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.

Movie Review: Secondhand Lions[liked it, recommend for a quiet nght]

I recorded this version off a TV station - not a "movie channel" so even though I didn't know anything about the movie I could tell it had been hacked to crap. Still, even with the obvious editing that had taken place, it was a nice little feel-good movie.
Online review, and my ranking.

Played Golf at Bear Creek

Decided to try a round at Bear Creek this weekend. It is located between my place and my Dad's, so thought it would be good instead of driving all the way up to Bonaire again. Not a bad course actually. It has some challenging holes and it only took us 3.5-4 hours to play 18 holes (had a cart - 30+ degree heat again). So including commute time it would take 5 hours at the most, whereas Bonaire is 5 hours plus a 3-hour round trip commute. I still like Bonaire better - more character, but Bear Creek is a nice course. Played the twilight special, ended up being $51 each including the cart. I recommend for a nice afternoon of golf.

I think I'm insulted by the latest round of "safety training" at work

Allow me to summarize the 13 page training module I just reviewed relating to navigating the office environment:

• don't run in the halls
• watch where you are going

Sound familiar? Like maybe you've heard this before from you Mother when you were 3? I won't even go into the chapter on stairs - I don't believe that anyone has ever felt the need to explain to me how stairs work before... And this is just one of several base modules included for each job type... And the best part? There is a full 1-page test at the end of the module!
I'm still looking for the module that will train me not to run with scissors - though the "no running in the halls" rule, above, should cover it by default. Handling long pointy things so as not to poke someone's eye out? - again, the "watch where you are going" rule pretty much covers that... Look both ways before crossing the street? - nope, again already covered by "watch where going"... Could those be the only 2 rules you need in life? Hmmmm.....

Anyway, can't I just sign a form in which I legally warrant that I am able-bodied, I have basic motor skills, and I have the mental fortitude of at least a Slinky - which can walk down stairs, alone or in pairs, without the aid of a training manual? If I don't want to sign the form, then it becomes mandatory for me to read all of these safety modules... In other words, contrary to the trends of the general populace, I would actually be willing to take responsibility and accountability for my actions at the workplace for items that the vast majority of people would consider to be "common sense". Is that an option - or do I actually have to read, and sign a statement saying I've read, all of these manuals?

The humble (but noble?) beginnings of Simpig Radio

Well, it looks like its going to be a little more involved than I thought. I didn't realize that I would be getting a bunch of discrete components - that's okay, luckily I've done this before, so it will be fun. I'll have to dust off my soldering iron but it should go quick.

92.5 JackFM VIP Prizes

Come on guys... advertising all these great things that you can buy with your Jack points, but I finally got a couple thousand and looked at the list:

• Pete Townshend's Guitar
• Bon Cop, Bad Cop - DVD
• Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang - DVD - Coming Soon
• Re-Live the 80's - Trivial Pursuit - Coming Soon
• The Art of Superman Returns - Book - Sold Out
• Annapolis - DVD - Sold Out
• Gnarles Barkley - CD - Sold Out
• Mobile - CD - Sold Out

So in the end my options are really: bid on Pete Townshend's guitar, or one DVD.
As a radio station I would expect some CDs to be on this list of "purchaseable" items, or even some song downloads, but no - basically nothing available.