Post Tornado Stress Syndrome - sort of...

 

This is actually a 'feel-good post' - not a 'woe is me". 

As you may have heard, our city of Barrie suffered a tornado attack in mid-June of this year (2021).  Our home was not one of the hardest hit ones (some aren't even standing anymore), but certainly became un-inhabitable.  For example, the back wall (not shown) pulled away from the flooring by up to eight inches!  ...So, off to temporary accommodations for the foreseeable future.

For once, I was glad my wife was out shopping!  If she had been home, the French doors upstairs might have slammed into her as they flew open, letting the storm inside her office!  By the way, it's an odd feeling to see shingles and branches inside the upstairs office and hallway!

For days, it seemed like nothing was happening with the place.  Roofers had only nailed a small patch over the area where you now see a large blue tarp (see image) and boarded up the windows.  ..And then - another 'stand-still'.

Time estimates for the repairs have been anywhere between six months and two years!  It's been looking more like it'd be the latter, than the former!  Then...the other day...  A neighbour texted us, "There has been a flurry of activity in your home over the past few days", which is welcome news for sure!  Thanks for the update, Bob & Julie!  Let's hope this means less time, rather than a longer time before our return.

Thankfully, the water that was dripping throughout the house hadn't touched my studio area and I managed to get all my recording equipment out safely.  I've even been able to do my voiceover work while in our temporary location.

Hopefully, if all goes as planned, I'll be rebuilding the studio in there - bigger and better next time!

"At the Double-Tones, It's Exactly..." - Or, IS IT??

When the bulk of your working life has revolved around 'split-second timing', you develop some pretty serious habits/quirks. Sometimes, it's constantly checking the current time - even while at a dinner with your spouse... Other times, it's the daily worrying that your watch is actually synced to (network) time.
As with many others who've done the same work I have over the years, I've had to constantly rely on 'split-second timing'. People would laugh at me as I'd freeze mid-stride - waiting for the exact second to sync my watch with the television network ID, or the 'double-tones' on a news station, for example. But later, they'd look in amazement as a song I was playing on a bar music system would end JUST as the TV logo signalled the start of a Leaf's game.

Well, today I decided to stream 680 News on my computer and was rather bothered because when I heard their 'double-tones' and habitually checked my Apple watch, I was already two full minutes into the new hour! HOW??? My watch is always driven by network time - ROGERS network time - as is 680 News.

My world stopped and OCD kicked in. In my head, I heard screeching tires, a submarine dive klaxon... a needle scratching across a record (a-la WKRP's Dr. Johnny Fever, just before shouting out, "Booger!")... I started twitching.... The whole mess...
Ok, so I was just folding laundry today - hardly something one needs to have such exact timing for. But it really started to bother me. How could my Apple watch be so far off? I even went to "www.time.is" and sure enough, my watch was correct. Then, how could the new station I've come to depend on, be so far out?
Then it hit me... This wasn't live radio I was listening to. I was streaming that which began as a live broadcast and then goes through who-knows-what to get on their site for us to stream... All of that process introduces some amount of digital delay - and I did have to pause the stream a couple of times...
*Whew* all is as it should be. Lambs gently floated back down from the sky to their field, trees perked up, birds chirped...and that submarine re-surfaced. I put my med's (a bottle of rye) back in the cupboard and went back to folding the laundry. I should have it all folded in another 10 minutes - or so...