Happy Holidays!

We had a good Christmas up at my Mom and Dad's. My cousin Jeff and his new girlfriend Wendy stopped by for Christmas Eve - it was nice. Got lots of fun stuff to play with, most notably a fuel-cell powered electric car - looking forward to getting that running... Also got a new "rotary tool" (ie. Dremel) since my old one stopped working - and a Guinness shirt - which I am now wearing to work...

Gizzy had some issues boxing day evening so I had to drive him to the emergency vet clinic in Brampton yesterday - seems he hurt his back somehow and was in some pain so he's now on pain killers. I think last night was his first good night's sleep in a couple of days - hopefully nothing serious. Everyone is doing well - not much else going on...

Squirrels - still....

The traps are set, "Critter Ridder" is sprinkled all over the attic, "Rodentex" poison bars strategically placed in the attic.

If this doesn't work, the pellet gun is next....much as I love nature and little furry critters, this is getting ridiculous!

Xbox Media Centre

Based on the date of some previous emails, it has been almost 2 years - and I'm still fighting with this thing!

I am now using Windows Media Player to capture my CDs at 128kbps, but they are very restrictive on the file naming, so I still need to use ReNamer to get the file name I want: <ISBN number>-<Track Number>.

I still need to do all the editing and renaming on my computer and then send the files to the Xbox - I have learned how to make the Xbox appear as a network drive in Explorer, however I am not able to select that location within Win Media Player as a location to target for music media...

Getting closer though!!

Got a couple of good resource websites:

• http://www.modchipman.ca/
• http://www.xbmc.org/forum/index.php
• http://www.xbox-scene.com/
• http://www.teamxodus.com/
• http://www.allxboxskins.com/skins/index.php

Cow Bell - Gotta have more cow bell...

SNL clip - definitely worth a view...

Ordering Coffee....

I just ordered a "medium with milk & sugar", which is how I take my Tim's coffee. After it was made/poured/mixed/whatever, the cashier confirmed the order while handing it to me as "medium regular with milk"...

If you have to qualify it, then it isn't "regular"... and how is "medium regular with milk" more efficient than "medium with milk and sugar"?

I guess you save the "and"... but both ways are 8 syllables each...

Rereading the above - I think I need to drink less coffee....

We have a Waterfall!!

They got all the pool electric's hitched up today and tested the pumps and everything.
The waterfall had more water coming down the right hand side so they cemented a rock there to redirect things a bit. There is a switch in the cabana that turns it on and off - very cool. The installer guy said they would probably close it down next week. He didn't know if the cabana crew was coming tomorrow - now that there is power they can use in the cabana things should go quick.

Pete's - Kitchen Backsplash & Settlers of Catan

Must say that Pete's backsplash turned out very nice... I assisted with the tile installation along with Tim, but Pete did all the fancy cutting with the rented tile cutter (pretty cool tool). Pete finished the grout after I left - and did a damn fine job! The cabinets are also new, Pete's Dad has a background in carpentry and everything in Pete's kitchen is custom made and fits perfectly.

We played "Settlers of Catan" after our tile work. Cool game. There is a whole series of different versions of the same game type. There were 4 of us (Chris joined, after all the work was done of course...) so it was good. I could see the game being problematic for less than 3 people playing - but 4 seemed just right. Recommend this game if you have 3-4 people and a couple hours to kill - and of course some beer...

Refinishing Living Room Floor

The projects continue at a frenzied pace... In addition to the pool work that continues, Sharon and Dad started refinishing the living room floor yesterday (Sharon is off work this week). It is hardwood parquet with a light-oak colour. I am not a fan of parquet to begin with and this stuff just looks old and tired. So, rather than starting with a complete removal and restart, Sharon is going to try refinishing first. Yesterday was sanding day - dust everywhere but it already looked better, and today is stain day - apparently getting a bit of a two-tone effect from one end of the room to the other. More stain to go so it should work itself out by the time she is done. If Dad remembered to take some before-during-after pictures I will post them when the job is done...

Music Management Software

Okay, I give up... I've been trying to use free software (mostly Real Player) to manage my music files, but it just isn't working.

The main features I need that seem to be lacking are:

1. convert everything to the same bit rate (128 seems to be fine for me) in MP3 format, either as an up-convert or a down-convert ==> I need this since one of my MP3 players does not like changing bit rates between songs when playing from burned CDs
2. file management, especially with respect to file naming. I need to be able to maintain all track, album, artist information and also allow file renaming to a specific code, either the UPC code or a combination of album serial number and track number ==> I need this because my Xbox won't play any MP3s with a filename greater than about 20 characters

Those are the 2 biggest things that I'm having trouble with right now. Apparently the full version of Real Player will allow the bit rate convertion, but as I've mentioned earlier it doesn't work properly with WinXP and it doesn't allow for any coding to be added to the filenaming (as far as I can tell). I've tried some other freeware that did a good job with the rate conversion, but again limited file renaming, and the ReNamer program I downloaded seems to work but by the time I get from the ripped CD file to the correctly named MP3 file, all my song metadata is gone. Maybe I need to surf some of the Xbox modification sites - I can't be the only one struggling with this...(but that comes back to the issue of being on dialup, in one big circle of frustration...).

Anybody have any suggestions for managing music using a modified Xbox that does not have an internet connection?

==> UPDATE: I have been using Windows Media Player with some success and I now have a high(er) speed internet connection that allows me to connect the Xbox direct to the internet allowing direct ripping and file name/data downloading...

World War 1 Survivors

Its Remembrance Day and once again I thank God that I have lived in a time and place that has not required me to be involved in a war. I am a fairly introspective guy, and when I watch some of these war movies (Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, etc.), I can almost imagine being there and realize that I would not come back a person that I would want to be - if I came back at all... So I give thanks at least every November 11th for the life I have been allowed to make for myself.

One of the stories I heard on the radio today stated that there are only 3 Canadians still alive who served in WW1, one of them is 105 and the other 2 are 106. The nature of the story was asking if the last survivor should be given a "State Funeral" when he passes... In my opinion, discussing this publicly in the first place is bad form, however if it is being discussed, I don't think we should make it a race to see who can live the longest and get the big funeral - I say that we owe all 3 of our oldest veterans more than we can ever repay, and that all three of them should be given the full deal when they pass. I am not a supporter of war in general, however the people who are doing or did the fighting so that I can have the life I lead have nothing but my respect.

Harpers Magazine article - bank machine charges

I read an interesting article in a not-so-recent copy of Harpers Magazine about bank machine user fees. For me personally I tend to withdraw a relatively large sum of cash at the bank machine (~$100+) because of the user fees related to a withdrawal - a typical charge of $1.50 on a withdrawal of $100 is a 1.5 percent fee. Even though this seems low, it is VERY annoying since a) the bank is making money on my money while it is in my account, and b) it is actually cheaper for the bank to provide this type of service through a machine instead of through a teller. For me my choice of bank is purely based on the service charges applied to my account. I moved all of my accounts out of the Royal Bank when they changed their accounts to all have service fees and I currently run all my banking through my CIBC line of credit account - yes, through my line of credit. The only service fee applied to my line of credit is the interest applied to an outstanding negative balance - there are no fees applied when the account has a positive balance and I can still write cheques against the account either way. I have my paycheque deposited directly to this account every payday - which counts as making a payment so I don't have to worry about making regular payments - its done. As well, when the account is negative, the jump in the balance when my paycheque is applied reduces my interest amount until the balance slowly goes down as I use money - and the longer I wait between the deposit and withdrawing funds, the less interest I pay. I use to have a regular chequing account with a few hundred dollars in it, and my line of credit with a few thousand dollars owing, until I realize that the $400 sitting in my chequing account was a) only generating about 1/4% in interest, b) costing me ~$5 a month in account "service" fees (don't recall getting any service for these fees....), and c) was effectively costing me 7.5% in interest because it could have been placed in my line of credit and then I would have been paying interest on a balance that was $400 dollars lower. Now I'm not making the 1/4% interest, but I'm effectively saving 7.25% on this money in my line of credit + saving the $5 per month... Deal !!!

Back to my original post - for me, I have enough cash in my account to reduce the relative % cost of a bank machine withdrawal, but the Harpers article reminded me of my earlier and less lucrative life where there were times that I could not make a withdrawal because my account balance was less than $20 and the minimum withdrawal was $20. Back in those days when my account was much lower, and I could only really afford to withdraw $20-40 at a time, the relative withdrawal fee for taking out $20 is just about 7% (getting $20 costs $21.50). Wow, this is a lot to pay to get access to YOUR money. In my case now where I would be withdrawing from a negative line of credit account balance, this results in a 7% immediate charge plus 7.5% in interest per year on the same amount going forward. So if my account balance stays at this level or lower for a year, I would have effectively paid 14.5% interest on that $20...

For people with some money (a group to which I have been fortunate enough to belong for the last little bit - until the pool install anyway...) this is a relatively insignificant amount - and in many cases the bank waives some fees for "higher value" clients. For people who are not as financially secure, this is a significant cost. And again I am struck by how people who have money end up needing to spend less of it to get the services they need because they are "good customers", while those who could really use some help will always end up paying full price - and then some, for everything...

I don't know how to fix it, but it annoys me and it isn't fair...

Pool Update - Cement Patio is "done"

I know, 3 pictures of cement is not an exciting update - for you... but for me this is fabulous! The patio shows grey in the first pics because of the colouring that is being added. In the final picture the colouring has been removed showing the tan/beige "stone" colour and the grey is only the highlight colour. It isn't easy to see in this picture because it was overcast and cloudy this morning, I will try to remember to replace with a better picture when it is sunny. I expect the cabana construction and the filling in of the holes to begin shortly. Wow, they really only started about ... 3-4 weeks ago - amazing!

Pool update, getting close

Things are moving fast. The fountain is in and cemented, the forms are down for the cement patio, the pad is down for the cabana that will hold the equipment and have bar windows and stools. The rockery is done and set into the hill and the fence posts are installed. The water pipes and electrical conduit are also installed under the ground. The cement decking around the pool is scheduled for Monday - and then the only big things left are backfilling the gaps behind the rocks and waterfall and putting the chainlink on the fence posts (black chainlink is almost invisible and will keep our little fuzzy muffins in where they are suppose to be) - then I think the water goes in!!! The cabana needs to be built, the equipment needs to be installed, and the electrical needs to be put in - but all that stuff doesn't need any heavy equipment. We will wait until spring to have the propane guys come and install tanks for the heater.

Jury Duty - Day 2

Just overheard that last night they selected 5 of the 14 jurors required (12 plus 2 alternates). I hope it takes just long enough so I don't have to go to work today, but not get selected. Or maybe get selected? Not sure what I would prefer... I quess whatever happens, happens...

Nope, didn't get selected - didn't even get to go through the challenge process with the lawyers. I just got out of the session mid-afternoon. Basically I've spent 2 days sitting and reading...sort of like being on vacation, but with no wavy salt water, no sun, no umbrella-drinks, no sand, no funky beach clothes, no interesting restaurants, ...you get the idea... It was a little exciting during the actual calling of the names - sort of like playing Bingo... "From panel 80 [exhale, not my panel], juror number xxxx, .... From panel 88 [gasp! my panel], juror number [holding my breath] xxxx [whew, not me], ..." and so on... At the end of yesterday there were about 140 of us left, about 100 from panel 80 and about 40 from panel 88 (my panel). Finished the session with the selection of a reserve panel of 20 people in case something happens between now and when the trial starts. If nothing happens to any of the selected jurors, these 20 people don't have to do anything, but if any of the 14 (12 plus 2 stand-by) can't attend at the start of the trial, they will replace with people from the 20 at the beginning of the trial. In any event I am free and clear for a couple of years. It was interesting to witness the process.

Jury Duty Day

Suppose to be at the courthouse at 9am - arrive to find a fairly long line to get into the building, security check don't you know...and me without a jacket (wasn't expecting a line)... Luckily not too cold, and I made it into the building just before the rain started! Checkin and wait...

10:20am - going into the courtroom... First degree murder trial - wow... I guess I can't say much more about it here... Ouch, the most number of people to stand up for exclusion so far is people who have been through something similar before, first guy said his 14 year old son was murdered... This shouldn't be the biggest reason people are excluded, that's just not right... Nope, medical reasons is the biggest. Nope, exceptional hardship is the biggest - mostly students (ie. missed classes and exams) or people who are self-employed or who aren't paid for their time off. I made it through preliminaries, but need to be back at 2pm to begin the formal selection process, apparently we will be merged with another panel of pre-filtered candidates.

Want to know when I update?

For the very few people who actually read this blog, if you would like to be notified when I add a (significant) post, just click the "Notify..." link in the left-hand menu under the "Fellow Bloggers..." section. Its nothing fancy, just the "mailto" function with a preloaded subject line. I'll add people who send me an email to a distribution list for future updates.

Terms of use:
• I will only send an update if I've added something significant, I promise not to spam you with updates about my choice of socks for the day or the funky pattern that the frost made on my car windshield the other morning.
• You agree to click at least one ad link from the top heading bar or the bottom of the left menu area each time you visit my blog. Okay, so this isn't really a requirement and there isn't really any way for me to (easily) track this, I'm really just askin'....
• Not sure what else...we'll see how it goes...

Fish tank

Lost another fish today - the last of the phantom tetras. The only remaining fish are 2 Chinese catfish, a zebra tertra, and a neon tetra. Need to get a couple more to round things out...

Testing the weeping tile

The garage weeping tiles are getting a work out today... The heavy equipment left some big ruts in the ground behind the garage which filled with water during the rain - so I cut some grooves in the dirt for the water to drain - and of course the direction of the hill is straight into the back of the garage. I hope the heavy machines working at the front didn't wreck the drainage paths, or my garage's floating cement pad might float its way down into the front yard!

Wow, the pool is really moving along!

Things are really moving - the bottom is cemented, the side walls are up, the waterfall is almost done, the form is built for the cement pad for the cabana, the skimmer and auto-water filler are installed, the pipes are in and running back to the cabana, the rocks are in around the cabana and behind the seating area - wow! Pictures are below.
Next step is to finalize the form layout for the Patterned Concrete decking/patio that goes around the pool and up to the house. We hit a snag here because we want the cement to come right up to the existing patio doors in the basement of the house - and we also want a deck above this under the doors that come out of the kitchen. The problem is the posts for the deck, they will need to be placed where we want the cement to be - but the cement decking is a "floating pad" but the deck posts need to be connected to cement piers sunk 4+ feet into the ground. The floating pad can't be connected the piers or the pad will crack if there is any movement. As well, we only want 2 posts, 12' apart and 8' from the house (to support a 10x16 deck). The standard building permit plans show a maximum of 10' spacing for posts, and the need for 12" diameter piers - that's a big hold to try and drill into the cement pad after it is poured...
Current plan: sink 14" sonatube forms about a foot into the ground where I want my deck posts to go, pour the patterned concrete around the outside of the 14" tube, auger and install 12" sonatube pier forms 4+ feet down inside the 14" hole and fill with cement to ground level, install the post on the pier and surround the bottom of the post and 14" hole with dirt and flowers. In the end, the posts will be on 12" piers sunk deep and solid, and the cement pad is free to float.
Challenges: still have the issue of post spacing, we want 12' not 10'. Also, not sure if the Patterned Concrete process can manage a hole in the middle of the pattern (I assume there is a patterned form that gets laid on the top of the cement, so having a 14" sonatube in there might mess up that pattern).
One challenge at a time - going to Home Depot on Sunday to see if the deck design guy can give me some ideas for overcoming the 10' spacing issue.

Mouse Season has started

I've got 4 mice in 2 days - definitely mouse season has started... The farmer churned up the back fields the other day, so I'm guessing that's when they decided to move out of the fields, and in to my house... Started tracking on my pest control tally sheet...

Coinstar cash converter - 9.8% !!

Some time ago - shortly after the Zehrs in Bolton added the self-checkout lanes for groceries, I thought it would be a great idea to have a much better coin receptacle for feeding coins into the machines. It makes perfect sense for these machines to be setup to get your coin as easily as possible since I'm sure that grocery stores need lots of coin for their operations. At first my thinking was to just make the slots on the existing machines in the checkout aisles with a better design that allowed dumping a handful of change into a pot instead of having to feed them one-by-one through the little slot. Later I thought it might be better if there was a separate change machine that was setup to accept change in the best way possible, and print a coupon with a bar-code that could be scanned by the checkout machines to apply the value of the change you deposited against the purchase you were making. I thought this was a great idea - and apparently so did someone else because I am now seeing "Coinstar" machines starting to appear. These machines accept coin and convert it to ... I think less coins and bills. I'm not sure what you get because I read the fine print - 9.8% fee!!!! Are you kidding?!?!?! I was thinking of charging maybe 1 percent with a minimum fee of 5 cents, or something like that, with the thinking that if the machine was designed to properly sort the incoming coins, then the store could use the coin in their daily operations, reducing the need (and cost) for coin delivery to the store. I like the idea, but I won't pay almost 10 cents on the dollar for it...

Aaaaah! There's a bobcat in the back yard!

It was just sitting there... I was able to sneak up through the trees close enough to get a pretty good picture without scaring it away. The markings are a little different so it isn't a really bobcat, but definitely a related species. And through the trees in the front yard I just caught sight of his big brother... The boys will definitely have something to say about this! (actually, all they did was pee on them...)

Things are continuing to move along with the pool. There have been 2 of these things around for the last few days and things are progressing.

Right People with the Right Tools

Over the course of 3 days we had LOTS of activity and the pool has been taking shape. It is amazing how quickly things have happened. From lines painted on the grass to this - in 3 days!

Pickup truck in yard...!

This morning I was surprised to wake up to find a pickup truck in the driveway - the guy is waiting for sunrise to start work....!!!! Been there since before 6:30am (that's when the boys noticed him and raised the alarm). Just before sunrise he started up the heavy machinery so that it would be warmed up by the time the sun was up... dedication...

Watch that first step...

The back deck is now a pile of scrap wood in the back yard, and most of the patio bricks are up that were underneath the deck - and the first step out of the back doors is a big one... The pool people came on Monday and marked where everthing goes in the yard so we needed to get the old deck out of the way since we want to have the patterned cement patio around the pool come right up to the house. Sharon and I decided where we want everthing to go and how big everything is going to be, and now its off to the races! Looking forward to having a nice place to sit in the back yard. Then we will need to plan and build the new deck to fit into the pool-scape. And we are toying with the idea of a solarium off the side of the house with a hot tub and sauna - we'll see how it goes.

Jury Duty Summons - CRAP!

Damn, called for Jury Duty. I find it very interesting that parking is quote "VERY limited" at the courthouse, and suggesting the use of public transit. I am not anywhere near public transit so I will need to drive - but likely there won't be any parking - and if there is, I'll have to pay. So there's all this stuff about civic duty, but employers are not required to pay you for the time you are off work and you are responsible for all the costs associated with getting to court. In my opinion the whole thing really sucks.

Evolution - thought...

Okay, so my understanding of the theory of evolution is that in a given environment, certain traits are better suited to survival, and therefore organisms with those traits will tend to survive longer and therefore have more opportunites to reproduce, thus resulting in more organisms with those traits as compared to organisms having less advantageous survival traits.
Now, when thinking of humans, we don't have a lot of variation in general traits at birth. So my thinking is that if something really bad happens (global environment changing) that could lead to a mass near-extinction, I don't think we are going to be able to adapt fast enough as a species... But then I had a thought... In any environment changing situation, the surviving organisms will continue to struggle and reproduce. Assuming that the population is now much reduced, there would likely be a higher potential for inbreeding. This may lead to an acceleration of enhancing beneficial traits since the gene pool is biased towards survival traits, but could also lead to more "birth defects" which could result in an accelerated rate-of-change in the general structure and development of new organisms..... just a thought....

Barbados - Departure Day

I'm going to miss the warmth and the water...but I am looking forward to being home. The Hilton is very nice and the staff are very friendly and helpful - no complaints at all. Note that the items stocked in the bar fridge in the room are available in the convenience store in the lobby for half the cost - so you can have the convenience of using the in-room bar fridge without the excessive cost as long as you remember to restock the fridge each day before the maids arrive to makeup the room.

The food at the Lighthouse Terrace is good and we have eaten there most meals - mainly since they aren't a lot of other places around. The sun has been going down at about 6-7pm so unless you want to walk around in an industrial type area in the dark - your choices are limited - unless you take a cab everywhere.

I got to the airport and of course I forgot about the departure tax... I had been good and had used up almost all of the Barbados and US dollars, and then suddenly needed BD$25 more...over to a bank machine in the airport to withdraw BD$40 (since need BD$25 and machine only gives 20's) - so I now have BD$15 in my wallet, and will have for months...

The flight back was good. The little airplane on the TV display screen showed that we were traveling at 800 km/h as we started flying over the US and the outside temperature was -58 degrees C at 37,000 feet, just out of interest... Good to be home and have Dad waiting for me at the airport.

Barbados - Last Night

This is my last full day here. It has been beautiful, hot, and sunny, but I'm ready to go home.

I just finished reading a book I borrowed from my buddy Pete a long time ago - "Soul Music" by Terry Pratchett. Having finished that one - finally (review to follow), I have decided to re-read a book I read in university, "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" by Timothy Ferris.

Barbados - First Day Off for Sharon

Met and talked to Rose yesterday. Nice lady from the Kitchener area. She moved to Barbados about 10 years ago. Now she runs a convenience store located between the Amerylis and Savannah hotels, but on the other side of the road. I definitely recommend Rose's place for your snacking needs - example: a coke from the Hilton is BD$7, from the convenience store in the Hilton is BD$3, and B$1.75 from Rose. I'm sure you can get it even cheaper from the street vendors I have seen, but they aren't always around, and Rose is always at the same place, 7am to 7pm.

I had a "farmer's tan" - well burn actually, from wearing my t-shirt all the first and second day, so left my shirt off for most of yesterday - so now I have a nice all-over burn. I've been feeding the tingly parts of my burnt shin moisturizer in the hopes that it will stay on long enough to shift to a nice brown tan before the inevitable pealing begins. My forearms aren't bad since they are accustomed to the sun, however my shoulders, chest, and (ample) belly are the most tender, not having seen the sun for a while. I also got my haircut just before departure so my hairline is also a little tender.

Last night we had the seafood buffet at the Lighthouse Terrace at the Hilton - neither of us cared for it. Since the hotel isn't really near anything, and since the heat zaps your energy, and since Sharon has been working long hours and fighting traffic to and from the office each day - neither of us has had much energy to troop through the streets to find somewhere else to eat. Sharon is not working today so maybe we will find a place together.

Barbados

I have noticed around the Hilton pool that women seem to take better care of themselves than men - at least within the sample set of the people that stay at this hotel. I found myself a bit inspired since the men fell into 2 categories, a) excellent shape or b) gut hanging over the belt - not much in between (I'm hoping I fit into the "in between" area as I'm not "a" and don't want to admit that I might be "b"....). I'm going to get that universal gym in the basement setup and also get the treadmill going when I get home...honest I am...

Barbados - First Full Day

The Bridgetown Hilton is in a bit of an industrial area, not much around so snacks and quick meals are pretty much limited to the hotel ($$). There is a shuttle that runs into town, I might give that a try today to scope the place out for Sharon and I for the weekend. For now, its off to find some breakfast.

I took a walk down the beach - the Hilton definitely has the best beach in the area. A guy tried to sell me some aloha vera leaves for sunburn and such. I talked to him a bit - his job, as he states it, is actually to make sure that visitors have a good time - aloha vera, coke, weed, girls - or boys - whatever makes the tourists happy. Thanks but no - but need to lookup the Amarillas Hotel, it looks nice. The beach is not too bad just a bit south of the Hilton and this hotel might be more in our price range if we ever want to come back here. The Savannah Hotel is there also - AVOID - the beach is covered with rocks and the space between the hotel and the beach is overgrown with trees, leaves, and stuff - it didn't look good at all.

I had brunch at the Hilton beach bar - a fruity rum drink, sparkling water, and quesedillas - and then toured the old fort that is on the Hilton property at the point at Needham's Point. The cannon are a bit fake since they aren't really mounted for firing, they have been remounted just for show. Interestingly, there are a bunch more cannon below the walls in the water that have rusted together and have formed part of the break-water at the base of the fort.

Barbados - On My Way !!

Sharon has been sent to Barbados for business, left early Sunday morning, so I have decided to take a few days vacation and join her for the long Thanksgiving weekend.
I used my Aeroplan points for the ticket, cost me 55,000 points plus I had to pay ~$140 in fees and taxes, so almost free but not quite. I wanted business class because its a long flight, but the web site didn't give me the option. Turned out okay though, I had an empty seat beside me and the seat spacing was actually reasonable!

Mom and Dad are going to look after the boys (thank you very, very much!) - I think Dad is going to stay at the house each night and call the dog-walker (Tracy, from Noah's Ark Pet Care - great people) if he needs to go out during the day - really appreciate this everyone!

Sharon has a limo guy that she uses occasionally for work stuff, Ahmed, so I put the call into him for a 6am pickup. As usual, I was running late - not because I slept in, but because I had left too many little things to do for the morning. It started to thundershower just when Ahmed arrived (about 10-15 minutes early) and the boys wanted nothing to do with going out in the rain... If you could have seen the look on Gizzy's face! I had gotten them all excited about going outside and then threw open the door - and out they ran... Once those big rain drops started hitting Gizzy, he stopped dead in his tracks and gave me the look - the "you bastard" look. Anyway, the boys wouldn't do anything but look at me with squinting-in-the-rain looks on their faces, so I hope there weren't any accidents when Dad arrived.

The drive to the airport was slow because of the rain and then there was a dead traffic light on Hwy 50 - thank you Ahmed for getting me around this - I would have been late for my flight if I was driving.

I made a HUGE mistake at the airport by having some breakfast. What was I thinking?! A sausage "mcmuffin" type sandwich with spicy sausage, greasy hasbrowms and strong coffee - ACK! I was in gastric distress for the ENTIRE flight - 5 hours of rumbling and grumbling and extreme discomfort - my own fault, I know better - coffee and greasy food is never a good idea, and spicy sausage should be reserved for outdoor, breezy location (not a confined metal tube with lots of other people packed in all around you).

And now I am here... Beautiful. I'm staying at the Bridgetown Hilton. The sand is soft and plentiful, the water is turquoise, clear, and warm, and the weather is hot and humid - a perfect holiday situation! Since the room is paid by Sharon's trip, and my flight was just points, I am trying hard not to care that the food is so expensive. The people are great and the place is beautiful. I have been on my own since I got here because Sharon has been working late, but the staff are friendly and helpful so far I am loving this trip. Pic from our room =>

PVR Intelligence Suggestions

I do like my PVR and the online program guide, there is some good stuff out there, but typically the good shows are buried in a pile of crap. There needs to be some AI built into the on-screen guide, such as:

• option to sort channels by number of hours watched on that channel with most popular channels appearing at the top, mixed with any new or free preview channels. Need to include an option to easily mark a channel as "don't like"
• tracking of specific show episodes played and the option to mark a show as seen or don't like
• tied to above, option to search and record (automatically) show episodes that I haven't seen. Example: punch in Battlestar Galactica, and it records every time the show is on unless a) it already has that episode in memory (including quality check for satellite outages), b) I have tagged that episode as seen, c) or has a log that the episode has been seen in the past. At the start it would catch a lot of the older shows that I have seen, but these could be quickly marked as seen and deleted from memory, and then they won't get recorded again - also allows me to catch old episodes that I might have missed.
• option to identify a show series that I don't like - and being able to differentiate somehow - specifically for things like the various versions of Star Trek and Battlestar - I only want to see the new episodes of Battlestar, not the ones from the '70's, and only selected Star Trek spin-offs, not the old

I really should just ditch the TV - and internet access is suspect too... I'd likely be better off cutting the Cable and just buying / renting DVDs when I want to watch something.

Gave blood yesterday

I gave blood again yesterday, I think that makes either 16 or 17 times. I do it for the cookies and juice...

Okay, I'm up...

Usually my radio is set to 92.5 Jack FM, and in the morning I find that I tend to just lay there listening to the tunes cuz they're good. This morning the radio came on playing CHUM (I was fiddling with the buttons last night) and after suffering through a George Michaels greatest-hits tune, followed by a Justin Timberlake tune, I just couldn't stay there any longer - the bad music drove me out of the room. The dilemma: the whole purpose of a clock radio is to get you up and out of bed, so maybe I should leave it tuned to CHUM...?

Barbados!!!

Sharon has been called to work in Barbados for a while - so I'm going to take a couple of days off and use some Aeroplan points to get down there for a "free" trip to the sun! Excellent!

Possum, playing possum

Sharon was out walking the boys this evening and found an animal beside the road and was very concerned. We went back to the spot (without the boys) and there was a possum, and he was, well, playing possum... A couple of nudges with my shoe showed that he was alive, and a call to the vet confirmed my thinking that he was playing dead and we should leave him. When we checked later he was gone, so no rescue effort needed to be mounted...

Nextar GPS - rants

After using this GPS unit for a while, I am just annoyed - but no more since it stopped working (some kind of corrupted file - I get an error screen when I try to turn it on). To repair requires returning to the manufacturer (return mail paid) which would be more expensive than just buying a new one.
Some usage annoyances for anyone thinking of getting this unit:
- the search POI by name is useless since it sorts results by city. this makes no sense at all, it should sort by distance if no city is entered.
- the search POI by distance is useless since it only looks at locations less than 4 kms from current location. Results should fill at least one screen, ie. If nothing found within 4km, extend to 8, then 16, etc. Until a full screen of stuff is visible. At highways speeds in a rural area, a search will find nothing, and then suddenly find a bunch of stuff because a town is now within 4 kms - but you are likely just passing the highway exit.

Another minor annoyance is that "Time to Destination" should be replaced with ETA, or allow switching between.

Beautiful country...

Down visiting my Aunt in Rock Island, Quebec. This is a beautiful area! The leaves are starting to change colour, people are starting to fix up some of the old homes and buildings, it really is a great place to live.

Gas mileage conversion

As far as I can ascertain 1 US gallon is 0.83 Imperial gallons, so with those figures:
- 2.83 x km/L = Imp MPG
- 2.35 x km/L = US MPG

My Honda Civic Hybrid is getting 5.2 L/100 km = 19.23 km/L:
= 54.4 Imp MPG
= 45.2 US MPG

Jericho - new series

The new series "Jericho" looks good. I've only seen the first episode so far but it seems very interesting. It is kind of a what-if type show, what if you were going about your business one day and saw a mushroom cloud appear on the horizon in the direction of the nearest large city?
At the beginning there are lots of questions - is the States under attack, was it an accident, was it a terrorist action, and of course, what do we do now? This got me thinking a bit and I think I would start documenting what I know, my assumptions, and the actions I should take...

What do we know?	Assumptions	Strategy	Actions
Denver and Atlanta were hit	support people/government busy	fend for ourselves	pool weapons (looting), collect perishable food to localized freezer/fridge (restaurant?)
Weather patterns	fallout possible/probable	protect water sources	collect and store as much water as possible, cover sources, gather books and read on how to react

Still with the sore neck!

I'm still struggling with a sore neck/back. Its been almost 2 weeks now. REALLY painful this morning, I think I slept on it wrong. Had a massage on Friday and another today - helps a lot, but the pain is still there. I'm not sure what I've done, but it is getting really annoying. Driving is the worst, the shoulder checks and slight head movements associated with stopping, starting, and bumps all hurt. The massage guy says to keep applying heat, keep stretching, don't overwork those muscles and stay away from cold and damp. I have a company golf game next Tuesday, so I REALLY need this to be fixed in the next 2 days - but I don't think I'm going to risk it...

Amazing Race is back on!

The Amazing Race is one of my favourite shows (except for the season where the American families camped their way around the States). Looking forward to the new season. I've seen a bit and so far my favourites are the couple from Kentucky (I absolutely LOVE the accent) and the woman with the missing leg - she's got a lot of heart, a real inspiration. My original attraction to the show was being able to get a look at places around the world that I might want to visit - and I still very much like to see the sights and points of interest, but now I also like to watch the interaction of the teams and some of the strategies that the teams use to get ahead. I think the best season so far was the one where the guy from Survivor (Rob and Amber?) was part of the show. He REALLY played the game - you could see the brain working and figuring out the angle, it was impressive to watch.

Another fire

Finished off the last of the rotten wood at the bottom of the wood pile after Sharon moved the rest of the good stuff into the shed. I've decided to take the rest of the big stuff with the ants down the road and dump it in the ditch beside the railroad tracks rather than risk a full eyebrowectomy again. A good job done...

Actually, Dad spared me an eyebrowectomy or needing to drag everything down to the railroad tracks - he pulled everything down and set it ablaze (he doesn't seem to be as concerned about flying embers as I am... ;). Even a better job done...

Finished my 1986 Talisker last night

Finished my 1986 Talisker scotch, now on to my 1990. I have some Talisker "10 year" but I don't know when it was bottled, and some Johnny Walker Green that is 15 years. Does it get any smoother after it is bottled, or does that stop after it leaves the barrel? Either way its a nice way to end the day :)

Recipe for Good-for-you Muffins

Trust me, these are good. The ingredients don't sound great and they don't look great when they are done, but they are good.

• preheat over to 350 degrees
• load 24 muffin tin cups with the little paper liners
• 3 cups (750ml) of Kelloggs All Bran cereal (I've tried other kinds with okay results, but so far the Kelloggs has been the best)
• 3 cups (750ml) of water
• let the water soak in and then mix or blend
• add a package of Betty Crocker Low Fat Brownie mix (I haven't tried any other kind, this is the only low-fat mix I've found around here)
• add 3 teaspoons (15 ml) of baking powder
• mix or blend until mixed well
• distribute across 24 muffin cups
• bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Is good, and Weight Watchers says they are only 1 point each. But even if not so concerned with your weight, they are good, a good source of fiber, and not very fattening for a dessert-type item. From a guy perspective - they are really easy to make, you should use the biggest blender (ie. power tool) in the house to mix the stuff, and you can eat the whole batch without worrying too much about adding to the stuff hanging over your belt buckle - just be aware, coffee and bran react to create a rather desperate situation. If you eat most of the first batch of muffins and then drink a bunch of coffee in the morning, don't have any meetings scheduled until later in the day...

New style bagel

After ordering a toasted bagel with cream cheese a couple weeks ago at Tim's and finding the majority of the cream cheese in the hole of the bagel, and then a similar experience with a bagel sandwich a little while ago, I suggested to Sharon that it would be good to have hole-less bagels that are slightly thinner than regular bagels (ie. like the thickness of 2 pieces of bread). I was sure that they probably already existed because it was a good idea - my favourite sandwich stuff surrounded by the bagely goodness of my favourite bagel flavour. Well, I saw a commercial on TV last night for this exact thing - Thomas' Squares Bagelbread. We are just having bagel sandwiches now and have realized that it doesn't matter what type of sandwich you make, they always end up tasting the same - they always taste exactly like another one...
:) we have also found that any and all sandwiches taste better when they are made by someone else... Not sure why...

Neck Pain

I finally couldn't take it any more and booked a half-hour neck massage today. The pain was not back, but just constant and annoying and I just didn't want to deal with it any more. He asked what my pain was, from 1-10, I said 4, but not really bad, very noticeable but hey - been living with it for a week so probably closer to a 2... Anyway, not like any massage I've had before, this guy is more of a press-and-hold guy, hurts like hell but gets rid of the knots. I've had massages before that involved lots of pressing and hurting, but not just a straight continuous push. This guy also had a tool that allowed him to target the exact spot and press like hell without his thumb getting tired. I have some exercises that I need to do, and need to soak in a hot shower for a while, and need to use a hot pack a couple times over the next couple of days, and need at least one follow-up visit (can already feel a couple spots that need more work). I feel 110% better, well worth the $40 bucks.

An Engineer's View of Reaching a Target Weight

I did some research and learned that 1 lb of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories and 4 litres of gasoline contains about 31,000,000 calories and my car (the '03 Honda Civic Hybrid) gets about 5.0 L/100km and I live on a 2 acre property.

It just happens that for me to reach my target weight I need to lose the fat equivalent to the gas required to drive my car for 1 trip around my yard (excluding along the front by the road).

Now I need to make a little car that I can "drive" around the property to represent my progress...!

Blackberry Users: Emergency Contact "qqq" or "ppp"

I was using my Blackberry the other day and had a thought - the device is almost impossible to use without looking at the screen. On a regular cellphone you can figure out where the main keys are so you could dial a number (like 911) without looking at the phone, if you have to. But the Blackberry does different things with the buttons depending on the application that it is running at any given time. So what would happen if you were in a car wreck at night on a dark country road - trapped in your wrecked car down in a dark ditch - BUT you could get hold of your Blackberry but not see it? Sounds like a fairly unlikely event, but hey - I guess I could add, what if the screen broke but the basic functionality still worked?

Here is my thought - create a contact in your contact list with the name "qqq" or "ppp", since these are the easiest non-freaky keys to find on the Blackberry keyboard.

Then do the following to access this contact without looking at the unit:
- press and hold the "back" button for a couple of seconds (exits out of anything you are in and generally clears the display)
- click the "back" button a bunch of times to make sure
- scroll the wheel up a bunch to be at the top of the application list
- click the wheel once (if locked the unit will display the unlock menu, if not it will enter the top application)
- scroll the wheel up to ensure that you are at the top of any menu
- click the wheel once again (will unlock if locked, or will access the application menu if in an application)
- click the "back" button again a bunch of times (exits out of any applications)
- the main intent of the above is to ensure that the unit is in the main application window without having to look at the screen
- click the "phone" button on the top of the unit to make the phone dialer application open
- click "qqq" or "ppp" to find the emergency contact in the address book, it should be the only entry with these three characters in a row, so it should be highlighted
- click the wheel once to get the menu, and the default highlighted option should be "Call"
- click the wheel again to initiate a call

Try it - I think it works. Might need some adjustment if you have a password protected lock option. I have the Blackberry 7250 and it works for me.

Also, there was an email floating around a while ago suggesting that you create an entry in your phone's address book with "ICE I.C.E. 911" in the name. If you are ever in an accident or in trouble and unable to communicate with emergency personnel, they could access this contact easily in your phone's address book to contact someone in an emergency - makes sense to me...

Ouch, pain in the ... neck...

I have been living with and fighting a "stiff neck" since last Thursday. I don't recall doing anything silly that would have pulled something, but since last Thursday afternoon my neck and upper back have been sore. I have tried stretching and relaxing and hot showers and heat patches and Sharon gave me a neck-rub yesterday, but the only thing that seems to help is Advil - and that's only temporary. One person I spoke to today suggested meningitis, however then laughed and said that I would probably be dead by now if it was meningitis, so probably wasn't it (Gee, Thanks!!!). The worst part is at night since I can take a couple of pills that help the pain until I get to sleep, but I have been waking up at around 3-4am in pain and unable to roll over or easily get out of bed. By the time I get myself rearranged, I am completely awake and have been getting up to get more pills (which last until about 6am when it happens again). Joe tells me that this happens to him on occasion - so I am currently blaming him for my woes!!!

Oops, just gave myself an unexpected hair "perm" and eyebrow makeover...

I was having another little fire in the backyard (almost rid of the scrap wood) when I brought down 2 big logs from the back fence. This is the main stuff I want to get rid of since it is full of carpenter ants - which I don't want finding my house or wood fence at the front. I had a good fire going from using up the last of the rotten hardwood from my wood pile - nice and hot, so I picked up the biggest log with the most ants, and got ready to add it to the fire. Of course the log was slightly longer than the fire was wide, so it had to be positioned just right to avoid having it roll out of the fire pit, so I took my time and "gently" lowered it into the fire where I thought it should go. Of course I dropped it at the last second, which created a burst of heat and flame right up the from of me, and I heard that familiar crackling sound of burning hair, followed by the familiar smell of burning hair. Okay, so maybe these things aren't so familiar to most people, but anyone who know me, knows that I would be familiar with these things... Being outside with no mirror, I just brushed myself a bit to get the majority of the burnt stuff off and continued with my work - smiling at the comments I was sure to get from Joe if the damage was significant. I finished what I was doing and went into the house to assess the situation... definitely have shorter and curly bangs, but not too bad - any remnants of a cybrow are gone, actually, my eyebrows are now nicely "thinned" - and for a finishing touch, my eyelashes are nicely frosted at the tips. Luckily I shaved this morning or I would have looked like Mr. Velcro-face, or my head might have caught fire - one or the other. I have learned from various similar experiences to immediately hold my breath as almost a reflex reaction to "danger" when around fire, so my nose hairs were spared (unfortunately). Though this could have saved me the trouble of trimming or plucking (which is always so much fun), as I mentioned, I have experience with these types of situations (in particular there was the time that I learned that shaving cream from a can is nothing like the foam that firefighters use to put out fires...) and know that having burnt hair inside your nose is not pleasant cuz you can't really get away from the smell. All in all, a good day!

Hail !

Got some hail tonight during a thunderstorm... I was all prepared with the candles lit and my new backup power system at the ready - and nothin'... Usually if we get a stiff breeze the power will go out, but not now that I have the backup power system... The plastic lawn furniture got blown into a pile at the corner of the deck, the hail and rain pummelled all the plants, but not even a flicker of the lights. I guess that's a good thing, but also a little disappointing ...

Movie Review: Done - no more movie reviews here

Looking over my blog I find that it is turning into nothing but movies - which I don't want. So I am not going to post any more reviews here, this will be a space just for stuff - I will track and review movies on the Yahoo site since it is better suited to the job.

Movie Review: Primer[what the...? still trying to figure it out]

My online review and my movie list ranking.

Movie Review: Nell[undecided, predictable plot and a little preachy, but...]

My online review and my movie list ranking.

Movie Review: Walk The Line[good flick, not a big Johnny Cash fan, but good story]

My online review and my movie list ranking.

Movie Review: Corpse Bride[slow to start, but I liked the ending]

My online review and my movie list ranking.

Met pool guy and reviewed endless pool DVD

Met with Frank from Solda Pools to get some thoughts on a new pool for the back yard - been waiting a long time for the pool since having one at our last place in Beeton. Talked about a few things and put together some quick sketches, and then went through the price list - wow, adds up fast. Sure, the pool may be $20-30K, but then the cement, the heater, the pumps, the waterfall, the chlorinator, the spa, etc. - and it adds up. The first estimate with all the bells and whistles was $126K. We trimmed some things down (like the spa) and deferred some of the luxuries (like the cabana bar), and our current estimate is around $80-85K for this year - basically replacing the mortgage, so its okay!
Coincidentally, on the same day that we spoke to Frank we also got an information package in the mail about "Endless Pools", basically a small pool with a built-in propeller to create a current that allows swimming in place. Watched the DVD (we sent away for the info package a while ago) and it looks good. So, another thought added to the mix... Wouldn't it be great to have the Endless Pool up near the house inside a solarium that could be heated and used year-round...! So now we are rethinking the plan and maybe we'll go with a smaller pool since we wouldn't need all the length for swimming, which we can do in the Endless Pool. Hmmmm...

UPDATE: we've now had the pool installed for a few years (wow, time flies!), and I really felt the need to come back in here and comment on Solda. Structurally the did a great job, but their care and attention to the finishing touches is just not there. I have been paying them to come back each spring and fall to open/close the pool in case there was a problem with the installation. I've watched them do the work and they are just simply not careful. The control valve on the top of the sand filter had to be replaced because over the 2-3 years of them opening/closing the pool they cracked the fittings on every pipe connection (I believe over tightening is to blame). Their water pump washed out a big hole in the back yard one year and also washed out a bunch of mulch that my neighbours had just put in around some trees at the property line. In my opinion they don't drain the lines enough for the underground pipes and don't lower the water level enough (but I'm not the supposed expert - they said its fine, they always do it that way). The waterfall leaks and there are major cracks in a couple of the key rocks of the waterfall (were there on day-1, I believe happened when the backhoe was muscling them into place). Don't even get me started on the compost they brought for the garden beds - total crap! We paid a premium for the premium grade stuff, and had to go back to them for cash-back when we started finding large sharp shards of glass all through the stuff. I'm not talking 1 broken bottle (as they tried to suggest), but several different colours and types of glass all through the mix everywhere (it is now a way to pass the time on sunny days by the pool, I wander along the edge of the garden and pick-up bits of glass - I am rarely left wanting...). Basically all the finishing touches are crap and there is a lack of professionalism for the recurring tasks - even though we continue to pay a premium (compared to other companies) for them to come back to service the pool. This will be the last year we have them back. i believe they will now say that anything major that goes wrong is out of warranty, and all the minor stuff seems based on their bad workmanship, so that's that....

Roof Repair

Dad picked up 20' worth of scaffolding last Wednesday and brought it over to the house. We have it for a week - which is the minimum rental time - so begins the efforts to repair the damage to the roof caused by the squirrels and chipmunks.
By Friday we had the scaffolding up. Went to Home Hardware Saturday morning and got a piece of sheet metal dryer vent pipe and some roofing patch putty stuff while it rained. Just had to cut off the parts of the sheet metal that made it pipe-like and then cut it to size. Luckily by the time I was ready to climb the scaffolding the rain had stopped. Cut and bent the sheet metal to fit under the shingles and behind the eaves trough, and secured everything with construction adhesive. Then coated everything on top with the roofing patch putty - went better than expected! Tore down the scaffolding and reloaded it into the trailer to go back with Dad so that he could use it to cut down an offending tree branch near his house. Going to put a bunch of "Critter Ridder" in the attic and continue to keep the squirrels away by live-trapping until the first heavy snow.
With the rain, I felt it was okay to start a fire in the "new" fire pit in the back to get rid of some of my scrap wood - basically anything pine (which isn't good in the wood stove) and a bunch of hardwood that was starting to rot after being left at the bottom of the old wood pile, sunken into the mud. With the new fire pit, I can get rid of the disintegrating fire barrel and clean up the back yard a lot, looks much better. Got me in the mood and really started a back yard clean up. Moved the little tin shed around so that we can use it to store the wood for the woodstove - what a neat idea, dry firewood in the winter, you'd think I would have thought of that sooner! Thanks to Sharon for moving most of the firewood into the shed from under the deck.

News Story - Unable to unplug, tech addicts may sue

News Article: Unable to unplug, tech addicts may sue

Okay, so the thinking is that people may sue over addiction to technology... My take is: what is it going to take for people to take responsibility for their actions? If your life sucks because you keep working through your Blackberry, then YOU should recognize this and reduce your usage. Don't give me the crap that you need to be accessible because others are and if you are not then you may not get that promotion - guess what, if YOU DECIDE that you want to be in the running for that promotion and if YOU DECIDE that being accessible all the time is a key way to stay in the running, then YOU need to decide if you are willing to pay the price of being that accessible, which can mean a crappy home life - same as the traditional situation of having to work late all the time - only this gives you the added BENEFIT of "working late", but you don't have to stay at the office. You want the brass ring, you still need to get above the rest. My suggestion is to find better ways to highlight your talents and commitment to the company than just having your Blackberry on all the time and responding to your boss' emails within the minute.
That's my 2 cents anyway.

Looking for a cookbook

I've had a thought for a cookbook, and I'm hoping that it exists and one of the many, many, ... many readers of this blog can point me to a good one. The cookbook I want would have an index of ingredients and then recipes that a) feature that ingredient or b) just use that ingredient. The reasoning for this relates to my relish entry below - when I have a bunch of something, or want to get rid of something in the fridge, or use something provided from a well-intending friend, I want some ideas for how to use those food items to create something good and interesting.
Some examples:
- my garden is producing lots of cucumbers, what can I make with them? (besides relish)
- I am starting to finally get some tomatoes from the garden, all I can think of is spaghetti sauce, chili, and sliced with hamburgers
- that can of "pineapple tidbits" that has been in the fridge for way too long...
- the package of shredded coconut in the cupboard
- onions, got a bunch in the fridge "crisper" (talk about false advertising, nothing has ever come out of there "crisp"...)
- shrimp in the freezer, something besides cocktail or mixed in spaghetti sauce or a stir fry...
- a box of Cheerios that I bought by mistake (Sharon only likes the Honey Nut kind - I'll eat almost anything in a pinch, but haven't been in a pinch recently)...

Get the picture? Any suggestions? I guess I could use the internet to search for recipes, but at the risk of starting another rant, I only have access to dialup service where I live - nuf said...

Movies, Movies, Movies...

I've started loading my Yahoo movie list with all the movies that I've seen - I think I'm at about 170 so far and not even close to running out of titles to add - that's about 340 hours so far = about 8 full work weeks of time - 2 months... Not as much as I thought, I guess I've got room for a few more...!!

Who shot J.R.?

I'm having a nostalgia moment... After hearing an ad on the radio stating that the last season of such-and-such a series ended with one of the most shocking moments on television, all I could think of was the hype that surrounded the shooting of JR on the show Dallas so many years ago. But I can't remember who did... I remember the T-shirts that asked the question and then had check-boxes like "the butler". Does anyone remember?
And while I'm traveling down TV memory lane, does anyone else remember to specials that came out around every holiday? In particular I'm thinking of the show Riki-Tiki-Tavi(sp?) about a mongoose living with a family in a jungle environment... Anyone else remember this show? I think it use to come on around Thanksgiving...

Car problems - 2001 Volkswagen Jetta

I drove Sharon's car to work today so that she could have mine for her drive to work - the Jetta has been acting up. I now understand Sharon's concern with continuing to drive the vehicle in its current state (even though the dealership said "its okay to drive" until we get it in for service). On highway 427 the car suddenly slowed and showed 0 rpm, then jerked and showed 4,000 rpm and I could only reach 95 km/h with the peddle to the metal - it is never good to slow from 120 km/h to 95 on the highway without the brake lights coming on... After jumping lanes a few times and luckily being fairly close to my exit, I could get on the shoulder and fiddle a bit. Seems to me that the car is dropping out of over-drive. When I put the car into 3rd gear I got almost the same performance as when I had it in OD - I think the automatic part of the automatic transmission has gone berserk. Anyway, seems okay (so far) if I drive it like a standard and don't go above 3rd gear - which means no highway driving for me...! Not so bad though, I'll take the back roads home so I can justify a speed of ~90. Still a pain in the arse. The dealership said it was the speed sensor that was bad - which makes sense given the resulting performance, but one has to ask...what's wrong with using the speedometer gadgetry? Why add some special sensor to the mix (which apparently has a tendency to go bad) when there is already lots of speed measuring options available? Whatever...

Movie Review: So I Married an Axe Murderer[good, the beginnings of Austin Powers can be seen]

You can really see the beginnings of the famous Mike Meyers characters in the rough - the Dad is the Fat Bastard and there are a couple of other moments in the movie that sound like other parts of The Spy Who Shagged Me. I liked it.
Online review, and my ranking.

Made some relish

We started getting a little overwhelmed by cucumbers, so we decided to make relish today. Here is the recipe, in case you also find yourself struggling with an excess of cucumbers. Of course now I'm going to have to eat a lot of meat for which to put the relish on...oh darn...
;)

Recipe:
- 6 cucumbers (I suggest excluding the seeds)
- 3 medium onions
- 2 red peppers
- chop or run through food processor
- add 1 teaspoon salt sprinkled over top
- let stand overnight
- drain
- add 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- simmer until thick
- can/bottle as preserves

Barrel fire day

I just started a barrel fire - figured I'd get started on this pile of pine branches too big for the wood chipper while everything is damp from the heavy dew from last night. This pine stuff really spits out the cinders - I think its the bark... Also think I need a new fire barrel, the current one is more like a collection of holes arranged to form an interpretive rendition of a cylindrical "barrelesque" shape, held together with some sheet metal. I think today might also be pool emptying day - though not if it rains (which it looks like it might). I woke up with a cough this morning and feel a little rough - hoping its nothing and will pass with my first coffee of the day. Perfect timing - just added the last 3 pieces of wood to the barrel that needed to be dealt with, and it is starting to rain...!

I watch too many movies...

Now that I'm effectively tracking my movie watching, I realize that I watch way too much TV. I have always known this, and I acknowledge that I am a TV addict, but to see it all being tracked like this, I really need to stop watching so much. I'm not as bad as the characters in Cinemania, but just the fact that I have a movie reference as an example for watching too many movies should be a real clue...(by the way, Cinemania is a neat little documentary - good to watch when there isn't anything else on, or when you can't sleep - PVRs are evil...). Anyway, back to the point, I need to redirect my movie watching time into other, more fruitful pursuits - like blogging, for example...

Movie Review: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit[a little slow, not as good as the one with the penguin]

In general I like Wallace and Gromit, but this movie seemed to lag a bit. Of course Gromit steals the show, as always, and the little bunnies are really cute - especially when floating around in the BV6000 and when shivering in the shadow of the were-rabbit. Not sure why, but I started losing interest near the end - just seemed a little slow...
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: Aeon Flux[I liked it, but not great]

The movie was close enough to the series to follow the basic plot - and seems to explain the series a bit, but different in style and overall concept; the movie had a definite beginning, middle, and end - unlike the series which were/are generally a bunch of "middle" bits, leaving lots of questions and intrigue. Doesn't stand out as a cult classic, but is worth a look if you like the series.
Online review, and my ranking.

Power System Update

Just re-bought the backup power system I got during the last power outage and then returned (reference blote). My intention was to buy the inverter and batteries and battery charger separately and build my own system, but given that this box includes all of the above (without the option to expand the number of batteries) for $300 (on sale) and the regular price for just the inverter alone is $300, plus the batteries, plus the charger - I couldn't pass it up. For power related stuff all I need now is a generator that runs for more than 2 hours. I have been looking on the Coleman web site to try and see if a bigger gas tank can be put on the generator I have, but I can't find anything - I'm still hoping there is a way to put on a bigger tank, but at this point I'm betting not. So I'm looking at another generator at Home Hardware that also has an oil level sensor and a fuel gauge, so I think it is the right way to go - just need to wait for it to go on sale (currently $900). I finished charging the backup power box and put it in the TV room to power all the AV stuff during the little outages we have all the time. I'll run an extension cord to the fridge and well pump for easy switch over in an extended outage, and then run a feed cord to where-ever I decide to put the generator - then I'll be done with my backup power "system".

Another Convert to Hybrid Vehicle Technology

Just heard that a friend of mine, Jeff, bought a new Toyota Camry Hybrid - excellent! I won't be the only hybrid driver among my friends any more. Our Jetta is beginning to act up (Sharon says "can you say lemon?") So we are now looking for a new car - good timing on getting the mortgage paid... I am hoping to talk her into getting a hybrid also - maybe one of the Toyotas since they have a good variety. I want to look into the new Honda Hybrids also, just haven't had time.
I read an interesting article the other day about a type of mechanical hybrid for large vehicles like garbage trucks - basically uses the energy from braking and going down hills to compress nitrogen gas, then using the compressed gas to turn the back wheels when accelerating from a stop. Good idea!

Another Chippy...

I've lost count of how many chipmunks I have relocated, but here is my counter if you are interested. Hoping to get the nest cleaned out of the attic and the hole repaired this long weekend - going to need about 30' of scaffolding to get where I need to get because it is all up under the eaves on the side of the house where there is a hill. Once cleaned and repaired I will keep capturing and relocating squirrels and chipmunks for the rest of this year and then hope that the attracting smells and interest in the attic will be gone by next spring. They are certainly cute to have around, but very destructive if they get into the house! I should be keeping tabs on the costs for all this - the cost of the traps, the scaffolding rental, the new insulation required, etc. It will likely be around $1,000 in repairs before I'm done - now I'm depressed, maybe I shouldn't add it up...

Movie Review: Crash[wow. lots of stuff I'm not use to seeing... you should see this movie]

This is a good movie. I don't want to talk about what its about because that will create expectations. Just go see this movie. Its a little heavy but well worth the ride.
Online review, and my ranking.

Think I lost my Tomato Hornworms...

I haven't seen my Tomato Hornworms since a recent yard cleaning. May be for the best since the tomatoes on the "scrap" tomato plant growing out of the bottom of the composter look better than the tomatoes growing on my 2 "gardened" tomato plants - I think I'm pampering the wrong plants. Anyway, its unfortunate that I lost the Hornworms, I was looking forward to seeing the moths (info here as a refresher).

Movie Review: Suicide Kings[I liked it, not your standard plot line]

It is worth the price of admission to see the 70's flashback of Christopher Walken in disco suit with long hair pulling some disco moves at the bar ;). And I love Denis Leary in almost everything I've seen him in (hard to tell if he's actually acting or just that guy you love to hate...). I like the way the story is told and some of the twists - its a good watch.
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: Bend It Like Beckham[liked it, had some good cultural commentary]

We were attracted to this movie by Parminder Nagra, who we liked from the TV series ER. We didn't know what to expect, but it was a fun little movie that highlighted some of the cultural differences that exist in our multicultural world (in this case, London, England). Recommend for a light evening watch.
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: The Party[disappointing, expected more from Sellers]

I am a Peter Sellers fan - I like his style of comedy, so when I saw "The Party" while surfing through my ExpressVu online guide, I recorded it to the PVR. I now think that I might have outgrown the Sellers type of comedy but I also think this just wasn't a very good movie.
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: Ultraviolet[disappointing, had all the action elements but didn't come together]

Not sure why, but I found this movie fell flat. The action sequences and effects were excellent, the story line and sci-fi technology was interesting but I just couldn't bring myself to care. Maybe too much flash and not enough substance?
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: Into The Blue[I liked it, was a nice little movie]

Aside from the obvious attraction of seeing Jessica Alba in a skimpy bathing suit, this was a good little movie. The scenery (other than Jessica) was very nice with lots of stunning underwater photography. The plot was simple but good - and I liked the way things started to go bad gradually instead of all at once like in some movies (ie. the friend that always gets you in trouble, but not all at once - "carpe diem" is usually how it starts, and then you are standing in the doorway of your ski chalet in your gym shorts covered with snow and small cuts caused by the layer of ice on top of the snow that you passed through on your way down from the second floor balcony - but that's another story - what did happen to all that fortitude that I thought I had?). Friends get friends into trouble - that's what friends do - and I liked the way this movie handled the whole thing while not getting campy (too much). Anyway, I liked it.
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: 16 Blocks[disappointing, I kept waiting for something to happen]

Usually when you have an action movie with Bruce Willis you are not left wanting, but in this case I was disappointed. I think part of it was the overused bad-cop-covering-tracks plot line (such as The Negotiator), but also I found the Dante 'Mos Def' Smith character to be a little over-acted - might have been the tone of the voice, not sure, but it seemed to me that Dante came through too much and diluted the character - I don't know Dante much at all, but I would guess that he is much smarter than the character he plays in this film - and that comes through. It seemed like he was trying too hard to be "street". I don't know, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for that movie that night, but seemed to lack something...
Online review, and my ranking.

Dinner, a show, and a night away - The Beild House

Sharon booked us an evening in Collingwood for a night at the Beild House Inn. The package included a boxed lunch, dinner, the show "They're Playing Our Song" at the Collingwood Theatre and a breakfast in the morning. We had the box lunch when we arrived - sandwiches and wraps, very good. For dinner I had the steak - was cooked well (med rare) but tough, a little disappointing. The show was okay - I'm not a big fan of musicals - but apparently the air conditioning was broken, so it was really hot. By the second act it was hot enough that I just wanted it all to end so that I could get out of there, which was unfortunate because the people on stage were doing a good job.
We took a drive along the water looking for some beach or water access - interesting coastline with what appeared to be limestone sheets in the water (no sand). Not a bad waterline, but a little slippery which made things a little unnerving. I guess all the sand gets moved down the coast to Wasaga.
The Beild House itself was nice, but seemed a little expensive for the overall quality. The people and staff were great - very nice and friendly, which really makes the difference. The minor disappointments with the accommodations were overshadowed by the staff and overall atmosphere. It was a nice way to end our vacation - though not sure we would do it again.

The financial wheels are in motion...

We are targeting to have our mortgage paid off before the end of the month - Yahoo!!! Should free up some funds to support some of the renovations that we want to do. I think we will need to have some sort of party to celebrate, maybe over the long Labour Day weekend. Happened a lot faster than I expected, but happy that its happening!

Movie Review: Dark Angel: The Ascent[bad movie but some interesting ideas]

In this movie, demons are very pious and even say Grace before meals. At one point the lead character demon (in human form) meets some nuns and immediately abases herself before them - the nuns say there is no need and invite the demon back to the church "but I will surely combust" replies the demon, so the nuns give the demon a crucifix for support - which burns the demon, "why would you do that to me? I have always tried to do God's work!". In general the concept is that the demons are doing God's work by punishing sinners. The movie Dogma is very good and features irreverent angels, as does Constantine and several others (there is one with Christopher Walken, but I can't remember the name), but this is the first flick I've seen to suggest that demons - who understand first-hand the horrors of hell, are very pious, in contrast to the irreverent angels. Actually, it appears to me that the demons in this movie are modeled after the puritans of old who did horrible things to "sinners" in the name of God. Like I said, the movie isn't very good, but the story line is interesting - good idea, poor execution.
Online review, and my ranking.

Movie Review: Fantastic Four[I liked it]

It was a good story with some good action sequences. Didn't seem to get caught-up as much in the gadgets and super-power effects as some of the other recent superhero movies (Spiderman, Batman, etc.). The effects are there and the character powers are shown off, but more as needed than as gratuitous flash - the focus is more on the character development and interaction. I liked it and recommend.
Online review, and my ranking.

Just for Laughs - Gags

I just caught a few minutes of the show "Just for Laughs - Gags" while channel surfing. I've seen bits an pieces of this show on occasion, and the more I see the more I think that this show is actually bad for our general collective social structure. Okay, I know you are thinking I've gone off the deep end, but follow me for a bit...
I saw an episode in which they show a dummy dressed like an old man in a wheelchair at the top of a hill in the city. The gag was that someone would push the wheelchair up to a person on the street to ask directions. While in discussion with the person about the directions, the wheelchair would start rolling down the hill and an unsuspecting good Samaritan would take off down the hill after it to try and rescue the "old man". Now let's think about this for a second... a) isn't it very possible that someone could get really hurt running down a hill and trying to stop a runaway wheelchair? and b) having been fooled by this situation once, do you think that the good Samaritan might hesitate to act in a similar - real - situation in the future? Also, as a viewer of the show, having seen someone get fooled by this act, might you hesitate to act in a similar situation thinking it might be a joke?

In another episode there was a similar setup with an open manhole in the street full of water and a "blind" person supposedly walking into the open hole (the good Samaritan only sees the blind person's hat floating on top of the water). In this case several of the show's victims dove into the hole going underwater repeatedly trying to find and rescue the blind person. Same thinking... a) isn't it very possible that someone could get hurt diving into a small hole filled with water? b) wouldn't there be damage to that person's property - watch, wallet, etc.? c) and again, would that person ever do something similar in the future? And would you, as an observer of the show - would you ever dive into a manhole filled with water if you only suspected that someone had fallen in?

There are numerous other examples along the same lines - people impersonating police officers and emergency service personnel, etc. All of this creating doubt and hesitation in situations where people should not have doubt or display hesitation.
In short, I think this is a bad show on many levels - to the point of actually being harmful to our society. My 2 cents...

Wood Chipper

Got myself a wood chipper while on vacation and spent some time grinding down some tree branches that had accumulated from some various yard work over the summer. Typically we have been burning this type of stuff in a barrel in the back yard, but with the limited rain we've had this season I haven't dared to set the pile on fire - and therefore the pile just keeps getting bigger! As well, we have been buying mulch to use around the bottom of some of our trees and in our gardens which just seemed silly given the amount of mulch we have been burning in the form of clippings. Anyway, the chipper works well and is very satisfying to operate - makes a very manly sound and successfully makes big things smaller. It is an electric unit, so the generator I bought during the last power outage works very well at powering the chipper on-site down in the trees where the clippings are generated - eliminating the additional step of dragging it out of the woods and around back to the fire barrel - now we just load the big stuff into the little trailer and tow it to the back barrel. All in all, looks like it will be a good buy...

92.5JackFM Prize Website Suggestion

The current prize selection list from the Jack radio website is sad. The prizes that you can "purchase" with your Jack-points are very limited and are awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, so most items are either "sold out" or "coming soon". Assuming that the intent of this website is to drive hits to use to show advertisers how many people listen to Jack Radio, I suggest that the "Jackstore" be run more like an auction instead. Products would be available longer driving more repeat visits by people like me who want to see if their bid will get them the prize. It also allows for people to try to collect more points during the auction to try and out bid someone who may have more points. Just a suggestion - since the current setup is more annoying than anything else.

Also, what's the deal with making me pickup the items in person in downtown Toronto? If something was actually available that I was interested in "buying" with my points, I would likely not bother since it would be a pain to get to the office to pick it up. If we are talking about something like a CD or DVD, why can't this be mailed to me? I don't think it would cost more than $2 for the postage...

Movie Review: Slipstream[okay, not great, and disappointing ending]

The main premise of the movie revolves around time travel - although the plot doesn't really try to deal with some of the paradox issues, and really gets lazy at the end to resolve the overall situation, but it did get me thinking about time travel again - one of my pet mind-projects. Slipstream features the same guy as in Harrison Bergeron, which is where I remember him from, but just realized that he was also Sam in the Lord of the Rings. There were a couple of good lines, for example, after boarding a plane: "The seatbelts work like every other seatbelt, and if you can't figure out how to use them, then you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised." Touching on another pet interest - being responsible for yourself...
Online review, and my ranking.

Other movie attempts at time travel that are a little better at dealing with the related issues include Millennium with Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd (that should be a hint right there...), and Freejack which featured Mick Jagger - for the first time that I noticed him in film... And of course, many of the Star Trek series episodes from all of the different versions have tried to deal with the intricacies of time travel, with varying degrees of success.

Now on to time travel. One thing that I haven't quite reconciled yet is maintaining the net overall amount of energy in the universe. If you subscribe to the notion that you can't create or destroy matter/energy, then time travel becomes problematic. If tonight at midnight I take a 10-ton block of lead into my time machine and travel back to yesterday, then there would be a net difference in matter/energy between tomorrow and yesterday along the existing time line. Tomorrow's universe would be 10-tons lighter, and yesterday's universe would be 10-tons heavier. Part of me thinks that this might create a black hole or worm hole that would try to funnel matter/energy from the now heavier yesterday back into the lighter tomorrow. Then there is the theory that there are infinite alternate universes, so the yesterday that now contains the 10-ton lead block is just the continuation of this time line in another dimension. I don't quite get this thinking - I haven't thought about it enough to understand it, but there you go.

As far as the possibility of time travel, I believe that we are very close to being able to travel forward in time already. Years ago I had heard of a hamster being frozen and revived, and now with the wonderful power of the internet, I have found supporting documentation. Apparently Dr. Paul Segall was the big researcher in this area until he passed in June of 2003, but the company he started continues his research, with reports of animals being frozen and then revived after a few hours. What does this have to do with time travel? Well, if a person were frozen for 500 years and then revived, they would have traveled forward in time - from their perspective. They would be the same "age" and have the same memories, but they would now be living in 2506. I consider that to be time travel. Now, going backward in time would seem to suggest that going fast would result in backward travel. I'm not sure... Let's say I drink a whole lot of coffee and my body speeds up to be traveling at the speed of light. At this point it would appear to me that everything had stopped and I would be moving around within this freeze-framed world. Going a little bit faster and I think it would appear as if I was going backward in time as I passed back through all of the light waves/particles - in other words it would be like looking at the frames of a movie on film in reverse order. But, I think I would only be seeing the reversal of the light reflecting on the objects in the world, the object would not actually be moving backward... Hmmm... This creates another interesting situation - we don't actually see the objects in our world, we see a time-delayed image of them generated from light reflecting off of them to our eyes. Same as looking at a star in the sky - if the star is several light-years away, what we see today happened years ago. Though we are seeing the past, it does not change the present for the objects on and around that star.

Enough, I know Joe stopped reading a while ago...

MS Communicator

I don't know - from all indications I consider this Communicator software to be a corporate approved spy-ware program. We had an off-site last week and my boss says to me a one point "I noticed that your Communicator shows you as offline most of the time - what's up with that?" I told him that it was (and still is) causing problems with the startup of my computer so I disabled the launch on startup option. But now, knowing that he is watching, I make sure to turn it on every morning. I wrote a quick little batch file that runs when I launch Windows - basically all the batch file does is delay the start of Communicator until everything else has a chance to get started and my system is stable. But in the end it just boils down to electronic surveillance by my boss...

Got another chipmunk...

Took the boys outside this morning and there was a flurry of activity as the chipmunk raced from one of the bird feeders into some shrubbery. The hunt was on and the boy's noses were working overtime. After a few more scrambles around the roses and through the tomatoes and cucumbers, the chipmunk shot through the lattice work of the pergola and raced to the front of the house - leaving 2 very attentive but disappointed puppies with their noses jammed through the lattice and their tails (whole bodies actually) wagging in excitement. Took a bit for them to calm down and do their business, but they finally did what they needed to do (while keeping at least one eye on the garden at all times). When I went around front to leave for work - voila, one chipmunk in the trap, looking very "okay, you got me...". Took him with me in the car almost all the way to work before pulling off and letting him go in the yard of an abandoned school-house with lots of shrubs and trees.
I've updated my tracking sheet, that makes 3 chipmunks so far this year.

427 to 409 bypass

Leaving work getting on the 401, and the overhead "Compass" signs say "401 blocked, take 427 N to 409 bypass". Great, that is part of my route home, so I settle in for a slow start to my commute. But low and behold, the traffic on to the 427 N is actually lighter than normal - right up to the 409 bypass...then it stops dead. So in other words, it appears that people actively avoided the recommended route for getting around the traffic.

MY TRAFFIC REPORT IDEA:
Screw the news guys every 10 minutes saying "slow between This and That, take the OtherWay", and the overhead signs that say "slow ahead, left lane blocked ahead - take collectors", and the MTO cameras that show you traffic in the direction that they happen to be pointed (which I have loaded in my cellphone browser by the way - very neat and handy).

HOW ABOUT just telling me the average speed of traffic ahead, preferably by lane?

If the express lanes show average speeds of 0, 10, 20 and the collectors show 60, 80 - then guess what - I don't care why, I'm taking the collectors. And if everyone starts moving over to the collectors, then the speeds of the collector lanes will start going down and the express lanes will start going up - until (at some magical time) everything is averaged at the maximum speed that can be handled by all of the working lanes.

Oversimplified, yes. But automatically updated information with just a number (ie. the speed) will be much more up-to-date and accurate and USEFUL than manually updated text that is only updated when someone bothers to call a special numbers somewhere to tell the typing guy to update the sign.