Stouffville, Ontario Canada (647) 962-1997 gwstudios@rogers.com M-F 8:30am - 2:30pm & 8:00pm - 11:00pm

We have ourselves one of those – midweek PA Days.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on We have ourselves one of those – midweek PA Days.

Which is odd, because it is neither a Friday nor a Monday, but in fact today is a Thursday, of all days. It is also our provincial election day. So Teachers can go vote, and work on grade school kids report cards. I voted early to avoid crowds or a rush on the polls. I still do what I can to avoid large groups of strangers. Probably why I’ve only been to the movies once since February of 2020.

Started the day off with the kids reading, and writing in their work books. The youngest practicing letters, and the oldest working on coherent sentences describing what has just been read. It’ll take some extra time (thanks Covid) but we’ll get the reading and writing up to snuff so there isn’t an unnecessary amount of struggling come grade three in the fall.

Had a brief burst of creativity yesterday. I think that makes two or three random short stories over the last month or so since I finished writing book two. Nothing has grabbed me so hard I had to write a follow up. Just flexing my brain muscles, keeping the engine warm, as it were. Seems to revolve around murder and violence, but that may be due to having just finished Don Winslow’s City on Fire, which was pretty good.

“Don’t die on me Bob…”

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on “Don’t die on me Bob…”

“You really won’t like me if I gotta resuscitate you with a boat battery and a set of rusty jumper cables.” Growls the monstrously obese woman in a roughly worn denim dress. Slowly she circles the badly battered man tied to a wicker chair. Sweat trickling down her brow and collecting in pools along her waistband at the back of her skirt. Her wedged heels are cracked and smudged with a mixture of dirt and Bob’s blood, among other things. “Stay with me Bobby, I know the room is hot and all, but… just hang in there big man.” After walking a full circle around the restrained Bob, she leans over at her thick waist to lift his head by the sweat soaked patch of hair. A straggly tuft of grey brown crusted with his own blood. Lifting his chin with her greasy sausage fingers Bob grins through cracked lips, showing off the remains of shattered teeth. He spits a thick glob of bloody phlegm onto the fat womans skirt. “Don’t you worry ’bout me Doris, I’ve got you pegged – babydoll.” With a grimace she drops his head and watches it hang and sway under it’s own weight. Stepping away from the chair and the small violently hot room, she nods at the guards just outside the heavy metal doors. With a scrape the two men get up from their seats, one cracks his knuckles and the other wipes off his glasses with a corner of his t-shirt. Doris shuts the door behind her as the guards step into the room. Not a moment passes as the sounds of a fight break out.

“You fucker! I almost laughed when you called me Doris. Dickhead. You were supposed to call me Delores.” She barks out in a raspy laugh. Bob, a medium sized man with an array of bumps, bruises and lacerations covering his body looks up from his White Castle burger and grins. “You didn’t exactly pull any punches yourself – shit teeth. I gotta find a dentist or something, right fucking quick. Why’d you use a bat anyhow? I thought we agreed on fists only. Cunt.” Bob gums on the last few swallows of his mushed burger. Taking his time dunking the bread and meat patty in his Cola cup. Taking a gulp of his drink and squashing his waffle fries in his hands before slurping down the paste. “Christ almighty this hurts.” He warbles through a mouth full of mush. “Dust your gums with a little coke, and nut up.” She replies tossing a massive ziploc bag of nose candy into Bob’s lap.

After a long, and mostly silent drive out into the desert of Arizona along the historic route 66, Robert and Mary Hutchins pull into a pock marked parking lot of a Motel 6. The vacancy sign flashing a dim neon pink intermittently showing swarms of winged insects. The back end of their nineteen ninety four Ford Taurus is riding decidedly low. Straining as it is, under the weight of various bodies tied up and bound together in the trunk. The late evening sun making the trunk hot to the touch. “How long you think they got?” Asks Bob, chucking the keys over hand out into the field beyond the now dim parking lot. “I don’t know? Why? You really give a shit?” She drawls in response. “No – no I don’t. I do however, gotta see a dentist. Fuck.” He spits out a thick glob of blood, and a tooth chip. Reaching into the back window Bob pulls out a dazzlingly turquoise leather Gucci bag, it has some heft to it.

The couple exit the parking lot on foot, cross over the sun baked black asphalt of route 66 to a small lot set beside a CVS. Open the doors to a pewter coloured mini van and drive off back towards Las Vegas Nevada. With the windows down, and the ac cranked, Mary turns on the radio. They drive off with the sound of Bob Seager trailing behind them in the sweltering night. The sky is a pink, orange, navy blue combo, and the stars begin to twinkle.

Dreams are weird.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on Dreams are weird.

Last night I dreamt that I was composing this amazing blog post (of all things) and I was dictating it out loud and it was all very intense and exciting. But do you think I can recall even a sliver of what it was about? The lasting image was of having fun composing the post, not the actual content within it. Tells you something doesn’t it. Boring! It means it’s more important to me to write, than what I write about. How dull. But that fits me to a T. Pragmatic, robotic me. The act of doing is in itself the reward. How intrinsically valued can you be. Ugh.

Still haven’t found the time nor energy to go see Dr Strange 2, or Top Gun: Maverick yet. Perhaps after these family parties are done. Although, then I need to get on top of planning my youngest’s pool party at the end of the month. Seven confirmed guests so far. Three will be away and can’t come. So this time (with lessons learned) we go 10:00-12:00pm, and stick locally. Fewer guests, and a shorter period of time, earlier in the day. Pizza, drinks, pool, cake and home time! I’ll let my wife sort out the goody bags. The holy grail of childhood apparently. Which isn’t something I recall being a big deal in my childhood. Not sure if I just don’t remember, because I’m thirty five years plus out of that age bracket, or it wasn’t really a thing with the families of my childhood friends. Couldn’t tell you, if I’m being completely honest.

It is strange, what I can and can’t remember about being a kid. I still recollect my late teens years, fairly vividly (because I was sick, and depressed from being sick). But I couldn’t say much about being a little kid. I do know that I was pretty oblivious. It wasn’t until Facebook came around in the early 2000’s when I realized some of my friends had older siblings, or any siblings at all. Singularly focused on my friends or our activities. Didn’t much care for whatever else was going on. Still don’t.

Yeah, dreams are what’s weird.

Gearing up for the birthday bash.

greatwallstudios1 Comment on Gearing up for the birthday bash.

It started with more than $150 in European cheeses and cured meats. A hand made Ash cutting board. And now I need to get enough soft drinks and juice boxes on hand for the quiet event. I have crackers, cheese and meats. Ingredients to pour Sex on the Beach beverages to the adults who aren’t driving. I will order pizza, and pick up a veggie tray and a seven layer dip, because my wife loves that shit, so she can have it for her day in the sun. We have the table & chairs set up. Grass is cut. Wine for the guests is chilling. Ice cubes are a go in the freezer. Music on hand. Speaker will charge up this week. I just need to get fresh baguettes on Friday.

Today will be general house cleaning, and outdoor prep. Pulling weeds from the visible garden beds. Cleaning the table, and patio/deck areas. Making sure our play equipment is clean for all five kids to play on. Should be a fun time.

Laundry is almost done it’s wash cycle, dishwasher has started. Floors vacuumed and mopped. So I’ll finish up this post and head outside to tackle the deck and patio. Should be in a great spot for Friday afternoon. Though it is a hot one today, boy, I’ll tell you that much. 31 degrees Celcius. Not yet a scorcher, but closing in on it once the humidity kicks in. Which remind me, I should grease the AC fans again, so the damn fans not so loud. Our unit is old, but it works. Ugly as sin, loud, but functional. Knock on wood.

Until we meet again.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this is not the town to live in if you want to get anything done before 9:00am.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this is not the town to live in if you want to get anything done before 9:00am.

As mostly nothing is open. There has to be people like me who wish to run errands right after school drop off. I cannot believe people go home first, for a half hour or so, then go right back passed where they were and then run errands. It is ridiculous. I hate it. Probably why everyone goes to Walmart, it’s damn near open 24/7 around here anyway.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see, in a few years Walmart brand lawyers, dentists, doctors and Banks. All run on the same schedule out of those ugly misshapen blue buildings. Oh, the future, it’s going to be ugly.

I’m still having a run of likes on a random post from weeks ago. I don’t know why, but the bots, or bot-like accounts are drawn to it. Liking it without reading it. New follows along with those random DNR (Did Not Read) likes. If it brought ad revenue with it I wouldn’t mind so much, but I really don’t believe that anymore than 5-10% of those accounts are real people who would get any enjoyment out of my material/content. Not that I write for the void, but still.

We had a busy, travel filled weekend. First to the cottage for the night, then to Ottawa for the day, for golf and farewells to family that are moving across the country – again. Then back to the cottage for a night, and some boat rides, odd jobs, and then driving back home. It honestly felt like a weeks worth of travel in 56 hours time. Kids travelled better than expected, but always seem to fall apart ten minutes from home. You can set your watch to it. Ugh.

Covid times really robbed us of some precious family time. Which really hits home now that a large portion of my side of the family are moving away – again. Oh well. We will have to make plans to meet in Las Vegas, or a Disney in Florida at some point in the next 3-5 years. I had hoped we could go see a Sens game, or play a full round of 18 holes this summer, or amp up our go-cart chops at the track in Hull. But it wasn’t meant to be. I did however, use my new-to-me golf clubs for the first time this weekend. The nine iron was my go to, along with my 3 iron and putter. I played like shit, but at least it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer this time. Way better when it was twenty degrees cooler and almost no humidity to speak of.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this is not the town to live in if you want to get anything done before 9:00am.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this is not the town to live in if you want to get anything done before 9:00am.

As mostly nothing is open. There has to be people like me who wish to run errands right after school drop off. I cannot believe people go home first, for a half hour or so, then go right back passed where they were and then run errands. It is ridiculous. I hate it. Probably why everyone goes to Walmart, it’s damn near open 24/7 around here anyway.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see, in a few years Walmart brand lawyers, dentists, doctors and Banks. All run on the same schedule out of those ugly misshapen blue buildings. Oh, the future, it’s going to be ugly.

I’m still having a run of likes on a random post from weeks ago. I don’t know why, but the bots, or bot-like accounts are drawn to it. Liking it without reading it. New follows along with those random DNR (Did Not Read) likes. If it brought ad revenue with it I wouldn’t mind so much, but I really don’t believe that anymore than 5-10% of those accounts are real people who would get any enjoyment out of my material/content. Not that I write for the void, but still.

We had a busy, travel filled weekend. First to the cottage for the night, then to Ottawa for the day, for golf and farewells to family that are moving across the country – again. Then back to the cottage for a night, and some boat rides, odd jobs, and then driving back home. It honestly felt like a weeks worth of travel in 56 hours time. Kids travelled better than expected, but always seem to fall apart ten minutes from home. You can set your watch to it. Ugh.

Covid times really robbed us of some precious family time. Which really hits home now that a large portion of my side of the family are moving away – again. Oh well. We will have to make plans to meet in Las Vegas, or a Disney in Florida at some point in the next 3-5 years. I had hoped we could go see a Sens game, or play a full round of 18 holes this summer, or amp up our go-cart chops at the track in Hull. But it wasn’t meant to be. I did however, use my new-to-me golf clubs for the first time this weekend. The nine iron was my go to, along with my 3 iron and putter. I played like shit, but at least it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer this time. Way better when it was twenty degrees cooler and almost no humidity to speak of.

RPA developer, you should hire one for your company asap.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on RPA developer, you should hire one for your company asap.

Automate those mundane tasks asap, get your people focused on customer service or big picture thinking. Free yourselves from simple data entry, and hire an RPA Dev now! Do it. Get it done. Get your people focused on those money making tasks, not toiling away on invoices, amending contacts or mailing lists. Get you a BluePrism, or UIPath, or Microsoft Flow, now called Power Automate, dev tech to kick your business into high gear. Do it!

That’s my business oriented rant for today. I usually steer clear of tech trends, but it’s big over seas where your companies have been outsourcing to for decades. It’s making it’s way here, so get infront of it. See what RPA Developers can do for you and your businesses.

Automate the mundane, focus on the bigger picture.

“I was in a cocoon, now I’m a beautiful butterfly.” ~ Post Malone: Hot Ones First We Feast.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on “I was in a cocoon, now I’m a beautiful butterfly.” ~ Post Malone: Hot Ones First We Feast.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. I think, compared to last weekend, this one should be a whole lot quieter. Far less physical activity, that’s for sure. Have some family things to sort out, so I may not be too engaged with the blog come Saturday/Sunday. No biggie. I’m not certain anyone besides me visits every single day anyway. I don’t bring it out of people like that. No biggie. I’m not famous, or a voice of a generation. Just some dude keeping his streak going for just a little bit longer. Taking by the moment, as the days progress.

I’m willing to bet that at least 75% of my current “followers” are bots or junk accounts. It’s weird how some innocuous blog entry will just randomly go on a run of likes and gathering new followers. But the post in question is never anything worth while. Not a short story, not a wood working of sculpting post, nor a think piece about tragedy or anything meaningful. Plus many followers share the same avatar image, or are about passive income, crypto, or some internet money making scheme. It’s all very weird and strange.

I managed to finish and hand off the two newel posts for my FIL. I got the kitchen window screen fitted (kind of), and I have yet to cut the hinge slots. Still feeling a bit of trepidation about committing to that step. So close to finishing though. So close! I will do it. I’m happy that come the fall I’ll be able to have that door open to the breeze like I have dreamed of since we moved her in 2009. Baby steps! Measure three times, just to be certain.

I hate to say it, you hate to see it, but it’s probably true.

greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment on I hate to say it, you hate to see it, but it’s probably true.

This will be controversial and unpleasant but it needs to be said. We do too good a job in north american society of shielding the average Joe in the population from the grisly truth behind what an AR-15 does to a human body. I think that lots of people believe that those kids from Uvalde in Texas from the other day are lying in a morgue with little round weeping bullet holes, and not the truth, that they were pulped and unrecognizable. So the ideal vision of our Angel’s asleep with tiny wounds let’s us walk away and forget about it. But if you plastered every newspaper with one savage, graphic, horrific view of the hideous truth, the gun lobby would struggle to maintain their vise grip on US politics.

It is horrific. It is happening. It’s happening to children, on what seems like every third day, just about. The movement to ban high capacity magazines and to reduce the availability of higher powered military grade weapons needs a new, upfront tack. Various media outlets hide the true nature of the details, because they are so horrific. So we can picture something less terrifying in our minds, and allow ourselves to just do nothing about it.

To make a real change, a few apple carts will need to be overturned. Why do people think there are so many vets with PTSD? They’ve seen the reality and it fundamentally changed their whole lives. But those of us shielded from the truth allow it to continue, until your asked to give a DNA sample to help find your kids remains because they’re just grisly matter now. Not an identifiable human being.

Guns have a place, and a use. Just not assault style rifles in average Joe’s hands.

I personally like to target shoot with a 30-06. I do so whenever I go to Las Vegas. It packs a punch, but can only hold five bullets at once before you have to reload it, and you have to manually pull back on the bolt to load it. Great fun. But that’s not when John Q Nutcase the caucasian killer has when he goes to a school to kick things off. That, while deadly, would give the majority a chance to flee, or to attack during reloading. Not that that is much better, but these fish in a barrel situations are untenable. It’s vile and cowardly. You wanna feel like a man, go start a fist fight with the person(s) you actually have beef with, not a grade school full of little kids.

Yeah so, in a few days time when this becomes relevant again, I’ll just relink to it, in perpetuity.