las Vegas to go see Garth Brooks concert (our gift to Kathy) so I am home with Sydney Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Its going to be great being home with Sydney for a while.  Its rare that I get a chance to spend that much time with her without work or something coming up in between.  Hoping all goes well.

I will have some picture of Sydney up here shortly!

DSC_0812-Edit.jpg, originally uploaded by HackerJL.

As you noticed, Jamie and I had carved a pumpkin or two, and we also got a chance to get a few pictures with her and the pumpkins before we took a knife to them. There are a few available. The entire set is available here.