THE HOME PAGE OF
TOM COX
WHAT’S UP?
110509
Summer is just about here! Lots of interesting training on the go – both
Strathmore and Airdrie have
had a State of Local Emergency (SOLE) in the last year, so the Emergency
Operations Centre courses were both well-attended and very interesting. Working on a new CANWARN
severe weather spotting and reporting course with Environment Canada and hope
to have that ready for June.
This coming summer will be busy with
100301
Still working at Original Joe’s as a
busboy. Oh, yes – also the Emergency
Management Training Officer for the
070920
My wine tasting group has been going for 27
years. We rotate houses, have some food,
but the main attraction is the six or so wines that are presented one of the
couples in the group. Rather than let
wines go bad in my cellar, I decided to crack open a few bottles to see how
wines age with time. Each of the wines
was a standout in its day, but time has faded some of the fruit and colour. Still, the
wines were holding up well and the group had a chance to see what two or three
decades of ageing does to a good bottle of wine.
Wines tasted (Thanks to David and Brenda
Gummer of Vines for the Batailley out of their
collection):
1985 Beringer
Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (
1981 Sassicaia (
1978 Chateau Musar
Gaston Hochar (
1976 Chateau Mouton Rothschild First Growth
(Pauillac)
1975 Torres Gran Coronas Reserva
(Penedes)
1986 Chateau Batailley
Grand Cru (Pauillac)
1979 Chateau Palmer (Margaux)
As well, I was up in
070822
I’ve been learning a lot while at Original
Joe’s Restaurant. The staff is great,
the food is good, and the customers are a lot of fun. Fun to tease, that is. I love bringing food to a group of
people. When you get to the last plate,
the person is grinning as they are about to get their food. As you get the burger or steak in front of
their eyes, you say “And here is your SALMON special…!” Timed correctly, the person sees the correct
item and hears the wrong item and you watch their face as their mind tries to
reconcile the two. It’s hilarious! All but one person has taken it in very good
stride. Since I’ve grown my summer
beard, some customers actually think I’m “Original Joe”. For a while, the staff corrected them, but
now they nod their head in agreement.
I’m looking for a raise.
The
reason Tom isn’t allowed to make drinks….
Kendra, Tom and Ally – the Monday lunch pros
070815
I spent last weekend volunteering with the
ING Edmonton Marathon, helping with the ham radio operators doing television
and global positioning. The ham radio
equivalent of GPS is called APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System). Where the GPS systems in vehicles are fixed,
the ham radio operators can either make a hard-wired system in their vehicle or
a portable system that can be transferred from car to car from car to any other
vehicle. For special events, this
ability to transfer GPS tracking from a fixed vehicle to any event vehicle is a
huge asset. For the marathon, we had
APRS units in vehicles, bikes, motorcycles, and golf carts. Whether it was the lead motorbike for the
marathon or a medical golf cart to a television crew or sweep bicycle, we could
track multiple units at the same time and chart the progress of the race. Portable units have to be able to take a
beating as they get moved around and must have a variety of power sources
depending on the nature of the vehicle being used. If you want to see how the tracking works,
type “VE6TOX-6”
into the call sign box at a ham radio tracking site here
or here.
|
The portable APRS unit, including GPS
tracker, ham radio, and battery. The
Pelican case means it can be dropped into a bike saddlebag and be ready to go
– with an antenna. |
There are a variety of APRS display
programs to show either the current location of a unit or the path of a unit
over a day. Here is a display of the unit
on the bike as it follows around the marathon course. Tracking may be once every two minutes or
every time you make a turn – this display definitely shows the tracker using
turns to provoke a beacon. |
|
|
|
070804
I’m now the “world’s best busboy” at
Original Joe’s Restaurant in downtown
The amateur radio side of things is taking a
lot of time as well. We have one of the
most active Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) groups in
New Buddy is doing fine, but he isn’t quite
as happy that the restaurant won’t let him come to work like he was able to at
the wine shop. This is probably a good
thing, considering he mooched so much from the customers at the wine
tastings. I’d hate to see him in a
restaurant!
Here I am with my annual summer
beard at the Environment
TOX?
I never call myself "Tox". For
about 25 years I’ve used "Tox" to initial things or as a brief
signature and the odd person (who doesn’t know me) even calls me
"Tox". It came about from my high school drama days when my name was
misspelled in a program. It probably wouldn’t have made much difference, but
the lead actor won a major award and all of a sudden the focus was on the play
and the cast. Lighting was done by "Mr. Tox Cox" and the legend was
born! Another name that occasionally shows up is "Pthoughmme".
When someone said that "Tom" was easy to spell, I could reply
"No, most people get it wrong! It’s P T H O U G H M M
E! Never mind, their ALL silent!" By the way, to go along with that, my
last name is Gronowrski spelled " C O X"….
AMATEUR RADIO
I’ve been involved with amateur radio for a
number of years. I use it mainly for volunteering at public events as well as
for assisting with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service in
PLAYING WITH
THE WEB
I’ve started working on a couple of web
sites just to find out what it is all about. I have sites for the West Coast Trail and Amateur Radio. Although they are simplistic, I try to make them informative and a lot
of fun putting them together.
FAMILY
The Cox family is an interesting group of
individuals! Rather than asking for Christmas presents, I have asked the family
to send a favourite family story to add to the family
web site. I invite you to head to www.thecoxes.ca (under development) to see what type of family I come from!
FRIENDS
I’ve been blessed with some wonderful, lifelong
friends. Anyone who could have this group as friends would be very, very lucky!
Vern
Mantey, Dawn Swail and the
kids
Mike MacLean and Anke Krug
Jessica
Lestander
Bill and
Cip and Bronya, my long suffering
neighbors and Australian friends!
The Wine Group – 20 years of great wine, great memories and great
friends. (Now
going onto 28 years!)
Speaking of The Wine Group, October 2001 was
our 20th anniversary! I went to Edmonton to join the gang and
celebrate 20 years of getting together, trying a few wines, comparing notes and
enjoying each others’ company. The tasting was held at Il Portico – thanks to
Patrick and Doris – and is a formal dinner rather than the typical six wine
selections in someone’s house. The
dinner was fantastic, the wines were a treat, and the company was (as always)
warm and most enjoyable.
WINE BUSINESS
I have been in the wine business for over 25
years, selling wine and educating people. I enjoy public speaking and I enjoy
wine; putting the two together was due to some goading from Ivan Ivankovich who knew me better than I did!
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
I’ve done a lot of work with the Vancouver
Emergency Program. I used to train all
the members of the Vancouver Disaster Assistance Team and the training program
I wrote was being used by numerous cities within
AMATEUR RADIO
IN
Thanks to Rick Freedman (VE7EMT), I was
introduced to amateur radio through St. John Ambulance. Amateur radio is not restricted to one
frequency, as is most commercial radio.
After passing the basic amateur radio exam, I was able to select my call
sign. In British Columbia, you can
select call signs with VE7 or VA7 and then two or three letters. I selected VE7TOX (surprise, surprise). Amateur radio is a loose-knit group of
individuals with a wide range of interests.
They do everything from Morse code, satellite communications, amateur
television, bouncing signals of the moon and meteor trails, using alternate
power sources from 300 lemons to electric eels, and so on and so forth! Over the years I have slid more toward the
emergency communications side of the hobby.
Volunteering with the Vancouver Emergency Program through the Vancouver
Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization (VECTOR), I developed an
emergency frequency use plan for the Vancouver area and surrounding regions and
founded the TOPHAT amateur radio emergency communications competition. I have been to
MY LIFE
I’ve had a great life! I’ve had a chance to
do more things than most people do in a lifetime. I could die today and feel
that I’ve led a full life. The biggest joys have been:
The Coxes – A great family full of wonderful
people
Mom – who taught six kids the joys of April
Fool’s jokes.
Dad – who never forgot a birthday or a dog!
Boy Scouts – where I learned a love of
hiking and camping
Tininkling – in public and with friends!
High School Theater – Where I got my signature
name and had a ton of fun.
Water Polo – where I learned to drink more
than water!
Roger, Roland and Vern – three of the
greatest friends a guy could have
Nina and Maureen and Dawn – making three of
the greatest friends better men!
The Wine Group – a tip of the hat to Bill
and the gang over 20 years!
Hire-A-Student – my first chance to travel
Alberta and get paid.
“Old Buddy” – my closest friend for 17
years.
“New” Buddy – my new sidekick.
Jessica – my Swedish pen-pal and the younger
sister I never had.
CKUA Access Radio – one year presenting wine
on the air with Pat Barford.
St. John Ambulance – putting my first aid
training to good use.
Emergency Social Services – putting me to
good use
West Coast Trail – putting my feet and eyes
to great use
Amateur Radio and VECTOR – putting my mouth
to good use
Mike and Anke who
keep an eye on me.
Edward and Clyde – the family that hangs
around with me.
Rob– my "heaven sent" web-site muse.
Darryl Weinbren
and Daryl Prefontaine – great people to work with.
The West Coast Trail again – facing it for the seventh time!
No! 2004 is the eighth!
Tophat 2001 – an idea that came to fruition.
Tophat 2002 amateur radio emergency
communications competition.
Cuba – great adventures and a wedding.
DAT Team – Training the Vancouver Disaster
Assistance Team.
A ride on the USS Mercy – riding the world’s
largest trauma hospital from Seattle to Vancouver.
Field Day 2003 – where VECTOR placed 1st
in Canada!
The Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival – one
of the world’s best consumer shows.
Firestorm 2003 – volunteering with one of the largest
evacuations in Canadian history.
CACP – The Canadian Association of Chiefs of
Police conference.
Vines Wine Merchants – helping set up and run
a top-end wine shop. Here Buddy would
bring empty boxes for customers who bought a dozen bottles!
Original Joe’s – Ally and Chris help me
become the world’s best busboy.
Incident Command System – in 2007, I started
teaching ICS 100 to 400 for fire etc.
2008 Provincial Emergency Training Officer
with the Government of
2009 learning American Sign Language
BUDDY
Buddy was my Border Collie X – my best
friend for 17 years. I had to put him down in the spring of 2001 at the ripe
old age of 18. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, but
it was time. Like all dogs, he never complained, was always eager to see me,
and with some good training, was always at my side. I adopted him when he was
over a year old and, although I wouldn’t have named him Buddy, it was the name
he was used to and I thought it would be better to leave it. It was the most
appropriate name you could ever give a dog. The picture above was taken about
17 years of age.
BUDDY II
Buddy II (as opposed to old Buddy) was my
second Border Collie X. I got him in
April of 2002 from Border Collie Rescue.
Buddy was quite different in personality than Old Buddy, but has worked
out equally well as a “Buddy”. Again, I
adopted him when he was a year old, and although I wouldn’t have named him
Buddy, that is the name he is used to and think it is easier for him to leave
it. He is as curious as a cat, as smart
as Old Buddy but just a touch less barky.
He is working out great! Aside
from the time he managed to corner the skunk in my kitchen, that is…. I had to put Buddy down October 30, 2009 as
he could no longer get up. RIP
WHAT NEXT?
I’ve got to get some pictures in here and
break the pages down into readable chunks. Maybe figure out the e-mail for this
site next. THEN I get to design a couple of other sites and really get at this
stuff. "Rob! I need help again! How do you get a web site to….where’s Rob
when you need him ????"
E-Mail: mail@tox.ca
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