Dinner

This year's Christmas dinner. Turned out all right in the end, after a brief moment when the turkey instructions yielded a piece of meat that was very pink in the middle; rather than play Christmas food poisoning russian roulette, it went back under the grill to be nuked for an extra ten minutes, but it all turned out fine in the end.

The garlic and herb roast potatoes are a killer addition to any meal, and I'm now working out what to have with the other half of them. No tea was necessary, just a top up with the large pile of chocolate I received. Nomnomnom.

Preparations

I went shopping for Christmas dinner items this morning; you won't be surprised to hear I've left it till the last minute, given a Christmas tree didn't appear till yesterday.

 Well, I  say I went for Christmas dinner ingredients, but have ended up with lots of other stuff that's nice but not good for me. It wasn't nearly as busy as it was on Friday afternoon, which is just as well, since it took me over an hour to decide what to have, and then find it in the shop. And to have to reject ideas on the basis of "you'd be eating that for weeks". Everything is now sorted though, so I can spent Wednesday lunchtime messing about in the kitchen.  My fridge now looks possibly the fullest it ever has done since I moved in here.

The good thing is my parcel of presents from home has appeared after 18 days, on a Sunday which is ultra strange; it means I don't have to wrap up my new winter coat (which is my actual present) to put under the tree.

Baubles

One victim of the spring clean this year was my red tinsel Christmas tree. It was bought four years ago tomorrow, when Mum and Dad came for the Beige Towers Christmas Experience. For an outlay of perhaps $20, it had served its time well, if not more than a little garishly. 

Reflecting last Saturday in the pub that I'd thrown out the red tinsel tree (also known as the "BCFC Christmas Tree" when you added yellow tinsel to it) and had done nothing about a new one, my friends said "oh, you can borrow our old one if you". So they dropped it off this afternoon on their way back from the dog park (dogs still need walking when it's -15 degrees). On the way home from the pub this morning I went in search of baubles, and in the process scored maximum Yorkshire points for getting them in a 70% off-all-Christmas-decorations sale in the Bay; who needs to buy baubles next week, after all? I'd been having a conversation during the week with L. about baubles; she didn't believe me that such a word existed, but then again, she's never heard the phrase "a spanner in the works" either. Apparently one alternative Canadian phrase is "balls". "Christmas balls"? "Tree balls"? About five orders of magnitude less nice. Much Canadian-English language hilarity is going to ensue, I think.

Still, at least I've now somewhere to put my presents. If Canada Post could actually get them to Beige Towers.....

He's Magic You Know...

...or so goes the terrace song in BD8 in the last year. However, I'm also magic. With the team 1-0 down going into the final 5 minutes of the game with league leaders Leyton Orient, the team was struggling a bit. Desperate times call for desperate measures:

Time to try the leave-early-for-the-pub-and-miss-an-equaliser gambit.

— Andrew G. (@twobeersoneleg) December 14, 2013

et voila:

#bcafc GOAL!!!! CITY 1-1 Leyton Orient (Wells 90+2)

— Bradford City AFC (@officialbantams) December 14, 2013

History

Just when I was beginning to think Canada Post had lost it, or that there'd been some cockup at the club shop (who still haven't replied an email I sent a week ago) look what arrived today.

That's my evening sorted.

Beginnings

Here it is then. Winter! Good job I bought that big winter jacket, isn't it?

Shirts

One perk of upgrading all my bank accounts in June was that on my credit card, I got the choice of either gift points or a 1% cashback on purchases. 

Given that the payment is about to land in the new year, and a Yorkshireman never needs an opportunity to spend free money, I used that last week on an internet shopping purchase. Wednesday night football has seen me have to change out of my green shirt more than once this season; for some odd reason we have more than one team that play in green in our league. My blue change shirt is far too tight when wearing elbow/arm pads, so I went online and ordered some more change shirts from the same place we got our muppet-personalised kit from, and also in the same style. They're short sleeved, so I can wear the pads without having to worry about restricted arm movement. After all, my legs are the real problem these days.

I hope they bring me better luck next week. The team we played last night had a record of P6, W1 D1 L4, F32 A54. Yes, you read that right. They concede 9 goals a game on average. They conceded (in the BBC vidiprinter style) FIFTEEN goals last week. Last night? We lost 5-4.

Busy

So where were we?

New posts on here have been a bit thin of late, but since I actually have something to do during the day now, I can't spend all my day wittering away on here. I'm now two weeks into being a freelance editor. While it isn't paying riches yet (nor is it likely to), I'm beginning to get an idea of how much I can do in a day. The first couple of weeks have been getting used to the process, seeing what my managers in Mumbai want in terms of style, level, detail and so on. I've now sent 14 jobs back, my average feedback rating is now climbing, and they're starting to send me longer jobs at the Premium edit level (as opposed to Standard Edit). Because they're now sending me Premium jobs my average rate has now climbed to the giddy heights of $17.79 USD per 1000 words.

Due to the 12.5 hour time difference, it's a bit frustrating to apparently miss out on jobs (due to emails saying that they've been withdrawn) more than once because I've been in bed sound asleep and can't accept them. I've sent them an email today saying "please can you send me emails between 10pm and midnight"

I did my first thing today for an apparently difficult client, a ten page (!!) response to reviewers. We shall see whether he says of me, like he does of many others on his feedback page "do not let this person edit my work ever again"

Home Office

So there is finally some good news on the work front. After finding out about that job I posted about a few posts down, the company concerned gave me some official feedback that they'd like to keep me on the radar for the near future. The phrase "the new year" was mentioned on the phone by the HR lady present in the interview. It would be unprofessional to go into details, but let's just say I hope they can sort their budgetary issues out and get back to me. 

In the meantime, my EI payments finished last week, and so the thought of having to trash my house fund yet further wasn't appealing. However, a couple of months ago I applied for a position as a freelance scientific editor for a company based in India (with offices in the US and Singapore amongst other places). On Monday, having finally sent my editing test a couple of weeks ago, I found out that they were happy with my submission (which took 2 hours to untangle an 800 word article on perfluorinated cyclopentadienyls, for the chemists out there). They confirmed my daily availability, and so today I received a contract offer, a non-disclosure agreement and a form to stop the tax authorities in the US deducting tax (since the US has a tax treaty with Canada, it will be deducted here). It has prompted an afternoon of much scanner rage (needing to sign the documents, scan them and send them back), since my printer/scanner is seemingly incapable of scanning the third page of a document.

The rates aren't great by editing standards, but they should serve to continue to keep my head above water until such time as the company who really liked my interview can perhaps get back to me. So finally, after more than five years, the Beige Towers desk will now get some proper use, and not just be a dumping ground for bills and bank statements. Still at home all day, but at least now not going mad with boredom, and earning money under my own steam again.

Where's The Midfield? (Not Quite) Live Edition 26/10/13

It's not really live given it's two days later that I'm writing this post, but in all likelihood my trip to BD8 on Saturday afternoon will be my only live football of the season. Short of them making another Wembley appearance, I suppose. After Tuesday's creditable performance at Preston in drawing 2-2 after two 1-0 defeats, pre-season favourites Wolverhampton rolled into town. The visit of Wolves conjures memories of Edinho punching Keith Curle in the kop end penalty area, a thunderous near post free kick from Nigel Pepper, Robbie Blake completely stealing Robbie Keane's thunder, and of course, the 9th of May, 1999. Well, technically that was in Wolverhampton, but you get the idea. Wolves have fallen on hard times of late, with two successive relegations from the Premier League to the old Third Division.

Football is a funny mistress though, and we are continually reminded that the biggest wage bills and largest supports are no guarantee of success. Though Wolves were making a nonsense of that cynicism with 10 league wins from 13 games before Saturday. Over 18,000 packed into Valley Parade for the game, and it was somewhat strange to see a side with one defeat all season being, to be blunt, bloody awful for the first 25 minutes. Sat in a 4-5-1 formation, they seemed content to sit behind the ball, hoof it down the inside left channel and let their prematurely balding striker Griffiths take terrible shots at goal from the corner of the area. I kept asking myself "how on earth have they won 10 games. They're rubbish". City took the lead 15 minutes in when Kyel Reid's cross to the far post dropped to Rafa De Vita on his home debut, and after his first shot was kicked off the line, he scored with the rebound. It was no more than the home side deserved.

Wolves manager Kenny Jackett ditched his formation and gameplan after 25 minutes, bringing on six-and-a-half million quid's worth of striker in Irish international Kevin Doyle. And within a couple of minutes, Wolves led 2-1. First, for about the third time in the afternoon two City players ran into one another, the ball ran loose and a Wolves player shot from distance, only for Jon McLaughlin to dive over the ball. If you've seen that before, you were probably watching me play football on a Wednesday night. And then not a minute later Richard Stearman had the freedom of the six yard box to head in a left wing cross after a corner had been blocked. Up to half time, Wolves marginally held the edge, but they were OK, nothing special. They'd been gifted the lead. It's slightly worrisome the number of bad goals we're conceding from set pieces at the moment. It's a far cry from last year. 

So at half time, the emergency signal was sent up from the Valley Parade floodlights. Enter, stage left, Nahki Wells, out for four weeks with an ankle injury. And for much of the second half, we penned Wolves in without creating many clear scoring opportunities. The positive: Wells is back, looked sharp and gave the side the pace up front it was sorely missing, Hanson was a monster in the first 25 minutes, the crowd were patient and supportive. The negative: Kyel Reid had one of those days when he wanted to beat his man a second or third time instead of putting the ball on Hanson's head. His dive in the penalty area when he could probably have rounded the Wolves keeper and crossed instead of falling into him showed poor decision making. And how many times can two professional players run into one another during a game?

Three defeats in four, after one in the first 10. The games are harder at present, for certain, but there's a little bit of luck not going in their favour at present. Maybe it's just evening itself out after two or three sides pressed the self destruct button against them earlier in the season. Hopefully they can get back to winning ways in the upcoming weeks.

Oh and we've apparently drawn the fat crooked alleged-flasher man in the FA Cup in two weeks. That'll be nice.

Elsewhere: Man Utd won but weren't very good again. Liverpool appear to be 'for real' as pundits over here like to say, and Joe Hart dropped the latest in a series of high profile clangers in a last minute defeat at Chelsea. Not that I saw it, being sat over Greenland on a plane at the time (Greenland is very pretty from 40,000 feet). England have something of a problem in goal ahead of the World Cup. They have a lot of problems, so the more the merrier, I suppose.

Interaction

Twitter, for all its faults (heinous crimes against grammar and spelling, mobile pitchfork-and-torch wielding mobs, people being OUTRAGED, spammers, porn bots and the rest) does sometimes make me laugh. In the middle of a back and forth organising a date with someone on the internet dating, she had heard of Landlord, the real ale brewed by Timothy Taylor Brewery in West Yorkshire. I opined:

The latest interweb dating contact has heard of Timothy Taylor's Landlord. This is highly promising
— Andrew G. (@twobeersoneleg) October 17, 2013

Thought nothing about it until I was waiting for the CTrain home from Kensington this evening, saw that I had new interactions. From the Timothy Taylor brewery themselves:

@twobeersoneleg She's the one! Good luck with it ;)
— Timothy Taylor's (@TimothyTaylors) October 17, 2013

 

Where's The Midfield? 5/10/13

Proving that I'm at least keen to do this for at least another week, more rambling nonsense about the beautiful game.

That team in BD8: This week they were actually in WS1. As someone who went to Walsall to watch them play there in the Spring of 2006 when it was pretty much my local game, it's not a trip you make more than once. Being over here also makes it hard to repeat. Back then, seeing David Wetherall score an overhead kick remains one of the more bizarre things I've seen at a game. Today, I had to make do with the radio. Well, 80 minutes of the radio. For whatever reason, when I logged into Bantams Player this morning, having been up, as usual, at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, there were no virtually no games accessible. I'm puzzled why, at virtually the only time in the week that the Progress Group (also responsible for the appalling individual Football League club website redesign two summers ago) has any sort of product to maintain basically had nobody at work to realise the whole thing had come crashing down. I'm no fan of the Pulse's commentary, but after about ten minutes, it was sweet music indeed to hear them via their online channel (usually blacked out because of "Progress" Group's commercial rights). 

Fortunately, I didn't miss much. The team continues on its merry way, and to bag a 2-0 win away at a team that had lost 3 of its last 24 games is another impressive feat. I keep thinking the bubble is about to burst, but maybe it isn't going to quite yet. In any other year, 21 points from 10 games would probably see them top, except that thanks to Leyton Orient's freakish 8-wins-from-8 start and the moneyed Wolverhampton and Peterborough, this time they sit in a relatively anonymous 4th place. They have now lost just 3 of the last 25 league games. Kyel Reid scored a wonder goal by all accounts, to add to his divisional player of the month nomination. All those people on the interweb that pull him to bits are very quiet at present. His crossing is a bit erratic, yes, but you don't get complete players at this level, there is usually a flaw somewhere. I'd also like to point out that the first two goals at the playoff final at Wembley came because his crosses were overhit. It pays off sometimes! And you can relive them in one week. Dead excited to get my hands on one.

Elsewhere: Another round of European games this week. Being the gentleman of leisure means that my lunchtimes are spent on the sofa watching games, and not keeping abreast of things on the internet or sitting at my laptop with one earphone craftily out of view. Two things: Firstly, the complete spanking that Manchester City received at the hands of Bayern Munich this week was glorious. They seem to have taken up the mantle that the first-Mourinho-era Chelsea had that no matter how much money you spend, you can't spend your way into the storied company of the continent's best clubs. That you can spend a gazillion pounds on a team and still be made to look like a fourth division side gladdens the heart. I hope the Sheikh was there to see the hilarious spectacle in person. Now I know that Bayern are not for nothing known as FC Hollywood in Germany, but they do possess several German internationals that were developed through their own youth system. They at least realise that as one of the duties of clubs in the Bundesliga is to develop players capable of representing the national side. I think the most humiliating part was that Bayern essentially said at 3-0 "OK, we're done now" and started showboating instead.

Also, Swansea continue to look at home in Europe after their League Cup final win. And though I've seen games of theirs on the TV since that hiding at Wembley, the game the other night brought back the bewildering off-the-ball movement they displayed that miserably cold February afternoon. I couldn't tell you what formation they were playing with the ball, the strikers ended up in midfield, the wingers were the furthest players forward. It must be like chasing shadows for the opponent.

Ship O'Clock: This week's action in the Ship was the Sunderland-Manchester United game. The prospect of a shock result with the amusing consequences of unhappy armchair fans was too enticing. And in the fifth minute, some Keystone Cops defending left bottom side Sunderland (1 point thus far) with a shock lead. And but for ablinding save from De Gea, they might have been too far into the hole before they eventually responded with two strikes from young prospect Adnan Januzaj. The thing that struck me most was the lack of tempo in their attacks. There isn't the cavalier attitude to getting players into the penalty area which ultimately is how they were successful late on in games, in so-called "Fergie time"; opponents were just too punch drunk to hang on for the full 90+ minutes. Moyes seems to be slightly recasting them into a more upscale version of his Everton side of the last 10 years. That might work against the lesser lights, but it's already not worked against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. It'll be interesting (read: very amusing if they can't) to see how they address this in the coming weeks.

Being Impressive

I found out within the last hour that I didn't get the job I interviewed for last Monday. Someone I know at the company said to me at the end of last week they liked me very much, in addition to other stuff that'll stay off the record. I sent a follow-up email last evening. But when the HR person calls and the first words out of her mouth after the pleasantries end aren't "I have some good news", you know the gig is up. There isn't a mood swing faster than the excitement at recognising the number on your phone as the company concerned, to the crushing feeling when the realisation sets in you haven't got it. "We feel terrible", she said. I'm sure you genuinely do, but that's scant consolation right now. I'm pretty much sick of being told "your credentials are very impressive", or "your interview was impressive"; two of the three worst interviews I ever gave I got job offers afterwards (London and Warwick), and now, having scrutinised every last aspect of my performance and practised and refined it till I'm blue in the face, I'm within a month or two of having to consider the nuclear option of moving back to the UK. I'm not willing to throw much more of my savings onto the bonfire given the nine months worth of savings I lost in immigration limbo.

There was a time when I thought the year in London was rock bottom, from both a personal and work point of view. But the last 18 months of job applications (now approaching 150, I'm going to post an updated version of The List As Long As Your Arm soon) has been an extremely.....wounding experience. I kept myself going through immigration limbo and anklegeddon by telling myself "you are a hard-working, well-educated, intelligent, creative, thorough, productive worker who is good at what he does. Who wouldn't want to hire you?". Just about everyone in the Calgary oil and gas, chemical, and lab analysis industries, that's who.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", people like to say. No it doesn't; it makes you a withdrawn, bitter, resentful, individual with a dark outlook on life, which is sad when I think about what an optimistic sort I was once upon a time.

Moving

After about seven years of trying, Mum and Dad have moved today. I am informed via twitter by one of my many spies that everything has proceeded according to plan.There'll be little communication for a while due to having no telephone or internet. It's strange to think that the next time I'll be home (probably next summer for two friends' wedding in Cambridge), that I'll be visiting a different house, and that there will be no more having to negotiate getting in and out of the driveway that you see on the left. The new venue is also a sandstone house, which is nice; the houses here are almost entirely made out of wood and covered in beige vinyl siding which I just can't get used to, even after five plus years.

On the plus side, the new address (in Drighlington) still has a BD postcode, though it will now have a Leeds (boooo!) telephone number.

Hockey!

Hockey is back this week. You know the season is close when you're having to dash home from the pub watching the football to participate in an online hockey draft. For this year, however, there'll be no taking my colleagues' money. Hopefully that returns next year.

The Calgary Flames finally accepted in the Spring that they were not going to have a bright and successful future by continuing to attempt scrambling into the last playoff spot. All the big-ticket players have now been shipped out. No more Kiprusoff (retired), Iginla (traded to Pittsburgh in March), Bouwmeester (traded to St. Louis). The loss of all three causes the Flames trouble in various different forms for the current season; respectively keeping the puck out of the net, scoring goals and eating large minutes defensively. They are going to lose more games than they win (I know technically they've done this the last couple of years, but bear with me), and it could be a very long winter and spring if any more of the remaining veteran players are lost to injury. A losing team is not the right proving ground for young players. Ask Edmonton, who are still rubbish, even after three successive first overall picks in the draft between 2010 and 2012.

So who are the team this year?

Goalies:

#31, Karri Ramo (aged 27)

His rights were acquired in the 2012 trade that brought Mike Cammalleri back to Calgary from Montreal in exchange for Rene Bourque. Drafted by Flames GM Jay Feaster during his time in Tampa, Ramo was not a success in Florida, an inexperienced youngster playing behind a very poor team. He fled to the KHL where he was the starter the last four seasons for Siberian side Avangard Omsk to great success, including taking them to within 1 game of the title in 2012. He will face a heavy barrage of shots most nights; just where the Flames draft next year will depend largely upon his performances. But the last time the Flames landed a largely-unknown 27 year old Finnish goalie, it didn't work out so bad...

#35, Joey MacDonald (aged 33)

Claimed on waivers from the Detroit Red Wings last winter, MacDonald is a journeyman, career backup, who held the fort as well as could be expected in the spring when Kiprusoff was beset by a nagging groin injury. Of all the Flames goalies last year, his 8-9-1 record, .902 save percentage and 2.87 goals-against-average was the best, which tells you how poor they were collectively as a group. Expect him to start 20-30 of the 82 games, with Ramo taking the rest.

Defence:

#4, Kris Russell (age 26)

A puck-moving defenceman, with a prolific point totals at the junior level, Russell was acquired from St. Louis in the offseason. He will contribute to the Flames power-play and take second-pairing minutes. Has been paired with Dennis Wideman in the exhibition games. Not overly big, or physical, a recurring theme with the Flames defence.

#5, Mark Giordano (age 30, captain)

The players and management's unanimous choice for captain to replace the departed Iginla. The classic story of not giving up after not being drafted, he turned up for Calgary for a trial, made the team on a minor league contract, and via a spell in Russia with Dynamo Moscow returned a much more complete player in 2008. Will play on the first defensive pairing, and get power play time

#6, Dennis Wideman (age 30)

Arrived in Calgary last summer as an expensive free-agent signing, before the Flames finally admitted some months later that the playoffs will be out of reach. Will be expected to run the Flames power play, whilst playing on the second defensive pairing.

#7, TJ Brodie (age 23) 

Made the team out of training camp in 2010, though he struggled and was moved back into the AHL for more development, his upward progression in terms of his play was exponential last season. As players fell injured/were traded/were off form, his ice time increased to the point of him playing first pairing minutes once Bouwmeester was shipped out. His continued development will be one of the bright spots this season. 

#44, Chris Butler (age 26)

Acquired from Buffalo in the trade that sent Robyn Regehr to the Sabres, he spent 2011-12 paired with Bouwmeester, looking only OK. Last season, he was eventually demoted to the third pairing through repeated brain-cramps, errors and general poor play. Bouwmeester evidently made him look better than he was. Whipping boy of the online fanbase for not being Regehr, he must improve substantially or face the heave-ho next summer.

#55, Shane O'Brien (age 30)

Arrived in the summer, in the trade that sent Cory Sarich and Alex Tanguay to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for himself and David Jones. Signed primarily for his enthusiasm for physical play in front of his own net, he also has prime whipping boy credentials due to his ability to take stupid penalties and having a past of playing in Vancouver. Will be a third pairing player with Butler

Forwards:

#8, Joe Colborne (age 23)

Acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night through trade, Colborne is a 6'5" centre whose career has somewhat stalled. Centre is a position the team needed to strengthen considerably. He was known to assistant GM Weisbrod who scouted and drafted him in Boston, and new Flames hockey operation President Burke took him to Toronto via trade.

#11, Mikael Backlund (age 24)

One of the few Flames that played through the lockout last autumn/winter in his native Sweden. And it did him good as his productivity in points finally took a leap forward, in addition to his solid play that makes him beloved of the 'advanced stats' crowd. Has a habit of incurring freakish injuries. If he can stay fit, he should develop further into a solid, defensively responsible centre.

#13, Mike Cammalleri (age 31, assistant captain)

A prime candidate to be shipped out at the trade deadline due to his expiring contract. The level of return will be dictated by his point return, which should be healthy due to the Flames owning very few other offensively gifted players. Expect him to log lots of powerplay time.

#15, Tim Jackman (age 33)

Fourth line grinder, never gives less than 100% but might feel his role under threat from numerous younger players given his age.

#16, Brian McGrattan (age 32)

Another fourth liner, McGrattan will act this year as the Flames "enforcer", there to make sure than the opposing team don't take liberties with the Flames talented players or youngsters.

#17, Lance Bouma (age 23)

Missed the whole of last season with a knee injury incurred in his third AHL game. Will be expected to slot in on the fourth line. Is most frequently compared to former Flame Brandon Prust. If he manages to develop into a similar sort of player, the organisation will be delighted.

#18, Matt Stajan (age 29)

The only remaining piece of the trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs that sent Dion Phaneuf to Toronto, he managed to climb out of the "whipping boy" seat last year through actually being used in a role to which his talents were suited. Is now the de-facto first line centre, which tells you what a weak position it is. Also out of contract in the summer, expect him to also be shipped out at the trade deadline.

#20, Curtis Glencross (age 30, assistant captain)

Like Giordano, another undrafted player made good, made even better by the fact that Edmonton let him go and he came here and he scores against them frequently. Fast skater, hard shot, rides in the chuckwagon races at the Stampede. Will spend a lot of this season on the first line (on a good team he'd be a second/third liner) shutting down the opposition top line. Expect him to be one of the veterans kept around through the rebuild.

#21, Roman Horak (age 22)

Arrived from the New York Rangers two summers ago when Tim Erixon refused to sign. Figures to play on the third or fourth line somewhere, but in what role, nobody is quite sure at present. Needs to start scoring points or be overtaken by other prospects

#22, Lee Stempniak (age 30)

More trade deadline trade bait. Stempniak has developed into a consistent, solid performer in his three years in Calgary since being traded from Phoenix. Can be relied upon for 20 goals in a season and will be a very useful depth signing for a playoff contender.

#23, Sean Monahan (age 18)

Drafted sixth overall this past summer, Monahan will at the least get his nine game audition (any further and the first year of his contract is triggered) to sell some hope for the future to the fans. Projected to be the first line centre at some point in the future, his experience of captaining a really terrible junior team will be useful in the years to come.

#24, Jiri Hudler (age 29)

In the same boat as Wideman; signed last summer as the Flames continued to try and make the playoffs, he may not be quite so keen to hang around for a long rebuild. He has great hands but is diminutive in stature. Lots of powerplay time to come. Would also make an interesting trade target for a side looking to bolster their lineup at deadline time

#39, TJ Galiardi (age 25)

Arrived from San Jose in a trade in the summer, Galiardi (like Colborne) is a native Calgarian and long-time Flames fan. He can play in all three forward positions so expect to see him shuffled around the lineup. This is his dream move, and expect him to fit on the third or fourth line somewhere to provide some more size

#47, Sven Baertschi (age 20)

Drafted 13th overall in 2011, he dominated at the junior level, before a three-goals-in-five-games cameo NHL appearance in the spring of 2012 set expectations rocketing. Didn't live up to those expectations at the start of last year, chiefly through being used on the fourth line, before getting injured, but looked much better in a top six role at the end of the season after the team was blown up. 

#54, David Jones (age 29)

Arrived from the Avalanche in the aforementioned trade with O'Brien. Expect him to slot in on the second or third line right wing, a position the Flames are desperately weak at. 

Another Non Running Post

Two non running posts in a row! To save you all from being bored by another post about transatlantic saucepan shipments, there's been almost no discussion about football here at all over the last few weeks. So I'm going to at least make an effort to discuss football once a week. Maybe I'll call it "Where's The Midfield?" for old times' sake, though the joke is largely redundant now since a certain team in BD8 has a midfield again. It only took them ten years to find one.

Firstly, the continuing good start by that side in BD8. If you'd told me at the outset we'd have 18 points from 9 games, having only lost once by (nearly) October, I'd have called for the men in white coats. It's still somewhat misleading in that we have lost to the highest placed side we've played (the grim Port Vale side of Micky Adams, purveyor of route-one hoofball, 10th), and gained points from sides currently 11th (albeit their keeper was sent off after 25 minutes), 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 20th and 24th. But at the same time, it shows that (touch wood) the side is more than capable of holding its own at this level and should be looking to make the top 6. Today's game demonstrated the character in the side. 1-0 down to a goal in the second minute, having lost your top scorer injured after 20, and not playing at all well; to still dig in and play to the 94th minute in search of a winner speaks volumes about the mentality of the players, something Parkinson spoke of at length when he first arrived at the club just over two years ago. The current team are anything but nervous about playing in front of a large crowd. They've scored in nine league games in a row, which I don't remember happening much in the last 15 years.

Elsewhere: Whisper it quietly, but are the first cracks appearing in the walls of the red half of the Manchester empire? Between van Persie's goals and the motivational powers of Ferguson, a title was won last year with a really quite ordinary team, van Persie and Rooney (and, arguably, De Gea) apart. But now? If there's one thing apparent this year, it's that absent the reign of terror in the dressing room and on the training ground (and the threat of being sold to whichever side is currently managed by Steve Bruce or Mark Hughes), the dead wood at Old Trafford that should have been shipped out years ago (Jones, Anderson, Buttner, Cleverley, Welbeck, Young, Ferdinand off the top of my head) are a damned sight less effective now there's not the morbid fear of the famous hairdryering anymore. Fellaini? In the right circumstances, yes. But at 27.5 MILLION POUNDS? The 1994 and 1999 sides would annihilate the current side without breaking sweat. Bleating about the fixture list is fine and dandy when the fixture computer man gives you Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in the first five games, but West Brom? At home? The next few years of Saturday mornings in the Ship as the armchair Manchester United fans plaintively plead "but.......but....." at the TV as they finally realise every sporting dynasty ends sooner or later are going to be glorious.

Also: Chelsea. It annoys me no end that the English football media continues to breathlessly flirt with Mourinho like some infatuated teenage schoolgirl with a crush, instead of querying his bonkers idea that leaving Juan Mata out of the side is a good one. They were unambitious to the point of cowardice at Old Trafford in August given how pedestrian Manchester United are these days. Fortunately, last week on the edge of CRISIS they met a Fulham side even less ambitious than that. His teams play an awful, cynical, not-remotely-entertaining, do-just-enough brand of 'football' that would be pilloried if he were, say, Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis or Neil Warnock, but because he's some tanned, suave fashionably greying continental, the press love him. I didn't read much critique about his team essentially playing without a left hand side for the final 30 minutes at Everton two weeks ago. You're so dreamy, Jose.

If you'd asked me before the start of the season who'd win the league, I'd say Chelsea, with Manchester United second. Because they're both presently as formidable as Sheffield United are in the third division, a side might win by default this year. But who? Manchester City spent another squillion pounds of the Sheikh's money to lose at notoriously tough away venues like Cardiff and Aston Villa (!). Even Fourth Division sides beat Aston Villa. Spurs will always find interesting and creative ways to muck things up. Liverpool, well, they're on the brink of becoming the Toronto Maple Leafs. It might just be Arsenal's turn to win the whole thing by default, if they can keep the ball out of the net enough. Though with Per Mertesacker (turning circle of an oil tanker, terrorised by ex-supermarket shelf stackers), and Laurent Koscielny (generally an accident waiting to happen) in their defence, that's easier said than done. Wenger inherited a defence from George Graham that won him three league titles, bolstered it with Sol Campbell for a bit, but they've been a clown-shoed circus troupe at the back for years and you know they'll revert to type eventually.

Best League in the world? Pffft.

A Non Running Post

I went to the post office today to collect what I thought would be a parcel that contained a bit of Wembley 2013 Cup Final memorabilia, sent by my recent Beige Towers guests. As I collected it, my first reaction was "this is a very heavy t-shirt". When I got it inside, I found some transatlantic kitchen goods, including a pan from Morrisons (and you can't get more Bradfordian than that). As you can see, the pan on the right was part of the set I bought five-and-a-half years ago when I was thinking "buy a cheap set and throw it away when you leave". Plans change, and so do pans; it'll be nice to be able to eat a meal and not wonder if my rice/pasta/whatever isn't contaminated with tiny slivers of teflon.....

The Running Man - Day 60

So I finally ran the full distance. The weather gods decided to smile and deliver a 13C day for my debut race after several weeks of uncomforable suffering in the heat, which was nice, and steady rain, which wasn't quite so much. Particularly when you've been out for a friend's birthday the night before. And when you're wearing your glasses when you should have your contacts in.

Due to the cooler weather I could manage being swept along for the first five minutes at a speed higher than I wanted to set off at, but was paranoid for the next half hour that I'd run out of steam at the end. Fortunately, as you can see from the split times for each mile, that didn't happen. I learnt that drinking from small paper cups is very hard at race speed, and most of it goes in your face or down your front. 

I didn't really pass anyone until about the 4 mile mark, whereupon I steadily began to pass people as I went up a gear or two, and had enough left for a teeth-clenched, grimacing final burst to the finish line. I was going at 5:15/mile pace at the end. I dread to think what my facial expression looks like in any official photos. Split times for the race: the first half was 28:30 and the second half 25:54 which was nice. I haven't found out the full results yet, but I finished 73rd overall in the race. By the time I left, there were 175 finishers. The previous race last year had 300+ entrants in the 10K race, so to potentially finish in the top 25% is quite satisfying.

Edit: wet glasses are hard to read posted notices at a distance through. I've just checked the website of the timing company, and the result is officially 54:25, 77th place out of 227, so inside the top third of entrants.

The Running Man - Day 57

Three weeks out from race day, today was the 50 minute run on my home-made schedule. Given how hot it was this morning as Ship O'Clock made a welcome return, I decided that I'd spend the afternoon inside hiding from the heat and then go out as the sun went down. It felt a lot more pleasant than the 21C it allegedly was. Today's experiment: 3 miles at gentle, steady pace, and then up through the gears and see how long I could last. Pleasingly, I made it all the way back to Beige Towers without having to ease down, though there was no sprint, 10-out-of-10 level effort left as I ran round the car park. Just past the 4 mile marker on the map, there was a feeling of "blimey, feeling very strong here" which was slightly disconcerting. I also lost 3.5 lbs in weight. I sweat, profusely, when I run.

Split times? Mile 1: 9:46; mile 2: 9:56; mile 3: 9:58; mile 4: 9:02; mile 5: 8:14; mile 6: 7:36/mile. Once again, the readings for miles 2, 3 and the first part of mile 4 are made very unreliable due to walking over a pedestrian bridge twice. I think you could subtract at least 30 seconds off each of mile 2 and 3. Hopefully, next week I can get somewhere near full distance (6.22 miles).

A List As Long As Your Arm

When people say "a list as long as your arm", they usually mean figuratively, rather than literally. Except here. This is, as far as I can make out from my jobs folder and my EI diary, the list of job applications I have submitted - excluding unsolicited resumes, resumes uploaded to company HR, resumes sent to recruitment agencies - from last April until now, presented without further comment. Except to wonder, once again, what life would be like right now had the first one on the list come off:

Research Chemist - Sanjel
Research Chemist - Alberta Sulfur Research Limited
Team Leader, Research - Brenntag
Chemical Specialist - Calfrac Well Services
Product Development Specialist - 3M Canada
Research Chemist - Brenntag
Technology Consultant - Boast Capital
Chemist - Champion Technologies
Chemist, Asset Integrity - Champion Technologies
Chemist - Champion Technologies
Chemist - Champion Technologies
Chemist - Champion Technologies
Reseearch and Technology Advisor - Canada Revenue Agency
Technical Customer Service Representative - Executrade
Chemical Researcher, Drilling Fluids - Express Employment Professionals
Research Associate, Oil and Gas - Express Employment Professionals
Research Associate, Chemical Technology - I Martin Recruitment
Project Manager, Environmental Remediation - Imperial Oil
Research Scientist - Maryn International
Junior Technical Service Specialist - Nova Chemicals
Research Scientist - SOS Staffing
Research Scientist -Diversified Staffing Services
SR&ED Consultant - Ross Recruitment
SR&ED Consultant - Ross Recruitment
Technical Writer - Sanjel
Research Reservoir Engineer - Shell
Laboratory Technician - Umatac Industrial Processes
Research and Technology Advisor - Canada Revenue Agency
Associate, Stimulation Applications and Implementation - Sanjel
Associate, Cementing Applications and Implementation - Sanjel
Research, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Sustainability Scientist- Schlumberger
Project Manager Assistant- Maxxam Analytics
Technical Service Specialist- Nova Chemicals

Sclairtech Process R&D Leader- Nova Chemicals

Scientific Research and Experimental Development Specialist- Ernst & Young

Safety Specialist- CH2M HILL

Drilling Fluids Technician - Q’Max Solutions 

Lab Technologist: Stimulation - Sanjel

Junior Laboratory Technician  - Design Group Staffing

Technical Sales Representative, Chemical Solutions - Project Search Limited

Chemical Sales Representative, Technical Service Manager - Launch Recruiting Inc.

Associate, Stimulation Applications and Implementation - Sanjel

Associate, Cementing Applications and Implementation - Sanjel

Technical Customer Service Representative - Maxxam Analytics
Laboratory Analyst - Maxxam Analytics
Plant Chemist - Champion Technologies
Laboratory Chemist - AGAT Laboratories
Analytical Team Leader, Chemical Laboratory - Brenntag
Organic Laboratory Technician - Exova Recruitment
Laboratory Manager, Oil/Drilling Fluids - Lab Support Canada
Senior Analyst, Inorganics - Maxxam Analytics
Client Project Manager Assistant - AGAT Laboratories
SR&ED Consultant - Evamax Group
Quality Assurance Officer - AGAT Laboratories
Lab Technician - Core Laboratories
Instructor, Chemical Laboratory Technology - SAIT
Lab Supervisor, Tribology - AGAT Laboratories
Junior Air Quality Scientist - Golder Associates
Technical Sales Professional, Oil and Gas - Dow Chemical
Lab Equipment Sales - NRP Professional Search
Research Chemist - Alberta Sulfur Research Limited
Research Chemist/Scientist - Synoil Energy Services
SR&ED Consultant - Ross Recruitment
Technical Sales, Laboratory Equipment - ATS Canada
Associate, Cement Research and Development - Sanjel
Research Technologist, PE Products and Development - Nova Chemicals
Technical Writer, Quality Infrastructure and Sustainability - Sanjel
SR&ED Technical Specialist, Evamax Group

Scientific Support Specialist - AGAT Laboratories

Lab Manager - AGAT Laboratories

Lab Supervisor - AGAT Laboratories

Junior Lab Technician - Halliburton
Quality Assurance Coordinator, Oil Sands - Maxxam Analytics

Corrosion Laboratory Analyst - Biochem Consulting Services

Lab Technician - Weatherford

Account Manager - ALS Group

Patent Agent - Heller Group

Chemical Specialist, Calfrac Well Services

Lab Manager - AGAT Laboratories

Chemical Laboratory Supervisor - CMS Management Consulting

Intermediate Risk Assessor - Intrinsik Environmental Science

General Manager, Laboratory Services - Secure Energy Services

Laboratory Supervisor - Diversified Staffing Services

Account Coordinator - Univar Canada

Laboratory Manager, Energy Division - AGAT Laboratories
Technical Writer, Training and Development - Sanjel

Lab Manager - AGAT Laboratories
Sales Representative - VWR International

Chemical Specialist - Calfrac Well Services

Technical Writer - Saipem Canada

Bid Desk Specialist - SMART Technologies

Research Reservoir Engineer - Shell

Research Production Engineer - Shell

Business Analyst - Alberta Utilities Commission

GTBU Team Leader - Champion Technologies

Client Project Manager Assistant - AGAT Laboratories

Research Manager - ECO Canada

SR&ED Consultant - Ross Canada

Water Management Technical Specialist, Entry Level - Baker Hughes

Customer Service Representative - Univar Canada

ProTrend Technical Specialist - Critical Control Energy Services

Resources Coordinator - TERA Environmental Consultants

Client Service Manager - AGAT Laboratories                        

Account Manager - Executrade

SR&ED Technical Specialist - EVAMAX group

Lab Manager - AGAT Laboratories

Research Chemist - Synoil Energy Services

Freelance Editor - Cactus Communications              

Client Service Manager - AGAT Laboratories

Quality Assurance Coordinator - Maxxam Analytics

Contracts Specialist, Office of Research Services - University of Calgary