30.12.08
27.12.08
and now for something...
The podcast version of the Vinyl Cafe Christmas show is now online, and it has the best parts of the 2 hour show combined down to 1 hour. I'd recommend listening to it for those who have nothing else to do.
You can get it here
And for now, I'm at my parents for the week. Sleeping on a bed that actually fits and seeing friends and family and water (Lake Huron and the St. Clair River). It's going to be an ok week.
Back to Kitchener on Wednesday.
You can get it here
And for now, I'm at my parents for the week. Sleeping on a bed that actually fits and seeing friends and family and water (Lake Huron and the St. Clair River). It's going to be an ok week.
Back to Kitchener on Wednesday.
23.12.08
... the white stuff...
It's snowing again. The fourth spurt of Snowmageddon promises to be the last in a while as it brings with it some warmer temperatures tonight and into tomorrow. My car doesn't do too well in the snow, but I haven't gotten it stuck or spun out yet. I'm hoping to avoid that as long as I can. I don't have to descend down the icy ramps of the parking garage again until after I get back from home next week, and after the morning, I don't need to worry about getting stuck down there too.
I like snow. I really do. I just want to be able to go places to enjoy it... such as conservation areas, or waterfalls. Le sigh. I'll survive.
Home tomorrow after work (done at noon) until probably next Wednesday afternoon.
I like snow. I really do. I just want to be able to go places to enjoy it... such as conservation areas, or waterfalls. Le sigh. I'll survive.
Home tomorrow after work (done at noon) until probably next Wednesday afternoon.
18.12.08
update
A few things:
1. I'm switching cell phone providers after some rough times with Telus in the past few weeks. My phone also is beginning to rebel against me. So my Virgin Mobile KRAZR is on it's way and should be here early next week.
2. My bosses (Husband and Wife) took our department(s) out to Hamilton to see a Vinyl Cafe Christmas last night. It was a great experience. Guest musicians included Dala, a female duo who have amazing harmonies. They've been featured on the podcast a few times too. The show opened with them singing the Huron Carol and Stewart McLean telling the story of the carol and Jean de Brebeuf's experiences 400 years ago. He then went on to tell a few stories about Dave and Morley (Dave goes shopping, Christmas at the Turlingtons, and Dave and Morley's first Christmas), got to hear some songs and stories, and it was an overall great evening. I think I'll be making it a tradition to go see it every year. There was also a turkey under the Christmas tree on stage.
3. I've applied to and been accepted to the University of Waterloo for Part time studies in a BA in Liberal Studies. I'm starting in January with an easy course. Should be fun.
4. And, I'm ready for Snowmageddon, are you?
1. I'm switching cell phone providers after some rough times with Telus in the past few weeks. My phone also is beginning to rebel against me. So my Virgin Mobile KRAZR is on it's way and should be here early next week.
2. My bosses (Husband and Wife) took our department(s) out to Hamilton to see a Vinyl Cafe Christmas last night. It was a great experience. Guest musicians included Dala, a female duo who have amazing harmonies. They've been featured on the podcast a few times too. The show opened with them singing the Huron Carol and Stewart McLean telling the story of the carol and Jean de Brebeuf's experiences 400 years ago. He then went on to tell a few stories about Dave and Morley (Dave goes shopping, Christmas at the Turlingtons, and Dave and Morley's first Christmas), got to hear some songs and stories, and it was an overall great evening. I think I'll be making it a tradition to go see it every year. There was also a turkey under the Christmas tree on stage.
3. I've applied to and been accepted to the University of Waterloo for Part time studies in a BA in Liberal Studies. I'm starting in January with an easy course. Should be fun.
4. And, I'm ready for Snowmageddon, are you?
17.12.08
fun with vocabulary
Environment Canada has just coined a new term: "Snow-Mageddon"
They just issued this weather statement which asks the question: "..Could this be snow-mageddon?.."
At least I don't need to go anywhere on the weekend.
They just issued this weather statement which asks the question: "..Could this be snow-mageddon?.."
At least I don't need to go anywhere on the weekend.
10.12.08
searching
I saw this interesting article on GlobeandMail today. Turns out Canadians don't know the address for Google even when they're using it to perform their search... smart people.
Now if there was only some way to search the Internet, write ablog entry, create documents, search the map, use a calendar, look at images, and more...
Now if there was only some way to search the Internet, write a
9.12.08
civilized
Last week, my roommate and I were out browsing the Future Shop collection when I came across Civ IV for $27. Seeing as tires for cars cost money, I passed on the deal, but Gord decided to pick it up. He'd never played Civ before, as the first comment I heard from him was "It's turn based?"
Meanwhile, I've grown up with Civilization as one of my all-time favourite games. I had Civ 1 while much younger on the early PC's. I still remember one game where I was playing the Chinese and the only other country left were the Russians and we got into a Nuclear war that wasn't really going anywhere. Those were the days. Got Civ II for my birthday one year and loved it. I really liked the music that went along with the video for the Great Library. No games really stand out to me, but I liked playing as England on the Europe map. Not really sure why, but maybe it's because I liked the ability to grow my army and civilization without having any other countries interfering... oh, and for some reason, I kept getting advancements way faster than anyone else. No cheats, promise.
Then came my $10 purchase of Civ III. Although it has some upgrades in comparison to Civ II (Queues in building), I find myself missing one key feature - Sentry. You know, where you could leave units in cities and they'd automatically board the first available boat... and I was spoiled in Civ II with my quick advancements, so it's really annoying to have to wait a long time to get anything... Sigh.
I had a chance to play Civ IV the other day, and it's good to see they've re-included Sentry and added a few new features that are really cool. I'm not really a fan of when 2d games go 3d, such as Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 - 3 (I didn't get 2, but I think it's still 2D) because it throws me off... but oh well. I'll have to pick it up eventually, but until then, I'll survive with what I have.
Meanwhile, I've grown up with Civilization as one of my all-time favourite games. I had Civ 1 while much younger on the early PC's. I still remember one game where I was playing the Chinese and the only other country left were the Russians and we got into a Nuclear war that wasn't really going anywhere. Those were the days. Got Civ II for my birthday one year and loved it. I really liked the music that went along with the video for the Great Library. No games really stand out to me, but I liked playing as England on the Europe map. Not really sure why, but maybe it's because I liked the ability to grow my army and civilization without having any other countries interfering... oh, and for some reason, I kept getting advancements way faster than anyone else. No cheats, promise.
Then came my $10 purchase of Civ III. Although it has some upgrades in comparison to Civ II (Queues in building), I find myself missing one key feature - Sentry. You know, where you could leave units in cities and they'd automatically board the first available boat... and I was spoiled in Civ II with my quick advancements, so it's really annoying to have to wait a long time to get anything... Sigh.
I had a chance to play Civ IV the other day, and it's good to see they've re-included Sentry and added a few new features that are really cool. I'm not really a fan of when 2d games go 3d, such as Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 - 3 (I didn't get 2, but I think it's still 2D) because it throws me off... but oh well. I'll have to pick it up eventually, but until then, I'll survive with what I have.
6.12.08
the threat's not from elsewhere...
This morning I had some Oatmeal Crisp for breakfast. It was tasty, as it is almost every other morning that I've had it. I'm taking a break from Shreddies for a while, mostly because I keep missing the sales where it's on for $2 / box rather than closer to $5.
After returning from my day out, I went to find some food for dinner, and opened up the fridge to find I had returned my box of cereal not to the shelf, but to the refrigerator for the day.
Some days I wonder about myself...
After returning from my day out, I went to find some food for dinner, and opened up the fridge to find I had returned my box of cereal not to the shelf, but to the refrigerator for the day.
Some days I wonder about myself...
4.12.08
3.12.08
door and house update
I didn't get a place in the door decorating contest, however I did get the prize for Most Creative, meaning I won a brunch for two to Emmanuel Village, so that's an ok deal.
Also, did anyone else see Harper's speech tonight? I thought it was really avoiding the main issue and attacking the idea of a coalition (which are functioning in many countries around the world, not sure where he's gotten the idea that they don't work from, but that's another rant). It seems to be along the tune of what he's been doing as of late: no substance, just surface and attack others and hope that the bad press on the opposition will make him look more appealing.
Dion's spiel had more substance and still held the promise that he's stepping down in a few months. (CTV didn't have it, but CBC did, right at 7:30 when CTV went off the air.)
Not saying which one's the better choice, as neither really have much appeal at the moment, but if we had to have one, it should be legit, without prorogue... wherever that word came from.
Also, did anyone else see Harper's speech tonight? I thought it was really avoiding the main issue and attacking the idea of a coalition (which are functioning in many countries around the world, not sure where he's gotten the idea that they don't work from, but that's another rant). It seems to be along the tune of what he's been doing as of late: no substance, just surface and attack others and hope that the bad press on the opposition will make him look more appealing.
Dion's spiel had more substance and still held the promise that he's stepping down in a few months. (CTV didn't have it, but CBC did, right at 7:30 when CTV went off the air.)
Not saying which one's the better choice, as neither really have much appeal at the moment, but if we had to have one, it should be legit, without prorogue... wherever that word came from.
2.12.08
a door and a house
At work, I took part in the door decorating contest for this year. The theme for each door had to do with a different aspect of Christmas, which we drew a few weeks ago. I drew "Angel" as my theme. Immediately, I thought of my friend Angela, who goes by Angel and came up with the idea to put a giant rasterbated picture of her up on the door. So I found her and asked about it, and she consented. So, on Friday, I put a picture 3x4 sheets large on the door of her acting as the angel on a tree for a contest we had in residence a few years back. Then, to add to the fun, I printed off a bunch of pictures of her and placed them in the corner of my door (not until yesterday because the creepy-factor came into play) there is also a tinsel halo on the door and a gift bag with a real angel on it. And to top it off, there are magnetic letters on the door frame that read "ANGELS". The judging was today and we find out tomorrow who the winners are.
I doubt I'll win, but I got a theme and took it literally, and many people around the school are liking it.
It'll be coming down tomorrow right after we find out who the winners are, so as to remove the creep-factor.
--
On another note, I'm paying attention to what's happening in Ottawa as of late. There's a mess, which comes down to a very bad move by Harper and his party last week with the economic update and the opposition not willing to back down. In the aftermath, there seems to be split opinions on it, right down the middle. I was considering a few things in my thoughts:
1. The US tends to be conservative in their viewpoints. They have the Republicans on the Right, and the Democrats not so much on the right, but still there.
2. Canadians are very undecided when it comes to voting as of late. They decided against the Liberals in 2006, however since they watched the horrors of a Republican government in the States under George Bush, they have been very hesitant to give Mr. Harper full authority over the country, hence two Conservative minorities to date, in the latter election, giving him more seats, but still not the majority Mr. Harper was looking for.
3. Because of the wishy-washy nature of Canadian voters, we have ended up with wishy-washy party leaders, of which, Ms. May is the only one I came out of the English Language debate having any reasonable amount of respect for. Canadians are starting to hope for change, but none of the current leaders are any inspiration for that change, so they're very hesitant to push too hard.
4. In a recent slew of Globe and Mail online surveys, the responses are along these lines: Sitting on the fence. Here's what I mean:
Economic Statement
Should the opposition parties support the Conservative government’s economic package?
Yes: 49% (11908 votes)
No: 51% (12151 votes)
Talks begin
Has the Harper government done enough to boost the Canadian economy?
Yes: 47% (7252 votes)
No: 53% (8174 votes)
Conservatives back down
Should the opposition now back away from coalition talks?
Yes:46% (4967 votes)
No: 54% (5936 votes)
Coalition is formed
Should the Governor-General allow the Liberals and the NDP to form a coalition government?
Yes: 53% (11298 votes)
No: 47% (10182 votes)
Agreement drafted
Do you support the Liberal-NDP coalition's bid for power?
Yes: 51% (15472 votes)
No: 49% (14930 votes)
I found the trends here very interesting. There's no clear choice as to which way the voters on the Globe would prefer. Almost like the last election.
There is now a viable alternative to the Conservatives as the governing party. Will this lead to a functioning parliament? Probably not, but it's something different, and government will work, according to the deal, for at least 18 months. If the parties hold to their word, that is. We'll see what happens.
I doubt I'll win, but I got a theme and took it literally, and many people around the school are liking it.
It'll be coming down tomorrow right after we find out who the winners are, so as to remove the creep-factor.
--
On another note, I'm paying attention to what's happening in Ottawa as of late. There's a mess, which comes down to a very bad move by Harper and his party last week with the economic update and the opposition not willing to back down. In the aftermath, there seems to be split opinions on it, right down the middle. I was considering a few things in my thoughts:
1. The US tends to be conservative in their viewpoints. They have the Republicans on the Right, and the Democrats not so much on the right, but still there.
2. Canadians are very undecided when it comes to voting as of late. They decided against the Liberals in 2006, however since they watched the horrors of a Republican government in the States under George Bush, they have been very hesitant to give Mr. Harper full authority over the country, hence two Conservative minorities to date, in the latter election, giving him more seats, but still not the majority Mr. Harper was looking for.
3. Because of the wishy-washy nature of Canadian voters, we have ended up with wishy-washy party leaders, of which, Ms. May is the only one I came out of the English Language debate having any reasonable amount of respect for. Canadians are starting to hope for change, but none of the current leaders are any inspiration for that change, so they're very hesitant to push too hard.
4. In a recent slew of Globe and Mail online surveys, the responses are along these lines: Sitting on the fence. Here's what I mean:
Economic Statement
Should the opposition parties support the Conservative government’s economic package?
Yes: 49% (11908 votes)
No: 51% (12151 votes)
Talks begin
Has the Harper government done enough to boost the Canadian economy?
Yes: 47% (7252 votes)
No: 53% (8174 votes)
Conservatives back down
Should the opposition now back away from coalition talks?
Yes:46% (4967 votes)
No: 54% (5936 votes)
Coalition is formed
Should the Governor-General allow the Liberals and the NDP to form a coalition government?
Yes: 53% (11298 votes)
No: 47% (10182 votes)
Agreement drafted
Do you support the Liberal-NDP coalition's bid for power?
Yes: 51% (15472 votes)
No: 49% (14930 votes)
I found the trends here very interesting. There's no clear choice as to which way the voters on the Globe would prefer. Almost like the last election.
There is now a viable alternative to the Conservatives as the governing party. Will this lead to a functioning parliament? Probably not, but it's something different, and government will work, according to the deal, for at least 18 months. If the parties hold to their word, that is. We'll see what happens.
29.11.08
the gas conspiracy
I've probably mentioned this before, but has anyone ever noticed how Gas Stations jack the prices for the morning and then drop them to where they were the day before by the afternoon/evening?
For example, Thursday night I saw 73 cents. Friday morning it was up to 84 cents. Friday afternoon it was back down to 78 cents. Why not just put it to 78 cents rather than gouging consumers on their way to work?
Sigh... I'm onto them, but not really going to do much about it, except for not fill up in the morning.
And now, to go get gas.
For example, Thursday night I saw 73 cents. Friday morning it was up to 84 cents. Friday afternoon it was back down to 78 cents. Why not just put it to 78 cents rather than gouging consumers on their way to work?
Sigh... I'm onto them, but not really going to do much about it, except for not fill up in the morning.
And now, to go get gas.
26.11.08
it's beginning to look a lot like "holiday"... wait, what?
I saw a somewhat humourous report on CKCO tonight about the city of Kitchener erecting a giant tree that had been donated at city hall and then sending out an official announcement labelling it as a "Holiday Tree". Well, it turns out that so many people were offended by the unconventional naming of a traditional festive icon that they city officially renamed it back to the traditional name of Christmas Tree and at least two people from CKCO news (Kyle Christie included) apologized for doing their job and reading the news. A different part of the report stated that the people who donated the tree would have never done so if they had known it would be called a"Holiday Tree." They then continued on to ask what the tree should be called "Christmas Tree", "Holiday Tree", or "I don't care." We decided it needed to be called George.
Sigh... politically correctness and inclusion is suddenly changing the way we look at everything. The Christmas season is coming, and I'm ok with calling it that.
In other news, I'm going to see Vinyl Cafe Christmas in Hamilton in December. Woo! It'll be good.
Sigh... politically correctness and inclusion is suddenly changing the way we look at everything. The Christmas season is coming, and I'm ok with calling it that.
In other news, I'm going to see Vinyl Cafe Christmas in Hamilton in December. Woo! It'll be good.
23.11.08
thesaurasaurus rex: origins
Here's a comic from a few years ago in Non Sequitor where I got the the title of the last blog posting:
Also, Indiana was a fun trip (for those who didn't know I was going, I went to visit my friend in Fort Wayne this weekend, hence the concern over the weather on Friday.)
The drive down wasn't so bad, except for driving through 5-7 snow streamers that acted like a wall of white, and driving along part of I-69 in southern Michigan that was covered in pure ice for a few miles. Oh, and Detroit's not so great when you come off the Ambassador Bridge. All under construction. We had a GPS and followed the detour signs. Still messy though.
The United States still hates my health, but I was onto their ploy this year and kept my grease intake to a minimum.
Also, Indiana was a fun trip (for those who didn't know I was going, I went to visit my friend in Fort Wayne this weekend, hence the concern over the weather on Friday.)
The drive down wasn't so bad, except for driving through 5-7 snow streamers that acted like a wall of white, and driving along part of I-69 in southern Michigan that was covered in pure ice for a few miles. Oh, and Detroit's not so great when you come off the Ambassador Bridge. All under construction. We had a GPS and followed the detour signs. Still messy though.
The United States still hates my health, but I was onto their ploy this year and kept my grease intake to a minimum.
20.11.08
thesaurasaurus rex
I was reading through the Snowsquall warning in effect for much of south-western Ontario for tonight and tomorrow and I'm fairly certain the author must have used a thesaurus to write it...
Words like Colossal and Resurgence aren't really a part of my everyday vocabulary. Maybe I should read the Thesaurus before I go to bed.
And I'm hoping to to through that area tomorrow morning. Woo! We'll cross in Windsor if we have to.
A fresh resurgence of cold Arctic air is beginning to stream into southern Ontario in the wake of the Alberta clipper. A significant snow squall event is about to unfold.
At 12:50 PM weather radar indicated an intense snow squall arcing across the southern half of Lake Huron. It is moving southward and is associated with a weak low pressure trough over the eastern side of the lake. It will move into the western half of Lambton county and northern Chatham-Kent early this afternoon and linger for a couple hours before becoming disorganized. Snowfall amounts of 10 cm are likely with this band, although they may locally top 15 cm. The main event is slated for tonight. An intense snow squall is forecast to form this evening and affect southern portions of Lake Huron, near Grand Bend to Lambton shores to near Strathroy. Snowfall amounts in excess of 30 centimetres appear likely tonight into Friday before the squall realigns through London for a time in the afternoon. It will likely move back south again Friday night. Colossal snowfall totals in excess of 50 centimetres are possible near the south end of Lake Huron from this event by the time it weakens on Saturday. Amounts will be significantly lower around London.
Words like Colossal and Resurgence aren't really a part of my everyday vocabulary. Maybe I should read the Thesaurus before I go to bed.
And I'm hoping to to through that area tomorrow morning. Woo! We'll cross in Windsor if we have to.
17.11.08
meh
Newsflash: 'Meh' is now a word in the Collins English Dictionary.
Now you can feel released to use it as an adjective, like you know you've ALWAYS wanted to do.
Quote: "The dictionary defines "meh" as an expression of indifference or boredom, or an adjective meaning mediocre or boring. Examples given by the dictionary include "the Canadian election was so meh.""
Now you can feel released to use it as an adjective, like you know you've ALWAYS wanted to do.
11.11.08
a new waste of time
For those who don't follow Brock, here's the latest addictive game: QWOP
I've gotten to about 14 metres before falling on my forehead.
I've gotten to about 14 metres before falling on my forehead.
10.11.08
post 700
Here's where I've made it in Assembler. Any help as to how to complete this level would be appreciated... or if there's any more levels after it? I've pseudo beat it at home a few times, but it took me back to level 1 afterwards.
shenanigans
From the Sarnia Observer online today:
"Police searching for hoodlums that attacked woman"
Quote: "Police are looking for witnesses to a Sunday assault in Corunna where a group of hooligans strong armed a 51-year-old woman."
"Man savagely beaten "
Quote: "Sarnia police are seeking public assistance after two thugs savagely beat a man in the early morning hours of Saturday. "
Thugs, hoodlums, and hooligans. Great descriptions. Really.
"Police searching for hoodlums that attacked woman"
Quote: "Police are looking for witnesses to a Sunday assault in Corunna where a group of hooligans strong armed a 51-year-old woman."
"Man savagely beaten "
Quote: "Sarnia police are seeking public assistance after two thugs savagely beat a man in the early morning hours of Saturday. "
Thugs, hoodlums, and hooligans. Great descriptions. Really.
8.11.08
pictures!
View from the balcony this week:
Another shot off the balcony.
First years are crazy. They built log structures on campus this week.
Wildlife (Snake!) on the Bruce Trail
Golf ball with a slug living in it.
Bridge over Dufferin Aggregates Quarry Road (you can see it from the 401 while driving west through Milton)
The bridge!
The stream that disappeared into the ground.
"Can't go over it... Can't go under it... Can't go around it... Guess we have to go through it!"
Waterfall / pond / stream near Speyside Road.
Blogger: Image upload to cursor would be nice... and post in order you upload in, not in reverse order... sigh.
Another shot off the balcony.
First years are crazy. They built log structures on campus this week.
Wildlife (Snake!) on the Bruce Trail
Golf ball with a slug living in it.
Bridge over Dufferin Aggregates Quarry Road (you can see it from the 401 while driving west through Milton)
The bridge!
The stream that disappeared into the ground.
"Can't go over it... Can't go under it... Can't go around it... Guess we have to go through it!"
Waterfall / pond / stream near Speyside Road.
Blogger: Image upload to cursor would be nice... and post in order you upload in, not in reverse order... sigh.
hiked out
Today was the latest installment of the EBC Outdoors Club Hike / Photography Outing. The first one, in September, was a trip to Limehouse Conservation Area and the Cheltenham Badlands north-east of Georgetown. The second trip, early October, was to Rockwood Conservation Area between Acton and Guelph. The thing about these first two, is that they were mostly for photography, seeing as the trails in each place only really amount to 2 km or so. It's a nice walk, but not necessarily a hike.
Today, we fixed that. A few years ago, Gord, Valerie, and I hiked an approximately 22 km stretch of the Bruce Trail from near Milton to Limehouse Conservation area on a Saturday. It was long, gruelling, but it was a good hike. Since then, I've wanted to do something like that again because I really enjoy seeing new parts of the Bruce Trail. But, my thoughts for these hikes involving EBC students are to take them places that I've experienced already, so there's someone in the group that knows what's going on and where they're going. This stretch was my first thought as to where I could take them. But the 22 km is really long for the inexperienced. So we cut it in half, down to 10.6 km from Campbellville Road, just east of Appleby to Speyside Side Road, just west of 25.
After departing the school at 10:30, we got to the drop-off point at 11, dropped the students with our bags, and then we (Amy and myself) drove our cars to the end point to drop them off, and there Brock picked us up to drive us back to the beginning (Thanks Brock, for not being a jerk for this one moment in your life.) We returned by 11:25, and began our hike. Along the way, we saw rocks and trees and trees and rocks and snakes and squirrels, and other people (not so many this time around), water, birds, rain, views of Toronto from the cliffs, and more. It took us just under 4 hours to hike the entire distance (3:20 arrival time at the cars). We stopped not too often along the distance, but took our time when it wasn't raining and sped up a bit when it was. Afterwards, we ended up at Christian Chicken (AKA Swiss Chalet) in Milton for dinner around 4 and were back to the school by 5:30. Good, fun day, and I think the 6 of us who went ended up having a good time.
Pictures to come. I got more pictures this time through the trail than we did the last time, so it's a reasonable record of the trip.
My feet somewhat hate me at the moment... the last part of the trail was very rocky and slippery.
Today, we fixed that. A few years ago, Gord, Valerie, and I hiked an approximately 22 km stretch of the Bruce Trail from near Milton to Limehouse Conservation area on a Saturday. It was long, gruelling, but it was a good hike. Since then, I've wanted to do something like that again because I really enjoy seeing new parts of the Bruce Trail. But, my thoughts for these hikes involving EBC students are to take them places that I've experienced already, so there's someone in the group that knows what's going on and where they're going. This stretch was my first thought as to where I could take them. But the 22 km is really long for the inexperienced. So we cut it in half, down to 10.6 km from Campbellville Road, just east of Appleby to Speyside Side Road, just west of 25.
After departing the school at 10:30, we got to the drop-off point at 11, dropped the students with our bags, and then we (Amy and myself) drove our cars to the end point to drop them off, and there Brock picked us up to drive us back to the beginning (Thanks Brock, for not being a jerk for this one moment in your life.) We returned by 11:25, and began our hike. Along the way, we saw rocks and trees and trees and rocks and snakes and squirrels, and other people (not so many this time around), water, birds, rain, views of Toronto from the cliffs, and more. It took us just under 4 hours to hike the entire distance (3:20 arrival time at the cars). We stopped not too often along the distance, but took our time when it wasn't raining and sped up a bit when it was. Afterwards, we ended up at Christian Chicken (AKA Swiss Chalet) in Milton for dinner around 4 and were back to the school by 5:30. Good, fun day, and I think the 6 of us who went ended up having a good time.
Pictures to come. I got more pictures this time through the trail than we did the last time, so it's a reasonable record of the trip.
My feet somewhat hate me at the moment... the last part of the trail was very rocky and slippery.
two things
1. This story made Fark today. From the Kitchener Record. Go figure.
2. A new, very addictive game. The first level with the circles isn't working so great for me. If you figure it out, let me know.
2. A new, very addictive game. The first level with the circles isn't working so great for me. If you figure it out, let me know.
4.11.08
sunset in elora
The other evening, Gord and I went for a drive up to Elora just for the sake of getting out. There was an initial thought that we were going to hike near Milton, but then it was too late, so a drive sufficed... Anyway, it was around sunset, so here's a picture I liked from the trip.
2.11.08
gah...s
I went to fill up my tank tonight (88.0 cents / litre!!), and upon pulling out of the pump, they had dropped the price by 0.2 cents. I know it's not much, but it's still somewhat funny. The whole 4 cents I could have saved.
Oh well. It's still nice to be able to fill up your tank for less dollars than there are litres. We'll revel in this low price for as long as it continues as such. And when it goes up again, we can tell our kids: I remember when I filled up for less than $1/litre. Those were the good old days.
Oh well. It's still nice to be able to fill up your tank for less dollars than there are litres. We'll revel in this low price for as long as it continues as such. And when it goes up again, we can tell our kids: I remember when I filled up for less than $1/litre. Those were the good old days.
26.10.08
mmm... cheesecake
So I decided to try making a cheesecake the other day. First time ever. And it worked!
So tasty.
So tasty.
25.10.08
hallowhat?
Tonight I got a chance to go to one of those farms that gets all over itself in making money out of the Halloween trend of scaring teenage girls out of their wits, and boy was it hilarious. Needless to say, Kimglow Farms near Ayr was themed fairly well for the agri-tourism destination that it has become during this season. They had tiki torches lit all along the driveway and had all their usual harvest garb around, not something I could see much of because it was dark, but that's not what I went for.
So, onto the "Scary" parts. The first thing I saw was this guy just wandering around in a pair of coveralls and a mask of something "frightening". He was quiet and just came up and stood behind people. It was funny to hear them scream when they realized he was there.
Immediately we went to the Haunted Hay Ride, seeing as we figured it may start raining later on in the evening and it was best to get the big line attraction out of the way. So we waited and were the last three people to get onto the second wagon. While in line, the quiet scary guy got a lot of people around us. Much laughter at their expense.
The ride was about 50 people on a hay wagon with a guide to keep us entertained. Random people in masks climbed onto the wagon, people with chainsaw bases revved the engines at us, we had to walk through the haunted forest, which wasn't really that scary, and then back on the wagon to come back to the main station.
I'll admit that I jumped once or twice, only because I didn't see the characters coming up from behind me when they banged on the side of the wagon, but I can tell you that for the most part, I was laughing hysterically at this group of 5-6 teenage girls across from us that didn't stop screaming the entire ride. Our guide went up to them and said boo and they screamed. They screamed at every bang, chainsaw, scream, ooga-booga, and more... So much fun.
Another part of this farm was a haunted barn. Not much to say about it, some characters and the typical scenes of horror. I said hi to all the characters and wished some of them well in their endeavours, but we were fortunate to be behind some of the girls from the wagon ride, so much laughter ensued.
The corn maze, wasn't really a maze. Just a few inter-connecting corn paths. In the dark.
It was a fun trip, but I'm not sure if I'd go again. Maybe if I have a girlfriend someday who gets easily scared or just likes going for wagon rides in the night with strange characters around. You never know, it could happen. There is always hope.
And I went bowling with 4 friends tonight. It was fun times. I got the high score both games - 131 first game, 130 second game. Woo.
So, onto the "Scary" parts. The first thing I saw was this guy just wandering around in a pair of coveralls and a mask of something "frightening". He was quiet and just came up and stood behind people. It was funny to hear them scream when they realized he was there.
Immediately we went to the Haunted Hay Ride, seeing as we figured it may start raining later on in the evening and it was best to get the big line attraction out of the way. So we waited and were the last three people to get onto the second wagon. While in line, the quiet scary guy got a lot of people around us. Much laughter at their expense.
The ride was about 50 people on a hay wagon with a guide to keep us entertained. Random people in masks climbed onto the wagon, people with chainsaw bases revved the engines at us, we had to walk through the haunted forest, which wasn't really that scary, and then back on the wagon to come back to the main station.
I'll admit that I jumped once or twice, only because I didn't see the characters coming up from behind me when they banged on the side of the wagon, but I can tell you that for the most part, I was laughing hysterically at this group of 5-6 teenage girls across from us that didn't stop screaming the entire ride. Our guide went up to them and said boo and they screamed. They screamed at every bang, chainsaw, scream, ooga-booga, and more... So much fun.
Another part of this farm was a haunted barn. Not much to say about it, some characters and the typical scenes of horror. I said hi to all the characters and wished some of them well in their endeavours, but we were fortunate to be behind some of the girls from the wagon ride, so much laughter ensued.
The corn maze, wasn't really a maze. Just a few inter-connecting corn paths. In the dark.
It was a fun trip, but I'm not sure if I'd go again. Maybe if I have a girlfriend someday who gets easily scared or just likes going for wagon rides in the night with strange characters around. You never know, it could happen. There is always hope.
And I went bowling with 4 friends tonight. It was fun times. I got the high score both games - 131 first game, 130 second game. Woo.
24.10.08
jump the gap
Speaking of Roundabouts, I was just trying to get directions via Ira Needles Blvd in West KW and for some reason Google Maps was taking me down Highland to Trussler and then south instead of continuing down IN... so after some deliberation, I zoomed in really close (Gord pointed this out) and there is a gap in the Google Maps version of the Blvd on one side. Not just one gap, but two, both within the same block.
See picture:
Oh, and if anyone from Blogger comes through here... probably not because I have it hidden from search engines, but it would be nice to have the ability to upload images to cursor in this program rather than having them go to the top of the post automatically.
See picture:
Oh, and if anyone from Blogger comes through here... probably not because I have it hidden from search engines, but it would be nice to have the ability to upload images to cursor in this program rather than having them go to the top of the post automatically.
23.10.08
roundabout!
So, although I'm not as overt about my liking roundabouts as Matt is, I still like them and was very pleased to see that Cambridge is considering a plan to install 11 roundabouts on Franklin Street from the 401 through just south of highway 8.
That road is a fairly good bypass when going to the upper levels of Hamilton, and potentially beyond because of the Linc and Red Hill Expressway now being a good bypass of the Skyway.
The main reason I'm getting this down is only to ensure Matt sees it, because he may still be in Boston, although I do appreciate a good Roundabout and am very excited that Lambton County's finally getting one at Lakeshore and Mandaumin.
More roundabouts!
That road is a fairly good bypass when going to the upper levels of Hamilton, and potentially beyond because of the Linc and Red Hill Expressway now being a good bypass of the Skyway.
The main reason I'm getting this down is only to ensure Matt sees it, because he may still be in Boston, although I do appreciate a good Roundabout and am very excited that Lambton County's finally getting one at Lakeshore and Mandaumin.
More roundabouts!
19.10.08
initial thoughts
So yesterday, I was out for a walk in the woods in Eden Mills with some friends and we were around this pond taking some pictures, then three of us decided it would be a good idea to leave the fourth one in her own little world and see if she figured out where we went to... a few minutes later, we realized she wasn't following us, so we turned around and went back to where she was and there was a new person with her. A guy about 6' tall in a plaid shirt with large safety glasses on, worn jeans, and a big Amish-style beard. We were curious as to who it was, then we were introduced to him and told that he was alumni of the camp we were at and that he was going to come on our walk with us.
So we carried on down the trail, but as I'm walking, I'm trying to figure out who this guy is and what he could be doing wanting to spend time with us in the woods. The first thought that comes with a random person talking to you wearing a plaid shirt is that they're crazy. There's two types of crazy they could be: Overall nice guy, just wanting to have someone to talk to, or the one that I went to immediately - psycho killer out to lead us deep into the woods and kill us where no one could hear us. I knew it was probably not the most likely reason he was with us, but the woods led me to leave this as a possibility.
So in the end, he was just a nice guy out for a walk and looking for people to keep him company as he walked the trails. But I just felt I should share the story of where my mind is capable of going when given the right circumstances.
So we carried on down the trail, but as I'm walking, I'm trying to figure out who this guy is and what he could be doing wanting to spend time with us in the woods. The first thought that comes with a random person talking to you wearing a plaid shirt is that they're crazy. There's two types of crazy they could be: Overall nice guy, just wanting to have someone to talk to, or the one that I went to immediately - psycho killer out to lead us deep into the woods and kill us where no one could hear us. I knew it was probably not the most likely reason he was with us, but the woods led me to leave this as a possibility.
So in the end, he was just a nice guy out for a walk and looking for people to keep him company as he walked the trails. But I just felt I should share the story of where my mind is capable of going when given the right circumstances.
15.10.08
upcoming events
- October 19th: Halifax Reunion
- November 1: Curling (Still space available. Sign up today)
- November 8: Hike... not sure where yet. Possibly a Milton - Speyside through hike.
- November 20: Great Big Sea Concert
That's all.
- November 1: Curling (Still space available. Sign up today)
- November 8: Hike... not sure where yet. Possibly a Milton - Speyside through hike.
- November 20: Great Big Sea Concert
That's all.
14.10.08
x marks the spot
So, despite none of the Federal party leaders being able to hook me up, I still went out and cast my support for one of them. Who really cares about the local candidates, anyway? They're just a butt to fill a seat in hopes that the leader can become dictator over Canada.
So, even if my candidate of choice gets elected, I really wasn't voting for them. I was voting for the party by which I think will least harm our nation over the next few months until their fragile minority government is toppled and we get sent back to the polls again.
Let's hope that isn't for a few more days.
So, even if my candidate of choice gets elected, I really wasn't voting for them. I was voting for the party by which I think will least harm our nation over the next few months until their fragile minority government is toppled and we get sent back to the polls again.
Let's hope that isn't for a few more days.
8.10.08
familiar
There's a theme that comes across on many commercials these days. The federal party leaders are looking out for my family.
It's so great to know that they like my family... but wait, there's something they're missing:
I don't have their definition of a family (spouse and kids). What are they doing to help me with this? Absolutely Nothing.
- Stephen Harper is not finding me a girlfriend. I think wants me to get pooped on by a puffin.
- Jack Layton is not giving me money to go on dates. He may be strong, but that's no help.
- Stephane Dion is not a matchmaker - I could let him try, but it's not worth the risk.
- Gilles Duceppe is trying to set me up with someone from Quebec, but they want to leave, so I don't think it's really going to work out long term.
- Elizabeth May, although she has a right to be a part of this conversation, she's not a guy and doesn't get me.
See, there's the flaw with this system... they're not helping me in getting the family that they seem to "care" so much about.
Sigh... I guess I'll have to use a different logic in casting my vote on Tuesday.
It's so great to know that they like my family... but wait, there's something they're missing:
I don't have their definition of a family (spouse and kids). What are they doing to help me with this? Absolutely Nothing.
- Stephen Harper is not finding me a girlfriend. I think wants me to get pooped on by a puffin.
- Jack Layton is not giving me money to go on dates. He may be strong, but that's no help.
- Stephane Dion is not a matchmaker - I could let him try, but it's not worth the risk.
- Gilles Duceppe is trying to set me up with someone from Quebec, but they want to leave, so I don't think it's really going to work out long term.
- Elizabeth May, although she has a right to be a part of this conversation, she's not a guy and doesn't get me.
See, there's the flaw with this system... they're not helping me in getting the family that they seem to "care" so much about.
Sigh... I guess I'll have to use a different logic in casting my vote on Tuesday.
5.10.08
3.10.08
the week of something or other
Today is Friday. I have survived the week. What made this week so interesting? First off, I started coming down with some sort of sickness on the weekend. It was sad. It started off stomachy with the sniffles, and by Tuesday was adding headaches, but yesterday and today has been mostly sniffles with some random sore spots on my person.
Secondly, I had an Exec meeting in Kitchener for the Organization that I'm the Secretary-Treasurer for. It's a good Exec this year and I look forward to getting lots accomplished and learning a whole whackload. The titles of the other three people at their home institutions include: Vice President of Student Services, Director of Student Development, and Associate Dean of Student Life... and me... Coordinator of Everything... or something like that. I have a long way to go. I think I need a bit more education sometime in the near future to help me along my way.
Thirdly, this afternoon marked the completion of doing something huge in the IT world at the school that we've talked about for a number of years and were scared to do, but finally forced into doing so after a server gave us a scare about a month ago and showed us that we need to do the thing immediately... and I did it by myself because my boss was away. I think it went well, and by all measures that I could test before I went home it was working. We'll see how it sits on Monday when I go in again...
Fourthly, I'm taking some Students to Rockwood Conservation Area tomorrow. I went with Gord and Vanessa last week for my first time and found it quite intriguing, although we only saw a very small part of it because it was somewhat rainy. I want to explore the caves a bit more tomorrow. Yes, there's caves. Afterwards, I'm leaving the students to fend for themselves back to the school and I'm off to Acton. (A friend of mine's meeting us at Rockwood and she'll drive them back to Kitchener... I'm not that cruel.)
It's been a busy week, but I think I've survived it. And I'm working my way through Expert on Guitar Hero III... I gave up on Hard and Expert on both GH I and II as well as Expert on Tony Hawk Underground... so this is my new challenge until I fail miserably in a few songs. Then we'll have to see what the next game of choice is. Perhaps RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on my PC.
Out.
Secondly, I had an Exec meeting in Kitchener for the Organization that I'm the Secretary-Treasurer for. It's a good Exec this year and I look forward to getting lots accomplished and learning a whole whackload. The titles of the other three people at their home institutions include: Vice President of Student Services, Director of Student Development, and Associate Dean of Student Life... and me... Coordinator of Everything... or something like that. I have a long way to go. I think I need a bit more education sometime in the near future to help me along my way.
Thirdly, this afternoon marked the completion of doing something huge in the IT world at the school that we've talked about for a number of years and were scared to do, but finally forced into doing so after a server gave us a scare about a month ago and showed us that we need to do the thing immediately... and I did it by myself because my boss was away. I think it went well, and by all measures that I could test before I went home it was working. We'll see how it sits on Monday when I go in again...
Fourthly, I'm taking some Students to Rockwood Conservation Area tomorrow. I went with Gord and Vanessa last week for my first time and found it quite intriguing, although we only saw a very small part of it because it was somewhat rainy. I want to explore the caves a bit more tomorrow. Yes, there's caves. Afterwards, I'm leaving the students to fend for themselves back to the school and I'm off to Acton. (A friend of mine's meeting us at Rockwood and she'll drive them back to Kitchener... I'm not that cruel.)
It's been a busy week, but I think I've survived it. And I'm working my way through Expert on Guitar Hero III... I gave up on Hard and Expert on both GH I and II as well as Expert on Tony Hawk Underground... so this is my new challenge until I fail miserably in a few songs. Then we'll have to see what the next game of choice is. Perhaps RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on my PC.
Out.
27.9.08
moon
Today, I went with a group of students to a Student Leadership Summit at Redeemer in Ancaster. This has been going on for a few years now where all schools in the vicinity of Hamilton are invited to come, and we, along with Redeemer are the only two institutions that show up. Oh well, it's great fun.
They had dinner, and a speaker from the Meeting House talking about Leadership, followed by a Jacob Moon and Isobelle Gunn concert, which happened to be at a church in Ancaster, where by chance, I randomly saw my cousin as soon as I walked in the door.
The individual who spoke said something that stuck with me. She was talking about community and in the process of getting to know yourself as a part of community, she brought up the conversation she continually has with God. She always continues to ask "How do you want me to be" and "Who do you want me to be", which are two profound questions that the answers could be life-changing. So this is something for me to think about as the year unfolds.
They had dinner, and a speaker from the Meeting House talking about Leadership, followed by a Jacob Moon and Isobelle Gunn concert, which happened to be at a church in Ancaster, where by chance, I randomly saw my cousin as soon as I walked in the door.
The individual who spoke said something that stuck with me. She was talking about community and in the process of getting to know yourself as a part of community, she brought up the conversation she continually has with God. She always continues to ask "How do you want me to be" and "Who do you want me to be", which are two profound questions that the answers could be life-changing. So this is something for me to think about as the year unfolds.
21.9.08
i'd like a house with the hammer on the rocks please
Curling is coming up on November 1st.
I'm launching the ads on Tuesday around the college in hopes of filling up all 32 spaces for the first time yet. We'll see how that goes.
That's all.
I'm launching the ads on Tuesday around the college in hopes of filling up all 32 spaces for the first time yet. We'll see how that goes.
That's all.
20.9.08
brother tim
I watched Son of Rambow today, the classic film where two kids decide to make a [very] amateur movie regarding what would happen if Rambo was kidnapped and his son had to come and rescue him. It was an ok movie in the end. I really liked the French kid's part. Very cool.
The thing that really intrigued me is that one of the parts to the story involved the one kid and his family being Plymouth Brethren. Very much on the Exclusive train or VERY conservative Open, but it was still interesting to see how it was portrayed in film. I can't say that I've ever seen any Brethren specifically mentioned in a movie.
It took me back. Brethrens can sometimes be very ridiculous and lacking in grace. I'm glad for the most part I grew up in an environment that encompassed an openness to others and an acceptance for many.
The thing that really intrigued me is that one of the parts to the story involved the one kid and his family being Plymouth Brethren. Very much on the Exclusive train or VERY conservative Open, but it was still interesting to see how it was portrayed in film. I can't say that I've ever seen any Brethren specifically mentioned in a movie.
It took me back. Brethrens can sometimes be very ridiculous and lacking in grace. I'm glad for the most part I grew up in an environment that encompassed an openness to others and an acceptance for many.
badlanded [reprise]
So today I took two students on a sorta hike to Limehouse Conservation area and the Cheltenham Badlands. It was a beautiful day, and the fog finished clearing up just as we arrived.
I've been to Limehouse before, but this time we did the Black Creek Side trail, which revealed various other new things to see. And we were there to see one of the Via trains pass under the bridge in Limehouse proper.
So we took the trip, took our cameras, and I got a few good pictures, of which some will be uploaded at a later date.
After our trip 'round Limehouse and playing around in the caves near the Hole in the Wall, we continued back to the Car and off to the Badlands at Cheltenham. This is the third time I've been to both places, and I have to say that they're both fun to go to.
I'll be taking a group of students to Rockwood Conservation area in a few weeks, and then hopefully on a Milton - Speyside through-hike in early November, pending on getting all the logistics figured out. January will bring a Hamilton Waterfall tour, and then the winter months will probably have the opportunity to go somewhere cool and experience snow [if there is any].
That's all I got for now.
Out.
I've been to Limehouse before, but this time we did the Black Creek Side trail, which revealed various other new things to see. And we were there to see one of the Via trains pass under the bridge in Limehouse proper.
So we took the trip, took our cameras, and I got a few good pictures, of which some will be uploaded at a later date.
After our trip 'round Limehouse and playing around in the caves near the Hole in the Wall, we continued back to the Car and off to the Badlands at Cheltenham. This is the third time I've been to both places, and I have to say that they're both fun to go to.
I'll be taking a group of students to Rockwood Conservation area in a few weeks, and then hopefully on a Milton - Speyside through-hike in early November, pending on getting all the logistics figured out. January will bring a Hamilton Waterfall tour, and then the winter months will probably have the opportunity to go somewhere cool and experience snow [if there is any].
That's all I got for now.
Out.
19.9.08
arrr...
Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day.
Ye must enjoy it or ye shall walk the plank.
Arr.
[I'm a dork. You don't need to tell me.]
Ye must enjoy it or ye shall walk the plank.
Arr.
[I'm a dork. You don't need to tell me.]
15.9.08
no price fixing here.
Now the news is saying that gas is going to drop by 9 cents per litre tonight.
That's not odd at all. I'm glad someone made some good money over the past few days. Too bad I'll never see any of it.
That's not odd at all. I'm glad someone made some good money over the past few days. Too bad I'll never see any of it.
14.9.08
not pregnant
With a recent slew of pregnancies announced at work (4 over the span of 2 weeks), I feel it necessary to clarify something:
I am not pregnant.
I wonder if I can scam paternity leave without the whole becoming a parent thing... I could use a few months off next Spring...
I am not pregnant.
I wonder if I can scam paternity leave without the whole becoming a parent thing... I could use a few months off next Spring...
12.9.08
surprise, surprise
Last night there was a news report saying that gas would jump overnight by 13 cents per litre. I figured this was just fear mongering, but because the media was making everyone believe that gas would jump, gas companies wouldn't refuse the opportunity to gouge consumers. So lo and behold, as I was driving by the gas station up the road this morning, gas hadn't jumped 13 cents per litre. It jumped nearly 17 cents per litre.
Price fixing anyone?
Good thing I filled up on Tuesday at 1.20. Mind you, it's only about a $7 difference for 40 litres, but that's $7 I could use elsewhere.
If the political leaders weren't so far in bed with the oil companies, we could hope for a new government (not the so called one that the Conservatives gave us) that would help gas and oil companies think clearly and not "panic" when a disaster strikes.
Sigh.
Price fixing anyone?
Good thing I filled up on Tuesday at 1.20. Mind you, it's only about a $7 difference for 40 litres, but that's $7 I could use elsewhere.
If the political leaders weren't so far in bed with the oil companies, we could hope for a new government (not the so called one that the Conservatives gave us) that would help gas and oil companies think clearly and not "panic" when a disaster strikes.
Sigh.
8.9.08
poli-tick-in
For those who readily dislike politics in any way, shape, or form, these next six weeks (followed by the following month or so in the US) will be agonizing if you pay any attention to the media (i.e. Radio, Print, TV.) For what reason? Politics. More like Poli-ticks in many cases. The ads have been going for a few days now that "We're better off with Harper". I readily disagree with that statement, although I can't say that there's anyone who we'd be better off with. None of the Canadian federal leaders have really shown much promise along the lines of a leader that can take us fresh into the future without having to stoop to the levels of insulting the opposition on a daily basis.
What I'd like to see in a Federal Party Leader is someone with a passion that drives them and their party to reach new heights. A person who can represent the country without looking like a tool (we don't have that now, and neither do our neighbours to the south). A person who can inspire confidence in the country, and what makes it run. Perhaps there's some hope in one of the candidates, but I'm not seeing anything close at this current state in their candidacies.
Matt pointed out this post regarding voter apathy and I think I'm inclined to agree. Despite not really liking any of the leaders, I, as a Canadian Citizen, realize that I have a voice and this is my chance to exercise it. So I shall vote on October 14th. And I'll make sure that I vote with a good knowledge of who I'm voting for and what they'll bring to this country.
On October 14, I will vote. Will you?
What I'd like to see in a Federal Party Leader is someone with a passion that drives them and their party to reach new heights. A person who can represent the country without looking like a tool (we don't have that now, and neither do our neighbours to the south). A person who can inspire confidence in the country, and what makes it run. Perhaps there's some hope in one of the candidates, but I'm not seeing anything close at this current state in their candidacies.
Matt pointed out this post regarding voter apathy and I think I'm inclined to agree. Despite not really liking any of the leaders, I, as a Canadian Citizen, realize that I have a voice and this is my chance to exercise it. So I shall vote on October 14th. And I'll make sure that I vote with a good knowledge of who I'm voting for and what they'll bring to this country.
On October 14, I will vote. Will you?
7.9.08
elect this
Well, it's official. Stephen Harper doesn't think that the parliament can be functional anymore, so we're off to the polls on October 14th. Here's my one piece of advice: think before you vote. In our system, you are forced to elect either a) a bad leader despite you agreeing with the party's platform or b) a bad party despite the leader being a seemingly good option. There is no alternative. If the MMP referendum had passed in Ontario last year, we could potentially have a better system here, but it didn't (due to people not understanding the question, which was vague on the ballot anyway) so we're stuck with the one person one vote and because of that fiasco, the Canadian system's not likely to explore options like that any time in the near future.
I don't necessarily mind the Conservatives as a MINORITY government, but I can't stand Mr. Harper as a leader. He seems very out of place in his position; somewhere along the lines of the rich-kid-who-gets-thrown-into-the-public-school-system-after-being-kicked-out-of-his-private-school syndrome. I'm not saying everyone should run out and vote Liberal, because I'm not sure if they're prepared to hold a Majority government again, but at least consider the lesser of the evils before you cast your ballot in six weeks.
If only any of the original 22 Minutes cast members were running for office. It would make this decision so much simpler.
Now off to learn more about each party's platforms before I come to my conclusion. Happy voting, and here's to hope for another minority government.
I don't necessarily mind the Conservatives as a MINORITY government, but I can't stand Mr. Harper as a leader. He seems very out of place in his position; somewhere along the lines of the rich-kid-who-gets-thrown-into-the-public-school-system-after-being-kicked-out-of-his-private-school syndrome. I'm not saying everyone should run out and vote Liberal, because I'm not sure if they're prepared to hold a Majority government again, but at least consider the lesser of the evils before you cast your ballot in six weeks.
If only any of the original 22 Minutes cast members were running for office. It would make this decision so much simpler.
Now off to learn more about each party's platforms before I come to my conclusion. Happy voting, and here's to hope for another minority government.
2.9.08
usurper
In the Spring, many people were up in arms about the Hockey Night in Canada theme being bought up by CTV when CBC didn't get the rights to it. In the wake of this, our good friend George has been advertising fairly relentlessly all summer about the contest to come up with a new one.
So here's my vote (I may be biased due to being friends with the composer, but for the most part, all the anthems that I've heard have been HORRIBLE and not inspiring at all. This one is at least catchy and gives you the feeling of hockey.
So here's my vote (I may be biased due to being friends with the composer, but for the most part, all the anthems that I've heard have been HORRIBLE and not inspiring at all. This one is at least catchy and gives you the feeling of hockey.
28.8.08
something geeky
If you're not a geek, you can tune out... but there's something really cool I just stumbled across.
The developers at Mozilla are working on a tool called Ubiquity. It's a fairly new version of the embedded search engine, but almost better... fewer clicks to get to where you want to go.
You have to watch the video to see what it can do... I look forward to seeing what the final version's like.
The developers at Mozilla are working on a tool called Ubiquity. It's a fairly new version of the embedded search engine, but almost better... fewer clicks to get to where you want to go.
You have to watch the video to see what it can do... I look forward to seeing what the final version's like.
24.8.08
the drivers... they just don't go
Tonight I was coming home from Hamilton after visiting a friend and seeing 4 waterfalls in a 90 minute period (Tiffany Falls, Tew's Falls, Webster's Falls, Baby Webster's Falls) and for some reason, as soon as I hit the 401, all traffic decided that they had to go slow. The slow lane on the 401 got down to 70 around the 7/8 cutoff into Kitchener, and then on the expressway, people didn't know how to go the speed limit. They were all going slow. And when they did get up to speed, they continued to drop their speed again. They're out to get me. All of them. Whoever they are.
16.8.08
ymq / yul
Here I'm sitting in the basement at the bar in the Hostelling International Youth Hostel in Montreal, Quebec. For those of you paying attention, this is my first time being a somewhat tourist in Montreal. We arrived via Train this morning at 9:45 (almost 2 hours late - go VIA!) and then walked to the hostel - about 15 minutes from the train station.
After getting all the bags into two rooms, we went outside to figure out where we were going for the day - the original plan being shopping (with 19 teenagers... about 10 of them female) or the Science Centre in the Old Town / Old Port district of Montreal. After figuring out that only one person wanted to go to the Science Centre, we changed the second option to doing touristy stuff in the Old Town / Old Port district of town. We got about 7 people that time, but it still wasn't enough.... so, we all went shopping on Ste. Catharine Street and then we all went to the Old Port / Old Town via Chinatown (seems to be about 3 streets big).
This was the afternoon of weddings. Ranging from the one location where about 4 couples were getting photos taken, to the 4-6 other couples we saw throughout the afternoon, and the one guy who started off in a wedding dress and his friends were letting people whip eggs at him for $2 and then he changed into a cowboy outfit with underwear and chaps on the lower half and people were allowed to whip him for $2. Weird people.
Oh well. After eating down there and spending a bit more time wondering around, we're back to the hostel now where all have been sent to their rooms to shower (mandatory - especially for the one who thinks rain is like a shower because it makes his hair feel softer and he doesn't need a shower because his sweat is like a shower because it doesn't smell - it does) and hopefully they'll be conked out sleeping soon. We're up early again tomorrow to hop on the train to Toronto.... which if my past experience is any revelation for what my happen, will leave about 30 minutes late due to the late arrival of train 15 / 615 from Halifax.
I'm looking forward to being able to crash on my own bed tomorrow night... but we do have real beds tonight, which is quite the change over the past week.
On a completely different note - congrats to Dan and Faith on welcoming Evangeline Irena into the world on Friday morning. The Park Car (dome / bar car at the end of our train that only those in Easterly Class have access to (rich), which we were told this morning is supposedly haunted) was called the Evangeline Park. Hopefully this new niece isn't haunted by a former VIA employee who pages from empty bedrooms.
And for now, I'm out to enjoy the evening with a few of the other leaders before I crash.
Out.
T.
After getting all the bags into two rooms, we went outside to figure out where we were going for the day - the original plan being shopping (with 19 teenagers... about 10 of them female) or the Science Centre in the Old Town / Old Port district of Montreal. After figuring out that only one person wanted to go to the Science Centre, we changed the second option to doing touristy stuff in the Old Town / Old Port district of town. We got about 7 people that time, but it still wasn't enough.... so, we all went shopping on Ste. Catharine Street and then we all went to the Old Port / Old Town via Chinatown (seems to be about 3 streets big).
This was the afternoon of weddings. Ranging from the one location where about 4 couples were getting photos taken, to the 4-6 other couples we saw throughout the afternoon, and the one guy who started off in a wedding dress and his friends were letting people whip eggs at him for $2 and then he changed into a cowboy outfit with underwear and chaps on the lower half and people were allowed to whip him for $2. Weird people.
Oh well. After eating down there and spending a bit more time wondering around, we're back to the hostel now where all have been sent to their rooms to shower (mandatory - especially for the one who thinks rain is like a shower because it makes his hair feel softer and he doesn't need a shower because his sweat is like a shower because it doesn't smell - it does) and hopefully they'll be conked out sleeping soon. We're up early again tomorrow to hop on the train to Toronto.... which if my past experience is any revelation for what my happen, will leave about 30 minutes late due to the late arrival of train 15 / 615 from Halifax.
I'm looking forward to being able to crash on my own bed tomorrow night... but we do have real beds tonight, which is quite the change over the past week.
On a completely different note - congrats to Dan and Faith on welcoming Evangeline Irena into the world on Friday morning. The Park Car (dome / bar car at the end of our train that only those in Easterly Class have access to (rich), which we were told this morning is supposedly haunted) was called the Evangeline Park. Hopefully this new niece isn't haunted by a former VIA employee who pages from empty bedrooms.
And for now, I'm out to enjoy the evening with a few of the other leaders before I crash.
Out.
T.
12.8.08
the post of the beast
Just letting you know that this is post 666 on my blog.
Still in Halifax. It's raining (go figure... actually, we were waiting for the bus yesterday to get to the church from the train station - rental agency was closed because the train was 2 hours late in getting in - and there was a girl who we talked to a bit while waiting. One of the other leaders from our group said, "At least we can be thankful it's not raining" and both the girl and I said simultaneously "Yet")
Tonight we got a chance to go on a street walk to see what it would be like for a 14 year old to live on the street in a new city with no experience. We had to answer five questions: Shelter? Food? Money? Hygiene? How to Spend your Time? While we were figuring out the answers to this, we saw a section of Halifax that the tours will NEVER take you through. It's actually only about 2 blocks north of the Citadel, but it's definitely non-touristed. Safe Needle Exchange site, shelters, gay bars, legal services, and such. Although I knew that I was safe with the guide, I still felt a bit queasy. I've been fortunate to grow up with a great family and have had the opportunities that I've had and haven't had any bad experiences that would push me into that type of experience. We were talking about the possibility of sleeping in a dumpster and one of the girls in my group was saying it would be good, but then when the reality that someone may try to come to get "some sugar" from her, her face went from fun experience to a realization that this could happen and it isn't fun... it's survival.
Tomorrow is another day of service, and then Thursday's touristy in the area... then back on the train on Friday. Whee!
Out.
T.
Still in Halifax. It's raining (go figure... actually, we were waiting for the bus yesterday to get to the church from the train station - rental agency was closed because the train was 2 hours late in getting in - and there was a girl who we talked to a bit while waiting. One of the other leaders from our group said, "At least we can be thankful it's not raining" and both the girl and I said simultaneously "Yet")
Tonight we got a chance to go on a street walk to see what it would be like for a 14 year old to live on the street in a new city with no experience. We had to answer five questions: Shelter? Food? Money? Hygiene? How to Spend your Time? While we were figuring out the answers to this, we saw a section of Halifax that the tours will NEVER take you through. It's actually only about 2 blocks north of the Citadel, but it's definitely non-touristed. Safe Needle Exchange site, shelters, gay bars, legal services, and such. Although I knew that I was safe with the guide, I still felt a bit queasy. I've been fortunate to grow up with a great family and have had the opportunities that I've had and haven't had any bad experiences that would push me into that type of experience. We were talking about the possibility of sleeping in a dumpster and one of the girls in my group was saying it would be good, but then when the reality that someone may try to come to get "some sugar" from her, her face went from fun experience to a realization that this could happen and it isn't fun... it's survival.
Tomorrow is another day of service, and then Thursday's touristy in the area... then back on the train on Friday. Whee!
Out.
T.
hello city
It happened last year and it's happening again this year. I'm in Halifax. And everytime I come to Halifax (well, since 2006 anyway), I think of the song Hello City by the Barenaked Ladies. They say the name of one of the streets here. Bonus points if you can figure out which one it is.
The train ride was uneventful, although we got in almost 30 minutes late to Montreal and 2 hours late to Halifax, but we're still here. We haven't had an opportunity to shower since Sunday, but it's all part of the experience.
This afternoon we were at a food bank sorting onions and turnips from last year's crop into two bins: good and bad. Bad being the majority of the onions and many of them growing mould or sprouting. Woo!
I'm creatively borrowing a wireless connection right now and it's somewhat awkward.
But for now, I need to go upload some pictures of the trip. So for now, here's a picture that some people may remember from a few years back... Click here.
Also, something interesting. I was able to randomly pick up wireless signals on the train, even as we were moving because people don't change their network names from Linksys or Default or WLAN. Oh well. I get to check my e-mail at their expense.
Whee!
The train ride was uneventful, although we got in almost 30 minutes late to Montreal and 2 hours late to Halifax, but we're still here. We haven't had an opportunity to shower since Sunday, but it's all part of the experience.
This afternoon we were at a food bank sorting onions and turnips from last year's crop into two bins: good and bad. Bad being the majority of the onions and many of them growing mould or sprouting. Woo!
I'm creatively borrowing a wireless connection right now and it's somewhat awkward.
But for now, I need to go upload some pictures of the trip. So for now, here's a picture that some people may remember from a few years back... Click here.
Also, something interesting. I was able to randomly pick up wireless signals on the train, even as we were moving because people don't change their network names from Linksys or Default or WLAN. Oh well. I get to check my e-mail at their expense.
Whee!
8.8.08
spam?
I logged into blogger today and noticed one of the recent headlines on the Blogger Buzz: You Are Not Spam.
Thank you, Blogger, for confirming what I had only guessed could be possible.
I didn't think I was canned meat. I don't know why anyone would really want to be canned meat, but I guess some people enjoy that feeling of being confined in a very small space by thin metal that can only be cracked open by someone willing to put their health on the line for something that claims it's meat, but is definitely not.
That is all.
Oh, and I'm off to Nova Scotia next week. Train on Sunday morning from Toronto to Montreal; Montreal to Halifax, there for a few days, and then back to Montreal on Friday / Saturday, and then Montreal to Toronto on the 17th. Just in time to get back for everyone to shower me with gifts on my birthday. Cheques or cash accepted.
Thank you, Blogger, for confirming what I had only guessed could be possible.
I didn't think I was canned meat. I don't know why anyone would really want to be canned meat, but I guess some people enjoy that feeling of being confined in a very small space by thin metal that can only be cracked open by someone willing to put their health on the line for something that claims it's meat, but is definitely not.
That is all.
Oh, and I'm off to Nova Scotia next week. Train on Sunday morning from Toronto to Montreal; Montreal to Halifax, there for a few days, and then back to Montreal on Friday / Saturday, and then Montreal to Toronto on the 17th. Just in time to get back for everyone to shower me with gifts on my birthday. Cheques or cash accepted.
4.8.08
blog and mail
I realized something about golf this week.
It's exercise disguised as a skill game. See, why would anyone ever consider hitting a small ball with a club on it's own? How it started was people trying to figure out how to disguise their walking back and forth on fields as something people wouldn't think they were crazy doing, therefore the sport of Golf was born.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to walk back and forth down that long patch of grass across the road for a few hours."
Or:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to practise my skill at hitting a small round projectile off a wooden tee into a hole that is only about 3 times the size of the ball almost 1/2 a km away."
See? Conspiracy? Maybe my logic is out to lunch, but that's what I got.
It's exercise disguised as a skill game. See, why would anyone ever consider hitting a small ball with a club on it's own? How it started was people trying to figure out how to disguise their walking back and forth on fields as something people wouldn't think they were crazy doing, therefore the sport of Golf was born.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to walk back and forth down that long patch of grass across the road for a few hours."
Or:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to practise my skill at hitting a small round projectile off a wooden tee into a hole that is only about 3 times the size of the ball almost 1/2 a km away."
See? Conspiracy? Maybe my logic is out to lunch, but that's what I got.
2.8.08
vacate.
This week I've taken a bit of a vacation. Monday night, I came home. Tuesday, I went to the dentist and then golfing with my parents that afternoon. I got 54, my dad shot 55, and my mom 57.
Wednesday was hanging out with Katie all day. We went for lunch at Harvey's and then to the theatre to see Mamma Mia. I really enjoyed it in Toronto a few years back at the Princess of Wales, so I figured I'd enjoy it again. And it was true. Good movie. The acting was horrible, but the music was good.
Thursday was more dentist, and then lunch with a friend, and then spending the afternoon with Kyler.
Friday I didn't leave the house all day, and watched Charlie Wilson's War and Enchanted online.
Today I went garage sale-ing this morning, and then had a nap this afternoon, and then to my grandparents for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow is church and grandparents, Monday - golf and home; Tuesday back to work for 4 days before we hit Halifax!
Out.
Wednesday was hanging out with Katie all day. We went for lunch at Harvey's and then to the theatre to see Mamma Mia. I really enjoyed it in Toronto a few years back at the Princess of Wales, so I figured I'd enjoy it again. And it was true. Good movie. The acting was horrible, but the music was good.
Thursday was more dentist, and then lunch with a friend, and then spending the afternoon with Kyler.
Friday I didn't leave the house all day, and watched Charlie Wilson's War and Enchanted online.
Today I went garage sale-ing this morning, and then had a nap this afternoon, and then to my grandparents for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow is church and grandparents, Monday - golf and home; Tuesday back to work for 4 days before we hit Halifax!
Out.
28.7.08
censored
So I watched the Bank Job on an Air Canada flight on the way home from Frankfurt, and I thought it was an ok movie. Not too crude overall.
This weekend, a friend invited me over to watch the Bank Job because I had said it was good, so I said sure, why not watch it again. It was a different version than they had on the plane. Much more nudity and sexual content.
So overall review: It's an ok movie, if you watch it on Air Canada. If you don't, the first 10 minutes are full of toplessness and sexual content with occasional comebacks every now and again throughout.
So that's what I have to say.
This weekend, a friend invited me over to watch the Bank Job because I had said it was good, so I said sure, why not watch it again. It was a different version than they had on the plane. Much more nudity and sexual content.
So overall review: It's an ok movie, if you watch it on Air Canada. If you don't, the first 10 minutes are full of toplessness and sexual content with occasional comebacks every now and again throughout.
So that's what I have to say.
24.7.08
stuck in a cell
I've had my current cell phone for 2 years, and I've been with Telus the entire time. I know I don't have the greatest of plans for a pay as you go, but I don't use my phone enough to really merit anything more. I've been mostly OK with them. Until 2 weeks ago. Telus joined with Bell and is going to start charging for incoming text messages. Not a huge thing, but this means that whenever Telus sends me a message (seems to be about 4-5 times per month), I'll be out $0.15. And whenever my friends send me a message, I'll be out $0.15. It all adds up, seeing as I could sometimes save a few cents here and there by having a quick text exchange rather than spending minutes at $0.25 in conversation.
So I've decided to change providers. Within the next month, I'll hopefully be transferring my number over to Virgin Mobile... that is, if I can get the phone I want. It seems that all their good, reasonably priced phones, are out of stock at the moment with no option of being put on a waiting list to ship when available. I don't need the camera built in, but it'd be a nice feature to have.
Oh well... as long as I can get a phone that's not held together by tape, it'll probably be just peachy.
Now to use up my $75 in Telus credit over the next few weeks.
So I've decided to change providers. Within the next month, I'll hopefully be transferring my number over to Virgin Mobile... that is, if I can get the phone I want. It seems that all their good, reasonably priced phones, are out of stock at the moment with no option of being put on a waiting list to ship when available. I don't need the camera built in, but it'd be a nice feature to have.
Oh well... as long as I can get a phone that's not held together by tape, it'll probably be just peachy.
Now to use up my $75 in Telus credit over the next few weeks.
22.7.08
update
A few things:
1. I made banana bread with Alicia the other day. It turned out alright. A bit dark, but I haven't died yet from eating it.
2. Last week I went to the walk in clinic with a really odd problem - dry skin above the lip on one side. No pain or burning. The Doctor was perplexed, but prescribed some stuff, and lo and behold, it went away. So now I get to keep on going with the prescribed stuff for another month. Woo!
3. After a follow-up appointment yesterday, the Doctor asked if there was anything else he could do for me since it went by really fast. I said "I haven't had my 10 year booster shot in 12 years." So I got my TD shot (not the bank). My arm still hurts a bit.
4. The storm tonight was awesome. Although rumour has it, some people are now without tree in their backyard. While that was happening, the clouds were blowing in a south-westerly direction (not the right direction), the downtown disappeared into a blanket of rain, the windows sounded like they were going to break under the strain of the wind, and overall I was trying to figure out where we go in an apartment building in event of a tornado. We don't really have a basement. The Laundry room or Hallway?
5. I have most of next week off, and with that, I'm going home. Dentist appointment on Tuesday morning! Whoo! Hopefully I'll be able to hit the beach at the Pinery too. It's been too long.
And with that, I'm out.
Ciao.
1. I made banana bread with Alicia the other day. It turned out alright. A bit dark, but I haven't died yet from eating it.
2. Last week I went to the walk in clinic with a really odd problem - dry skin above the lip on one side. No pain or burning. The Doctor was perplexed, but prescribed some stuff, and lo and behold, it went away. So now I get to keep on going with the prescribed stuff for another month. Woo!
3. After a follow-up appointment yesterday, the Doctor asked if there was anything else he could do for me since it went by really fast. I said "I haven't had my 10 year booster shot in 12 years." So I got my TD shot (not the bank). My arm still hurts a bit.
4. The storm tonight was awesome. Although rumour has it, some people are now without tree in their backyard. While that was happening, the clouds were blowing in a south-westerly direction (not the right direction), the downtown disappeared into a blanket of rain, the windows sounded like they were going to break under the strain of the wind, and overall I was trying to figure out where we go in an apartment building in event of a tornado. We don't really have a basement. The Laundry room or Hallway?
5. I have most of next week off, and with that, I'm going home. Dentist appointment on Tuesday morning! Whoo! Hopefully I'll be able to hit the beach at the Pinery too. It's been too long.
And with that, I'm out.
Ciao.
21.7.08
17.7.08
wonder...
So I went to Paramount Canada's Wonderland yesterday. It was nice to go and not be inundated with all the Paramount garbage that has covered the park over the past few years.
The lines weren't too bad - approx. 30 minutes average with the shortest line being a walk-on to the Dragonfire and the longest being about an hour for White Water Canyon - I got the full force of the waterfall. It was nice.
Overall, the day was one of the better ones I've had at Wonderland. Behemoth - the new coaster - was an awesome ride for those that haven't been there and was worth the 30 minute line.
So anyway, it was a good day off in the middle of the week.
I'll go back another day.
Out.
The lines weren't too bad - approx. 30 minutes average with the shortest line being a walk-on to the Dragonfire and the longest being about an hour for White Water Canyon - I got the full force of the waterfall. It was nice.
Overall, the day was one of the better ones I've had at Wonderland. Behemoth - the new coaster - was an awesome ride for those that haven't been there and was worth the 30 minute line.
So anyway, it was a good day off in the middle of the week.
I'll go back another day.
Out.
13.7.08
banned
I was just asked by my roommate:
"Do you think we can ban babies?"
I just stared blankly at him.
"Do you think we can ban babies?"
I just stared blankly at him.
12.7.08
ollie nollie doodle all the day
So I've been playing more PS2 recently since I've been fairly bored with my courses all finished and many friends busy working or vacationing. So, while out on a trip to the mall, I picked up Tony Hawk Underground for $10, seeing as I'd played it before and although I really sucked, it seemed like a better two player game than Guitar Hero (purchased GH3 on Ebay for about 1/2 price what I could get it used at EB).
So, in the spirit of being lazy and more than likely undoing many of the good things I did while on vacation, I've spent a lot of time on the couch trying to beat the game on easy. As I slowly learned [side note - Firefox 3 didn't have the word learned in it's dictionary for spell check] how to do the tricks about 4 levels after where I should have learned them, I got better to the point where I beat the final level last night and we can now freestyle on all but one level, whatever that one is...
Only problem is I'm now seeing skateboard tricks whenever I close my eyes... perhaps I should take a break now that I've gotten this far.
Also, I'm fairly certain I've beaten GH1 and GH2 on Medium and I'm fairly certain Hard, but I'm getting close to beat them on Expert as well, and GH3 I've gotten almost through it on Hard.
Yeah, I think I need a life.
So, in the spirit of being lazy and more than likely undoing many of the good things I did while on vacation, I've spent a lot of time on the couch trying to beat the game on easy. As I slowly learned [side note - Firefox 3 didn't have the word learned in it's dictionary for spell check] how to do the tricks about 4 levels after where I should have learned them, I got better to the point where I beat the final level last night and we can now freestyle on all but one level, whatever that one is...
Only problem is I'm now seeing skateboard tricks whenever I close my eyes... perhaps I should take a break now that I've gotten this far.
Also, I'm fairly certain I've beaten GH1 and GH2 on Medium and I'm fairly certain Hard, but I'm getting close to beat them on Expert as well, and GH3 I've gotten almost through it on Hard.
Yeah, I think I need a life.
8.7.08
children's ministry
This week I've been helping out with a VBS that some of the students from the school are running. My area of responsibility is the recreation / games station, in which three groups of approximately 15 kids come for 25 minutes of games. In some cases, it's easy to keep them occupied, in others, it's agonizing.
It's been 4 years since I've last worked with kids of this age, and I can tell you that I think any skills I had in this area have been lost since then. I'm glad to help out, but my creativity and abilities in keeping the interest of kids for this length of time without another's help is definitely not my forte.
And so, I go into tomorrow hoping for the best, but we'll see what happens. I was browsing through lists of games tonight and trying to figure out how to explain them to 6 year olds is beyond me. Oh well... here goes nothing.
It's been 4 years since I've last worked with kids of this age, and I can tell you that I think any skills I had in this area have been lost since then. I'm glad to help out, but my creativity and abilities in keeping the interest of kids for this length of time without another's help is definitely not my forte.
And so, I go into tomorrow hoping for the best, but we'll see what happens. I was browsing through lists of games tonight and trying to figure out how to explain them to 6 year olds is beyond me. Oh well... here goes nothing.
5.7.08
train travel
I sat down and figured out which trains we took this trip:
18/06: Paris CDG - Paris Nord (RER)
20/06: Paris Nord - Arras (TGV)
20/06: Arras - Paris Nord (TGV)
21/06: Paris Est - Mannheim HBF (TGV)
21/06: Mannheim HBC - Stuttgart HBF (ICE)
21/06: Stuttgart HBF - Muenchen (Munich) HBF (IC)
22/06: Muenchen HBF - Dachau (S-Bahn)
22/06: Dachau - Muenchen HBF (DBR)
23/06: Muenchen (Munich) HBF - Salzburg HBF (EC)
25/06: Salzburg HBF - Linz HBF (EC)
25/06: Linz HBF - Rybnik, CZ (EC)
25/06: Rybnik, CZ - Ceske Budejovice (Bus)
25/06: Ceske Budejovice - Hermanicky (EC)
26/06: Hermanicky - Benesov u Prahy (Bus)
26/06: Benesov u Prahy - Cercany? (Bus)
26/06: Cercany? - Praha (Prague) Hlavni Nadrazi (Suburban Train)
Totalling about 25-30 hours on transit, not including Metro or City bus.
HBF = Hauptbahnhof = Central Train Station
Nadrazi = Train Station
S-Bahn = Suburban Train
TGV = Tren a Grande Vitesse (up to 320 km/hr)
ICE = Inter-City Express
IC = Inter-City
EC = Euro-City
Bus = Bus
RER = Paris Regional Train
DBR = DeutschBahn Regional Train
18/06: Paris CDG - Paris Nord (RER)
20/06: Paris Nord - Arras (TGV)
20/06: Arras - Paris Nord (TGV)
21/06: Paris Est - Mannheim HBF (TGV)
21/06: Mannheim HBC - Stuttgart HBF (ICE)
21/06: Stuttgart HBF - Muenchen (Munich) HBF (IC)
22/06: Muenchen HBF - Dachau (S-Bahn)
22/06: Dachau - Muenchen HBF (DBR)
23/06: Muenchen (Munich) HBF - Salzburg HBF (EC)
25/06: Salzburg HBF - Linz HBF (EC)
25/06: Linz HBF - Rybnik, CZ (EC)
25/06: Rybnik, CZ - Ceske Budejovice (Bus)
25/06: Ceske Budejovice - Hermanicky (EC)
26/06: Hermanicky - Benesov u Prahy (Bus)
26/06: Benesov u Prahy - Cercany? (Bus)
26/06: Cercany? - Praha (Prague) Hlavni Nadrazi (Suburban Train)
Totalling about 25-30 hours on transit, not including Metro or City bus.
HBF = Hauptbahnhof = Central Train Station
Nadrazi = Train Station
S-Bahn = Suburban Train
TGV = Tren a Grande Vitesse (up to 320 km/hr)
ICE = Inter-City Express
IC = Inter-City
EC = Euro-City
Bus = Bus
RER = Paris Regional Train
DBR = DeutschBahn Regional Train
2.7.08
sleep
Almost caught up on my sleep, I think. It's always harder going west than it is going east.
Saturday was asleep at 7, up at 5, asleep at 5:45, up at 9:30
Sunday was asleep at 10, up at 6
Monday was asleep at 11, up at 7:15
Tuesday was asleep at 12, up at 7:30
Bringing us to today.
We'll see what we can do from here.
Saturday was asleep at 7, up at 5, asleep at 5:45, up at 9:30
Sunday was asleep at 10, up at 6
Monday was asleep at 11, up at 7:15
Tuesday was asleep at 12, up at 7:30
Bringing us to today.
We'll see what we can do from here.
1.7.08
canadia day
Happy Canadia Day.
Here's some pictures from our trip.
Paris and Vimy:
Munich and Dachau:
Salzburg:
Prague and the Train:
Here's some pictures from our trip.
Paris and Vimy:
 |
| Eurotrip 2008: Paris |
Munich and Dachau:
 |
| EuroTrip 2008: Munich |
Salzburg:
 |
| EuroTrip 2008: Salzburg |
Prague and the Train:
 |
| EuroTrip 2008: Prague |
29.6.08
4 trains, 3 buses, 2 koreans, and one very confused american: the rest of the story
The rest of the Story:
On Wednesday Morning, we woke up early (around 6:30) because other people from our hostel room got up at the same time. We got dressed because we were up and then ended up at the train station at 8:30, much earlier than we needed to be for our 3:00 reservation to Linz. So instead of sitting around at the Salzburg train station all day, we ended up hopping on the next train to Linz at 9:30 and upon arrival around 11, we stuck around there instead. It's a nice train station, very large, air conditioning, and a grocery store right there. So, we waited. Gord had a laptop with us, so we used the free wireless and ate on our food purchased from the grocery store and read and wandered. I had to use the bathroom twice, so I paid 50 eurocents twice to get in. Darn pay public restrooms. Oh well. I'm glad it hasn't picked up over here. I would revolt if it did.
After our many hours of waiting and probably having hundreds of people pass by on their way to and from their trains, we got onto our train at 4:55 to Prague. Thinking it would be an easy 4.5 hour journey, we settled into our car and sat back to enjoy the ride.
Around 5:45, I heard a conversation between two gentlemen in English outside of our compartment that went something like this: "Soon we transfer to a bus and then back to a train." Confused, I went out and sure enough we were coming to a point where there was construction on the line, so we needed to take a bus ride from the Czech border to Ceske Budejovske. So, we stopped at a station, went over to a bus and then sat back for a ride. It turned out to be about 45 minutes, getting us to the station around 7. But there was no one at the station to tell us where to go, so I went in and looked at the departures board to realize that our train was leaving within 2 minutes of our arrival time, so we RAN through the station to get to the furthest platform to hop on our train.
This train was less comfortable than the first one, but whatever, it would take us to Prague. So we got into a compartment with a girl who was reading a dental brochure and then waited to leave. But we didn't leave right away. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. It was 40 minutes before we left. During that time, a large group of kids with bikes had to load their bikes into the baggage car of the train and we needed to get an engine attached to our train.
Finally, we got moving around 7:45 and then made a few stops along the way, read some, and ate a bit of meat and crackers. Around 9:00, we stopped for about 30 minutes randomly. I figured they were pulling a Via and had to wait for a train to pass. Sure enough 2 trains passed, but we weren't given the green light to go for another 10 minutes after the 2nd one went by. About 10 minutes later, we stopped again at a town called Hermanicky. And we waited. After about 30 minutes, I was getting nervous, and then people started to get off the train. Not everyone, only a few. The kids with the bikes got off and rode away. Then I asked a girl if she spoke English in my very limited Czech: "Mluvite Anglisky?" She said yes and then told me that we were waiting, but a bus was taking some people to the next stop so they could get there, but for Prague, we had to wait on the train.
About 11:00, Gord went searching to try and figure out what was happeneing. He found a few Canadians and some girls from Austria who spoke English, so we moved up a car or two to spend time with them instead. The conductors put across the impression that there could potentially be a tree on the track. When asked how long we were going to be, they only shrugged.
Around 12:30, we lay down to spend the night, figuring it would probably take that long before we started moving again. Then at 1:15, a conductor popped in to say there was a bus for Prague here and we could go get on it. But it was full by the time Gord and I got there. So when it left at 1:30, we were left and the Austrians and Canadians were gone.
Finally, around 2:30 a second bus came and we got on, expecting to take it all the way to Prague. It was looking up, but then about 45 minutes into the ride, it stopped at Benesov u Prahy and we were told to get off to get on another train. So we did. But there was no train waiting for us. We just sat on the platform for about 45 minutes waiting for this supposed train to show up. It never came.
It was during this time we met the American and the 2 koreans and all of us were confused together. Some people told us there was a normal bus separate from the rail lines coming at 5, others were just standing around wondering what the heck was happening. The staff at the train station didn't seem to be very helpful.
Then at 4:00, a bus came and we got on it. It was the same driver as took the first group from the original train station, so we were hopeful that we would get to Prague on the bus. So we settled in hoping to get some sleep, but we stopped about 10 minutes later and were told to get off. So we did, and then walked through a train station and got onto a train waiting there at 4:15. This train didn't leave til 5:00ish, but it took us directly to Prague, arriving at 6:00 AM, just a few hours later than the 9:30 PM expected arrival time from the schedule.
The train station was full of people sleeping, like their trains were delayed.
At this point, Gord and I went to get some money and figure out the metro system and then we and the American guy parted ways with a handshake and a thanks, and we were off to our respective accommodations. We finally got to our hotel at 6:45 and then went to a well-deserved sleep.
Turns out there was a huge windstorm the night before with power outages and trees blown down all over the place. They knew there were trees on the tracks, but they didn't know where, so we had to stop in case the train hit them. One person was telling me there was a train from Croatia that was delayed 20 hours, so our 8.5 hours seems like nothing in comparison.
Here's a news story from a Prague Newspaper
It was an experience, and we made it ok in the long run. But it's not one I'd like to repeat any time soon. Without the Austrians or the American, it could have been much worse, as we would have been stuck without anyone who spoke English to talk to. That was a comforting factor in the night.
On Wednesday Morning, we woke up early (around 6:30) because other people from our hostel room got up at the same time. We got dressed because we were up and then ended up at the train station at 8:30, much earlier than we needed to be for our 3:00 reservation to Linz. So instead of sitting around at the Salzburg train station all day, we ended up hopping on the next train to Linz at 9:30 and upon arrival around 11, we stuck around there instead. It's a nice train station, very large, air conditioning, and a grocery store right there. So, we waited. Gord had a laptop with us, so we used the free wireless and ate on our food purchased from the grocery store and read and wandered. I had to use the bathroom twice, so I paid 50 eurocents twice to get in. Darn pay public restrooms. Oh well. I'm glad it hasn't picked up over here. I would revolt if it did.
After our many hours of waiting and probably having hundreds of people pass by on their way to and from their trains, we got onto our train at 4:55 to Prague. Thinking it would be an easy 4.5 hour journey, we settled into our car and sat back to enjoy the ride.
Around 5:45, I heard a conversation between two gentlemen in English outside of our compartment that went something like this: "Soon we transfer to a bus and then back to a train." Confused, I went out and sure enough we were coming to a point where there was construction on the line, so we needed to take a bus ride from the Czech border to Ceske Budejovske. So, we stopped at a station, went over to a bus and then sat back for a ride. It turned out to be about 45 minutes, getting us to the station around 7. But there was no one at the station to tell us where to go, so I went in and looked at the departures board to realize that our train was leaving within 2 minutes of our arrival time, so we RAN through the station to get to the furthest platform to hop on our train.
This train was less comfortable than the first one, but whatever, it would take us to Prague. So we got into a compartment with a girl who was reading a dental brochure and then waited to leave. But we didn't leave right away. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. It was 40 minutes before we left. During that time, a large group of kids with bikes had to load their bikes into the baggage car of the train and we needed to get an engine attached to our train.
Finally, we got moving around 7:45 and then made a few stops along the way, read some, and ate a bit of meat and crackers. Around 9:00, we stopped for about 30 minutes randomly. I figured they were pulling a Via and had to wait for a train to pass. Sure enough 2 trains passed, but we weren't given the green light to go for another 10 minutes after the 2nd one went by. About 10 minutes later, we stopped again at a town called Hermanicky. And we waited. After about 30 minutes, I was getting nervous, and then people started to get off the train. Not everyone, only a few. The kids with the bikes got off and rode away. Then I asked a girl if she spoke English in my very limited Czech: "Mluvite Anglisky?" She said yes and then told me that we were waiting, but a bus was taking some people to the next stop so they could get there, but for Prague, we had to wait on the train.
About 11:00, Gord went searching to try and figure out what was happeneing. He found a few Canadians and some girls from Austria who spoke English, so we moved up a car or two to spend time with them instead. The conductors put across the impression that there could potentially be a tree on the track. When asked how long we were going to be, they only shrugged.
Around 12:30, we lay down to spend the night, figuring it would probably take that long before we started moving again. Then at 1:15, a conductor popped in to say there was a bus for Prague here and we could go get on it. But it was full by the time Gord and I got there. So when it left at 1:30, we were left and the Austrians and Canadians were gone.
Finally, around 2:30 a second bus came and we got on, expecting to take it all the way to Prague. It was looking up, but then about 45 minutes into the ride, it stopped at Benesov u Prahy and we were told to get off to get on another train. So we did. But there was no train waiting for us. We just sat on the platform for about 45 minutes waiting for this supposed train to show up. It never came.
It was during this time we met the American and the 2 koreans and all of us were confused together. Some people told us there was a normal bus separate from the rail lines coming at 5, others were just standing around wondering what the heck was happening. The staff at the train station didn't seem to be very helpful.
Then at 4:00, a bus came and we got on it. It was the same driver as took the first group from the original train station, so we were hopeful that we would get to Prague on the bus. So we settled in hoping to get some sleep, but we stopped about 10 minutes later and were told to get off. So we did, and then walked through a train station and got onto a train waiting there at 4:15. This train didn't leave til 5:00ish, but it took us directly to Prague, arriving at 6:00 AM, just a few hours later than the 9:30 PM expected arrival time from the schedule.
The train station was full of people sleeping, like their trains were delayed.
At this point, Gord and I went to get some money and figure out the metro system and then we and the American guy parted ways with a handshake and a thanks, and we were off to our respective accommodations. We finally got to our hotel at 6:45 and then went to a well-deserved sleep.
Turns out there was a huge windstorm the night before with power outages and trees blown down all over the place. They knew there were trees on the tracks, but they didn't know where, so we had to stop in case the train hit them. One person was telling me there was a train from Croatia that was delayed 20 hours, so our 8.5 hours seems like nothing in comparison.
Here's a news story from a Prague Newspaper
Prague, June 25 (CTK) - Thunderstorms, torrential rains and a strong wind complicate people's life mainly in the western, central and eastern parts of Bohemia this evening, but no fatalities and injuries have been reported as yet.
The elements left over fallen trees, cut electricity supply and flooded out houses, garages and other buildings.
Some flights at Prague's Ruzyne airport were delayed about half an hour.
Czech Rail (CD) had to completely stop or partially suspend operation along many lines.
Material damage inflicted has not yet been evaluated.
It was an experience, and we made it ok in the long run. But it's not one I'd like to repeat any time soon. Without the Austrians or the American, it could have been much worse, as we would have been stuck without anyone who spoke English to talk to. That was a comforting factor in the night.
28.6.08
prozim, dejte mi paragon
I'm home. Mind you, I'm exhausted because I've been up for nearly 24 hours and travelled approx. 7000 km today through three countries. You know, it's all in a days work.
I was up at 2:45, although I don't remember the alarm going off. All I remember is Gord yelling at me saying "are you up yet?" and me somewhat sitting on my bed in a daze.
After I was ready to go, I hopped in a taxi and took a 715 KC cab ride to the airport. I got there about 3:45ish. Stood in line til 4:30 when I dropped off my bag not to see it again until getting to Toronto this afternoon and then went through security and got on the plane at 6:00 for my flight to Frankfurt. The front door of the plane was broken, so we needed to go down some stairs to the tarmac and then around the wing and up some stairs at the rear of the plane. It was a short flight, about 45 minutes in length - pretty much up and down. I was sitting beside some people that would be on my next flight to with their final destination being Halifax. The guy was a Canadian who taught English in the Czech Republic and the girl was a Czech national who worked for the news.
Frankfurt is another story. We arrived around 7:15 and parked in the infield of the airport, went down the stairs to a bus and then took the bus to the terminal. Upon arrival at the terminal, we go up some stairs to the transfers area, but when I looked at the transfers board, our flight wasn't on there yet, and by the looks of things wouldn't be for another hour. So after walking around a bit, I came back and found out that our plane would be departing from Terminal B. Which wasn't very helpful seeing as Terminal B was huge. The people from the first plane and I stuck together for a bit, went through passport control (the person at the desk was confused as to why I didn't get it stamped coming into Paris, and I don't really know the reason why, but in the end, I didn't get a stamp in Germany either.) We then continued to find some food and talk for a while when our gate number came up around 1.5 hours before we were scheduled to depart.
The thing about Frankfurt airport that makes it stupid is that, despite it being one of the busiest airports in the world, the passenger concourse is horrendous. Seeing as there are no set gates until the plane arrives, you wait in the very limited waiting areas until you see your gate come up on the screen. Then you go to your gate, show your boarding pass to the staff at the gate, and then go into a waiting area, which is far too small for the amount of people that are waiting in it for their flight and also laid out in a completely ridiculous fashion. Modern art or not, it was bad.
Second flight left on a HUGE airplane (777 a REALLY BIG metal tube with wings), and we had individually controlled televisions on the back of every seat. So, in flight I watched The Bank Job, Charlie Bartlett, and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, alongside of an episode of the Simpsons and part of an episode of the Long Way Down. Most of the ride was cloudy, so we couldn't see much ocean or ground, although I saw a few HUGE iceburgs when it was clear.
Landed at 1, went through Immigration (got the slow line), waited for my bag to come out. It got almost to the main conveyer when the whole mess stopped moving, so I saw it, but could do nothing for about 5 minutes, then called my sister, and got a ride home. Long day, but fun day to end a good trip.
Pictures and more stories will come while I'm awake, which should be by next week sometime.
Ciao.
T.
I was up at 2:45, although I don't remember the alarm going off. All I remember is Gord yelling at me saying "are you up yet?" and me somewhat sitting on my bed in a daze.
After I was ready to go, I hopped in a taxi and took a 715 KC cab ride to the airport. I got there about 3:45ish. Stood in line til 4:30 when I dropped off my bag not to see it again until getting to Toronto this afternoon and then went through security and got on the plane at 6:00 for my flight to Frankfurt. The front door of the plane was broken, so we needed to go down some stairs to the tarmac and then around the wing and up some stairs at the rear of the plane. It was a short flight, about 45 minutes in length - pretty much up and down. I was sitting beside some people that would be on my next flight to with their final destination being Halifax. The guy was a Canadian who taught English in the Czech Republic and the girl was a Czech national who worked for the news.
Frankfurt is another story. We arrived around 7:15 and parked in the infield of the airport, went down the stairs to a bus and then took the bus to the terminal. Upon arrival at the terminal, we go up some stairs to the transfers area, but when I looked at the transfers board, our flight wasn't on there yet, and by the looks of things wouldn't be for another hour. So after walking around a bit, I came back and found out that our plane would be departing from Terminal B. Which wasn't very helpful seeing as Terminal B was huge. The people from the first plane and I stuck together for a bit, went through passport control (the person at the desk was confused as to why I didn't get it stamped coming into Paris, and I don't really know the reason why, but in the end, I didn't get a stamp in Germany either.) We then continued to find some food and talk for a while when our gate number came up around 1.5 hours before we were scheduled to depart.
The thing about Frankfurt airport that makes it stupid is that, despite it being one of the busiest airports in the world, the passenger concourse is horrendous. Seeing as there are no set gates until the plane arrives, you wait in the very limited waiting areas until you see your gate come up on the screen. Then you go to your gate, show your boarding pass to the staff at the gate, and then go into a waiting area, which is far too small for the amount of people that are waiting in it for their flight and also laid out in a completely ridiculous fashion. Modern art or not, it was bad.
Second flight left on a HUGE airplane (777 a REALLY BIG metal tube with wings), and we had individually controlled televisions on the back of every seat. So, in flight I watched The Bank Job, Charlie Bartlett, and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, alongside of an episode of the Simpsons and part of an episode of the Long Way Down. Most of the ride was cloudy, so we couldn't see much ocean or ground, although I saw a few HUGE iceburgs when it was clear.
Landed at 1, went through Immigration (got the slow line), waited for my bag to come out. It got almost to the main conveyer when the whole mess stopped moving, so I saw it, but could do nothing for about 5 minutes, then called my sister, and got a ride home. Long day, but fun day to end a good trip.
Pictures and more stories will come while I'm awake, which should be by next week sometime.
Ciao.
T.
27.6.08
4 trains, 3 buses, 2 koreans, and one very confused american
We made it to Prague... only about 8.5 hours late. It got to the point where we were considering if we were ever going to make it. During that time, it went from "When we get to Prague, we'll do this..." to "If we get to Prague...".
The whole story will come out next week when I'm home, but I can tell you that the title for this post is just the beginning.
I know about 7 words in Czech. They're coming in handy... sort of. Tonight I sleep and then tomorrow I'm up at around 3 am CET (9 pm Eastern) to get to the airport for my 6:15 flight to Frankfurt, and then my 10:45 flight to Toronto.
Wee!
The whole story will come out next week when I'm home, but I can tell you that the title for this post is just the beginning.
I know about 7 words in Czech. They're coming in handy... sort of. Tonight I sleep and then tomorrow I'm up at around 3 am CET (9 pm Eastern) to get to the airport for my 6:15 flight to Frankfurt, and then my 10:45 flight to Toronto.
Wee!
24.6.08
the hills are alive... i think
We're in Salzburg, Austria (for those who can't place a city in the correct country). We got in early yesterday morning thanks to some quick train figuring skills (actually, we got to the train station about an hour before we planned on getting there and lo and behold there was a train leaving in 10 minutes to Salzburg.) So that's how we ended up here. We're at a youth hostel about 5 minutes walking from the train station.
Salzburg is beautiful. Lots of hills around (no mountains in close proximity, despite what the postcards want you to believe), fountains, gardens, castles, churches, and so on, and so forth. We walked around yesterday, going through some of those gardens (yes, the fountain from the Sound of Music is in one of them), churches, and up the funicular to the castle / fortress on top of one of said hills.
It's still very hot and humid, despite any rain we've gotten recently. Perhaps tomorrow it'll cool down, despite us being on the train for near 6 hours in the afternoon.
Today Gord and I parted ways for the afternoon as he went to the Ice Caves in Werfen and I wandered the streets, walking up two of the hills that surround the city and took a boat cruise up the river. The boat can do the Viennese Waltz. Yep.
Prague tomorrow, home on Saturday.
Ciao.
T.
Salzburg is beautiful. Lots of hills around (no mountains in close proximity, despite what the postcards want you to believe), fountains, gardens, castles, churches, and so on, and so forth. We walked around yesterday, going through some of those gardens (yes, the fountain from the Sound of Music is in one of them), churches, and up the funicular to the castle / fortress on top of one of said hills.
It's still very hot and humid, despite any rain we've gotten recently. Perhaps tomorrow it'll cool down, despite us being on the train for near 6 hours in the afternoon.
Today Gord and I parted ways for the afternoon as he went to the Ice Caves in Werfen and I wandered the streets, walking up two of the hills that surround the city and took a boat cruise up the river. The boat can do the Viennese Waltz. Yep.
Prague tomorrow, home on Saturday.
Ciao.
T.
22.6.08
bier?
A question: What do you do in Munich when you don't drink Beer? I'm not sure if some people would consider that a valid question. Here's my answer: Marienplatz with the Glockenspiel (only comes out three time daily, we didn't see it come out), Dachau with a concentration camp tour, and the English Gardens and walk along the man-made river to see the surfers and the naked men bathing themselves. There may have been naked women too, supposedly there's nude sunbathing areas, but wee didn't see either. It's been a long day, but a good one.
Off to Salzburg tomorrow. Firstly: I don't know how to solve a problem like Maria; and most importantly: No, we are not going on the Sound of Music tour.
We're there for about 48 hours before we hop the train to Prague.
Now off to bed. If I can sleep. I find I have problems sleeping in other countries when there's a window open to a fire escape where anyone can come in during the night if they were brave enough. I figure I can sleep when I'm home in 6 days.
Out.
T.
Off to Salzburg tomorrow. Firstly: I don't know how to solve a problem like Maria; and most importantly: No, we are not going on the Sound of Music tour.
We're there for about 48 hours before we hop the train to Prague.
Now off to bed. If I can sleep. I find I have problems sleeping in other countries when there's a window open to a fire escape where anyone can come in during the night if they were brave enough. I figure I can sleep when I'm home in 6 days.
Out.
T.
20.6.08
bon soir, paris
It's early morning and Turkey has just won against Corsica in football. There was a multitude of cheers and honking in the streets.
Today's Highlights: Vimy, Eiffel Tower Not much, but it was a full day (out approx 14 hours)
Tomorrow off to experience trains. All day. Woo!
Out.
T.
Today's Highlights: Vimy, Eiffel Tower Not much, but it was a full day (out approx 14 hours)
Tomorrow off to experience trains. All day. Woo!
Out.
T.
19.6.08
king of the train
I'm in Paris, France. Go figure. It's treating us much better this time than it did the last time. More stories will come when I'm home and on a keyboard that's not the size of one a mouse would use.
Quick story: Today we're at Gare Du Nord to validate our Eurail passes and try to go to Vimy. After 1.25 hours in line (Standing in line is what vacations are for), we get up there to find out (a) We're not going to be able to get there today because the train that the Internet tried to tell us existed didn't in actuality and (b) all trains from Paris to Munich are sold out on Saturday except for the hotel train at night, which we're really not in any mood to take at the moment because we have reservations at a hotel already. So, Gord just sits there pondering what I'm going to do next, and BAM! Out comes "What about Paris to Stuttgart?" And there's room on a train that goes via Mannheim. And then once we're in Germany, the ICE travels pretty much hourly between all cities. So that's how I'm the king of jury-rigging European rail schedules together.
Oh, and my French is very (completely) rusty. Although some things are coming back from Grades 3-11 French.
So, alas, that's it for now. Next update from: Somewhere between here and there.
Out.
T.
Quick story: Today we're at Gare Du Nord to validate our Eurail passes and try to go to Vimy. After 1.25 hours in line (Standing in line is what vacations are for), we get up there to find out (a) We're not going to be able to get there today because the train that the Internet tried to tell us existed didn't in actuality and (b) all trains from Paris to Munich are sold out on Saturday except for the hotel train at night, which we're really not in any mood to take at the moment because we have reservations at a hotel already. So, Gord just sits there pondering what I'm going to do next, and BAM! Out comes "What about Paris to Stuttgart?" And there's room on a train that goes via Mannheim. And then once we're in Germany, the ICE travels pretty much hourly between all cities. So that's how I'm the king of jury-rigging European rail schedules together.
Oh, and my French is very (completely) rusty. Although some things are coming back from Grades 3-11 French.
So, alas, that's it for now. Next update from: Somewhere between here and there.
Out.
T.
17.6.08
all my bags are packed...
It is 3:25 PM, our ride is coming at 4, and I am packed.
Woo!
I made the executive decision to switch from my newly acquired mini-backpack to my laptop backpack as my daypack due to size restrictions on the small one. It also looked ridiculous on me because it was small and I am not. So it'll be a bit more annoying on the days we're going between the train stations and hotels, but easier to keep track of in the long run, I think.
Woo!
Back on the 28th.
t.
Woo!
I made the executive decision to switch from my newly acquired mini-backpack to my laptop backpack as my daypack due to size restrictions on the small one. It also looked ridiculous on me because it was small and I am not. So it'll be a bit more annoying on the days we're going between the train stations and hotels, but easier to keep track of in the long run, I think.
Woo!
Back on the 28th.
t.
16.6.08
spellchek rooinned my lyfe
Another look at the long-term effects of Technology: Is Google Making us Stupid?
14.6.08
12.6.08
cruise
No, I'm not going on a cruise any time soon, but this is an interesting read.
Now onto the more pressing issue:
5 days!
June 17: Fly to Paris
June 18-21: Paris
June 21-23: Munich
June 23-25: Salzburg
June 25-28: Prague
June 28: Fly home via Frankfurt.
That's all.
Now onto the more pressing issue:
5 days!
June 17: Fly to Paris
June 18-21: Paris
June 21-23: Munich
June 23-25: Salzburg
June 25-28: Prague
June 28: Fly home via Frankfurt.
That's all.
9.6.08
tim 1; bell 0
Tonight I received a phone call. It's Bell wanting to tell me about their bundle service. I say I'm ok with just the phone and then continue to say that if they call me trying to sell me anything more, I'll switch to a competitor. They say sorry and put me on their do not call list.
Go Tim. Down with Bell.
Go Tim. Down with Bell.
6.6.08
outta here
1. I'm off for the weekend to Northern-ish Michigan for some friends' wedding. It's going to be a fun road trip for us all.
2. My exam's on Monday. Then I'm done the DE that's taken me 11 months to complete, less the 6 months where I didn't touch it in the middle.
3. My mom kissed the Blarney stone yesterday. Somewhat gross. Hopefully she'll get something out of the deal.
4. Go to Brock'sblog (linked to right) and click on the link that says "Don't Click This" (a few posts down). I've gotten as high as 347.
5. 11 days until we leave for Europe! Whee! Our reservations from Salzburg - Prague showed up Wednesday (it's the only route that has one train per day, so we pre-booked to ensure seats). And I had four currencies in my wallet the other day. I'm down to two for now, but it'll be back up to at least 3 in 11 days. Otherwise, it's just the small stuff to do. I think my brain's already on vacation though.
Out.
6.
2. My exam's on Monday. Then I'm done the DE that's taken me 11 months to complete, less the 6 months where I didn't touch it in the middle.
3. My mom kissed the Blarney stone yesterday. Somewhat gross. Hopefully she'll get something out of the deal.
4. Go to Brock's
5. 11 days until we leave for Europe! Whee! Our reservations from Salzburg - Prague showed up Wednesday (it's the only route that has one train per day, so we pre-booked to ensure seats). And I had four currencies in my wallet the other day. I'm down to two for now, but it'll be back up to at least 3 in 11 days. Otherwise, it's just the small stuff to do. I think my brain's already on vacation though.
Out.
6.
4.6.08
very slow
I just finished watching a documentary on Youtube called 10 MPH, which is about a group of people who travelled across the Continental US by Segway. Interesting concept. I've also watched Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman who rode around the world on their motorcycles.
Travel documentaries are fun.
Travel documentaries are fun.
31.5.08
almost there
Sent off my 4th paper for my course today. Now all that's left is one more short paper and my final exam and I'm done. June 9th is the day I have set aside to write the exam.
Woo!
That's all for now.
2.5 weeks til Europe! Whee!
Out.
Woo!
That's all for now.
2.5 weeks til Europe! Whee!
Out.
24.5.08
time wasters
Have you ever fallen into the rut where you're so bored that you visit the same websites every time you pick up the computer, which may only be like 10 minutes apart?
My salvation's not dependant on checking Facebook every 10 minutes. Or the news. Or Google Reader.
Time to go for a walk, I think.
Oh... I tried making a stir fry and rice today (first try cooking rice ever), and it was tasty. I have stuff leftover for either dinner or lunch tomorrow.
Woo!
Out.
My salvation's not dependant on checking Facebook every 10 minutes. Or the news. Or Google Reader.
Time to go for a walk, I think.
Oh... I tried making a stir fry and rice today (first try cooking rice ever), and it was tasty. I have stuff leftover for either dinner or lunch tomorrow.
Woo!
Out.
23.5.08
the winner is... / update
I'm not Phat.
Good to know.
It was actually the only question I could think of at the time, and with that, I think this ends my polling days on myblog.
A few updates from this week:
- Last night I completed watching Firefly and had so much non-time on my hands that I watched Serenity as well. Not a bad show - there's some good humour in it.
- Guitar Hero and I have parted ways for a while. When you start to see the game every time you close your eyes, there's gotta be a problem there. So I shall leave it off for some time now.
- EuroTrip Attempt II is coming up in just under 25 days. Whee! I'm fairly certain we have all our hotels booked, rail passes on hand, and plane tickets that will coincide with all the plans in the middle. My vacation time was even approved (after almost a month of waiting to see if I would be taking time off with company permission or just going and seeing what happened.) It's looking like 4 days in Paris, 2 in Munich, 2 in Salzburg, and 2/3 in Prague. Gord will take a few days to go back through Germany afterwards and then fly home about 4 days after me.
- My DE is closer to completion. I've done 55% of the course work. What's left is a 10% 3-4 page paper, 15% 5-6 page paper, and 20% final exam. Wanting to complete it for June 9th. Here's to seeing hopes come to fruition!
- I've been spending way too much time online lately and not enough time out and about. It's going to be a nice weekend, let's hope that I enjoy it proper rather than the sitting inside all day type of thing.
- I fixed an issue that's been plaguing us for almost 1.5 years at work today. Now to see if it was a good thing or not. I'm e-mailing the experts on Monday to see what they say.
- I'm getting it into my head that I need to get some more exercise and start eating a bit better. After a year of driving to work every day, I've put on a few pounds. My hope is to get rid of a few of those through a more steady stream of walking or biking at least 5 km daily (2.5 km each way to work). I sometimes wish it was an immediate thing, but I know that it'll take some time. I think I'll plan out a menu type system and buy groceries to match the system and see what comes of it. It's harder to cook for one or two people than it is for 5, I can tell you that.
- I've been reading Stewart McLean's Vinyl Cafe Diaries this week. It's a collection of stories about the four main characters in his tales (Dave, Morley, Stephanie and Sam). I've grown to like these tales over the past few months. I listen to the podcast weekly and now have a CD and a book. I've also been invited to go with some co-workers to his concert in Kitchener this Christmas. There's some good humour in these tales.
I think that's a lot of typing for tonight. I'll leave you with a scary picture that I took of myself this evening. I realized a few weeks back that I sabotage almost every picture that people try to take of me, thus leaving me with very minimal good pictures, so I'm trying to fix that... but it seems that people have turned to me to take the pictures rather than them doing the point and shoot.
Good to know.
It was actually the only question I could think of at the time, and with that, I think this ends my polling days on my
A few updates from this week:
- Last night I completed watching Firefly and had so much non-time on my hands that I watched Serenity as well. Not a bad show - there's some good humour in it.
- Guitar Hero and I have parted ways for a while. When you start to see the game every time you close your eyes, there's gotta be a problem there. So I shall leave it off for some time now.
- EuroTrip Attempt II is coming up in just under 25 days. Whee! I'm fairly certain we have all our hotels booked, rail passes on hand, and plane tickets that will coincide with all the plans in the middle. My vacation time was even approved (after almost a month of waiting to see if I would be taking time off with company permission or just going and seeing what happened.) It's looking like 4 days in Paris, 2 in Munich, 2 in Salzburg, and 2/3 in Prague. Gord will take a few days to go back through Germany afterwards and then fly home about 4 days after me.
- My DE is closer to completion. I've done 55% of the course work. What's left is a 10% 3-4 page paper, 15% 5-6 page paper, and 20% final exam. Wanting to complete it for June 9th. Here's to seeing hopes come to fruition!
- I've been spending way too much time online lately and not enough time out and about. It's going to be a nice weekend, let's hope that I enjoy it proper rather than the sitting inside all day type of thing.
- I fixed an issue that's been plaguing us for almost 1.5 years at work today. Now to see if it was a good thing or not. I'm e-mailing the experts on Monday to see what they say.
- I'm getting it into my head that I need to get some more exercise and start eating a bit better. After a year of driving to work every day, I've put on a few pounds. My hope is to get rid of a few of those through a more steady stream of walking or biking at least 5 km daily (2.5 km each way to work). I sometimes wish it was an immediate thing, but I know that it'll take some time. I think I'll plan out a menu type system and buy groceries to match the system and see what comes of it. It's harder to cook for one or two people than it is for 5, I can tell you that.
- I've been reading Stewart McLean's Vinyl Cafe Diaries this week. It's a collection of stories about the four main characters in his tales (Dave, Morley, Stephanie and Sam). I've grown to like these tales over the past few months. I listen to the podcast weekly and now have a CD and a book. I've also been invited to go with some co-workers to his concert in Kitchener this Christmas. There's some good humour in these tales.
I think that's a lot of typing for tonight. I'll leave you with a scary picture that I took of myself this evening. I realized a few weeks back that I sabotage almost every picture that people try to take of me, thus leaving me with very minimal good pictures, so I'm trying to fix that... but it seems that people have turned to me to take the pictures rather than them doing the point and shoot.
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