Phone Problems... urgh!

Well, I really love my new phone, but I already had issues with it! Well sort of the phone...

I should have known from the beginning as my card was giving me issues from the start. It started when it wouldn't save some of my pics to the card & other small details like that. So I did some research & it was suggested that I format the card & start over. I did just that & it worked great for approx 1mth or just over...

Approx 3 weeks ago, the card stopped working! I was not impressed because I knew that it was a no-name card which means that I can't get a warranty service or anything like that. So I called Bell Canada to see what they had to offer. They basically told me that there's nothing that they can do and I had to see the Dealer who I had purchased the phone. I was a little surprised and asked why I would have to talk to them if it was a "free" item from Bell. They didn't provide anymore information other then that...

So, I txt'd my friend that worked at Sounds Fantastic and asked him to look into how I can get my card replaced.

So, after 3 weeks of fighting with Bell & AMP (Cell distributor in Atlantic Canada), he basically told me that he was going to cost out the card & give it to me for free. I was extreemly grateful, but the only downside is that it's a 2gb card instead of a 4gb card.

I'm sure that I'm never going to fill the card, but still...

Other then that, there's not a whole lot else going on. Going to be working the weekends for the next month unfortunetly... Especially since Allison is now working Monday to Friday....

Well, that's pretty much all I've got for now.

'til next time!

New Day, New Center

Well today is a weird day, Friday 13 and we are starting at a new 911 dispatch center. The great thing about this is that we have all new equipment and we are no longer sitting one on top of the other. It's really nice. On top of that, it has been really quiet. In the area that I was covering, I didn't get a 911 dispatch until almost 10pm.

Other then that, everything is going good. Olivia started at daycare. She loves it there. Daphnee is there & Olivia is making friends really quickly. She only goes 3 days a week - Wed to Friday. Which is perfect because when Allison has a long weekend, it will give her 3 full days with Olivia. I usually get more days depending on what rotation I will be on. I could have 2 days or I could even have upto 4 days with her. I love it!

We had a structure fire last night. A small incident at a brand new appt building that is nearing completion. The only thing that was missing is some paint & tenants are already occupied. The fire seems to have been limited to the outside of the building - mostly vinyl had melted with some wood burning. It was the first structure fire that I've been too in a while.

Other then that, not a whole lot else going on. We are going to be getting new windows for the house. Kinda excited! I'm hoping to have some money left over so that I can build our patio that we want. We purchased a bike trailer the other day for Olivia & we finally had a chance to get out yesterday - before I came to work - and Olivia seemed to like it... but I think she got bored pretty quick. Her helmet is too big for her, but it seems to be the smallest out there!

Well that's about it for now.

'til next time!

Blog Test


Just downloaded a new offline Blog Editor. I'm testing this to see if it will post to the blog.

Toronto

What a trip...

Olivia had another appointment with the specialist at Toronto Sick
Kids, so Allison and I made another vacation out of it!

The trip started a little rough as I had hoped that we'd be on the
road by 5am. We only got to bed at 1am, so we decided that we'd set
our alarm for 5am instead of 4am. The extra hour was nice
considering...

We got the car packed, along with Olivia and we hit the road around
630. Our plan was to stop in St Leonard to meet up wit our friends...
Everything was going perfectly until we got approximately 5km's
outside of St Leonard.

The car started acting funny and was chugging along. Every time I
tried to accelerate, the car was "burp". Well after 5hrs, including
renting ã car & talking to 5 different mechanics, we figured out that
iwe where having spark plug issues!

Eric and I ran down to Grand-Falls Canadian Tire to buy some plugs and
wires... Once we got everything installed on the car, Allison, Olivia
& I where back on the road.

Day 1 of the trip was certainly a long one as we pushed it as far as
we could... Into Drummondville, Qc. It made it a very long day for
Olivia as she was getting extremely uncomfortable in her car seat. She
really wanted out.

The rest of the week went off without a problem. The car ran smoothly
and we made it to Olivia's appointment on time.

The Dr's where pleased with Olivia's progress. They said that we only
really need to concentrate on one of her stretches to encourage her to
continue to develop that movement. It would be her shoulder rotation
outwards. The only thing that was slightly discouraging was being told
that they don't believe that her forearm rotation probably won't get
any better. But on the bright side, if she becomes a Tennis player,
she would have a great back-hand! LOL

Once everything was all done with Toronto, we decided that we
absolutely wanted to make it out to Niagara Falls this time. We tried
& failed in September, but this time was going to be different. We
made plans to meet up with Colin & his girlfriend Jody. Unfortunately,
we only got together late in the day, but honestly, it was a great
time anyways. We went to a couple of the museums (Rippley's Believe
it or Not & Guinness Book of World Records...) and we also went for
supper to the Rainforest Cafe.

Expensive, but great food.

Hard to believe that this was the first time that Colin got to meet
Olivia. But I guess it can be expected when you live halfway across
the country.

On our drive home, we went through the United States. WHAT A BORING
DRIVE!!! Some people had said that it was a really nice drive, but I
think because we stuck to the Interstate, it was extremely boring. I
imagine that if I had managed to get the GPS figured out to bring me
through Vermont & stuff, it would have been better, but honestly, we
sort of had a dead line to get home... That part really sucked!
Allison kept saying that she didn't feel like she was on vacation &
that there was a lot of work involved in traveling & I have to agree
with her 100%. We did almost 36hrs of driving in a total of 4 days – 2
days up & 2 days back home, not including all the travel we did to get
to our destinations....

Well, what else has been going on since my last update? Hmm... not a
whole lot. I have been extremely lazy with my car... I'm overdue on my
safety, by almost 3mths. I still have my winter tires on my car & my
oil change is due! Urgh! You'd think that with 4 days off I could get
things done, but I usually get overtime... But not to worry, it's on
the books for this week for sure!

The city elections turned out ok... half of the people that I voted
for got in (mayor, but not the councilor that I wanted). I think that
I'm going to try to get involved in the Ward 1 committee that the new
councilor had stated that he wanted to create. I think that it will be
interesting and offer some insight in what is going on in our
community.

Well, I guess that's all the news that I have so far. Now that I have
it figured out between my phone & my laptop, I should be able to put
more frequent updates again!

'til next time!

--
Joel
joelgallant.ca

Municipal Elections

With the municipal elections around the corner, I decided that I wanted to make a more informed decision... The only problem on my side is that only one candidate has decided to take advantage of the web.

Jean LeBlanc - jeanleblanc.com - has his blog, press updates and multimedia information on his site. This is great for him and the younger voting crowd, but, I honestly want to explore all of my options.

I'm interested in seeing what the current Mayor has instore for a new term, if elected. Also, the councillors for Ward 1 seem to represent themselves well on posters, but, I'm more interested in knowing what they can do for me and my community!

I think politics has always interested me, and May even be something that I May pursue in the very near future...

Well, it's almost quiting time!
'til next time!

Finally!

Finally got the letter that I've been waiting for!

As of April 17, I will be full time with Ambulance NB, although the letter is dated March 27th...

Other then that, I may be changing rotations but the details have not been worked out... Not sure what he's waiting for, but I'm in no rush to change! I really enjoy the rotation that I'm on now.

Olivia is growing up really fast! She's walking full force and there's no stopping her at all!

Purchased myself the HTC Touch from Aliant and it rocks! The phone is really just like a PC! Full web capability along with email access...

It's really addictive! I've found myself draining the battery in ã short period of time because I'm always on it!

Well that's all for now!

'til next time!

mobile blogging...

Just testing out mobile blogger! Woohoo!!! It works!

Backyardigans

Tonight is going to be a fun night! We are going to go and see the Backyardigans at the Capital Theater in Moncton.

I actually can't wait! The Backyardigans are fun and Olivia loves them.

Other then that, not a whole lot else new. Work is going well. There are posting for full time jobs & we are just waiting to hear confirmation that we have them. I'm not sure what the delay is, but whatever.

They are also looking for people like crazy! It's really hard to find staff. They have a few people interested in jobs, but not nearly enough to fill the vacant positions. I'm actually loving working the 2 days & 2 nights rotation. I thought it was going to be a little tough, but it's really not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I mean, I sleep a little more on my night shifts, but that's about it!

The city of Dieppe actually put up some webcam's to highlight the city's downtown area. One of the cam's is pointing towards the intersection of Acadia/Champlain; while the other is pointing over the parking lot at Place 1604.

Not quite sure why they chose that position instead of pointing it towards the back area....

Anyways.... We had an interesting call at the FD the other day. We had a plane on final approach call an emergency because of malfunctioning landing gear lights. Well, I was driving E-26 and on our way up, our dispatcher called up and said that there was possibly 300 passengers on board. Having lived by the airport and knowing the area, I had a feeling either the information was wrong or the plane was diverted to Moncton for some reason.

Turns out the information was wrong... It was a 143 seat plane & not the 300 that was broadcasted....

Talking about broadcasting, I just thought I'd pass along that I am now dispatching at the center & not just call taking. Which means that anyone listening out in scanner-land can hear my voice - depending which part of the province I'm dispatching.

I know that I find it cool! LOL


Anyways, that's all I've got for now!

'til next time!

Found this online!

Star wars according to a 3yr old girl.

Moving & shaking

Olivia is all over the place now!

She is walking, peeing in the pottie & also pretty much talking. She can say Animal (muppets), ouch and a few others that where already in her vocabulary.

It's really incredible how much she has changed in so little time. I mean, just the other day, she was born... well, that was 14mths ago!

Work is going pretty well for me! I've started my dispatcher training on Thursday & Friday night of last week. It was pretty cool & certainly better then call taking. We've also been assigned permanent rotations which is kinda nice too! It really takes the guess work out of trying to find out when my next shift is going to be!

On another side of things, I completely screwed myself over. I missed the cut off date for the Casuals positions at the FD. Kinda upset about that, but what else can I do!

I'm also looking into a couple of other options to help pay down some bills. But we'll keep those to myself for now!

Well, I guess that's it for now!

'til next time!

Attempting to get a free laptop

Saw this link online & thought I'd check it out! I'm attempting to get a free mac and the way that it works is that I needs your clicks... Basically, click it, check it out & if it's something that you like, sign up!

Apparently it works, and I've done some research on it.... seems legit!

Check it out & let me know what you think!

'til next time!

Rogers is really starting to piss me off!

Ok, I'm really starting to get annoyed of this whole mass marketing plan that Rogers has going on. I mean, every single day, I get at least 2 pieces of mail from Rogers Cable.... If it's not for the phone, it's for cable or internet, or even all 3. Some of the crap is address admail, some of it isn't! I just don't know that to do anymore!

Seriously, think about all of the trees they are killing or water that they are using to produce these flyers!

Whatever! This is just pushing me further & further away from them. I know that they will be the only carrier of the iPhone and now, I'm not going to be getting it for sure... at least not through them!

Busy Busy Busy

Time is really flying by! My 2008 commitment is to try to post more often.

Work is still going great! It's busy lately & I think that it's just going to continue - especially because of winter.

Allison just started back to work today & I'm really happy that she was ok with it! Olivia is doing great.... Pretty much walking & talking & other things... I mean, she is growing up really fast!

Christmas was great! Well, Olivia was so tired that she couldn't even open all of her gifts. I ended up working on Xmas Eve and Boxing day so my holidays where pretty short lived, but that's ok! I was able to spend it with Allison & Olivia. My holiday experience didn't get any better or worse because I also worked on New Years Eve & Day.... It was really busy - on NYE mostly.

As I'm sure some of you know, we have had a great deal of snow so far this year! Well, I made a great investment!!!! I bought a SNOWBLOWER!!!

I love it! It's a Sears Craftsman 11.5hp! It's really awesome!

Well, that's about it for now!

'til next time!

Still kicking

Just in case you've been wondering, I'm still kicking!

Work is going very well! I'm really enjoying it & so far, I should be "signed off" by the end of the week. Basically, I'll be working on my own. Luckily, until the end of the year, I'll be staying on a day shift rotation... So, no nights.... So far! But I'm not complaining about nights either! I did do 1 overnight shift & it was pretty neat. It was extremely quiet as well; however, you have to come with a different work mentality.

On a different note, Olivia is having her 1 birthday on Saturday! This is unreal! I can't believe that it's already been 1 year! I know that they say that time flies when you have fun, but this is truly unbelievable. I mean, to think that in a few days, Olivia is going to be one.

She isn't quite walking yet; however, she is standing on her own & she does walk with a little encouragement. Also, talking is not far either. She makes sounds that sound exactly like words, but we aren't sure if they are really words or just jibber jabber....

We have quite the shindig planned for her and we are very happy to have everyone at our house to celebrate her big day!

So, that's about all that's new so far... stick around for more!

'til next time!

Must Read

I saw this on Digg.com today & I really recommend this read! I think that it's unreal that this is what the world has come too. Being a firefighter, it's in my nature to help and to be honest, I wouldn't even second guess myself for helping out; however, you never know what someone else may think..."If I see a child or a pre-teen crying on the beach I change my direction"I am a (male) high school teacher and I have a daughter. If I see a child or (worse) a pre-teen crying on the beach I change my direction and put as much distance as possible between us. It’s too dangerous even to take a picture, imagine TOUCHING them.

read more | digg story

All work and no play

Believe it or not, but I'm actually on day 3 of my 5 days off... This is my first official week on the phone and so far I'm loving it.

True, it's just another job; however, I truly believe that I'm heading down the right career path this time. I haven't taken any really bad calls yet; however, the calls that I have taken have been easier then I truly expected.

I was a little nervous to start on the phones, but that pretty much all went away when I answered my first call.

Not a whole lot else going on. Olivia is growing up and her first B-day is almost here! That's really hard to believe! I have no idea where the last year has gone... Allison pretty much has the party all figured out and it's going to be a blast!

Allison and I actually just got back from the movies... only the second time in a year. It was nice to get out, just the two of us.... We saw "Dan in Real Life".

It was a really good movie! I was pretty impressed, but then again, Steve Carrell is great anyways!

Well, that's about it for now!

'til next time!

Home Stretch

Well, we are in our final hours of classroom training.

Tomorrow is our final exam and it's taking most of the afternoon - if not all of it! I'm really anxious to get it over with so I can start working! I'm kinda itching to get on the phone... Mind you, if I was a keener, I could have done so already a few times!

A lot of things have changed since my last post. We had a few conversations with management & they decided that we are going to be based on performance & not only on our knowledge/memory of the procedures.

I'm really happy about that! As most of the time, I learn by doing, not only by just reading it....

This is only a short message as I need to unwind a little before test time...

'til next time!

BitTorrent blocking goes north: Canadian ISP admits to throttling P2P

Candian ISP Bell Sympatico has admitted to using bandwidth throttling technologies that impose limits on peer-to-peer traffic.

read more | digg story

How's it going?

Well, isn't that a loaded question. So far, the course is extremely harder then I could have ever imagined, considering that I was told that there was 2 weeks of training & then we'd be on the phones.

Well, that's not quite what is happening. We have 4 weeks of training & then 4 rotations (4 working days & 5 days off) of preceptership and once that is complete, we finally start on our own. So, it was a small shock to the system when I first found that out!

Well finally today, I was able to go & sign my letter of employment I'm officially temporarily employed by SERHA, at least until Dec 16 when Ambulance New Brunswick takes over.

I can't really complain. I mean, so far I have only failed 1 test where I have 3 fails maximum.

As you can see by my posting time below, it's almost 4am and I've actually just gotten back from PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) for a listen along & I found it very interesting. The two places are very similar in the service that they provide (answering 911 calls & sending out help: ie: ambulance or police/fire); however, the set up & software is completely different. I'm anxious to see (if I make it that far) what ANB is going to bring to the table.

Well, I just wanted to give a quick run down & maybe non of this makes much sense; however, I don't want to post-edit it either as this is "Another Day in the Life of Joel".

Have a great night, I'll certainly try!

'til next time!

Car Seat Safety

Allison is a very observant mother. She was watching TV one day & noticed this "Child Safety Link" commercial with an toddler certainly older then 1 year old. Allison wasn't sure what to think, so she emailed Child Safety Link. Here is a copy of the email (read from the bottom up):

Hi Allison:

Good questions. The benefit of being rear-facing is that it distributes the force of the crash evenly along the child's spine, providing better protection for the brain and spinal cord. This outweighs the risk of injury to the legs. It is okay for the legs to be
touching the back seat or crossed for the child to get comfortable. In a forward facing position, all of the force is concentrated in a small area of the child's neck. Their head will pull the neck forward. If the child's bones and muscles are not strong enough (which generally happens around 17 months or more) there is the risk that the vertebrae will separate and cause the spinal cord to stretch or tear. So
therefore we recommend that parents not rush to turn forward facing. I know that it seems like a graduation, a milestone to be reached, but it is actually a step backwards in terms of safety if the child is not sufficiently developed.

I hope that this helps.

Kim Mundle
Car Seat Safety Specialist
IWK Health Centre
tel: (902) 470-7324
toll free: 1-866-288-1388

>>> "Allison Gallant" <alliecat@******.ca> 16/10/2007 12:18 pm
>>>
Hi Kim. Thank you for your response. I now understand better why the girl in the commercial was rear facing, however, at her size, wouldn't there be a risk of her legs breaking in the event of a car accident? Wouldn't it be safer for her to be forward facing since she does meet the minimum requirements for forward facing?

My daughter is 10 months, 30.5" and 21lbs. I was planning on turning her
car seat around on her birthday (December 4th) because I know she will meet
the minimum requirements, however, is it safer to wait as long as possible
before doing so? I guess I'm unclear as to what the risks are rear facingvs forward facing.

Thank you for your information.

Allison

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim Mundle [mailto:Kim.Mundle@iwk.nshealth.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:47 AM
To: alliecat@********.ca
Subject: Re: I would like to express my concern over a Child Safety Link commercial that

Hello Allison:

Thank you for your comments about the commercial. The girl in the commercial is over the age of one, and over the minimum weight of 22 lbs because the safety recommendation for the rear-facing position is that children remain rear-facing as long as possible, within the rear-facing weight limit and height limit for the seat. Most seats sold in Canada can be used rear-facing up to 30 lbs, and therefore many children can remain rear-facing until age 2 1/2 or 3 years old. The age one and 22
lbs is the minimum that children must be to consider going forward facing. As well, they should be walking solidly on their own. When filming the commercial, all of the images were overseen by a certified Child Restraint Systems Technician for accuracy. Do you have any questions regarding car seats? I will be out of the office for a few
days but would be happy to talk with you when I return.


Kim Mundle
Car Seat Safety Specialist
IWK Health Centre
tel: (902) 470-7324
toll free: 1-866-288-1388

>>> "Allison Gallant" <alliecat@nb.sympatico.ca> 13/10/2007 11:21 am
>>>
I would like to express my concern over a Child Safety Link commercial that I recently saw. This commercial is talking about car seat safety and the importance of rear facing seats for children under the age of 1. The girl in the commercial that is climbing into the rear facing seat is clearly over the age of 1 and is way too big to be riding rear facing. I feel that this is a misrepresentation of good car seat safety. My sister and I are mothers to children all under the age of 3 and take child safety very
seriously. We feel that your commercial would be more beneficial if it was properly
advertising what your message is about.


Thank you for your time,



Allison Gallant

All I can say is wow! I would have never thought! This certainly opened my eyes & we are going to seriously think about when we are going to turn Olivia around.

Just thought I'd share this news!

'til next time!