October 2012, Bob Dylan, Engineering and Halloween

As usual in October we receive our intro to winter with at least a week cold snap in Calgary (-15 to -20 degrees C).  It's a good month though with hockey in full swing and of course Halloween (my favourite celebration).  This year to add to the fun I decided I should probably see Bob Dylan at least once in my life.

Bob Dylan.  Met up with Brendan, Andrea and Mike at the old standard "The Rose and Crown", which looks the same, but for me has lost something over the years.  I think what they lost was my attendance when they started charging door fees on the weekends.  It's a PUB!

After a bite to eat and a beer it was a chilly 6 block walk to the Saddledome for the show.  My first taste of winter in 5+ years, urgh.  For me it was a good chance to spend a night with some good friends and to see a legend.  Thanks Bob, in what I expect is the last time he comes to Calgary.

Opening Act - Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits.  Very Good

A 30 min break between bands

The levels looked good, but Bob?

A sample of Bob at the age of 71.  So, what song is this?

Engineering FYI section.  A purely information section pointing to a couple work field trips I had in the month.

These photos are from a Horizontal Directional Drill in the South of Calgary for the power company.  I believe the final diameter of the drill was 42" (1067 mm) and they pulled 4 bundles of 6 x 2" cables.

300,000 lbs torque HDD rig operated by Somerville

42" casing and mud pump

Mud shakers / cleaners

And let's not forget Halloween!  This year I wore one of my favourite and most well received costumes made by my own hand.

Background story:  As you may have noticed in the September Blog Billy picked me up in a Car2Go which is a per minute rental that operators anywhere around the centre of the city.  I enjoyed my experience so much that I thought I would pull up to the bar in a Car2Go wearing a Car2Go with a Hipster outfit on underneath in case I needed to park my costume.  After 3 hours of construction or so I was ready for Halloween and ready to find my Car2Go to get to the bar. "Oh no! All the Car2Go's are reserved" Damn it.

I ditched the plan to drive a Car2Go to the bar and begged a friend, Ray, to give me a tow.  Unfortunately you can't get a taxi in Calgary on any busy Saturday (absolutely pathetic!!!) especially Halloween.  Big thanks for Ray for the ride!

Dave, Ray and I made our way down to Sam's deli in Kensington that was having a Halloween party like everywhere else in town.  Stepping in to the bar for all of 5 minutes, we entered, grabbed a beer and just as I was about to park my Car2Go the waitress came over and honoured me with first place for the best costume   BEST COSTUME!!!  Holy Crap! Awesome.  A $25 bar tab (shots) and a sweet Guiness storm tech jacket.  Not bad at all and my first time ever winning any prize for a costume.  Cool...

Hipster in a Car2Go

The costume was good for winning a prize,
but not for beer drinking.

Dave, Ray, Pete

Other Stuff

New way of filling a beer.  This is cool, but definitely less stable.  There's a magnet and metal ring on the glass that connect together once the beer injector is removed.

Westjet Counter at the Airport
during Halloween