Official Volunteer Researcher!

This weekend I had the opportunity to take part in the 15th annual Loon Watch at Kejimkujik National Park. Each year, in June and September, volunteers gather for an afternoon to paddle the lakes of Keji and count the pairs of loons they find, along with any young.

This year my Dad and I drove an hour into the backcountry of the park and paddled on Pebbleloggitch and Beaverskin lakes looking for loons. As expected, we saw none on Pebbleloggitch but once we got to Beaverskin, we hit the jackpot! I snuck down the portage with the binoculars and spotted an adult loon with a large juvenile! We sat and watched them for a while while we ate our lunch, and they put their heads down and had a nap! After a while the adult awoke and called, and suddenly there was a second adult! It must have been around the corner, fishing.

After lunch we climbed into the canoe and tried to get a bit closer to the birds for a better look. Immediately, the adult called to the baby and it scooted closer. The other adult went off to the other side of us, calling and trying to lure us away from its young. We promised we wouldn't get too close, took some pictures and left them alone to go explore the other end of the lake. By the time we returned, they had disappeared, melting into the background at the edge of the lake.

It was a great day, with beautiful skies, calm lakes, and a nice dose of fauna (in addition to the loons, we saw a hawk, a bald eagle, two ducks, several frogs, and a deer!). It's a pretty neat feeling to help out with some of the great research that goes on at the park. (And I got a cool hat that denotes me as an official volunteer researcher!)

Caped Crusader of TV Sports.

Rogers Sportsnet One recently launched as a "national" channel and moved a number of Toronto Blue Jays baseball and Ottawa Senators hockey games to the new channel. The only problem? Currently, the channel is ONLY available on (funnily enough) Rogers Cable. Which is NOT available in Nova Scotia. Which means this is NOT a national channel and I have now lost access to previously watchable Jays and Sens games. I am not impressed. So I started writing:

To Bell TV in their online contact form:

Under "Your question" I asked, "Hello - I am looking for information on when/whether Bell will be carrying Rogers Sportsnet One. Thanks!" and under "Additional Comments" I added "I have heard that only Rogers cable will be carrying Rogers Sportsnet One. Since I live in Nova Scotia and therefore am unable to get Rogers Cable, I would really appreciate it if Bell TV could carry this network so I can watch the Blue Jays and Senators games which will now be unavailable to me. Please let me know any information you may have. Thanks!"

It told me: "Thank you for visiting bell.ca. We have received your request and a customer service representative will respond within the next 2 business days." Then I got an automated email, 36 hours later, saying "AUTOMATED RESPONSE - PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for visiting the Bell Canada web site, and for your Bell TV inquiry. Please be assured that we have received your request and we strive to respond to all e-mail inquiries within 24-48 business hours. We will respond to your e-mail in priority sequence. (...) Thank you for e-mailing Bell TV. - Electronic Customer Care Centre"

50-some hours after I submitted by letter, I did get a response (not that it really says much): "We thank you for your time to inquire about Bell TV programming, and we are pleased to assist you. We certainly get your point and we truly appreciate your time to check the latest update about the availability of Sportsnet One in Bell TV. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot announce if we will carry the Sportsnet One channel. Rogers Media has exclusive rights to these Blue Jays games so they are not available on channels beyond what Rogers Media provides them on. Please bear with us for the meantime and rest assured that we will do everything in our power to provide the content and value our customers desire. You will be delighted to know that we will continue to make the remaining 21 games available for Sports 1 or 2 theme pack (Rogers Sportsnet) subscribers. When it comes to choosing which sports packages we should offer, Bell TV makes the final decision based on numerous factors including anticipated appeal, cost, bandwidth and whether or not the product compliments current programming. At this time, there are no firm plans to bring Sportsnet One to Bell TV. We assure you that your feedback is noted and has been forwarded to the Marketing Department for further review and consideration. We thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you for choosing Bell TV as your satellite provider, Ms. Hopper. Have a great day."

I am pleased to report that I am in fact delighted that I will continue to receive the programming I'm paying for! Yay!

Sent to Rogers via customer.service@rci.rogers.com:

"To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to you regarding Rogers' new channel, Sportsnet One. According to your website, Sportsnet One will be a "national sports digital channel." However, I understand that the only way you can currently subscribe to Sportsnet One is if you are a Rogers Cable subscriber. Since Rogers Cable is not available in Nova Scotia (or Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Quebec, PEI or the Territories according to your website) this is FAR from being a national channel. Therefore, I am now unable to watch any of the Toronto Blue Jays games which have now been moved to this exclusive channel, nor will I be able to watch the Ottawa Senators games which have likewise been moved. As a fan of both these teams, even though I already pay for both the regular and high definition feeds of not one but four other Rogers channels, I would have been willing but annoyed to shell out yet more money for another Rogers station - but now I can't even do that. I am sure you are getting many comments in this vein and therefore your customer service reps are likely very busy, but a response and explanation would be greatly appreciated."

To date (60 hours after submitting my letter) I have received no response.

On the Ottawa Senators contact form, under the category Broadcasting, I wrote:

"To Whom It May Concern: I am writing regarding the new Rogers Sportsnet One channel, which I understand will be carrying a number of Ottawa Senators games this season. This channel is apparently currently only available to Rogers cable subscribers - which I am not, nor do I have the option to be as it is not available in Nova Scotia. Therefore I am upset that I will be unable to watch a number of Senators games this season. As a dedicated fan in Nova Scotia it is already hard enough to be a fan - games are not always available in HD even though I pay for the channel and are sometimes blacked out - so this new development only makes it worse. Any explanation you could provide would be appreciated."

It said: "Thank you for your feedback. Your question or feedback was successfully sent to the appropriate department."

UPDATE: If you want attention paid to you, go to Facebook! Today I posted on the Ottawa Senators fan page: "Love my Sens but their customer service sucks... submitted a question on their contact us for a week ago and no reply, not even an automated one... BOO."

A mere two hours later, they replied: "Hi Jennifer, What was your issue? Our "contact us" form doesn't always direct the questions to the right people so too often things get lost in the shuffle. It's something we are looking into fixing going into next season."

I posted in reply that " I submitted a question under the "broadcasting" category regarding coverage of the Sens on Sportsnet One, which I can't access..."

They wrote: "I know some people in that department so I'll talk to them tomorrow and will post my findings here. Did you have anything specific questions in mind?"

So I said: " Just wondering what the Senators have to say about a number of their games being broadcast on Sportsnet One which is only available to Rogers subscribers (seems to only be available in ON and NB) - I live in NS and have no option to subscribe to this channel as Rogers does not offer cable here so therefore will not be able to watch those games." Kj Baker added, "How many games is Rogers sportsnet one holding?"

The Sens replied: "Up to 15 games on Sportsnet One but that's on top of the 40 games that will be shown on Sportsnet East. At the moment this doesn't help out of market fans like Jennifer but it sounds like the wheels are in motion to fix that. Rob Brodie wrote a pretty good article a few weeks ago about the impact of Sportsnet One if you are interested, here's the link..."

I added, "I contacted Bell and they basically told me "no comment" as to whether they would be offering Sportsnet One. Thanks for looking into this for me!" and got a friendly "No problem...hopefully everything works out for you" in reply. Thanks to the anonymous Ottawa Senators facebooker that actually replied to me!

Can I Call Myself a Professional Blogger Now?

My first post on the Halifax Chamber of Commerce's new blog is up! It gives me a chance to write about some more 'serious' stuff - this one's about my vision for the future of transportation in Halifax! Check it out here...

Environmental... Whiner?

I have always been what I would call environmentally conscious - my parents always had a backyard compost heap so food scraps never went in the garbage; we used to pick up garbage in the ditch and have can contests at school; I grew up camping in the backcountry of Kejimkujik National Park, respecting the world around me and learning to "pack out" garbage. Gradually, more and more of the world has joined me in this green craze.

I was the one to push for composting at our office and the one who created PowerPoint presentations to teach people how to sort their waste. I am also the one who will dig through the recycling bin at the office and remove the non-recyclable materials! And when I forgot to take reusable bags with me to the grocery store the other day, I hurried across the parking lot guiltily with my plastic bags of food.

So when other people don't take being green as seriously as I do, I get... annoyed. The part that bugs me the most is that I really feel powerless in a lot of situations to do anything other than gripe.

Take "my" beach. For the last 5 months I have been working on a yearlong project, called Daily Ocean, to take a photograph of the ocean by my house each day. And there is often what is technically garbage on the beach -the usual rope, tires, the odd flip flop or rubber boot that you would expect to come from the ocean especially near an active fishery - but on one particular day the tide must have been just right because the beach was littered with bright green, pink, blue and white... tampon applicators. I mean, GROSS! Who wants to see that on their beautiful beach? And what do people think is going to happen to a PLASTIC applicator when they put it in the toilet?

So that is my gripe for the day. And all I can really do about it is gripe... and blog.

I am not a golfer... but I am a published writer!

Here's a recent article I wrote, a review of some golf lessons I had taken, for the Chamber's Golf Links publication:

Helpful tips abound at Chamber Golf Academy

By Jennifer Hopper, Halifax Chamber of Commerce

I am not a golfer. I may look like one, with my own clubs, pull cart, shoes, glove, and ugly-golf-chic pants, but the problem is, I don’t have the game to back it up! To be fair, I have only been golfing since last summer, and I certainly enjoy the game, but unfortunately I’m not very good at it yet.

Thankfully, the Chamber Golf Club has a solution to that: Chamber Golf Academy. I had the chance to participate in a recent Academy hosted by The Links at Montague, a Chamber Golf Club Partner. Kevin and Craig, two of the great golf pros on staff at The Links at Montague, spent four hours giving us tips and tricks to help improve the three basic areas of the game, beginning with putting, moving on to chipping and finishing big at the driving range.

From tips for the very beginner (like ‘here’s how you hold a club’ and ‘to chip try an 8 iron’) to fine adjustments for those who know the basics and are looking to improve their game (like ‘turn your wrist a tiny bit sooner’ or ‘move your foot an inch to the left’), the pros were willing and able to give us what we needed.

As someone who has only played a handful of times, it was also handy to have a refresher after a long, golf-less Nova Scotia winter on things I’m sure I knew last year, like the ideal foot position for chipping, and when to put the ball closer to your left foot versus more centered.

Other helpful tricks got thrown in too. It’s always good to learn useful tricks such as how to read the green by holding up your club in front of your dominant eye, blocking out the ball with the shaft of the club and looking where the hole is in relation to the club. Golf etiquette tips are great too, such as not scuffing your feet across the green. And one member of the group even got a suggestion to have his clubs lengthened a bit, along with information on how to go about doing so.

The driving range is where I personally need the most practice, and was where I learned the most during our lessons. Craig took one look at my swing and told me about 5 things I was doing wrong! He immediately spotted the reason my drives always head right: turns out the way I was swinging caused my club face to be turned to the right at the point of contact. I’m still not going to be hitting any 300 yard drives any time soon, but hopefully now they’ll stay out of the woods!

Overall, though, my favourite tip – and the one that made the most difference to my swing – is simple: RELAX. After all, this thing called golf is supposed to be fun!

Jennifer Hopper is the Member Services Manager (and sometime golf networker) at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

Read the whole issue...

Maybe I should be a gardener...

There's something about walking into a greenhouse and inhaling that first lungful of moist, warm, dirt-scented air that just instantly lifts the spirits - especially in the middle of winter, but the effect is the same in the middle of May.

This weekend I went to the open house that Halifax Regional

Municipality hosted at its greenhouses, where it grows all the plants for city parks. We got to wander through a number of greenhouses, see plants in various stages of growth, view some displays about bugs, community gardening and compost, and generally take in the smell of good dirt and the beauty of plants in full bloom in May.

Most of the plants were obviously for eventual transplanting into outdoor parks (some were even labelled already for which park they were going to), but there were also some (like this giant man-eating cactus) that had clearly been in residence for a while!

It was also a great chance to get some colourful close-ups - one of

my favourite kinds of photography! All in all I was definitely glad we stopped by. And it got me thinking... maybe I should work in a greenhouse all winter? Warmth, amplified sunshine and plant life would certainly be good for the soul in January!

A Mother's Day Brunch Feast!

First, an apology. For a while I had decided that I would only post when something was new, different, "newsworthy." That led to not posting for way, way too long. I have now decided that I will post about interesting, creative, me things (while still avoiding the annoying stream-of-consciousness blog that was my original intention to not write).

So. Cooking, while never on my I-could-do-this-for-a-living list, has always been a definite interest of mine and something I (almost) always find enjoyable, relaxing, and a chance to express my creativity. My fiancé's summary of dinner is often something on the lines of "weird... but good!"

This past weekend my sister was in town (to go wedding dress shopping with me, as it happens) - and we realized that this meant she would be home for Mother's Day for the first time in about 8 years. We decided that of course we should do something to celebrate.

We briefly considered our options for a dine-out brunch, but decided that a) any good local brunch spots would be packed that day, and b) it would be more fun to do it ourselves! So, with some mad cross-country emailing and some across-the-cubicle advice from my coworker and the lovely writer of With Bite, we came up with a scrumptious brunch menu:

• Lattes (although I have been informed they are more of a cafe au lait since they aren't actually made with espresso): I made a pot of coffee so my Dad could have his black, then nuked half-mugs of skim milk, frothed them up with this great battery-operated frother my best friend gave me for Christmas, added vanilla syrup and topped with coffee, then sprinkled the foam with a little bit of cocoa. In deep blue mugs it had a very dramatic effect. (Perhaps a career as a barista is in my future?)
  
  
• Smoked salmon: I couldn't decide on hot or cold smoked salmon so I got some of both, from Willy Krauch's Nova Scotia smokehouse. Yum!
  
  
• Fruit salad: We combined strawberries and mango with cucumber to compliment the salmon, then added fresh mint leaves. We poured a bit of champagne and orange juice over the top to let all the flavours blend, and garnished with a sprig of mint. It was beautiful!
  
  
• Chocolate crescents: A sweet garnish for the plate, we only made enough of these for each person to have a taste. A roll of frozen multigrain pastry dough was improved immeasurably by the addition, in the middle of each crescent roll, of a square of Just Us! fair trade milk chocolate.
  
  
• Scones: At my sister's insistence our main carb for the meal was scones, made by her from our mother's go-to recipe. One half of the recipe was mixed with frozen raspberries for a delicious purply treat. The other half was up in the air until I looked in the fridge and caught sight of a bag of shredded Italian cheeses: cheese scones it was! Brushed with garlic butter before baking, they made a great compliment to the cold smoked salmon.
  
  
• Heart-shaped eggs: This started out as a bit of a joke by my sister but I thought, why not? I bought a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (with a "comfort edge" on the top which gave me something cool to grab onto) and placed that in the frying pan as I cooked the eggs one at a time. The eggs were from a local "hobby" farmer in my hometown, and have delicious bright yellow yolks! I had gone with my mother the previous weekend to the farm to pick some up and had seen the happy chickens pecking away in their run in the yard. Things always taste better when you can see where they come from! A dab of Nova Scotia-made pepper herb jelly was the finishing touch.
  
  
• Mimosas: What fancy brunch would be complete without some champagne and orange juice? Ours were served in fancy flutes and garnished with a frozen strawberry and some leftover mint leaves from the salad! One of the funnier moments of the morning was when our mother, drinking her latte and waiting for the food to be ready, called innocently from the other room to ask where the champagne was for her orange juice! Little did she know...

Brunch was delicious and the company was grand. To top it all off, there was a cheeky card (from papyrus, referencing how only such a fabulous mother could have daughters as fabulous as us), a mini rose bush (a throwback to the years when we gave her a real rosebush each year) and a one-of-a-kind Creations by Jennifer necklace. Needless to say, we were pretty proud of ourselves!