Boler Bears at the Byron ski hill

 

Two Boler Bears made an appearance Saturday at the Byron neighbourhood ski hill much to the delight of the young children at the hill with their parents.

Homework posted online

There's a debate surrounding the idea of using home computers for teaching young students in Ontario. Those favouring computers may be winning. My ten-year-old granddaughter does math homework that is posted online.

With teachers throughout the province presently engaging in rotating strikes, the online course material is drawing even more attention than usual. Some of the teachers clearly feel threatened by the growing practice.

Dreamland: A Virtual Reality Arena

The large photo of young woman boxer overlaid with geometric shapes piqued my interest. What exactly was in the building behind the poster? A sign, it looked like it could be the name of the business, said Dreamland VR.

VR? Virtual reality? What exactly is virtual reality boxing? There was nothing on the exterior of the building that made it any clearer. Clearly, I was attempting to venture into a world totally unfamiliar to an old geezer like me.


When I got home, I hit the Web. I found the Dreamland VR site. There I read the boast that it was a 2400 sq. ft., 8 player, wireless arena, the largest in Canada offering full body tracking and 4D effects. The boast was lost on me. I was no closer to understanding what went on behind the Dreamland VR walls.



In just a few days it is spring break. I'm going to have three granddaughters to entertain plus a great niece. I have some stuff planned. Traditional stuff that we have done in the past and I know the little girls are looking forward to doing again. But this VR place has me curious. I'm going back to learn more first hand. If I take the little girls, I  may have more to say about London's state-of-art VR arena.

Caution: Rudolph Crossing

I call it the Rudolph crossing. Someone stuck a red dot on the end of the deer's nose on the yellow warning sign warning motorists that deer may be encountered crossing the road in this area.

The kids think the sign is funny. I think it is visually witty. And the traffic department doesn't seem to care as the red sticker had been stuck to the sign for ages.

Has the fox returned?

I took this photo some time ago. It's a fox strolling through our backyard.

The other day, during a snowfall, we spotted mysterious tracks below our kitchen window. The tracks were quickly buried by fast falling snow. We wondered if the fox was back.

There are usually mouse tracks in our snow but there are none right now. Foxes love mice. Mice aren't so fond of foxes.

We don't all seem to be on the same page.

I admit I don't keep up with what is available when it comes to cell phones. I'm still using a simple flip phone which costs me only $100 annually. And so, I was surprised to see the large Huawei sign in the Bell store.

As most Canadians know, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, 47, is detained under house arrest in Vancouver on Canada's west coast. Meng is the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd’s billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei. Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport back in December on a U.S. warrant and is fighting extradition.

While the Trump government has Meng firmly in its sights, Canadians are buying Huawei products and both Great Britain and Germany have announced that Huawei will be allowed to be involved in the introduction of 5G technology.

5G will be part of the urban fabric around the world in the coming years. It is looking as if, despite the best efforts of the U.S., Huawei will play a big role in the worldwide roll out of the new technology.

I asked the staff at the Bell store about Huawei and was told the Huawei phones and pads are among the best that Bell stores carry.

Post a municipal building day

I've always just called this the fire hall. But in researching this municipal building I learned it is also known as the Byron Emergency Operations Centre. Apparently, the City of London Security and Emergency Management Division hosts an annual Emergency Management Open House at the centre.

I simple must find out when the open house is being held this year. I'd enjoy touring the place and I know my granddaughters would love seeing how   firemen live and they do live in the fire station. Being a working firefighter, as opposed to a volunteer firefighter, is a job unlike all others.

The newspaper where I worked used to have a food column where the writer traveled about the city visiting forgotten kitchens. One night we visited a fire hall and documented the firefighters preparing a dinner together. Everything firefighters do is aimed at team building and that includes making meals.

Firefighters are famous for their talents and for their incredible strength. It may surprise you but the men firefighters are often excellent and very imaginative cooks. All the firefighters take turns as head chef and no one wants to bore the team with a "what-again!" dinner. And the women firefighters never call a man for help when a bottle cap is jammed on tight. The ladies are firefighter-strong, as they must be, and they easily twist off tops that most men would find a challenge.