After a few years of having minimal communication from Garrett's teacher, we were greated with a novella in his planner today. Unfortunately, it seems that Garrett's been a little rowdy on the playground.
He insists that he accidentally pushed a kid down who was walking backwards, blindfolded, while on roller skates, in a snowstorm... I'm trying to say that I'm not sure whether to believe it was an accident when the details shift around more than a stack of bowling balls in an earthquake.
Hopefully it's just your typical playground shenanigans and Garrett will keep his nose clean. He does tend to hang out with a lot of the meaner kids though, so I'm hoping they're not rubbing off on him. He's such a sweet lad :)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Spoonful Of Yogurt
Kara came down with an ear infection last week and is now on some antibiotics to help get her back to her usual spunky self.
Unfortunately, the medicine tastes like liquid death with a pinch of distilled horror to spice it up. I thought Kara was exaggerating about it being disgusting until I tried a little drop that was on the counter and had to scrub my tongue down to the bone* with a chunk of pumice to get rid of the taste.
After almost having to do a restraint to force the medicine down her throat on Sunday, we've decided to take a different tack: bribery and disguise. The bribery thing is easy: she'll get a little Polly Pocket doll and/or outfit each day that she takes the medicine. She's also able to have one or two chocolate eggs from Easter, which is fine as we have tonnes of those lying around.
We're also mixing the medicine in with apple sauce or yogurt. It still tastes nasty, but it's somewhat diluted by the taste of the snack that it's mixed in and she is able to take a lot of swigs on her juice/water glass to help wash down the vile poison.
So far it's working, though Kara is still not a huge fan of medicine time. And I don't blame her!
* I know that tongues don't have bones :)
Unfortunately, the medicine tastes like liquid death with a pinch of distilled horror to spice it up. I thought Kara was exaggerating about it being disgusting until I tried a little drop that was on the counter and had to scrub my tongue down to the bone* with a chunk of pumice to get rid of the taste.
After almost having to do a restraint to force the medicine down her throat on Sunday, we've decided to take a different tack: bribery and disguise. The bribery thing is easy: she'll get a little Polly Pocket doll and/or outfit each day that she takes the medicine. She's also able to have one or two chocolate eggs from Easter, which is fine as we have tonnes of those lying around.
We're also mixing the medicine in with apple sauce or yogurt. It still tastes nasty, but it's somewhat diluted by the taste of the snack that it's mixed in and she is able to take a lot of swigs on her juice/water glass to help wash down the vile poison.
So far it's working, though Kara is still not a huge fan of medicine time. And I don't blame her!
* I know that tongues don't have bones :)
Sunday, May 01, 2011
BLARF!
Kara is sick... again. She was sick on Thursday and now she's sick again. She hasn't had to throw up since about 4:30 or so, but man, the poor little thing!
Hopefully it's yet another 24-hour bug. At least she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow so we'll see what's going on one way or another.
Hopefully it's yet another 24-hour bug. At least she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow so we'll see what's going on one way or another.
VGL Wrap-Up
Well, Garrett was very impressed by Videogames Live the other night. The seats were awesome (front row, middle of the balcony) and there were a lot of great performances through the night. I was very impressed by Martin Leung (the videogame pianist) and blown away by the flute skills of Laura Intravia (aka Flute Link).
I'd love it if the show came back to the area again next year. There is a lot of stuff that is the same but they do have enough new content to warrant repeated viewings. And it's just a great concert regardless.
Also, the winner of the costume contest was a guy dressed up as a Lego minifig. The costume was amazing.
I'd love it if the show came back to the area again next year. There is a lot of stuff that is the same but they do have enough new content to warrant repeated viewings. And it's just a great concert regardless.
Also, the winner of the costume contest was a guy dressed up as a Lego minifig. The costume was amazing.
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Grant!
I did send the guy a message but was out most of Friday, so in case he happens to stumble by here, happy birthday, little brother!
Now if only we could figure out why he keeps moving further and further away from the rest of his loving, caring family :)
Now if only we could figure out why he keeps moving further and further away from the rest of his loving, caring family :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
VGL
This should be interesting.
I'm taking Garrett with me to see Videogames Live tonight (Wed) in Kitchener. I'm very excited as it's a fantastic concert and I think he'll have a blast. I need to make sure he wears something videogamey!
I'm also interested to see how many tags I can get with my 3DS. So far I've found ONE person in the wild and that was at the Sarnia easter egg hunt. If I don't find very many other people with a 3DS tomorrow night, I won't find them anywhere!
I'm taking Garrett with me to see Videogames Live tonight (Wed) in Kitchener. I'm very excited as it's a fantastic concert and I think he'll have a blast. I need to make sure he wears something videogamey!
I'm also interested to see how many tags I can get with my 3DS. So far I've found ONE person in the wild and that was at the Sarnia easter egg hunt. If I don't find very many other people with a 3DS tomorrow night, I won't find them anywhere!
Happy 4th Birthday Kara
Kara turned 4 last week and I was so busy I forgot to post! I'll have to dig up some pictures from last week's string of birthday parties, but suffice it to say, she's very happy to be four now!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Happy Birthday Mom!
My mom is [REDACTED] years old today! Congratulations for making it through another trip around the sun, mom!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Fun Is Work!
Speaking of work that is fun, I've been totally engrossed in this Portal 2 ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that has been going on since the beginning of the month. The reason it is so neat is because there's a chance that, due to a lot of geeks playing a lot of indie games, Portal 2 will be available at least a day earlier than planned! It is supposed to launch on Tuesday but because everyone has been playing a bunch of neat little games on Steam, we'll be able to play it by Monday night if all of the calculations are correct.
I'm sure that's gibberish for most of you, but it's really cool and one of the great things about being a gamer. What other medium will give you a chance to partake of their content early by watching/reading/listening to other movies/books/songs?
I'm sure that's gibberish for most of you, but it's really cool and one of the great things about being a gamer. What other medium will give you a chance to partake of their content early by watching/reading/listening to other movies/books/songs?
Work Is Hard
If you see a few more gray hairs on my head, I think it's because work is out to age me 20 years over the past few weeks. The last couple of days have been the first where I feel like I've got my feet back under me and it's so nice to have a day where I can just cook food and hang out with the guys instead of being buried in paperwork up to my eyeballs.
Not that I don't have paperwork, but the high priority stuff is definately wrangled for the moment. Phew!
Not that I don't have paperwork, but the high priority stuff is definately wrangled for the moment. Phew!
Monday, April 04, 2011
It's Still Easier Than Explaining It To My Grandparents
Please check out this epic flowchart detailing how to explain the internet to a 19th century street urchin. It is about 8 kinds of awesome.
And it's pretty funny too.
And it's pretty funny too.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
The Best Worst Thing You'll Hear All Day
If you've been exposed to the virulent strain of earworm that is Rebecca Black's 'Friday', do yourself a favour and watch this video.
At the very least, Colbert & Fallon have managed to wash the sound of the original version out of my brain.
Edit: I give up. Just go on Youtube and search for Friday and Colbert.
At the very least, Colbert & Fallon have managed to wash the sound of the original version out of my brain.
Edit: I give up. Just go on Youtube and search for Friday and Colbert.
Chicks Dig Scars
Garrett & I got to spend about 6 hours or so in the local ER waiting to see if he had any kind of internal damage after he had an unexpected meeting of his stomach and the bare metal end of his handlebars while riding around outside today.
We were a little concerned that the force of the blow and the fact that it took the skin off his stomach (and left it imprinted on the inside of the shirt!) so I drove him over to the hospital after work to have a professional give him a once-over. While we did have an almost 6 hour wait there, they took it seriously enough to do a urine test and ultrasound to ensure that there wasn't any internal injury. Thankfully, it looks like he'll just be tender on his tummy for a bit and have a very odd scar to show to his friends when he's older.
And I have to say, for a kid in some amount of pain and with not a lot to do, Garrett handled the long wait at the hospital like a trooper. He played his DS, my 3DS, my iPhone, read some magazines, flounced about a bit and ate a bunch of junk food from the vending machine with nary a complaint. I think he was more interested in all of the stuff going on through the glass doors into the ward and with all of the people around to realize how dull it was!
To add insult to injury to this whole evening, we got trapped in the parking lot for about 10 minutes when we were trying to leave. On the upside, we didn't have to pay the obscenely high cost for parking ($16 to park for 2 hours? SERIOUSLY?!?) but it was kind of annoying nonetheless.
We were a little concerned that the force of the blow and the fact that it took the skin off his stomach (and left it imprinted on the inside of the shirt!) so I drove him over to the hospital after work to have a professional give him a once-over. While we did have an almost 6 hour wait there, they took it seriously enough to do a urine test and ultrasound to ensure that there wasn't any internal injury. Thankfully, it looks like he'll just be tender on his tummy for a bit and have a very odd scar to show to his friends when he's older.
And I have to say, for a kid in some amount of pain and with not a lot to do, Garrett handled the long wait at the hospital like a trooper. He played his DS, my 3DS, my iPhone, read some magazines, flounced about a bit and ate a bunch of junk food from the vending machine with nary a complaint. I think he was more interested in all of the stuff going on through the glass doors into the ward and with all of the people around to realize how dull it was!
To add insult to injury to this whole evening, we got trapped in the parking lot for about 10 minutes when we were trying to leave. On the upside, we didn't have to pay the obscenely high cost for parking ($16 to park for 2 hours? SERIOUSLY?!?) but it was kind of annoying nonetheless.
Friday, April 01, 2011
On A Happier Note...
This has been a bear of a week for me, but tomorrow (today?) is my day off (yay) so I'm finally getting a bit of time to decompress. Despite the insanity of the previous post, the absolute emotional wringer of a day I had on Wednesday at work and the fact that it was year end at work on Thursday and the paperwork was flying furiously, there is a glimmer in the darkness!
Our church had a spectacular opening Sunday on the 27th. Our first service was about 75% capacity in the sanctuary, which holds about 700 people. For the second service, it was standing room only, not to mention all of the people spilling out into the foyer and the coffee shop. Altogether, we had something like 1200 people come to the church on Sunday with 200 kids in the children's area. Woo!
And in a fit of insanity, I had volunteered to help with parking. Here's a still shot of the parking lot from the far edge of the lot to show how many cars there were...
It was a bit packed. We had cars lined up all the way from the cul-de-sac at the end of 10th Line to the lights at Argentia at one point, but we managed to squeeze about 400 or so cars into a lot designed to hold about 300. It was nuts. 3.5 hours of nuts, to be precise, because that's how long I spent outside directing traffic that day! At least the weather was beautiful, though I got a pretty nasty sunburn for my troubles.
Hopefully the coming Sundays will be a little more... sane. We had a lot of visitors, special guests and curious people who likely won't be around on a regular basis, though it would be awesome to have this kind of turn out every week.
I'm just happy that we have a building to call home for the church now. It has been a long time coming and it's like the church is coming into its adolescence now (almost literally, what with the congregation being about 10 years old this coming September) so we have all sorts of new challenges and opportunities to look forward in this new phase of the church's life. Time to sit back and buckle in and enjoy the ride.
Our church had a spectacular opening Sunday on the 27th. Our first service was about 75% capacity in the sanctuary, which holds about 700 people. For the second service, it was standing room only, not to mention all of the people spilling out into the foyer and the coffee shop. Altogether, we had something like 1200 people come to the church on Sunday with 200 kids in the children's area. Woo!
And in a fit of insanity, I had volunteered to help with parking. Here's a still shot of the parking lot from the far edge of the lot to show how many cars there were...
It was a bit packed. We had cars lined up all the way from the cul-de-sac at the end of 10th Line to the lights at Argentia at one point, but we managed to squeeze about 400 or so cars into a lot designed to hold about 300. It was nuts. 3.5 hours of nuts, to be precise, because that's how long I spent outside directing traffic that day! At least the weather was beautiful, though I got a pretty nasty sunburn for my troubles.
Hopefully the coming Sundays will be a little more... sane. We had a lot of visitors, special guests and curious people who likely won't be around on a regular basis, though it would be awesome to have this kind of turn out every week.
I'm just happy that we have a building to call home for the church now. It has been a long time coming and it's like the church is coming into its adolescence now (almost literally, what with the congregation being about 10 years old this coming September) so we have all sorts of new challenges and opportunities to look forward in this new phase of the church's life. Time to sit back and buckle in and enjoy the ride.
Take That, Good Deed Doer!
How I wish this was an April Fool's joke. There is a very surreal thing going down around our neighbourhood and it just goes to show how small a town Acton is.
A week ago or so (during that crazy freak blizzard) one of the people living near us had their dog either stolen or lost from their yard. I'm not sure whether they're exaggerating or not and I honestly don't know why anyone would wait until the nastiest day of the year so far to bother to try to steal their puppy, but that's their story and they're sticking to it.
So they went to the cops, it didn't seem like much would happen but a few days later, it appears that they've retrieved their dog from a supposed breeder or some such. Hooray! Happy end of story.
Except now it seems that one of our friends that lives across town has learned that no good deed goes unpunished. They found a dog on one of the sideroads near Acton and called the local humane society and someone came to take the dog to the shelter. And yes, it was that missing puppy. So the cops have been paying a visit to our good friends and they're worried that they're going to be under the spotlight as suspected dognappers when they were just trying to do the right thing.
And to make things even more crazy, it turns out that the person who came from the shelter to take the dog away is a fake. The shelter has nobody like this on staff. So that's a whole other layer of insanity on this surreal pancake.
Hopefully everything will be fine for our friends and the real dognappers in this case will be caught and/or never stalk the Hills of Halton again, but it sucks that our friends are stuck in the middle for having tried to do the right thing.
Draaaama!
A week ago or so (during that crazy freak blizzard) one of the people living near us had their dog either stolen or lost from their yard. I'm not sure whether they're exaggerating or not and I honestly don't know why anyone would wait until the nastiest day of the year so far to bother to try to steal their puppy, but that's their story and they're sticking to it.
So they went to the cops, it didn't seem like much would happen but a few days later, it appears that they've retrieved their dog from a supposed breeder or some such. Hooray! Happy end of story.
Except now it seems that one of our friends that lives across town has learned that no good deed goes unpunished. They found a dog on one of the sideroads near Acton and called the local humane society and someone came to take the dog to the shelter. And yes, it was that missing puppy. So the cops have been paying a visit to our good friends and they're worried that they're going to be under the spotlight as suspected dognappers when they were just trying to do the right thing.
And to make things even more crazy, it turns out that the person who came from the shelter to take the dog away is a fake. The shelter has nobody like this on staff. So that's a whole other layer of insanity on this surreal pancake.
Hopefully everything will be fine for our friends and the real dognappers in this case will be caught and/or never stalk the Hills of Halton again, but it sucks that our friends are stuck in the middle for having tried to do the right thing.
Draaaama!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
One More Sleep!
Tomorrow is the launch date for the new Nintendo 3DS! I can't wait. I've had mine paid off for at least a month or two and am really excited to see this thing in action.
I'm only getting one game at launch (Pilotwings) but I'm really excited to play around with the Augmented Reality stuff. It looks really slick. And given that nary a day goes by where I don't play my DS, an enhanced version of my favourite game system of the past 5 years is more than welcome!
Garrett's pretty excited to see it too. We love 3D movies and such and it will be neat to see how this works without glasses.
I'm only getting one game at launch (Pilotwings) but I'm really excited to play around with the Augmented Reality stuff. It looks really slick. And given that nary a day goes by where I don't play my DS, an enhanced version of my favourite game system of the past 5 years is more than welcome!
Garrett's pretty excited to see it too. We love 3D movies and such and it will be neat to see how this works without glasses.
Buggered For Choice: Spring Election Edition
Well, it's election season and I don't think I've felt more blasé about picking a leader for our glorious country. I have been thinking about how none of the candidates inspire me in the least, except to perhaps retch into a corner.
I think that it is a necessary election to have because the Conservatives have basically been flounting the laws of the land AND the niceties of Parliament in such a blatant manner that they need to be held accountable. Even if the outcome of the election is identical to what it is now, at least the Opposition showed that it could actually get its head out of its butt long enough to do its job.
Locally, I like the guy who is running for the Conservative seat and he at least brought some decent bills to the table over the last while, but I don't really want to vote for the Conservatives. The Liberals... the less said about them the better and the NDP have done so many backflips on principle and policy issues that they should be in Cirque De Soleil. As for the Greens, well, I haven't heard a peep out of them in any capacity since the last election so I'd rather not toss my vote into that black hole.
So there's my quandary. Do I vote for the guy who I actually like who is in our local riding despite not wanting to vote for the party he is a member of OR do I play a game of political spin-the-bottle and essentially waste my vote? Not voting is out of the question, but it feels like I'm being forced to make a kind of bizzaro political version of Sophie's Choice.
I think that it is a necessary election to have because the Conservatives have basically been flounting the laws of the land AND the niceties of Parliament in such a blatant manner that they need to be held accountable. Even if the outcome of the election is identical to what it is now, at least the Opposition showed that it could actually get its head out of its butt long enough to do its job.
Locally, I like the guy who is running for the Conservative seat and he at least brought some decent bills to the table over the last while, but I don't really want to vote for the Conservatives. The Liberals... the less said about them the better and the NDP have done so many backflips on principle and policy issues that they should be in Cirque De Soleil. As for the Greens, well, I haven't heard a peep out of them in any capacity since the last election so I'd rather not toss my vote into that black hole.
So there's my quandary. Do I vote for the guy who I actually like who is in our local riding despite not wanting to vote for the party he is a member of OR do I play a game of political spin-the-bottle and essentially waste my vote? Not voting is out of the question, but it feels like I'm being forced to make a kind of bizzaro political version of Sophie's Choice.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Home. Sick.
Garrett woke up today with a fever of 102. Degrees. Celcius. Then he exploded.
Actually, it was Farenheit and he did puke a few times while at the sitter's. I was able to get home early (yay) and his fever seems to have broken, but he's now passed out on the couch after watching a bit of Pokémon. Hopefully the worst is over and he'll be all ready for an exciting week of March Break Fun[tm]!
This was kind of nice for me because I got a head start on my vacation. I don't go back until the 23rd!
Actually, it was Farenheit and he did puke a few times while at the sitter's. I was able to get home early (yay) and his fever seems to have broken, but he's now passed out on the couch after watching a bit of Pokémon. Hopefully the worst is over and he'll be all ready for an exciting week of March Break Fun[tm]!
This was kind of nice for me because I got a head start on my vacation. I don't go back until the 23rd!
Time to Share at the Timeshare!
Kara and I went up to Thornbury last week to hang out with my parents and just get away from the hustle and bustle of life in Acton. Seriously though, we had a great time up north, even with Kara being sick one of the days. We went swimming and snowshoeing and drank lots of delicious Ashanti coffee.
There's a great cheese shoppe in Thornbury that had a variety of amazing cheeses I've never tried before. Before I get to my top two, let me just say that they had a cheese that was the unholy, yet very tasty, offspring of a piece of gouda and parmesan. That being said, the best of the cheeses were a couple of cheddars. One was a Guinness cheddar that looks like something you scrape off of the bar at an Irish pub, yet tastes surprisingly mild. My personal favourite was an Irish Whiskey cheddar that was not sharp in the least and had a distinctly whiskey tang to it. Yum!
Anyway, here are a few pictures we took while we were up there. Enjoy!
There's a great cheese shoppe in Thornbury that had a variety of amazing cheeses I've never tried before. Before I get to my top two, let me just say that they had a cheese that was the unholy, yet very tasty, offspring of a piece of gouda and parmesan. That being said, the best of the cheeses were a couple of cheddars. One was a Guinness cheddar that looks like something you scrape off of the bar at an Irish pub, yet tastes surprisingly mild. My personal favourite was an Irish Whiskey cheddar that was not sharp in the least and had a distinctly whiskey tang to it. Yum!
Anyway, here are a few pictures we took while we were up there. Enjoy!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Local Wildman Spotted At Mall
Check out my dad! He's on the intarwebs!
Now if only I could get the crappy video codec to play in Firefox...
Now if only I could get the crappy video codec to play in Firefox...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Ribs...
We went out for all-you-can-eat ribs at Montana's yesterday as the capper on our Family Day activities. I think I'm now 90% pork-back ribs and 10% human. Urg...
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart
Saw this over on Dubious Quality and had to share it.
Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart
50 F/10 C Californians shiver uncontrollably; Canadians plant gardens
35 F/2 C Italian cars will not start; Canadians drive with windows down
32 F/0 C American water freezes; Canadian water melts
0 F/ -18 C New York City landlords finally turn on the heat; Canadians have the last cookout
-60 F/-51 C Santa Claus abandons the North Pole; Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door to door
-109 F/-78 C Carbon dioxide freezes into dry ice; Canadians pull down their earflaps
-173 F/-114 C Ethyl alcohol freezes; Canadians get frustrated when they cannot thaw the keg
-459.67 F/-273 C absolute zero; all atomic motion stops; Canadians say “cold enough for ya, eh?”
-500 F/-295 C Hell freezes over; Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup
Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart
50 F/10 C Californians shiver uncontrollably; Canadians plant gardens
35 F/2 C Italian cars will not start; Canadians drive with windows down
32 F/0 C American water freezes; Canadian water melts
0 F/ -18 C New York City landlords finally turn on the heat; Canadians have the last cookout
-60 F/-51 C Santa Claus abandons the North Pole; Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door to door
-109 F/-78 C Carbon dioxide freezes into dry ice; Canadians pull down their earflaps
-173 F/-114 C Ethyl alcohol freezes; Canadians get frustrated when they cannot thaw the keg
-459.67 F/-273 C absolute zero; all atomic motion stops; Canadians say “cold enough for ya, eh?”
-500 F/-295 C Hell freezes over; Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup
Thursday, February 03, 2011
The BOOth Fairy
Garrett lost another tooth tonight.
When Garrett wouldn't get out of Kara's room at bedtime, I told him to get to bed or the evil tooth fairy would show up. Of course, then he had to know everything there is to know about the evil tooth fairy...
So I showed him a clip from Darkness Falls.
Suffice it to say, both kids ran screaming to their rooms before the clip was over and on the upside, it was one of the easiest bedtimes ever. But I did have to tell Garrett that the evil tooth fairy wasn't real and show him a bunch of clips of car chases from The Blues Brothers to get him calmed down :)
#1 Parent Award, I await thee!
 |
| From Kids |
When Garrett wouldn't get out of Kara's room at bedtime, I told him to get to bed or the evil tooth fairy would show up. Of course, then he had to know everything there is to know about the evil tooth fairy...
So I showed him a clip from Darkness Falls.
Suffice it to say, both kids ran screaming to their rooms before the clip was over and on the upside, it was one of the easiest bedtimes ever. But I did have to tell Garrett that the evil tooth fairy wasn't real and show him a bunch of clips of car chases from The Blues Brothers to get him calmed down :)
#1 Parent Award, I await thee!
Friday, January 21, 2011
THREE DEE ESSSSSSS!
On a happier note, the 3DS has been official priced and dated. I had hoped it would be out on March 20, but I'll wait an extra week from my birthday if I have to. I've already got the money saved up for it and I put $5 down on it last week but today I'll brave the snow to slap more money down and get the thing paid off.
Woot. The DS has been the 'console' that I've played almost every single day for the past 5 years and I'm stoked for the new hardware with the potential for some cool 3D trickery.
Woot. The DS has been the 'console' that I've played almost every single day for the past 5 years and I'm stoked for the new hardware with the potential for some cool 3D trickery.
What A Week
Things are finally starting to get back to normal.
One of my coworkers was struck and killed by a GO train last Friday afternoon and I found out about it on Saturday morning (if you've been following my tweets, you've probably noticed that last week was kind of wonky).
It has been a rough week at work but all of the staff and the guys attended the memorial service for Elliott on Wednesday and it was a beautiful service that celebrated his far too short life. He was only about 5-6 months younger than me, so it struck home how fast things can change.
But life goes on and we'll remember all of the good thing about the last few years he spent working at CH before the accident. I've been wiped since I'm essentially running the show this week too, which has been a real treat. That said, work is starting to fall back into its old routine and while things aren't really back to normal, per se, it's a lot closer to normal than it has been for the past few days.
I just wish I had the weekend off to relax!
One of my coworkers was struck and killed by a GO train last Friday afternoon and I found out about it on Saturday morning (if you've been following my tweets, you've probably noticed that last week was kind of wonky).
It has been a rough week at work but all of the staff and the guys attended the memorial service for Elliott on Wednesday and it was a beautiful service that celebrated his far too short life. He was only about 5-6 months younger than me, so it struck home how fast things can change.
But life goes on and we'll remember all of the good thing about the last few years he spent working at CH before the accident. I've been wiped since I'm essentially running the show this week too, which has been a real treat. That said, work is starting to fall back into its old routine and while things aren't really back to normal, per se, it's a lot closer to normal than it has been for the past few days.
I just wish I had the weekend off to relax!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Happy Birthday Julie!
With all of the stuff going on at work this week, I almost forgot to put the birthday announcement up today!
Happy birthday, Julie! Sorry I've been stuck at work all day and didn't get to see you :(
Happy birthday, Julie! Sorry I've been stuck at work all day and didn't get to see you :(
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Chili Four Loko - Epic Meal Time
I thought I ate a lot of meat yesterday. I didn't eat nearly enough by these guys' standards.
A Day Of Meatings
What a busy, busy day today was. I had a meeting at work in the morning and then a meeting at night for the condo board. That wouldn't be so bad but this was basically the seventh day that I've worked in the past 8 days (I had Friday off) and I was really hoping that my work meeting was going to be short.
It wasn't.
I was really hoping my condo board meeting was going to be short.
It wasn't either.
That said, unlike many, MANY of the meetings I've sat through in the past, both of the meetings today were quite productive and worth the length of time I sat in them, so it wasn't a waste of a day.
Today was also a day full of meat.
I picked up some WagJag coupons back in November or so for the Hungry Hollow Smokehouse & Grille in Georgetown and was able to use one of them today. Man, oh man, is that place ever great. If you like meat at all, get ye there. I had the Dream Burger, which was a 1/4 pound burger topped with bacon, cheese and a big pile of pulled pork. I had it at around 3 this afternoon and I was still stuffed when I headed over to my evening meeting at 7. The prices are also incredibly cheap. Most of the sandwiches were in the $6-7 range (with sides) and that burger was only about $10. Delicious, delicious stuff.
And the last pile of meat for today came in the form of my dinner which I had when I got home around 10pm or so. We had some leftover pot roast from M&M's this evening and I finished off my day scarfing down that yummy hunk of cow.
Suffice it to say, I've spent most of the afternoon/evening/night in a bit of a meat hangover, but man, it was worth it :)
Now to eat healthly food for the rest of the week. Mmm... triscuits...
It wasn't.
I was really hoping my condo board meeting was going to be short.
It wasn't either.
That said, unlike many, MANY of the meetings I've sat through in the past, both of the meetings today were quite productive and worth the length of time I sat in them, so it wasn't a waste of a day.
Today was also a day full of meat.
I picked up some WagJag coupons back in November or so for the Hungry Hollow Smokehouse & Grille in Georgetown and was able to use one of them today. Man, oh man, is that place ever great. If you like meat at all, get ye there. I had the Dream Burger, which was a 1/4 pound burger topped with bacon, cheese and a big pile of pulled pork. I had it at around 3 this afternoon and I was still stuffed when I headed over to my evening meeting at 7. The prices are also incredibly cheap. Most of the sandwiches were in the $6-7 range (with sides) and that burger was only about $10. Delicious, delicious stuff.
And the last pile of meat for today came in the form of my dinner which I had when I got home around 10pm or so. We had some leftover pot roast from M&M's this evening and I finished off my day scarfing down that yummy hunk of cow.
Suffice it to say, I've spent most of the afternoon/evening/night in a bit of a meat hangover, but man, it was worth it :)
Now to eat healthly food for the rest of the week. Mmm... triscuits...
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Happy Anniversary!
So today was our 12th anniversary. I think that means I was supposed to give Julie silk and pearls. I got her an iPod instead. Does that count?
We didn't do anything terribly special. Garrett was still kind of wiped and pale from whatever bug hit him on New Year's Eve and so we stayed home from church and basically just vegged all day. Julie thought I was sick too, but I was just hanging out with Garrett and watching movies and playing games :)
Not the most romantic anniverary but we did have a nice dinner here at the house and we went out for steak last week in Sarnia, so it'll do. I'll just make sure I take her out somewhere really nice for her birthday :)
Now to get to bed. I just found out tonight that I have work first thing in the morning instead of later in the day. Sigh.
We didn't do anything terribly special. Garrett was still kind of wiped and pale from whatever bug hit him on New Year's Eve and so we stayed home from church and basically just vegged all day. Julie thought I was sick too, but I was just hanging out with Garrett and watching movies and playing games :)
Not the most romantic anniverary but we did have a nice dinner here at the house and we went out for steak last week in Sarnia, so it'll do. I'll just make sure I take her out somewhere really nice for her birthday :)
Now to get to bed. I just found out tonight that I have work first thing in the morning instead of later in the day. Sigh.
Friday, December 31, 2010
All Good Things...
And as the year grows to a close, so too does our vacation here in the Greater Sarnia Area. We had a pretty great time this year, with lots of visits with family, some fun toboggan runs and lots of yummy food.
I was also happy to be able to actually see a couple of friends who I have missed the last few times we've come down here. I had a coffee at the old New Trish In location where I spent a few years bussing tables, washing dishes and serving yummy food. It was interesting to see how much the building had changed since it turned into a Coffee Culture shop and how much it stayed the same.
Last night, my buddy Tony & I went out to the local all-you-can-eat Chinese/Japanese place (it was surprisingly good for mediocre western-style Chinese food) and then saw the truly excellent True Grit in the truly uncomfortable Lambton 9 theatres.
As a final adieu to 2010, I'll leave you with this comic, which strikes far too close to home :)
Let's hope that 2011 treats us all even better than 2010 did and be safe out there!
I was also happy to be able to actually see a couple of friends who I have missed the last few times we've come down here. I had a coffee at the old New Trish In location where I spent a few years bussing tables, washing dishes and serving yummy food. It was interesting to see how much the building had changed since it turned into a Coffee Culture shop and how much it stayed the same.
Last night, my buddy Tony & I went out to the local all-you-can-eat Chinese/Japanese place (it was surprisingly good for mediocre western-style Chinese food) and then saw the truly excellent True Grit in the truly uncomfortable Lambton 9 theatres.
As a final adieu to 2010, I'll leave you with this comic, which strikes far too close to home :)
Let's hope that 2011 treats us all even better than 2010 did and be safe out there!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tron
Go see TRON: Legacy if you can. Preferably on an IMAX screen in 3D, but just go see it. It was awesome and it blew Garrett's mind.
It's Almost Christmas Time!
I've got 2 days of work left and then I'm ON VACATION!
Unfortunately, I might not survive these next two days. Between fighting off this cold/flu thing that has been dogging me since Sunday and some last minute year-end crunches coming down from on high, I'm going to earn that vacation!
At least all of the shopping is done and we just need to wrap the last few presents and pack. Woo!
Unfortunately, I might not survive these next two days. Between fighting off this cold/flu thing that has been dogging me since Sunday and some last minute year-end crunches coming down from on high, I'm going to earn that vacation!
At least all of the shopping is done and we just need to wrap the last few presents and pack. Woo!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tron: Snoozacy
So on a happier note, tomorrow (today?) I'll be taking Garrett to go see Tron: Legacy in 3D on the IMAX screen. I'm stoked, since I've been a Tron fan since waaaay back in the day and from all accounts, the movie is a visual delight. I've been listening to Daft Punk's awesome soundtrack for most of this week and love it to death.
Heck, I even watched the original with the guys from work last week. It has been a couple of years since I last watched it and I have to admit that it hasn't aged as well as I wish it could have, but the fundamentals are still there. If you can cast your mind back far enough to appreciate just how groundbreaking the visuals were for their time (and how prescient a lot of the ideas introduced in it were), it's still amazingly impressive for what it did almost 30 years ago.
My only grumble is that I got called in to do the overnight shift and here I sit, trying to stay awake, knowing that I have tickets bought for the movie tomorrow morning and that I'll be running on very, VERY minimal sleep. Sigh.
Heck, I even watched the original with the guys from work last week. It has been a couple of years since I last watched it and I have to admit that it hasn't aged as well as I wish it could have, but the fundamentals are still there. If you can cast your mind back far enough to appreciate just how groundbreaking the visuals were for their time (and how prescient a lot of the ideas introduced in it were), it's still amazingly impressive for what it did almost 30 years ago.
My only grumble is that I got called in to do the overnight shift and here I sit, trying to stay awake, knowing that I have tickets bought for the movie tomorrow morning and that I'll be running on very, VERY minimal sleep. Sigh.
Anonymous Cowards
I kind of miss the old Haloscan comment system for der olde blog. Ever since I had to drop it and go with the built-in Blogger system, not only does nobody leave me notes (sniff), the only comments I get are from this Anonymous guy who seems to have a wide ranging interest in blog posts from years past and who wants to sell me lots of mail-order goods.
And to the latest Anonymous poster who decided to leave a rather vitriolic screed (that has since been pulped into the spam filter), get bent. Man up and deal with your problems directly instead of trying to strike out through intermediaries. I've got better things to waste my time with! (You know who you are.)
If you're going to leave something like that, at least put your name on the comment so I know who to take off my Christmas list.
And to the latest Anonymous poster who decided to leave a rather vitriolic screed (that has since been pulped into the spam filter), get bent. Man up and deal with your problems directly instead of trying to strike out through intermediaries. I've got better things to waste my time with! (You know who you are.)
If you're going to leave something like that, at least put your name on the comment so I know who to take off my Christmas list.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Prayers: Answered
I just want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for safety for my brother while he was overseas. I just got the news today that he is now in Cyprus, which means he should be home sometime next week, if all goes well.
I've tried not to worry about how my little brother is doing while in Afghanistan, but every so often you get that worried feeling and I tell ya, it's a huge relief to know that he's out of the sand and on his way back.
I've tried not to worry about how my little brother is doing while in Afghanistan, but every so often you get that worried feeling and I tell ya, it's a huge relief to know that he's out of the sand and on his way back.
Happy Birthday Dad!
My dad became a member of the Over-60 club yesterday. I think he celebrated by having a nap, yelling at some passing kids and eating mushy peas :)
He's going to kill me now...
He's going to kill me now...
My Toof: Revolutions
So I was munching on a candy cane the other night when I noticed something missing in my life. More specifically, something missing in my mouth... namely, the filling I just paid good money to have installed when my molar shattered while I was eating popcorn!
Thankfully my tooth had a warranty on it and my dentist didn't charge me anything since he had just put it in 2 weeks ago.
I had to chuckle a bit as he and the dental hygenist debated prostitution and bondage laws while he had his fingers in my mouth and I was choking on drool. They didn't seem to get the irony of debating the moral boundaries of inflicting pain on someone for money.
Sigh.
Thankfully my tooth had a warranty on it and my dentist didn't charge me anything since he had just put it in 2 weeks ago.
I had to chuckle a bit as he and the dental hygenist debated prostitution and bondage laws while he had his fingers in my mouth and I was choking on drool. They didn't seem to get the irony of debating the moral boundaries of inflicting pain on someone for money.
Sigh.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Doin' The WagJag
No, the WagJag isn't a new dance my family invented. Julie & I have been getting some awesome deals via the WagJag service and I feel compelled to spread the word. It's a neat system.
Every day or two a new deal is posted. If enough people buy into it, it is activated (and most of the time the deal only needs 5 people to activate it). Then you get a coupon or code e-mailed or mailed to you and off you go!
I jumped on the one the other day that was $25 for $50 worth of artisianal cheese. Julie grabbed a few spa deals and also snapped up some that gave us $40 worth of Home Hardware bucks for $20. The deals are really good and they've spread out pretty widely across Ontario, so I'd check out the site. If you sign up,tell them I referred you!
Every day or two a new deal is posted. If enough people buy into it, it is activated (and most of the time the deal only needs 5 people to activate it). Then you get a coupon or code e-mailed or mailed to you and off you go!
I jumped on the one the other day that was $25 for $50 worth of artisianal cheese. Julie grabbed a few spa deals and also snapped up some that gave us $40 worth of Home Hardware bucks for $20. The deals are really good and they've spread out pretty widely across Ontario, so I'd check out the site. If you sign up,tell them I referred you!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
My Toof!
I was eating some popcorn tonight and when I spat out what I thought was a kernel, it turned out to be chunks of tooth and silver filling!
Thankfully it was the tooth I had a root canal done on years ago, so it doesn't hurt or anything, but it's really annoying to have half of a tooth (my back molar, at that) in my head and half of it in my hand. Now I have to try to schedule a repair job tomorrow (hopefully) before this gets worse.
I think the gaming gods are punishing me for actually exhibiting some willpower and not buying the collector's edition of a game I really wanted to buy today. Things were going just dandy until then :P
Thankfully it was the tooth I had a root canal done on years ago, so it doesn't hurt or anything, but it's really annoying to have half of a tooth (my back molar, at that) in my head and half of it in my hand. Now I have to try to schedule a repair job tomorrow (hopefully) before this gets worse.
I think the gaming gods are punishing me for actually exhibiting some willpower and not buying the collector's edition of a game I really wanted to buy today. Things were going just dandy until then :P
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
This Strikes FAR Too Close To Home
Penny Arcade put up a comic the other day that really struck home. Take a gander.
I've caught myself doing the same thing a few times :)
I've caught myself doing the same thing a few times :)
Keep These In The Eisner File
Garrett has been working hard at making comics and drawing things for the last few days. He's been a busy beaver and made a giant mural poster and then started filling one of the characters with another comic that he made. It seems that the comic workshops at The Dragon are rubbing off on him.
Pay special attention to all of the veins on... everything. He learned that at last month's workshop.
I think Garrett uses Kara as a model...
Pay special attention to all of the veins on... everything. He learned that at last month's workshop.
I think Garrett uses Kara as a model...
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
This is Hallowe'en... doo doo doo...
We braved the cold on Sunday night to go Trick-Or-Treating. We were actually out there for a good hour and a half to two hours, which was much better than last year. There were lots of kids out but we noticed that more houses than usual weren't handing out candy.
That said, the kids each got at least two bags full of candy, so they're happy. I'm conditioning them to pay the daddy tax of one piece of candy whenever they go spelunking for treats. Mmmm...
Here are a few pics from that night. I'd put something witty under them but I'm too pooped to think of anything.
That said, the kids each got at least two bags full of candy, so they're happy. I'm conditioning them to pay the daddy tax of one piece of candy whenever they go spelunking for treats. Mmmm...
Here are a few pics from that night. I'd put something witty under them but I'm too pooped to think of anything.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Cable (With No Deadpool)
Yesterday we had the lightpost (and its built-in transformer) yanked out of our front yard by Hydro as they are in the midst of upgrading all of the transformers in the neighbourhood. This meant that last night was the first time we've had a pitch-black house at night, as we've had that glare in our house for the past 7 years or so.
Now that's all well and good. I like darkness as much as the next nighthawk. But what we weren't so happy about was whatever they did to our cable while they were digging up the lights.
Standard def cable channels are working fine, but all of our digital and HD channels are glitchy at best or outright not working today. So I get to hang out here at the house for the day and hope that the cable guy will show up before I have to go and pick up my parents from the airport.
I thought the cable had done some kind of self-repair but by about 9 or so this morning it was back to barely being watchable.
Woe is me. Whatever shall I do with only 100 channels to watch?! At least I got a day off work without having to call in sick or anything :)
Now that's all well and good. I like darkness as much as the next nighthawk. But what we weren't so happy about was whatever they did to our cable while they were digging up the lights.
Standard def cable channels are working fine, but all of our digital and HD channels are glitchy at best or outright not working today. So I get to hang out here at the house for the day and hope that the cable guy will show up before I have to go and pick up my parents from the airport.
I thought the cable had done some kind of self-repair but by about 9 or so this morning it was back to barely being watchable.
Woe is me. Whatever shall I do with only 100 channels to watch?! At least I got a day off work without having to call in sick or anything :)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Tantrums And Thunderstorms
I was going to take Garrett out to the local electric railway museum for their annual haunted train ride. Alas, it's pouring rain out there and with it being as chilly as it is and with Garrett still coughing like a TB patient in a sanitorium, I decided to hold off until next weekend.
Garrett wasn't so understanding. It wasn't a fun evening. Sigh.
We're instituting the 3-strike rule now for the rest of the week. He's got to keep his nose clean this week or else he's not going next week, rain or shine. Hopefully he does well because it is a fun evening, but I've got to stop caving whenever he gets in trouble and might not be able to go to something that I want to go to :)
Garrett wasn't so understanding. It wasn't a fun evening. Sigh.
We're instituting the 3-strike rule now for the rest of the week. He's got to keep his nose clean this week or else he's not going next week, rain or shine. Hopefully he does well because it is a fun evening, but I've got to stop caving whenever he gets in trouble and might not be able to go to something that I want to go to :)
The Coolest Thing You'll See Today
Check out this video for an amazing piece of technology that you'll want to hang on your wall. Holograms are cool!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Ni Hao, Mom & Dad
My parents are in China. I would call them and see how they're doing, but that would cost a fortune.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around that first sentence. China is the LAST place on Earth I can imagine my parents being at any time in history :)
I'm still trying to wrap my head around that first sentence. China is the LAST place on Earth I can imagine my parents being at any time in history :)
This Just Sold Me A 3DS
I was already saving up for a 3DS because of the Professor Layton game that is coming out for the system. Then I saw this and it absolutely sold me on the sytem.
That's Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright together in one game. For those who don't know, both games are probably some of my favourites on the DS (I bought the first Ace Attorney game about a month or two before I even owned my first DS!) and having them both in one game is Geek Heaven.
Of course, I have a while to wait and put my pennies aside. I don't think we're seeing the unit over here until about March or so of next year at the earliest.
That's Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright together in one game. For those who don't know, both games are probably some of my favourites on the DS (I bought the first Ace Attorney game about a month or two before I even owned my first DS!) and having them both in one game is Geek Heaven.
Of course, I have a while to wait and put my pennies aside. I don't think we're seeing the unit over here until about March or so of next year at the earliest.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Something's A Little FIshy About This...
I just wanted to let everyone know that as of a day or two ago, I became a millionaire. Seriously! I have an e-mail from Coca-Cola stating that I won 1 million British pounds, so I expect everyone to bow down and grovel for scraps!
I'll even show you the letter. There's nothing at all suspicious about it and once they finish processing my banking information, I shall be RICH!
See! All legit and above board. Nothing at all peculiar about that e-mail. Or the badly formatted logos that were stretched all over the attached .doc that they sent. Or the fact that Coke's prize department is located in South Africa for some reason... And Coca-Cola is a busy company that doesn't have time for things like spell-check or grammar...
I'll be on my yacht.
I'll even show you the letter. There's nothing at all suspicious about it and once they finish processing my banking information, I shall be RICH!
THE COCA COLA COMPANY PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
COCA COLA AVENUE STAMFORD BRIDGE LONDON.
SW1V 3DW UNITED KINGDOM
THE COCA COLA COMPANY OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION
CONGRATULATION:
We are happy to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws held yesterday by Coca-Cola Bottling Company in conjunction with the British American Tobacco Worldwide Promotion; your email address has won GBP£1,000,000 (ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS) on these years Coca Cola Company Promotion 2010 Promotion
However the results were released yesterday and your email address was attached to ticket number (CC6904523) and winning number (BT:12052006/20) The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 39,031 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over 10 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world. This Promotion is approved by the British Gaming Board and also licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This Promotion is the first of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.
Note that your winning and ticket numbers fall within our Southern African representative in South Africa. In other to claim your £1,000,000 prize winning, which has been deposited with our registered bank in South Africa? However, you will have to fill the form below and send it to the Promotion manager of The Coca Cola Company in South Africa for verification and then you will be directed to the paying Bank where a Cash of GBP£1,000,000 has already been deposited in your favors.
Please you are advised to contact our Promotion manager through email for prompt collection of your winning fund. Or call with the following details:
See! All legit and above board. Nothing at all peculiar about that e-mail. Or the badly formatted logos that were stretched all over the attached .doc that they sent. Or the fact that Coke's prize department is located in South Africa for some reason... And Coca-Cola is a busy company that doesn't have time for things like spell-check or grammar...
I'll be on my yacht.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Arrrr!
Yesterday Garrett & I went to see Peter Pan at the Stratford Festival to celebrate Connor's birthday. The kids seemed to really enjoy the show and dinner afterwards was great.
The highlight of the day seemed to be when they got to walk the plank.
The highlight of the day seemed to be when they got to walk the plank.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
I Hope You Don't Have A Fear Of Heights
I know a lot of you don't watch the videos I link or post on the site, but you really owe it to yourself to watch this video about a guy climbing a 1786 foot high transmission tower.
It's shot via helmet-cam and I think the fact that it's essentially done in first-person view had my body a-shudder with adrenaline as my fear of heights kicked in. Yeah, I don't like heights. At least, I don't like THOSE kind of heights!
It's shot via helmet-cam and I think the fact that it's essentially done in first-person view had my body a-shudder with adrenaline as my fear of heights kicked in. Yeah, I don't like heights. At least, I don't like THOSE kind of heights!
Friday, September 24, 2010
I See It, But I Don't Believe It...
I've watched this a few times and I'm still amazed that they are able to do this kind of art in under a minute.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Circle Of Life (Down The Toilet Bowl)
As I was getting ready to help Garrett get changed for bed tonight, I casually asked him how Gilbert was doing. Gilbert is the goldfish he got as a... prize? Parting gift? Loot bag thing? I'm not sure, because he supposedly got this fish from a friend who was supposed to invite him to a party but didn't and then they got it at the fair or something... I honestly have no idea how this whole thing worked out, but suffice it to say, Garrett got a goldfish and named it Gilbert.
So I go over to look at Gilbert and see that he's just kind of sitting there. Not belly-up, mind you, but looking rather... sedentary. I thought I saw a bit of movement, so I decided to try to drain out the water and replace it with fresh, oxygenated water. Alas, all this did was clean off poor Gilbert so that he had a less deathy corpse. Garrett must have known that things weren't looking good for his fishy friend and was sobbing for a good 20 minutes while I did my best to revive Gilbert.
I did have Garrett pour Gilbert into the toilet once he got to a point that he had accepted his demise. And Garrett was able to do the deed and pull the lever that sent little Gilbert to fishie heaven.
Of course, Kara was just sitting there, narrating the entire ordeal like the little sociopath that she is :)
Garrett eventually regained his composure and I think he'll be ok, but man, that was rough to watch, esp. after having been away for most of the week. On the upside, later on tonight Garrett was able to yank out his second front bottom tooth and should have a visit from the Tooth Fairy shortly, so hopefully that will help offset the trauma of losing Gilbert.
So I go over to look at Gilbert and see that he's just kind of sitting there. Not belly-up, mind you, but looking rather... sedentary. I thought I saw a bit of movement, so I decided to try to drain out the water and replace it with fresh, oxygenated water. Alas, all this did was clean off poor Gilbert so that he had a less deathy corpse. Garrett must have known that things weren't looking good for his fishy friend and was sobbing for a good 20 minutes while I did my best to revive Gilbert.
I did have Garrett pour Gilbert into the toilet once he got to a point that he had accepted his demise. And Garrett was able to do the deed and pull the lever that sent little Gilbert to fishie heaven.
Of course, Kara was just sitting there, narrating the entire ordeal like the little sociopath that she is :)
Garrett eventually regained his composure and I think he'll be ok, but man, that was rough to watch, esp. after having been away for most of the week. On the upside, later on tonight Garrett was able to yank out his second front bottom tooth and should have a visit from the Tooth Fairy shortly, so hopefully that will help offset the trauma of losing Gilbert.
A 3 Hour Tour
If you've been following my tweets lately, you've noticed a particularly nautical bent to them. I spent the last 4 days (Mon-Thurs) on the Trent-Severn waterway on a houseboat trip with a few of the guys from work. It was a blast, esp. when we got stuck tied onto a remote island during that crazy thunderstorm the other day.
We went through two propellers (not cheap, by the way) due to crazy wave and currents on Tuesday which almost saw us leaving on of our staff members behind on a remote island (prop #1) and because of a few stray submerged logs that drifted in sometime overnight into the otherwise 12 foot deep water we docked in last night (prop #2). The first prop was so badly damaged by the rocks that we were got to take it home with us. I'm going to find some way to mount it to a plaque or something like that so that we can hang it up in the group home as a trophy of our trip on the water.
We went from Happy Days Houseboats south of Bobcaygeon out to the Flat Islands for the first night, then made our way through Buckhorn and the lock there (a delightful small town with a great lockmaster) and then ran into trouble when trying to tie into Dinnertime Island. We decided that a) the lockmaster is in cahoots with the propeller replacement industry for sending us that way and b) that the island is called Dinnertime Island because of its tendency to gobble up propellers.
We lurched our way back to one of the Three Islands and waited for the replacement propeller to be delivered (which took an astoundingly quick 40 minutes!) and then we hunkered down for the night for that nasty storm that blew through on Tuesday. We also had a racoon eat all of our worms for fishing, so we were jinxed.
Wednesday was a very pleasant trip back to Buckhorn for a bit of shopping and then we pushed through for three hours all the way up to Big Island back at the top of Pigeon Lake, where we tucked into an amazing secluded cove on the back channel side of the island. Today we puttered back to the marina (after inadvertantly grinding the the prop against those stupid logs) and then made our way back home by about supper time.
It was a great trip but I now have a real appreciation of how much work it is to pilot a ship, esp. when the water is choppy and the wind is blowing and the sun is glaring off the water and you can't see where the next marker bouy is. Those three hours of driving the boat yesterday absolutely exhausted me. I am still feeling a little wobbly even though I haven't been on the boat since about noon. I think it'll take me another day to get my sea legs back.
But it's great to be home, even if we had quite the emotional roller coaster tonight when I got home!
We went through two propellers (not cheap, by the way) due to crazy wave and currents on Tuesday which almost saw us leaving on of our staff members behind on a remote island (prop #1) and because of a few stray submerged logs that drifted in sometime overnight into the otherwise 12 foot deep water we docked in last night (prop #2). The first prop was so badly damaged by the rocks that we were got to take it home with us. I'm going to find some way to mount it to a plaque or something like that so that we can hang it up in the group home as a trophy of our trip on the water.
We went from Happy Days Houseboats south of Bobcaygeon out to the Flat Islands for the first night, then made our way through Buckhorn and the lock there (a delightful small town with a great lockmaster) and then ran into trouble when trying to tie into Dinnertime Island. We decided that a) the lockmaster is in cahoots with the propeller replacement industry for sending us that way and b) that the island is called Dinnertime Island because of its tendency to gobble up propellers.
We lurched our way back to one of the Three Islands and waited for the replacement propeller to be delivered (which took an astoundingly quick 40 minutes!) and then we hunkered down for the night for that nasty storm that blew through on Tuesday. We also had a racoon eat all of our worms for fishing, so we were jinxed.
Wednesday was a very pleasant trip back to Buckhorn for a bit of shopping and then we pushed through for three hours all the way up to Big Island back at the top of Pigeon Lake, where we tucked into an amazing secluded cove on the back channel side of the island. Today we puttered back to the marina (after inadvertantly grinding the the prop against those stupid logs) and then made our way back home by about supper time.
It was a great trip but I now have a real appreciation of how much work it is to pilot a ship, esp. when the water is choppy and the wind is blowing and the sun is glaring off the water and you can't see where the next marker bouy is. Those three hours of driving the boat yesterday absolutely exhausted me. I am still feeling a little wobbly even though I haven't been on the boat since about noon. I think it'll take me another day to get my sea legs back.
But it's great to be home, even if we had quite the emotional roller coaster tonight when I got home!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Udder Chaos
So today I sacrificed what would have been a delightful day of staying home doing sweet bupkiss and instead volunteered to corral chaperone a gaggle of kids from Garrett's Grade 1 class over to the Acton Fall Fair for 2-3 hours.
I had 5 boys with me for the day (Garrett was one of them) and truth be told, we had a good time. They were surprisingly compliant and not TOO rowdy and were pretty happy to pet a pig, watch a cow get milked and play Zombie Tag in the indoor soccer arena.
I think I had them all convinced by the end of the day that if they kept fiddling with the stuff on the midway games, the carnies would come along, hang them off of the back wall of the booth and they'd have to wait for their parents to come and win them if they ever wanted to go home again. That seemed to get the little blighters to keep their hands where they belonged :)
I had 5 boys with me for the day (Garrett was one of them) and truth be told, we had a good time. They were surprisingly compliant and not TOO rowdy and were pretty happy to pet a pig, watch a cow get milked and play Zombie Tag in the indoor soccer arena.
I think I had them all convinced by the end of the day that if they kept fiddling with the stuff on the midway games, the carnies would come along, hang them off of the back wall of the booth and they'd have to wait for their parents to come and win them if they ever wanted to go home again. That seemed to get the little blighters to keep their hands where they belonged :)
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Tomorrow's Corporate Leaders, TODAY!
So I was doing my fatherly duty and signing off on Garrett's take-home book from school today when I noticed this:
"Tell how Polly was on task (emphasis their's) in the story."
I know it's just a matter of semantics, but I really can't stand anything that smacks of corporate jargon, esp. not when it's being spoon-fed down my kid's throats. Grr.
"Tell how Polly was on task (emphasis their's) in the story."
I know it's just a matter of semantics, but I really can't stand anything that smacks of corporate jargon, esp. not when it's being spoon-fed down my kid's throats. Grr.
No Full Moon For You
I had to ground Garrett today. I found him playing on the hill next to the townhouses, which would be fine, except he was also playing the 'Pull Down Your Pants And Show Your Bum To Everyone' game, which is NOT fine. He's not terribly happy being grounded for the night, but them's the breaks.
And I'm also making the kids watch Fantasia. They will be cultured!
And I'm also making the kids watch Fantasia. They will be cultured!
First Day Jitters
Garrett went to school for the first day of Grade 1 yesterday. Julie didn't even cry when he got on the bus, despite my gentle whispers of how big her little boy had gotten and how, next year, Kara will be getting on that very same bus too... Yeah, I'm mean :)
He was wiped out tonight though. I forgot how much energy school sucks out of Garrett, but he was an absolute wreck around suppertime. Hopefully he had a good sleep tonight and will be a little more level-headed tomorrow.
He was wiped out tonight though. I forgot how much energy school sucks out of Garrett, but he was an absolute wreck around suppertime. Hopefully he had a good sleep tonight and will be a little more level-headed tomorrow.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
I'm Afraid Of The Red Ones
Check out this video. It may not look like much, but it's pretty amazing.
What you're looking at is a model showing all of the asteroids discovered from 1980-2010 as they're discovered. The red ones are 'Earth-crossers'. They're the ones to be scared of. But take heart: We don't live on a 2D plane, so they can always go above or below us :)
What you're looking at is a model showing all of the asteroids discovered from 1980-2010 as they're discovered. The red ones are 'Earth-crossers'. They're the ones to be scared of. But take heart: We don't live on a 2D plane, so they can always go above or below us :)
Friday, September 03, 2010
Speaking of Final Fantasy...
For the record, I finished Final Fantasy 13 yesterday and it was every so satisfying. I liked the game a lot more than FF12 but that was more due to the story than anything. The ending of the game was pretty good. It wasn't as good as Final Fantasy 10's ending, which rests pretty much at the top of my list of all time best endings to a game, EVER, but it was hitting a lot of the right notes and was one of the happier endings to a Final Fantasy game, all things concidered.
I've got to try to resist the urge to go back and grind through the post-game content. I have other games that I can put that time and energy into! Or, you know, I could read a book or something.
I've got to try to resist the urge to go back and grind through the post-game content. I have other games that I can put that time and energy into! Or, you know, I could read a book or something.
Kefka: A Tribute
Ah, late night insomnia. At least I can attempt to sleep in tomorrow.
Whilst perusing the internet and catching up on a week's worth of comics, I came across this on Real Life Comics. Greg Dean, the artist (and fellow fan of all things Final Fantasy), is explaining why Kefka is the greatest Final Fantasy villain of all time. And without further ado, I ask your forgiveness for posting what may be one of the nerdier quotes I've posted in quite some time. Oh, and I apologize for the slightly salty language.
Whilst perusing the internet and catching up on a week's worth of comics, I came across this on Real Life Comics. Greg Dean, the artist (and fellow fan of all things Final Fantasy), is explaining why Kefka is the greatest Final Fantasy villain of all time. And without further ado, I ask your forgiveness for posting what may be one of the nerdier quotes I've posted in quite some time. Oh, and I apologize for the slightly salty language.
"Some might wonder why Kefka, and not Sephiroth. Here's the main thing with Sephiroth. Was he an awesome villian? Undoubtedly. But despite the fact that he was willing to sacrifice the planet for his own goals, he had a pretty good reason for doing so: He found out that he was an abomination, and the entire world was pretty much his enemy. You could SORT of identify with him "F**k me? No, F**k YOU." A badass, to be certain, but part of me felt that he was more or less just misunderstood. You kinda liked the guy... even though he killed Aeris.
Kefka, though? Kefka was f***ing INSANE. Bat-shit crazy. "I'ma wear clown makeup out in public, and poison an entire city's water supply just so we can overtake the castle! BWAAAA-HAHAHAHA!" And then, when you're up in the floating continent, he boots the emperor off of it, and starts pushing the mystic statues around willy-nilly, RESHAPING THE ENTIRE WORLD, killing perhaps millions of people and making himself a god in the process. Does he stop there? Sh*t no! Every now and again he sends down a beam of light to smite any who don't do as he pleases!
Does he do all this because of some percieved injustice? Does he do this because he has some sort of emo mommy issues? No, he does it because he's a f**king LUNATIC, and that, right there, is why Kefka is the GREATEST FINAL FANTASY VILLAIN OF ALL TIME."
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Godspeed, Soldier Brother
Well, Grant headed back to Afghanistan on Friday. I meant to get these pictures up Friday but got a little too busy over the past few days!
My personal favourites are the "Giant Grant Smash Puny Kids" and his lovely new headgear pictures.
Good luck and god speed, Grant!
My personal favourites are the "Giant Grant Smash Puny Kids" and his lovely new headgear pictures.
Good luck and god speed, Grant!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Summer's (almost) Over!
Well, we're heading into the penultimate days of the penultimate week of the summer, so why not do a little recap and show everyone what we were up to over the past few months? We went to the Science Center, hit Storybook Gardens, swam in Lake Huron, got up to some shenanigans at the Early Years Center and moonlit as a firefighter or two.
Yeah, it was a busy summer but the kids sure seemed to have a blast and it was nice that they made some friends in the complex and have been able to hang out with them on the days when we have nothing else going on.
I've got a bunch of pictures of our visit with Grant from last week but I'm going to save them for tomorrow. He's going back to Afghanistan tomorrow and I'll give him a proper send off this way.
Yeah, it was a busy summer but the kids sure seemed to have a blast and it was nice that they made some friends in the complex and have been able to hang out with them on the days when we have nothing else going on.
I've got a bunch of pictures of our visit with Grant from last week but I'm going to save them for tomorrow. He's going back to Afghanistan tomorrow and I'll give him a proper send off this way.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
It's Over?
I made it through my day from hell... by going to a meeting instead :)
It's actually pretty sad that I stressed out as much as I did for today because it ended up going just swimmingly and I'm not sure if that's because of or in spite of all of the long shifts, cold sweats and gray hairs I've accrued over the past couple months prepping for it.
At least I get to take tomorrow off and sleep in a bit.
It's actually pretty sad that I stressed out as much as I did for today because it ended up going just swimmingly and I'm not sure if that's because of or in spite of all of the long shifts, cold sweats and gray hairs I've accrued over the past couple months prepping for it.
At least I get to take tomorrow off and sleep in a bit.
Gots Me Some Chedda
I've got a serious cheddar cheese bagel addiction going on right now. I hate it because bagels at Tim Horton's are insanely expensive and I'd basically broken my habit of grabbing them if I was running late for work and needed a quick breakfast snack. But man, the cheddar bagels are soooooo yummy.
I need to go back to my no Tim's rule...
I need to go back to my no Tim's rule...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Rob Liefeld, Look Out!
Garrett had a chance to participate in a comic-making workshop today at The Dragon in Guelph and had a blast. His teacher, Brian McLachlin, was able to somehow keep a group of 5 boys ages 6-9 focused for two hours and explain the intricacies of drawing a cup of coffee, a house and stink lines.
It was a hoot to listen to the kids brainstorm ideas for the comic. They ended up doing a comic about Sheriff Souvlaki (yes, an anthropomorphic delicacy if ever there was one) who had an apple for a body and was in some kind of strange duel with not only a hot dog and hamburger bandito duo, but an evil chicken. It ended with them catching the chicken (after Deputy Pita saved the day) and throwing the chicken in jail... ending with a final panel of the chicken serving as a head pin on a bowling lane.
And those were the more rational ideas that were picked to make the comic. The stuff being spouted at that table had the needle on the Surrealometer buried firmly past the Dali mark.
Garrett had a good time though and they're hoping to bring in more artists to do this with the kids again, so I'm going to do my best to get him in to as many of these workshops as possible.
It was a hoot to listen to the kids brainstorm ideas for the comic. They ended up doing a comic about Sheriff Souvlaki (yes, an anthropomorphic delicacy if ever there was one) who had an apple for a body and was in some kind of strange duel with not only a hot dog and hamburger bandito duo, but an evil chicken. It ended with them catching the chicken (after Deputy Pita saved the day) and throwing the chicken in jail... ending with a final panel of the chicken serving as a head pin on a bowling lane.
And those were the more rational ideas that were picked to make the comic. The stuff being spouted at that table had the needle on the Surrealometer buried firmly past the Dali mark.
Garrett had a good time though and they're hoping to bring in more artists to do this with the kids again, so I'm going to do my best to get him in to as many of these workshops as possible.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
On The Mouth Of Madness
I feel kind of dumb whining about my travails at work when my brother just came back from an actual warzone, but my lord, I'm going to have a whole head full of gray hairs by the end of this month, if not this week. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not bad-mouthing my job. Heck, the big reason why I was so excited for this promotion last year was to have more responsibility but the last little bit has been insane!
I'm in one of those lovely positions where I've got about 300 plates spinning in the air and almost every day someone is throwing 5 more plates onto my stacks and wondering why I've got a thousand-yard stare every minute as I try to keep them from landing in a messy heap. This week will see many of those plates finally come down, gently or otherwise, so I guess I'll breathe a little easier after Thursday's shenanigans are over, but I need to get things to a place where I'm only dealing with 4-5 crises as opposed to 400!
Today was my first day back to work since Thursday and I already feel like I just worked an entire week. How I'll get through the next 2 weeks or so without cracking is beyond me. At least I didn't have to go back in tonight to do an unexpected overnight shift. I get to do that on the weekend instead :P
I'm in one of those lovely positions where I've got about 300 plates spinning in the air and almost every day someone is throwing 5 more plates onto my stacks and wondering why I've got a thousand-yard stare every minute as I try to keep them from landing in a messy heap. This week will see many of those plates finally come down, gently or otherwise, so I guess I'll breathe a little easier after Thursday's shenanigans are over, but I need to get things to a place where I'm only dealing with 4-5 crises as opposed to 400!
Today was my first day back to work since Thursday and I already feel like I just worked an entire week. How I'll get through the next 2 weeks or so without cracking is beyond me. At least I didn't have to go back in tonight to do an unexpected overnight shift. I get to do that on the weekend instead :P
He's Back!
My widdle brudder is home from Afghanistan... or at the very least, on his way home. I think he was supposed to have arrived back here yesterday but I'm not 100% sure. I do know that he was in Dubai over the weekend, so at the very least he's not on the base in Kandahar and that's a huge relief!
I'm hoping to get together with him next week so it'll be nice to see how he's doing!
Thanks for all of the prayers, happy thoughts and sacrificed chickens for his safety. It's much appreciated!
I'm hoping to get together with him next week so it'll be nice to see how he's doing!
Thanks for all of the prayers, happy thoughts and sacrificed chickens for his safety. It's much appreciated!
Friday, August 06, 2010
Free Game!
If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, go here and get Civilzation Revolution for free for the next 24 hours. It's an awesome take on the Civilization franchise and it's usually $7, so why not get it free!
Hmm. Two posts in two days. I need to get back in the habit of this!
Hmm. Two posts in two days. I need to get back in the habit of this!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
"We're Living In A Hotel Room!"
Hey, check out what we did over the past week!
Yup, that's our new bedroom.
So long, 70's nicotine-infused carpet. Goodbye, builder's primer walls. See you later, 12 year old bed that was slowly crippling us both.
Hello Ikea showroom!
We still have a little bit of work left to do, mostly in the old closet area, but otherwise things are tidied up and cleaned out and looking quite nice. I'm looking forward to sleeping in the new bed tonight on my new pillow (and hopefully not waking up with what feels like a broken back) and I'm looking forward even more to being able to just relax for the rest of the week that I'm on vacation. It has been a wee bit hectic over the past week and a bit, but it is so nice to be done the work so that whatever other shenanigans we get up to, we can feel good about accomplishing something productive.
The other upside of the new room is that Kara can't quite climb up to the top of the bed. Mwahaha...
Yup, that's our new bedroom.
So long, 70's nicotine-infused carpet. Goodbye, builder's primer walls. See you later, 12 year old bed that was slowly crippling us both.
Hello Ikea showroom!
We still have a little bit of work left to do, mostly in the old closet area, but otherwise things are tidied up and cleaned out and looking quite nice. I'm looking forward to sleeping in the new bed tonight on my new pillow (and hopefully not waking up with what feels like a broken back) and I'm looking forward even more to being able to just relax for the rest of the week that I'm on vacation. It has been a wee bit hectic over the past week and a bit, but it is so nice to be done the work so that whatever other shenanigans we get up to, we can feel good about accomplishing something productive.
The other upside of the new room is that Kara can't quite climb up to the top of the bed. Mwahaha...
Friday, July 23, 2010
Dream Weaver aka Renovations Suck
This morning I awoke after having a very vivid and disturbing dream. I was at someone's wedding and the dream basically had me helping set up the hall and enjoy myself at the reception. It got dark and disturbing at the end as I was walking out to our car with Julie and as I gazed out across the parking lot towards the city skyline on the horizon, I saw an airliner with one wing on fire. Within seconds, it had crashed somewhere behind the towers and everyone at the wedding was looking on in horror. The rest of the dream basically revolved around everyong trying to figure out what they'd just seen and watching the news for information.
So that's how I woke up this morning. Happy times...
Today was the final day of 'prep' work to be done on our bedroom. Ever since I got back from the cottage, I've been working on renovating our bedroom. Wednesday was basically an 'empty the room' day where most of the stuff was either tossed or shoved in Kara's room for the time being.
Thursday was all about painting the ceiling and the walls. Today was a pretty quick day, at least in the morning. I just slapped a second coat of paint on the walls and was done. We went out to Mexicali Rosa's for lunch and then saw Inception (which was awesome) so you could almost say it was a date, as the kids were nowhere to be seen :)
Alas, everything seemed to go pear-shaped this evening. Shortly after returning home from a trip to the comic shop, I decided to get to work pulling up the carpet in our bedroom which should have been a quick half hour job, tops. Not only was it a zillion degrees in the room while I was pulling up the carpet, I had to deal with a bunch of kids lighting fire to the playground slide in the complex, a propane tank that ran dry just as we were about to throw the pork chops on the BBQ, my own kids who wouldn't listen to anybody and a litany of other crises, real or imagined.
And the carpet... yuck. I think it was 30 year old carpet with an underpadding at least that old which had essentially disintegrated over the years. It was also smoke-stained and disgusting and crumbled as I tried to pull it up. Of course, the one thing in the whole house that seemed to have been put in with some kind of competency was the batch of carpet runners which had me pounding on them with a pry bar for almost 4 hours before I got the last of the buggers up. Sigh.
Suffice it to say, I'm pooped. I should have known my dream had some kind of significance this morning when I woke up. The day started off rather nicely but ended up in chaos. Thankfully, much like the news reports in my dream (which I recall showing that the plane had landed in the lake and spared the city massive damage), things didn't turn out as bad as they could have and it looks like tomorrow should be a good day after all.
I mean, I'm taking Garrett to go see Star Wars In Concert! WOO!
So that's how I woke up this morning. Happy times...
Today was the final day of 'prep' work to be done on our bedroom. Ever since I got back from the cottage, I've been working on renovating our bedroom. Wednesday was basically an 'empty the room' day where most of the stuff was either tossed or shoved in Kara's room for the time being.
Thursday was all about painting the ceiling and the walls. Today was a pretty quick day, at least in the morning. I just slapped a second coat of paint on the walls and was done. We went out to Mexicali Rosa's for lunch and then saw Inception (which was awesome) so you could almost say it was a date, as the kids were nowhere to be seen :)
Alas, everything seemed to go pear-shaped this evening. Shortly after returning home from a trip to the comic shop, I decided to get to work pulling up the carpet in our bedroom which should have been a quick half hour job, tops. Not only was it a zillion degrees in the room while I was pulling up the carpet, I had to deal with a bunch of kids lighting fire to the playground slide in the complex, a propane tank that ran dry just as we were about to throw the pork chops on the BBQ, my own kids who wouldn't listen to anybody and a litany of other crises, real or imagined.
And the carpet... yuck. I think it was 30 year old carpet with an underpadding at least that old which had essentially disintegrated over the years. It was also smoke-stained and disgusting and crumbled as I tried to pull it up. Of course, the one thing in the whole house that seemed to have been put in with some kind of competency was the batch of carpet runners which had me pounding on them with a pry bar for almost 4 hours before I got the last of the buggers up. Sigh.
Suffice it to say, I'm pooped. I should have known my dream had some kind of significance this morning when I woke up. The day started off rather nicely but ended up in chaos. Thankfully, much like the news reports in my dream (which I recall showing that the plane had landed in the lake and spared the city massive damage), things didn't turn out as bad as they could have and it looks like tomorrow should be a good day after all.
I mean, I'm taking Garrett to go see Star Wars In Concert! WOO!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Operation: The Untragically Hip
My grandpa had his hip replaced today. I'm assuming it was with a new hip. I guess that means he's a cyborg!
We were worried that he might not pull through given his less than ideal health of late, but the latest report was that, while groggy and incoherent, he was asking when supper was, which means that he's going to be just fine.
Hopefully the new hip will reduce the pain he has been experiencing and result in an overall increase in his quality of life. Thanks for all of the prayers and happy thoughts sent his way over the past day or so.
We were worried that he might not pull through given his less than ideal health of late, but the latest report was that, while groggy and incoherent, he was asking when supper was, which means that he's going to be just fine.
Hopefully the new hip will reduce the pain he has been experiencing and result in an overall increase in his quality of life. Thanks for all of the prayers and happy thoughts sent his way over the past day or so.
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Reads Your Blog
Remember the Old Spice commercial with the man your man could smell like? Well, he's back.
And now he's reading facebook, twitter and youtube comments and it's hilarious!
More companies need to embrace this kind of awesome. Follow his Twitter feed for more hilarity.
And now he's reading facebook, twitter and youtube comments and it's hilarious!
More companies need to embrace this kind of awesome. Follow his Twitter feed for more hilarity.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Performing A Gazebectomy
About 10 minutes before my shift ended today, I got a call informing me that my gazebo had blown into the neighbour's yard.
"But I had it tied down to the fence!"
"Yeah, well, it's on top of the neighbour's gazebo. Are you coming home soon?"
I didn't realize how enmeshed the two gazebos (gazebi?) had become until I snuck into the neighbour's yard to try to get ours back. Suffice it to say, our gazebo had seen better days after its ride over the fence. At least 2-3 of the poles were bent at right angles and the plastic on the fittings was toast.
Here's all that's left of our once mighty and proud structure.
Thankfully there wasn't really any damage to the neighbour's gazebo and you wouldn't know that there was another gazebo on top of their's now that the sun has come out. Looks like it's time to get ourselves a proper grown-up gazebo instead of the flimsy tentpoles the old one had.
"But I had it tied down to the fence!"
"Yeah, well, it's on top of the neighbour's gazebo. Are you coming home soon?"
I didn't realize how enmeshed the two gazebos (gazebi?) had become until I snuck into the neighbour's yard to try to get ours back. Suffice it to say, our gazebo had seen better days after its ride over the fence. At least 2-3 of the poles were bent at right angles and the plastic on the fittings was toast.
Here's all that's left of our once mighty and proud structure.
Thankfully there wasn't really any damage to the neighbour's gazebo and you wouldn't know that there was another gazebo on top of their's now that the sun has come out. Looks like it's time to get ourselves a proper grown-up gazebo instead of the flimsy tentpoles the old one had.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
The Epic Lost Cat E-mail
I wish I'd read this AFTER having to deal with a bunch of work shenanigans this evening instead of beforehand. It had tears flowing down my face it was so funny.
Long story short, don't assume that your crisis is going to make it to the top of your co-worker's to-do list...
Long story short, don't assume that your crisis is going to make it to the top of your co-worker's to-do list...
It's Supposed To Be Gatorade
After soccer tonight, Garrett decided that the thing to do was to douse himself in the contents of our water bottle. No harm, no foul, as it was full of cool, delicious water.
Then we turned around to see him raising a squeeze bottle of Sunny Delight over his head, which then went all over his head, much to our chagrin.
Sigh. Kids are so sticky...
Then we turned around to see him raising a squeeze bottle of Sunny Delight over his head, which then went all over his head, much to our chagrin.
Sigh. Kids are so sticky...
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Happy Die Day, Redcoats!
For all of my American friends, enjoy celebrating your liberation from the lobsterbacks at the hands of Book Cop.
At least everyone will now know why you shoot off fireworks every 4th of July!
At least everyone will now know why you shoot off fireworks every 4th of July!
Saturday, July 03, 2010
The Longest Trip To The Farmers' Market Ever
This morning we headed down to Milton to see what the Farmers' Market was like. About halfway to Milton, I got it into my head that we should go to Niagara Falls.
So we went!
The kids had a blast. Garrett & I went under the falls and saw some really neat rainbows perfectly framing the Maid Of The Mist as she went about her voyage. Kara and Julie got to hang out and soak in the scenery while we got literally soaked.
Surprisingly, both of the kids were extremely well behaved. We even managed to get a trip into Ikea on the way home with minimal fuss and bother. Speaking of which, it was an absolute ghost town at the Burlington Ikea today. I've never seen it so empty!
So all hail the delightful spark of spontaneity and unplanned trips. It sure beat sitting around at home sweating buckets and cleaning the basement!
So we went!
The kids had a blast. Garrett & I went under the falls and saw some really neat rainbows perfectly framing the Maid Of The Mist as she went about her voyage. Kara and Julie got to hang out and soak in the scenery while we got literally soaked.
Surprisingly, both of the kids were extremely well behaved. We even managed to get a trip into Ikea on the way home with minimal fuss and bother. Speaking of which, it was an absolute ghost town at the Burlington Ikea today. I've never seen it so empty!
So all hail the delightful spark of spontaneity and unplanned trips. It sure beat sitting around at home sweating buckets and cleaning the basement!
Monday, June 28, 2010
What's The Cost Of A Tooth These Days?
Garrett lost his very first tooth today! And no, it wasn't due to a crash on his bike or because Kara finally had enough of his malarky and popped him in the mouth. Nope, he was just wiggling it at bedtime and poink! Out it came.
Not the greatest (or least gory) picture we have, but it's the best one I have on the computer right now :)
We had Garrett put the tooth in an envelope that he marked for the Tooth Fairy. I told him that she would only come after everyone was asleep. He asked if she'd come after midnight and I assured him that she probably would. Then he wouldn't go to sleep, so I told him that I was going to stay up late tonight and swipe the Tooth Fairy's purse if he didn't go to bed. He was under the covers and squinching his eyes closed faster than you could say, 'bicuspid'.
If I recall my Tooth to Cash conversion chart, the going rate is about $1 per tooth. Man, inflation really stings. I remember getting about $0.25-0.50 per tooth back in my day!
Not the greatest (or least gory) picture we have, but it's the best one I have on the computer right now :)
We had Garrett put the tooth in an envelope that he marked for the Tooth Fairy. I told him that she would only come after everyone was asleep. He asked if she'd come after midnight and I assured him that she probably would. Then he wouldn't go to sleep, so I told him that I was going to stay up late tonight and swipe the Tooth Fairy's purse if he didn't go to bed. He was under the covers and squinching his eyes closed faster than you could say, 'bicuspid'.
If I recall my Tooth to Cash conversion chart, the going rate is about $1 per tooth. Man, inflation really stings. I remember getting about $0.25-0.50 per tooth back in my day!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Back To Life... Back To Reality
Well, the meds I got on Sunday seem to be doing the trick. I took most of Monday off work and all of Tuesday but managed to work full shifts the past two days. My back is still twingy and sore but the crippling agony that I was experiencing over the weekend is essentially gone. I should be back to normal by the weekend (just in time for more work!) which is about when my pills run out.
I need to get to work doing crunches and other muscle strengthening exercises to get my core muscles in shape so I don't do anything crazy to my back again!
I need to get to work doing crunches and other muscle strengthening exercises to get my core muscles in shape so I don't do anything crazy to my back again!
He's 6 Today!
Wow. Who would have thought that Garrett is already 6 years old? Where did the time go?
He had his birthday party the other day and that was a blast and today he had a fun water day at school and a little party at his babysitter's place. He also opened his presents from us and loved them. We got him a little digital camcorder and a Star Wars Force Trainer. We've had them both since around Christmas and got them for a steal, so it was nice to finally let him open them. Tomorrow we're going to go out and hunt for an SD memory card for his camera and let him have fun being a budding videographer. I'm really interested to see how the Force Trainer works. Hopefully he'll be able to hurl X-Wings out of swamps in no time :)
Thanks to everyone who sent Garrett a present and/or well wishes. He's been very happy to get the cards and presents this week.
He had his birthday party the other day and that was a blast and today he had a fun water day at school and a little party at his babysitter's place. He also opened his presents from us and loved them. We got him a little digital camcorder and a Star Wars Force Trainer. We've had them both since around Christmas and got them for a steal, so it was nice to finally let him open them. Tomorrow we're going to go out and hunt for an SD memory card for his camera and let him have fun being a budding videographer. I'm really interested to see how the Force Trainer works. Hopefully he'll be able to hurl X-Wings out of swamps in no time :)
Thanks to everyone who sent Garrett a present and/or well wishes. He's been very happy to get the cards and presents this week.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Spinal Tapped Out
Speaking of Garrett's party, I did something to my back just before we went in to golf. I'm not sure if it was a delayed reaction to sitting in our lawn chairs last night while we were at the drive-in or if it was due to my playing the Dance Dance Revolution game when Kara gave up and walked away from it, but I have been in agony since about 2pm.
I'm hoping that a good night sleep will cure what ails me because we've got some delicious plans for Father's Day but at this point in the game, it's about all I can do to shuffle around the house hunched over. Arg.
I'm hoping that a good night sleep will cure what ails me because we've got some delicious plans for Father's Day but at this point in the game, it's about all I can do to shuffle around the house hunched over. Arg.
Speed Golf
Garrett's birthday party went smashingly today. He and his friends played a round of golf in about 5-10 minutes... yes, 18 holes of miniputt in about 10 minutes, tops. With 6 kids. Thankfully the people at Gopher Golf were nice enough to let them play a second time and this time they were able to take their time and it took them about 20-25 minutes.
Aside from Garrett's friend blowing out his candles, everything was perfect. I'll have pictures up from the REAL camera tomorrow but here are a couple shots from my phone.
Aside from Garrett's friend blowing out his candles, everything was perfect. I'll have pictures up from the REAL camera tomorrow but here are a couple shots from my phone.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
It's Garrett's Birthday... Party
Garrett's having his 6th birthday party today over in Guelph at the glow-in-the-dark miniputt. This should be... fun? We had a bit of a crazy night last night, as we went out after his Kindergarten Graduation to see Toy Story 3 and Prince Of Persia at the drive-in and didn't get home until about 2am. Toy Story 3 was phenomenal. PoP, not so much.
So the kids slept in until about 9 or so this morning, which was nice, but Garrett was already starting to get moody a few minutes ago so I'm hoping he'll have a little nap and be in a good mood this afternoon.
So the kids slept in until about 9 or so this morning, which was nice, but Garrett was already starting to get moody a few minutes ago so I'm hoping he'll have a little nap and be in a good mood this afternoon.
Typography For The Masses!
One of the areas of geekery that I'm glad I haven't been sucked into completely is that of font-geek. Typography nerds make console flame wars look like mere dustups in an alley by comparison. That said, it's fun to watch people freak out about this font or that font. There's a really funny imagined post from Comic Sans (yes, the font) over here that's worth a read... but be careful as Comic Sans has a pretty filthy mouth.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Kevin Butler: Vice President Of Inspiration
The Electronic Entertainment Expo aka E3 aka Mecca For Gamers (or is that M3cc4 4 G4M3rZ?) opened yesterday. There had been a few events and press conferences over the past couple of days but yesterday was Nintendo and Sony's chance to kick Microsoft around the curb with a couple of press conferences that actually talked about games instead of everything but.
As much as I enjoyed Nintendo's presser, the highlight of the day was Kevin Butler's awesome speech at the Sony press conference. For those who don't know who Kevin Butler is, he's the "Vice President Of [blank]" in the various Playstation 3 ads of late and probably the best spokesperson for gaming to come along in a long time.
Check out the video and see why it brings a digital tear to my cybernetic eyes...
As much as I enjoyed Nintendo's presser, the highlight of the day was Kevin Butler's awesome speech at the Sony press conference. For those who don't know who Kevin Butler is, he's the "Vice President Of [blank]" in the various Playstation 3 ads of late and probably the best spokesperson for gaming to come along in a long time.
Check out the video and see why it brings a digital tear to my cybernetic eyes...
Monday, June 14, 2010
Dark Roasted Waves
Every week I look forward to seeing what kind of neat collection of images Dark Roasted Blend will put out. This week's set was so neat that I had to share. Take a look at this link and be amazed at the gorgeous pictures of waves breaking at sunset. It's very cool.
Monday, June 07, 2010
How'd She Do That?
Kara was crying in her room this evening after we put her to bed. I went to take a look at her and somehow she had managed to put a tiny doll shirt on both arms and had her limbs pinned behind her back. I have NO idea how she managed to get it on one arm, let alone both... and they were almost on up to the shoulder. To put this shirt in perspective, it's probably smaller than a shirt that would go on a Cabbage Patch Kid.
Having An Animated Discussion
This is a very interesting lecture/animation that ties in a lot to what I've been studying, reading and thinking about with regards to work lately. Plus I'd love to have all lectures done this way :)
Friday, June 04, 2010
Iron Willed!
Just got back from the grand opening of a new Best Buy near us. I came THIS close to picking up what would be a pretty decent gaming laptop but it was $800 and Julie had only really approved me for $500, so I relented. It wasn't easy, I tell ya!
We did get to meet Iron Man though!
And I picked up the blu-ray of 3:10 To Yuma to get me in the mood for RDR. I've never seen it, but I hear it's very good. I also ponied up a few bucks for The Good, The Bad & The Ugly's soundtrack yesterday, so I'm obviously being brainwashed in some unseemly manner.
Tonight shall see the finale of Trauma Team if I have anything to say about it. But first, I go now to throw a pork tenderloin that has been marinading in lemon and herbs for a few days on the grill. Mmm...
We did get to meet Iron Man though!
And I picked up the blu-ray of 3:10 To Yuma to get me in the mood for RDR. I've never seen it, but I hear it's very good. I also ponied up a few bucks for The Good, The Bad & The Ugly's soundtrack yesterday, so I'm obviously being brainwashed in some unseemly manner.
Tonight shall see the finale of Trauma Team if I have anything to say about it. But first, I go now to throw a pork tenderloin that has been marinading in lemon and herbs for a few days on the grill. Mmm...
Saturday, May 29, 2010
SOCCER MONSTER!
It was Garrett's first day of soccer for the summer and he got off to a running start. Not to cleat around the bush, but he was having a real ball. His only goal this season is to have fun and learn how to elbow girls who get in his way :)
Seriously though, he is still head and shoulders above everyone else on his team, literally. At the very least, it makes it easy to spot him in the scrum. He was even starting to get a hang of the concept of passing to other people so that the team could score instead of treating soccer like an individual sport. If he comes away with nothing else for the summer, I'll be happy with that.
At least he has the Wager "I'm concentrating" tongue!
He just has to watch out for the other team. They play dirty!
Seriously though, he is still head and shoulders above everyone else on his team, literally. At the very least, it makes it easy to spot him in the scrum. He was even starting to get a hang of the concept of passing to other people so that the team could score instead of treating soccer like an individual sport. If he comes away with nothing else for the summer, I'll be happy with that.
At least he has the Wager "I'm concentrating" tongue!
He just has to watch out for the other team. They play dirty!
Monday, May 17, 2010
You Put What Where?
Julie is heading out of town tomorrow for a business trip and it seems that the kids are bound and determined to make her glad she's gone :)
Just before supper tonight, Kara turned to us and said, "I've got a shoe up my nose."
It turns out she had shoved a tiny little shoe from her Cinderella doll right up her nostril. I tried to get it out by massaging the nasal passage and shining a flashlight up there, but to no avail.
So off to the hospital we went. Amazingly, there were no patients in the waiting room in Georgetown tonight and we were whisked right in. The doctor had a look inside and then had me perform the procedure to help extricate the nasal footwear.
For those at home who want to know what to do if your kid shoves something up their nose, it's quite easy to fix (most of the time).
Step 1: Plug the other nostril.
Step 2: Put your mouth over their mouth a la performing mouth-to-mouth respiration.
Step 3: Blow into your beloved child's mouth in short, strong breaths to force the offending blockage out.
Step 4: Stand back or you will have the side of your face coated in mucus.
While we didn't actually get the shoe out by doing this, we did get it close enough to the edge of her nostril that we could see it and pull it out with tweezers. We were in and out of the hospital in about 15 minutes, which was awesome.
So now Julie has a fun little story to tell over dinner tomorrow or Wednesday while she is in sunny Calgary :)
Just before supper tonight, Kara turned to us and said, "I've got a shoe up my nose."
It turns out she had shoved a tiny little shoe from her Cinderella doll right up her nostril. I tried to get it out by massaging the nasal passage and shining a flashlight up there, but to no avail.
So off to the hospital we went. Amazingly, there were no patients in the waiting room in Georgetown tonight and we were whisked right in. The doctor had a look inside and then had me perform the procedure to help extricate the nasal footwear.
For those at home who want to know what to do if your kid shoves something up their nose, it's quite easy to fix (most of the time).
Step 1: Plug the other nostril.
Step 2: Put your mouth over their mouth a la performing mouth-to-mouth respiration.
Step 3: Blow into your beloved child's mouth in short, strong breaths to force the offending blockage out.
Step 4: Stand back or you will have the side of your face coated in mucus.
While we didn't actually get the shoe out by doing this, we did get it close enough to the edge of her nostril that we could see it and pull it out with tweezers. We were in and out of the hospital in about 15 minutes, which was awesome.
So now Julie has a fun little story to tell over dinner tomorrow or Wednesday while she is in sunny Calgary :)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
As You Wish
At bedtime tonight, I fired up ye olde TV to put some cartoons on for the kiddies. What to my wondering eyes should appear but The Princess Bride on YTV. Since my kids didn't immediately scream for something different, I left it on and had the sheer pleasure of watching my kids experience my favourite movie in the whole wide world for the first time.
We came in just as Buttercup was pushing Westley down the hill so there is a significant part of the movie that the kids haven't seen yet. Kara was all over Princess Buttercup (ah, girls and their princess phases) while Garrett was shouting for Westly to kill the R.O.U.S. in the Fire Swamp... and seems inordinately interested in how one would design a machine to suck the life out of people.
I've wanted to show the kids The Princess Bride for a few years but always thought it was a bit too heavy on the witty dialogue for them to get into and enjoy. Thankfully those fears have been put to rest and I will rotate one of my multiple copies of the DVD into service in the near future.
We came in just as Buttercup was pushing Westley down the hill so there is a significant part of the movie that the kids haven't seen yet. Kara was all over Princess Buttercup (ah, girls and their princess phases) while Garrett was shouting for Westly to kill the R.O.U.S. in the Fire Swamp... and seems inordinately interested in how one would design a machine to suck the life out of people.
I've wanted to show the kids The Princess Bride for a few years but always thought it was a bit too heavy on the witty dialogue for them to get into and enjoy. Thankfully those fears have been put to rest and I will rotate one of my multiple copies of the DVD into service in the near future.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle
Garrett came to me this afternoon after I got home from work to inform me that his tooth is loose. Man, now I'm REALLY starting to feel old. My kid can't be old enough to lose a tooth yet!
If he had his druthers, he'd be chomping on bricks to get it out of his mouth. I told him to just keep eating his apples and it would come out sooner than later.
Now to get on the phone with the Tooth Fairy and see what the going rate for a gently used chomper is these days.
If he had his druthers, he'd be chomping on bricks to get it out of his mouth. I told him to just keep eating his apples and it would come out sooner than later.
Now to get on the phone with the Tooth Fairy and see what the going rate for a gently used chomper is these days.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Zoom! And Then I'm Gone Again!
Hey! I got new glasses. As you can see, I'm very excited and happy about this.
Of course, I took that picture after donating blood after putting in a 9.5 hour day (including staff meeting!) and having a whirlwind visit with the family between 6:45 and 7:15. Sigh. If I survive this week, I'll be happy.
I'm going to be in London on Thursday and Friday for a conference for work. Yay? It should be nice though and I get to stay in a hotel with my boss, so that should be interesting... right? At least I have to work this weekend too. Wait... That's not good...
If anyone has any spare hours to donate to me so I can not feel as run off my feet as I am this week, I'll be more than happy to take them off of you!
Of course, I took that picture after donating blood after putting in a 9.5 hour day (including staff meeting!) and having a whirlwind visit with the family between 6:45 and 7:15. Sigh. If I survive this week, I'll be happy.
I'm going to be in London on Thursday and Friday for a conference for work. Yay? It should be nice though and I get to stay in a hotel with my boss, so that should be interesting... right? At least I have to work this weekend too. Wait... That's not good...
If anyone has any spare hours to donate to me so I can not feel as run off my feet as I am this week, I'll be more than happy to take them off of you!
Friday, May 07, 2010
I'm Certifiable... Potentially
Well today marked the day that I finally finished my exam to be a Small Water Systems Operator. That basically means that I can monitor a well on a residence or small business. Yay?
For an open book, multiple choice final exam that I could do at my leisure, there were a few real stumpers that took me much longer than it should have to figure out. That said, I think I did pretty well all things concidered. Now to get this puppy off to the post office and out to Walkerton. The wait begins.
For an open book, multiple choice final exam that I could do at my leisure, there were a few real stumpers that took me much longer than it should have to figure out. That said, I think I did pretty well all things concidered. Now to get this puppy off to the post office and out to Walkerton. The wait begins.
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