For vacation this year, we went to see a polar bear. That wasn't our original purpose for setting out. Why would anyone drive 800 kilometres to the north of Ontario just to see a polar bear unless they were a marine biologist or bear aficionado, which we are not. It happened to be in the town where we went to see some close friends that we haven't seen for a while.
800 kilometres. Eight Hundred. That's a lot of kilometres. That's the equivalent of walking to work two hundred times. Or four times to my parents house. It's not the furthest I've travelled in a car in one day or the furthest I've driven in one day, but it is the furthest I've gone in one day in at least four years by car. I'm not complaining. I'm hardy.
We took the scenic route to travel this distance, unlike a certain relative who enjoys driving straight with two 10 minute stops in the middle, likely for washroom and gas breaks. That's what happens when there's no rush to make it to the other end.
We stopped at Old Navy in Barrie on a quest for some clothing that's not available in the north.
We stopped in Gravenhurst to visit the Bethune House museum, where our admission got us a walk through the tiny museum dedicated to Norman Bethune and his medical services in China during the reign of Mao Tse Tsung and then a quick walkthrough of his childhood home where the tour guide just watched us, although she did answer a few questions that we had about artifacts.
We stopped in North Bay for lunch on Lake Nippising. In my adult years, I've only heard about this lake, so it was a nice spot to stop for a picnic lunch on the shores.
We stopped in New Liskeard / Timiskaming Shores (depending on who you ask) for a quick snack break and washroom break at a lookout on the highway.
But eventually, we made it to our destination, a nice bungalow on the side of the highway just outside of Cochrane, not more than a few kilometres from the aforementioned polar bear. In a place not bereft of mosquitoes and deer flies. Truly situated in the middle of the rocks and trees and water mentioned in the Arrogant Worms song, this community arose at the corner of Highway 11 where it stops travelling north and starts travelling west towards Thunder Bay.
Regardless of the distance required to travel, and the abundance of rocks, trees, water, mosquitoes, and deer flies mentioned above, our journey was well worth travelling the distance. Friends are always worth it.
15.7.15
habits
I am a creature of habit.
Some habits are good things. Remembering to brush your teeth and floss daily. Showering and putting on deodorant. Seatbelts save lives! Going for a walk every day.
Some habits are bad things: Eating the entire cheesecake in one day. Binge watching your favourite TV shows. Procrastination on pretty much everything.
Like everyone, I have some good habits and bad habits. I've been walking to work almost daily for the past 2 months. I have successfully incorporated flossing into my daily bedtime routine over the past 7 months for the first time in my life. I've stopped going to Tim Horton's while at work, which was costing me too much money, which could partially be attributed to me realizing that a donut and iced capp every day wasn't very healthy, or more importantly, that the $20/week spent on that could better be spent on a down payment for a house or the car expenses that have creeped in over the past few months after having a good 8 month streak of only requiring gas and oil changes.
But I can say that I am a person who enjoys having consistency in habit. I also enjoy having aspiration to improve my habits, which then leads to disappointment with the lack of follow-through.
I've been listening to Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of our Everyday Lives over the past week or so. Gretchen also wrote The Happiness Project, which I mentioned in a previous post and just finished the other day. Gretchen writes about habits, what they are, and why they could be good for us when used in a productive manner. She also talks about avoiding pitfalls, loopholes, and strategies to employ in order to make an aspiration of habit into a practice of habit.
This is a book that I think I would go through again, making notes [a habit I aspire to] as a means to see how I can improve in areas that I falter [eating less junk, spending less time browsing the Internet of sites that I've checked 7 times already that morning] and persist in areas that I'm already doing well at [walking 5-10km/day on average, flossing my teeth]. A strategy discussed this morning while walking through Waterloo Park was distraction, where when you catch yourself going towards a habit you don't want to uphold, tell yourself to wait 15 minutes before you can do that thing. Gretchen suggests that by distracting yourself, you'll move onto something more productive and forget about the urge to go down the bad path.
It's something to try, at least. I'm typically one to engage in repetitive behaviour that isn't necessarily good for me, but not necessarily seen as destructive either. I don't drink or smoke, but I do have a consistent desire for Oreos and tend to default to one of my regional transit/infrastructure [i.e. nerd] discussion forums, the local, regional, and national news sites, or social media.
I've done the strategy of abstaining from these things in the past, only to crash hard and revert worse than I was before after allowing myself to give in as a reward for doing so well. But I guess what Dan Pink in The Puzzle of Motivation [TED Talk] suggests is true; extrinsic motivations often lead to failure, whereas intrinsic motivations tend to lead to success.
Being generally healthier [ongoing] is a better goal than losing 10 pounds [has an end point]. So I guess it's time that I aim to be generally healthier. Perhaps the Oreos will be less of a distraction. I'll have to find something else to dip in my milk.
Some habits are good things. Remembering to brush your teeth and floss daily. Showering and putting on deodorant. Seatbelts save lives! Going for a walk every day.
Some habits are bad things: Eating the entire cheesecake in one day. Binge watching your favourite TV shows. Procrastination on pretty much everything.
Like everyone, I have some good habits and bad habits. I've been walking to work almost daily for the past 2 months. I have successfully incorporated flossing into my daily bedtime routine over the past 7 months for the first time in my life. I've stopped going to Tim Horton's while at work, which was costing me too much money, which could partially be attributed to me realizing that a donut and iced capp every day wasn't very healthy, or more importantly, that the $20/week spent on that could better be spent on a down payment for a house or the car expenses that have creeped in over the past few months after having a good 8 month streak of only requiring gas and oil changes.
But I can say that I am a person who enjoys having consistency in habit. I also enjoy having aspiration to improve my habits, which then leads to disappointment with the lack of follow-through.
I've been listening to Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of our Everyday Lives over the past week or so. Gretchen also wrote The Happiness Project, which I mentioned in a previous post and just finished the other day. Gretchen writes about habits, what they are, and why they could be good for us when used in a productive manner. She also talks about avoiding pitfalls, loopholes, and strategies to employ in order to make an aspiration of habit into a practice of habit.
This is a book that I think I would go through again, making notes [a habit I aspire to] as a means to see how I can improve in areas that I falter [eating less junk, spending less time browsing the Internet of sites that I've checked 7 times already that morning] and persist in areas that I'm already doing well at [walking 5-10km/day on average, flossing my teeth]. A strategy discussed this morning while walking through Waterloo Park was distraction, where when you catch yourself going towards a habit you don't want to uphold, tell yourself to wait 15 minutes before you can do that thing. Gretchen suggests that by distracting yourself, you'll move onto something more productive and forget about the urge to go down the bad path.
It's something to try, at least. I'm typically one to engage in repetitive behaviour that isn't necessarily good for me, but not necessarily seen as destructive either. I don't drink or smoke, but I do have a consistent desire for Oreos and tend to default to one of my regional transit/infrastructure [i.e. nerd] discussion forums, the local, regional, and national news sites, or social media.
I've done the strategy of abstaining from these things in the past, only to crash hard and revert worse than I was before after allowing myself to give in as a reward for doing so well. But I guess what Dan Pink in The Puzzle of Motivation [TED Talk] suggests is true; extrinsic motivations often lead to failure, whereas intrinsic motivations tend to lead to success.
Being generally healthier [ongoing] is a better goal than losing 10 pounds [has an end point]. So I guess it's time that I aim to be generally healthier. Perhaps the Oreos will be less of a distraction. I'll have to find something else to dip in my milk.
11.7.15
renovations
R and I have been watching a show on Netflix recently entitled Property Brothers. The concept is this set of twins, one a Real Estate Agent and the other a General Contractor, take a couple who is searching for a home out to look at a property. They first get all the "wants" from the couple for their new home and then find the perfect home. After showing the couple the home, the Real Estate Agent says "You can't afford this. This is multiple hundreds of thousands over your budget for a home", usually at least 50-75% more than they were willing to spend, just to find a home that is "move-in ready." The General Contractor brother then pipes up saying, "perhaps if we looked at something that needs some TLC, we can get all your wants in and make it your dream home for within the amount of money you're willing to spend." They then look at pig sties or houses right out of the 60's, then decide on one and after weeks of demolition, or 15 minutes on TV, the couple is brought through the newly renovated home and voila - it's their dream home and everyone was happy.
The problem with this type of show is that it simplifies the renovation process and makes every remodel seem accessible to the average homeowner. I've found myself thinking about ways to make our house more usable in certain ways by taking out a wall here, expanding the kitchen here, closing off a doorway here and generally doing things that I have no clue how to do and have a distinct lack of financial resources to make it happen.
A guy can dream, can't he?
But, there are small things we can do, as noted previously. Some paint here, a new light fixture there, and voila - the house looks different, but it's something that we did ourselves and can take pride in.
So don't expect any pictures or tales of elaborate renovations come our early September closing date, but I do have some ideas. Stay tuned.
The problem with this type of show is that it simplifies the renovation process and makes every remodel seem accessible to the average homeowner. I've found myself thinking about ways to make our house more usable in certain ways by taking out a wall here, expanding the kitchen here, closing off a doorway here and generally doing things that I have no clue how to do and have a distinct lack of financial resources to make it happen.
A guy can dream, can't he?
But, there are small things we can do, as noted previously. Some paint here, a new light fixture there, and voila - the house looks different, but it's something that we did ourselves and can take pride in.
So don't expect any pictures or tales of elaborate renovations come our early September closing date, but I do have some ideas. Stay tuned.
conflicting interests
I am a turtle.
No, I'm not green. I don't have a hard shell. I do like swimming, but I don't live in the water. And people don't keep me as a pet.
But in some ways I am a turtle. Well, not actually a turtle, but share some characteristics of the turtle. Specifically, when it comes to conflict. When I encounter someone in a conflict situation, I tend to retreat into my shell and hope it goes away. Sure, there are some times where a simple "Whatever" is all that's needed and the conflict dies out on it's own, but there are many times where my tendency to ride out the storm rolled up in a little ball don't work for me.
I'm OK with being passive much of the time. I don't like war. I don't like guns. I don't like fighting. I think many things can be resolved through conversation or by sharing in a cup of lemonade. But talking and drinking only work when you have two parties willing to try and resolve in a civil manner.
What if one party refuses to calm down and attempts to power their way through the situation to come out on top? I've recently had a fear involving pushy utility sales people after we get our house. I know that the reputable companies will never go door to door and it's well within my right to ask those who do to walk away and not come back, but how do you do it in a way that's not just outright rude? Also, as an underling in the employment realm, there are many times where people try to subvert the system by coming directly to me with their beefs and I'm at a loss to assist because of lack of access to various systems and processes. Usually I'm left speechless feeling like I didn't deal with the situation properly despite my lack of abilities to. Perhaps it's a lack of confidence or assertiveness. Regardless, it's something that I would like to change.
One person I know was having to deal with a tough situation at work, so she utilized the services of a conflict coach - someone to help her strategize on the best way to deal with tough situations. I've considered looking into this as an option as usually the best person to objectively look at how you process situations is someone outside of them.
But I'm realizing that I tend to be terrible at dealing with conflict when it arrives on my doorstep. I just want it to go away and want the relationship to be the same as it was before whatever appeared in life that acted as a catalyst.
Perhaps that might be asking too much.
No, I'm not green. I don't have a hard shell. I do like swimming, but I don't live in the water. And people don't keep me as a pet.
But in some ways I am a turtle. Well, not actually a turtle, but share some characteristics of the turtle. Specifically, when it comes to conflict. When I encounter someone in a conflict situation, I tend to retreat into my shell and hope it goes away. Sure, there are some times where a simple "Whatever" is all that's needed and the conflict dies out on it's own, but there are many times where my tendency to ride out the storm rolled up in a little ball don't work for me.
I'm OK with being passive much of the time. I don't like war. I don't like guns. I don't like fighting. I think many things can be resolved through conversation or by sharing in a cup of lemonade. But talking and drinking only work when you have two parties willing to try and resolve in a civil manner.
What if one party refuses to calm down and attempts to power their way through the situation to come out on top? I've recently had a fear involving pushy utility sales people after we get our house. I know that the reputable companies will never go door to door and it's well within my right to ask those who do to walk away and not come back, but how do you do it in a way that's not just outright rude? Also, as an underling in the employment realm, there are many times where people try to subvert the system by coming directly to me with their beefs and I'm at a loss to assist because of lack of access to various systems and processes. Usually I'm left speechless feeling like I didn't deal with the situation properly despite my lack of abilities to. Perhaps it's a lack of confidence or assertiveness. Regardless, it's something that I would like to change.
One person I know was having to deal with a tough situation at work, so she utilized the services of a conflict coach - someone to help her strategize on the best way to deal with tough situations. I've considered looking into this as an option as usually the best person to objectively look at how you process situations is someone outside of them.
But I'm realizing that I tend to be terrible at dealing with conflict when it arrives on my doorstep. I just want it to go away and want the relationship to be the same as it was before whatever appeared in life that acted as a catalyst.
Perhaps that might be asking too much.
8.7.15
happ-i-ness
I'm currently reading the book "The Happiness Project" where the author explores some of the ideas that are supposed to lead to happiness. These include singing in the morning, de-cluttering the home, acting the way you want to feel, and more. But one of the concepts that struck me last night was the idea that perhaps we should allot more time to play.
One of the characteristics of adulthood is that we think we have to play less and work more. Responsibilities take hold, including bill payments, cleaning the house, repairing the car, feeding the children, and ensuring your status as a good human being doesn't get revoked for any reason. Through all this we tend to forget about the idea of doing what we enjoy doing. Maybe this is where my idea of searching for a hobby comes from. I've realized that I don't really remember what I enjoy doing anymore.
The author, Gretchen Rubin, talks about the concept of the happiness fog, the state where you can't say for sure what made you happy about a specific time or event, but you know that while doing it, you were enjoying yourself. Some examples include hosting a dinner, having a day away, your wedding day. Times where you can't see the forest for the trees, though when it's complete, you tend to look back on the occasion with a fondness of sorts.
Right now, I feel as though I'm stuck in the fog when it comes to extracurriculars. I can't remember specifically what I enjoy doing on my own, but I do know there has to be something.
Before you ask or wonder, I'm not feeling depressed or down. I picked up the book because it tends to be on the list of books that other people think are worth a read. Other books I've read in recently that are on this list include:
Each of these have been interesting and have left me with things to think about. Perhaps they may make it onto our bookshelf in the future when our spending money isn't wrapped up in saving for a down payment. But I enjoyed them when the library let me borrow them for up to 3 weeks. I highly recommend each of them.
Side note: It tends to be the case that when I have books on hold at the library, I'm about 150th in line for all of them, and then after waiting for what seems like months for the books to arrive, they all come in at the same time. Without fail usually.
Back from tangent land, I tend to have this opinion that once I have space to do things, I may be able to explore more of my interests. An area I've considered as been woodworking, although I'm petrified I may lose a limb trying. But I guess the only way to find out if I'm good at something or not is by trying.
I think I'll ensure safety while trying, just in case.
One of the characteristics of adulthood is that we think we have to play less and work more. Responsibilities take hold, including bill payments, cleaning the house, repairing the car, feeding the children, and ensuring your status as a good human being doesn't get revoked for any reason. Through all this we tend to forget about the idea of doing what we enjoy doing. Maybe this is where my idea of searching for a hobby comes from. I've realized that I don't really remember what I enjoy doing anymore.
The author, Gretchen Rubin, talks about the concept of the happiness fog, the state where you can't say for sure what made you happy about a specific time or event, but you know that while doing it, you were enjoying yourself. Some examples include hosting a dinner, having a day away, your wedding day. Times where you can't see the forest for the trees, though when it's complete, you tend to look back on the occasion with a fondness of sorts.
Right now, I feel as though I'm stuck in the fog when it comes to extracurriculars. I can't remember specifically what I enjoy doing on my own, but I do know there has to be something.
Before you ask or wonder, I'm not feeling depressed or down. I picked up the book because it tends to be on the list of books that other people think are worth a read. Other books I've read in recently that are on this list include:
- A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
- Scary Close by Donald Miller
- Do Over by Jon Acuff
- Evolving in Monkey Town (Re-released under the title Faith Unravelled) by Rachel Held Evans
Each of these have been interesting and have left me with things to think about. Perhaps they may make it onto our bookshelf in the future when our spending money isn't wrapped up in saving for a down payment. But I enjoyed them when the library let me borrow them for up to 3 weeks. I highly recommend each of them.
Side note: It tends to be the case that when I have books on hold at the library, I'm about 150th in line for all of them, and then after waiting for what seems like months for the books to arrive, they all come in at the same time. Without fail usually.
Back from tangent land, I tend to have this opinion that once I have space to do things, I may be able to explore more of my interests. An area I've considered as been woodworking, although I'm petrified I may lose a limb trying. But I guess the only way to find out if I'm good at something or not is by trying.
I think I'll ensure safety while trying, just in case.
7.7.15
hop on board the friend ship
One of the things I've most noticed since getting married, and even to a certain extent in the months leading up to the wedding, is that my quality time with certain friends has decreased. I don't have a spousal edict to stop being friends with anyone. I don't have any less ambition to go see said friends. I have any reason to stop being friends with people, but time can create distance.
I don't think it's been very helpful that we dropped down to one car in this regard. If one person is going somewhere, they need to be within calling distance should the other need a ride home from work or to go to an appointment. And I don't think it's very helpful that R works a variety of shifts, including evenings and weekends, meaning that scheduling is a bit more complex than just saying "See you tomorrow night!" and making it so. But when you get married, two become one and you have to consider the other person in your planning. It's not that it's a chore, it's that it become one of your chief desires - to build the relationship with the one you're married to.
So taking this into account, it's always nice when you get a chance for the both of you, together, to go see friends that you haven't seen in a while.
An opportunity like this is coming up for us where we get to go to the very far north and then across to Ottawa and home via Kingston in hopes to see quite a few friends we don't get to see often enough, due to the large amount of distance between us.
I keep hoping that we'll soon be able to see those who we haven't been able to spend time with in a while in the near future, and there is hope that an opportunity will present itself soon, but until that point, know that I no less value your friendship, and know that we will see each other again.
As they said at the end of Polkadot Door: "A bientot! See you soon!"
I don't think it's been very helpful that we dropped down to one car in this regard. If one person is going somewhere, they need to be within calling distance should the other need a ride home from work or to go to an appointment. And I don't think it's very helpful that R works a variety of shifts, including evenings and weekends, meaning that scheduling is a bit more complex than just saying "See you tomorrow night!" and making it so. But when you get married, two become one and you have to consider the other person in your planning. It's not that it's a chore, it's that it become one of your chief desires - to build the relationship with the one you're married to.
So taking this into account, it's always nice when you get a chance for the both of you, together, to go see friends that you haven't seen in a while.
An opportunity like this is coming up for us where we get to go to the very far north and then across to Ottawa and home via Kingston in hopes to see quite a few friends we don't get to see often enough, due to the large amount of distance between us.
I keep hoping that we'll soon be able to see those who we haven't been able to spend time with in a while in the near future, and there is hope that an opportunity will present itself soon, but until that point, know that I no less value your friendship, and know that we will see each other again.
As they said at the end of Polkadot Door: "A bientot! See you soon!"
5.7.15
ambition
So four weeks ago I proudly stated that I was going to write 15 minutes every day for 100 days. That seems to have taken a break in the past week. I'm not sure if it's motivation, inspiration, or forgetfulness that's taken it's toll, but I seem to have fallen off the bandwagon as they say.
Blogging used to be about a way of processing my days, but now that the Twitter and the Facebook have appeared, it's not as much in use anymore. Who wants to read 15 minutes of somewhat thought about writing when they can read 140 character stream-of-thought messages or messages meant to get a like.
But I am committed, so I will continue to write.
I have some catch up to do. Inspiration, don't fail me now.
Blogging used to be about a way of processing my days, but now that the Twitter and the Facebook have appeared, it's not as much in use anymore. Who wants to read 15 minutes of somewhat thought about writing when they can read 140 character stream-of-thought messages or messages meant to get a like.
But I am committed, so I will continue to write.
I have some catch up to do. Inspiration, don't fail me now.
2.7.15
improvisation
If there's one thing I'm realizing as we go through the process of buying a house, it's that despite how much I thought I once knew, I actually know nothing. Every idea I have, every question I need answered, every fear I have for the future, it's all going to require me to do some level of improvisation. There's not one conclusive book to read that would prepare me for what's ahead. Which leads me to fear that someone's going to call me out one day and realize that I'm a fraud when it comes to much of the stuff I'm saying or doing. It's called Imposter Syndrome, where you think that you aren't competent enough to do what you're doing and believe that one day someone is going to notice and take you down.
I was just having a conversation about this with a co-worker and they told me about this Calvin and Hobbes strip after the family came home from a wedding to find their house had been robbed. After getting Calvin to sleep, the mother and father are laying awake in bed rehashing their experience.
Makes me think back to how much anyone really knows. But there's one thing I'd like to say - Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, you did a great job ad-libbing. I hope I can do it as well as you.
I was just having a conversation about this with a co-worker and they told me about this Calvin and Hobbes strip after the family came home from a wedding to find their house had been robbed. After getting Calvin to sleep, the mother and father are laying awake in bed rehashing their experience.
Makes me think back to how much anyone really knows. But there's one thing I'd like to say - Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, you did a great job ad-libbing. I hope I can do it as well as you.
28.6.15
line up for inspection
So we had the house pending financing and inspection. We knew that the financing would be no problem because we had previously gone to see a mortgage broker to ensure our application was ready to go when we found a house, so I just had to get the inspection lined up. I contacted the inspector recommended by our agent and we got an appointment for a few days later.
On the morning of the inspection, we arrived at the house knowing that the roof was getting old as was the furnace. We didn't have enough time during our viewing 1.5 weeks earlier to spot any other potential deficiencies, so this was the time where anything else would come up.
The inspector arrived and immediately went up on the roof. Within minutes, he came down and told us that he fully expected to find a leak on the inside of the attic. That came heavy on nerves as the inspection continued. He then walked around the house pointing out things of note that may need work over the coming years and what type of work would be required and how much it would cost. After spending some time outside, we went into the house. He started in the attic and let us take a peek up there too. Sure enough, in the back of the house, there were signs of a leak and he even pulled out some wet insulation to show us. The infrared camera showed signs of moisture in that area as well.
We continued through the house from top to bottom looking at all the fixtures and doors and he pointed out things that would need work eventually and those that would need to be fixed immediately upon possession. I learned a lot in the short 2 hour inspection of this home and felt fairly well-prepared to take care of the property once the keys are handed over to us.
I also got to see a sump pump in action for the first time in my life. We didn't have one growing up, although that my be part of the reason why our basement flooded a number of times. Hmm. Something to consider.
After the inspection, we went back to the buyers and got the price knocked down a bit more and negotiated the ability to get a roofer to patch the roof until we take possession and can have the entire roof redone. So now I'm at the place where I'm coordinating with roofers and our agent to set up a time to get quotes on the roof. I've also been crying a bit over the weekend with all the rain that has fallen and hoping that nothing falls apart before September.
Once the patch or tarp is on, we can rest easy until the closing date comes near. Then I hear it's an exciting and nerve-wracking time of getting everything in order to finalize the sale.
Maybe it'll be easy.
If not, perhaps I can live in dreamland for a few more weeks.
On the morning of the inspection, we arrived at the house knowing that the roof was getting old as was the furnace. We didn't have enough time during our viewing 1.5 weeks earlier to spot any other potential deficiencies, so this was the time where anything else would come up.
The inspector arrived and immediately went up on the roof. Within minutes, he came down and told us that he fully expected to find a leak on the inside of the attic. That came heavy on nerves as the inspection continued. He then walked around the house pointing out things of note that may need work over the coming years and what type of work would be required and how much it would cost. After spending some time outside, we went into the house. He started in the attic and let us take a peek up there too. Sure enough, in the back of the house, there were signs of a leak and he even pulled out some wet insulation to show us. The infrared camera showed signs of moisture in that area as well.
We continued through the house from top to bottom looking at all the fixtures and doors and he pointed out things that would need work eventually and those that would need to be fixed immediately upon possession. I learned a lot in the short 2 hour inspection of this home and felt fairly well-prepared to take care of the property once the keys are handed over to us.
I also got to see a sump pump in action for the first time in my life. We didn't have one growing up, although that my be part of the reason why our basement flooded a number of times. Hmm. Something to consider.
After the inspection, we went back to the buyers and got the price knocked down a bit more and negotiated the ability to get a roofer to patch the roof until we take possession and can have the entire roof redone. So now I'm at the place where I'm coordinating with roofers and our agent to set up a time to get quotes on the roof. I've also been crying a bit over the weekend with all the rain that has fallen and hoping that nothing falls apart before September.
Once the patch or tarp is on, we can rest easy until the closing date comes near. Then I hear it's an exciting and nerve-wracking time of getting everything in order to finalize the sale.
Maybe it'll be easy.
If not, perhaps I can live in dreamland for a few more weeks.
26.6.15
side note: skills
About a decade or so ago, the movie Napoleon Dynamite came out. Aside from being an instant fan favourite movie, it had a lot of useful ideas and quotable one-liners. One of which was "I don't have any good skills... you know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."
I'm glad I have the computer hacking skills, or as my in-laws put it "'puting skills", otherwise I'm certain I'd be alone and sad because R wouldn't have fallen in love with me. See mom, all those hours on the Commodore 64 while growing up really paid off for me...
Anyway, through the home-buying process, I realize that I need to become proficient in a large number of skills to the point of being able to safely do things as a means of saving money in the long run. These skills include things like:
Until September, my Google search history will likely fill up with many searches that begin with "How to..." If I think I can do it myself, I'll give it a try, but I know my limitations and can ask for help when needed. It's going to be a fun time.
I'm glad I have the computer hacking skills, or as my in-laws put it "'puting skills", otherwise I'm certain I'd be alone and sad because R wouldn't have fallen in love with me. See mom, all those hours on the Commodore 64 while growing up really paid off for me...
Anyway, through the home-buying process, I realize that I need to become proficient in a large number of skills to the point of being able to safely do things as a means of saving money in the long run. These skills include things like:
- Electrical. I'm scared that I'll either shock myself to death or set the house on fire, but I know that with some helpful guidance, I can pick up the basics of re-wiring lights and outlets. Anything more than that, I think I'd call in the expert. What I need to do: There are three outlets that need to be changed to GFI and one light fixture that needs the wiring moved inside a junction box.
- Plumbing: This could involve a blowtorch and flux, or just basic tightening of joints to ensure a watertight fit. I've done basic plumbing before [read: changing the shower head to one that would be tall enough for me], but nothing overly intense. My fear is flooding the house due to any oversights that may occur. What I need to do: Change out two faucets in the kitchen and replace the basement shower drain.
- Insulation: This one doesn't scare me as much as the others, except for when it's behind walls. What I need to do: Add insulation to one part of the attic where it's a bit thin. Needs to be blown-in insulation, which could require renting equipment to make it work functionally. Youtube suggests it's not too hard, but the fear is falling through the ceiling due to my ineptitude. Perhaps this would be a good place to call in the experts.
- Landscaping: I haven't lived at a place where I've been at least partially responsible for the care of the outside of the residence for a long time. I helped shovel the driveway at my last place in KW, but there was no real consistent outdoor work for me. It's not that I can't handle a lawnmower, rake, shovel, etc, it's just that when it comes to caring for the larger things, I may be at a loss (ie. trees, drainage, etc.) What I need to do: replace downspouts, trim the trees, and ensure there is a means for drainage away from the house where the backyard tends to slope towards it.
- Painting: I've never really been good at painting. I don't have a steady hand nor do I have the patience to do the edges neatly. There's some lovely splotches of green paint on the ceiling at my parents house in the bedroom I grew up in to attest to this fact. But it will need to be done over time at our new house. What needs to be done: Wallpaper removal and painting in the front hallway, painting of the bedrooms, painting of the kitchen (long-term).
Until September, my Google search history will likely fill up with many searches that begin with "How to..." If I think I can do it myself, I'll give it a try, but I know my limitations and can ask for help when needed. It's going to be a fun time.
25.6.15
the negotiation teeter-totter
The fine art of negotiation is learned at an early age. If you do this, I'll do that gets engrained into our way of life from the time we can understand speech. Some people could say that negotiation is started when classical conditioning begins shortly after birth with the rooting reflex, but that's not necessary a conscious decision by the baby. It's not like the mother will walk away if the baby doesn't latch on... in a perfect world at least. But the conscious act of each party giving and taking begins a bit later.
And so we begin the negotiation stage of our house purchase. Being the very experienced home buyers that we are, we knew exactly what to expect going into the process. By that I mean that we only knew what we saw on House Hunters where the people decide on a home and the camera cuts to 3 months later where they've moved in, done any renovations that were needed, and had made it their home. So pretty much we knew nothing.
The basic premise behind real estate transactions is that a buyer will make an offer to a seller based on what they feel to be an appropriate value for the property and any conditions that would make the property more acceptable to them. The seller will then look over the offer and then either accept, or counter with what they feel to be reasonable to them. This goes back and forth until either (a) the Buyer and the Seller agree on the terms of the offer or response or (b)the time runs out on the offer and the buyer and/or seller walk away. We had the opportunity of experiencing both through our purchase.
Our first offer was at a number we felt appropriate, if not slightly below considering what our assessment of the house was. The sellers took a look over and then responded with a price that was much too high. We slept on it and then decided to walk away, knowing full well there was an open house the next day and they would likely find another buyer. Two days later we received information from our agent saying that the sellers didn't get any offers from the open house and were open to having us try again. So we did, slightly above our first offer.
The sellers then responded with an agreeable price and we all signed the agreement, pending inspection and financing. We were then well on our way to buying a house.
Next up: Line up for inspection.
And so we begin the negotiation stage of our house purchase. Being the very experienced home buyers that we are, we knew exactly what to expect going into the process. By that I mean that we only knew what we saw on House Hunters where the people decide on a home and the camera cuts to 3 months later where they've moved in, done any renovations that were needed, and had made it their home. So pretty much we knew nothing.
The basic premise behind real estate transactions is that a buyer will make an offer to a seller based on what they feel to be an appropriate value for the property and any conditions that would make the property more acceptable to them. The seller will then look over the offer and then either accept, or counter with what they feel to be reasonable to them. This goes back and forth until either (a) the Buyer and the Seller agree on the terms of the offer or response or (b)the time runs out on the offer and the buyer and/or seller walk away. We had the opportunity of experiencing both through our purchase.
Our first offer was at a number we felt appropriate, if not slightly below considering what our assessment of the house was. The sellers took a look over and then responded with a price that was much too high. We slept on it and then decided to walk away, knowing full well there was an open house the next day and they would likely find another buyer. Two days later we received information from our agent saying that the sellers didn't get any offers from the open house and were open to having us try again. So we did, slightly above our first offer.
The sellers then responded with an agreeable price and we all signed the agreement, pending inspection and financing. We were then well on our way to buying a house.
Next up: Line up for inspection.
24.6.15
adulthood is imminent
A few years ago, a fellow blogger announced to the world that he had bought a house. Then about a week later, he came back with his tail between his legs and said that he had unbought a house based on the inspection.
I was fearful that the same thing might happen to me, so I kept quiet throughout the past two weeks as R and I went through the process of putting an offer in on a house and the subsequent negotiations. But here we are. 13 days after first seeing the house, we are the official future owners of a house. Here is our story.
On June 11, I picked R up from work after my dentist appointment and we drove to a house to get a tour of it. The pictures online weren't really that great. They made the house look all dark and foreboding, but, not one to judge a house by its pictures (that statement may not be completely true), we decided to go see it. We liked it, despite some obvious downfalls [read: forced money-spending opportunities], the layout worked for us, the size was great for the two of us and any future increase in family size, the location isn't terrible, the neighbourhood seems not sketchy, and it seemed like the place we could call home.
A few years ago I went to a student life conference in Ancaster and attended a session on mission-based event planning, where you use the criteria of adhering to the mission and purpose of your event when deciding what to do. Out of this, I gleaned a little tool to help turn qualitative aspects of things into a quantitative measurement to assist in decision making. To do this, you come up with a list of x# of goals for your event, rank them with the highest being the most important and 1 the least important, and then multiply the ranking by a number between -3 and +3 (-3 meaning it absolutely does not have this and you hold it against the overall goal; +3 meaning yes, yes, a thousand times yes! and 0 being doesn't add to or subtract from the ultimate goal) and then you add them all up to see what you get.
An example:
Event: Wedding at the dump
And you could do this for any number of different scenarios and then you will realize which one achieves the mission the best.
I used this tool a few years back when deciding where R and I were going to live after getting married. In comparing KW, Cambridge, Guelph, Halton Hills, and Toronto, KW got 106 and Toronto got -70. Immediately I started applying for jobs in KW and had moved back within 2 months.
Back to the story, we went out to Williams that night to have dinner and discuss, and we filled out the values assessment for the house we had just seen. Out of a possible 360 as a perfect score, we scored this house in the 230 range, which is quite high considering we could have scored it as low as -360.
So after talking it out, we decided to put in an offer. Our first steps towards becoming adults.
Tomorrow: Negotiations are a teeter-totter.
I was fearful that the same thing might happen to me, so I kept quiet throughout the past two weeks as R and I went through the process of putting an offer in on a house and the subsequent negotiations. But here we are. 13 days after first seeing the house, we are the official future owners of a house. Here is our story.
On June 11, I picked R up from work after my dentist appointment and we drove to a house to get a tour of it. The pictures online weren't really that great. They made the house look all dark and foreboding, but, not one to judge a house by its pictures (that statement may not be completely true), we decided to go see it. We liked it, despite some obvious downfalls [read: forced money-spending opportunities], the layout worked for us, the size was great for the two of us and any future increase in family size, the location isn't terrible, the neighbourhood seems not sketchy, and it seemed like the place we could call home.
A few years ago I went to a student life conference in Ancaster and attended a session on mission-based event planning, where you use the criteria of adhering to the mission and purpose of your event when deciding what to do. Out of this, I gleaned a little tool to help turn qualitative aspects of things into a quantitative measurement to assist in decision making. To do this, you come up with a list of x# of goals for your event, rank them with the highest being the most important and 1 the least important, and then multiply the ranking by a number between -3 and +3 (-3 meaning it absolutely does not have this and you hold it against the overall goal; +3 meaning yes, yes, a thousand times yes! and 0 being doesn't add to or subtract from the ultimate goal) and then you add them all up to see what you get.
An example:
Event: Wedding at the dump
| Goal | Rank | Value | Product |
| Fun for all | 3 | -2 | -6 |
| She needs to say I do | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| I don't want to vomit | 1 | -2 | -2 |
| Total: | 2 |
And you could do this for any number of different scenarios and then you will realize which one achieves the mission the best.
I used this tool a few years back when deciding where R and I were going to live after getting married. In comparing KW, Cambridge, Guelph, Halton Hills, and Toronto, KW got 106 and Toronto got -70. Immediately I started applying for jobs in KW and had moved back within 2 months.
Back to the story, we went out to Williams that night to have dinner and discuss, and we filled out the values assessment for the house we had just seen. Out of a possible 360 as a perfect score, we scored this house in the 230 range, which is quite high considering we could have scored it as low as -360.
So after talking it out, we decided to put in an offer. Our first steps towards becoming adults.
Tomorrow: Negotiations are a teeter-totter.
22.6.15
get outta here
I've been to a few places in my life. A number of countries, various states, and numerous provinces. Less countries, states, and provinces if you don't count layovers. Despite what some people say, I've been to Iceland, England and British Columbia. I stepped on either the pavement outside the airport or left the secure area in all three of those places. So regardless of where I've been, there's always new places I'd like to go, or places I'd like to return to.
New Zealand: I've heard rumours that sheep outnumber people 1000 to 1 in New Zealand. For that reason alone, not to mention the breathtaking scenery, awesome accents, and exotic animals make me want to go. I've also contemplated moving there should living in Canada get any worse. Why haven't I gone yet? It's too much money and hard to get enough time off to make it worthwhile with the 2 days of travel in each direction. Down the road, hopefully, but unfortunately not today.
Australia: I did consider briefly moving to Aussieland for a summer under a working holiday visa as a chance to experience a new culture while making some money to cover my adventures. The eastern coastline, desert, and the ability of going Waltzing Matilda are always intriguing.
Spain: I went to Spain in 2002. It was a fascinating experience. I was able to see parts of Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona, and Algeciras in the south, but there was much more I didn't see. I want to go to Seville and Grenada along with walking along the Camino. Siesta is a great concept too.
Hawaii: R an I went to Maui for our honeymoon last year. It was beautiful. We spent a week exploring much of what Maui has to offer, including volcanoes, rainforest, beach, and various other unique offerings. There's 5 other islands to go to though. Oahu has WWII history at Pearl Harbour, Kauai has stunning jungle vistas, Molokai has a former leper colony with mule rides down the cliff to get there, and Hawaii is the largest and newest of the islands with an active volcano on it. Who doesn't want to see hot magma? And don't forget the macadamia nuts. They're very tasty. We'll go back someday hopefully, but not today.
New Zealand: I've heard rumours that sheep outnumber people 1000 to 1 in New Zealand. For that reason alone, not to mention the breathtaking scenery, awesome accents, and exotic animals make me want to go. I've also contemplated moving there should living in Canada get any worse. Why haven't I gone yet? It's too much money and hard to get enough time off to make it worthwhile with the 2 days of travel in each direction. Down the road, hopefully, but unfortunately not today.
Australia: I did consider briefly moving to Aussieland for a summer under a working holiday visa as a chance to experience a new culture while making some money to cover my adventures. The eastern coastline, desert, and the ability of going Waltzing Matilda are always intriguing.
Spain: I went to Spain in 2002. It was a fascinating experience. I was able to see parts of Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona, and Algeciras in the south, but there was much more I didn't see. I want to go to Seville and Grenada along with walking along the Camino. Siesta is a great concept too.
Hawaii: R an I went to Maui for our honeymoon last year. It was beautiful. We spent a week exploring much of what Maui has to offer, including volcanoes, rainforest, beach, and various other unique offerings. There's 5 other islands to go to though. Oahu has WWII history at Pearl Harbour, Kauai has stunning jungle vistas, Molokai has a former leper colony with mule rides down the cliff to get there, and Hawaii is the largest and newest of the islands with an active volcano on it. Who doesn't want to see hot magma? And don't forget the macadamia nuts. They're very tasty. We'll go back someday hopefully, but not today.
21.6.15
rest
I took the day off writing yesterday. Mostly because I'm lazy and was tired by the time I remembered that I should do it, but let's also say that it was a chance to rest. God rested after creating the universe, so maybe it's OK if I rest after spending almost two weeks writing a blog post daily.
That might be a stretch. but the concept of rest does have it's merits. Farmers leave fields fallow every seven years to allow the nutrients to return to the soil. The work week is 5 days to allow employees to have some semblance of time with their families before having to go back the next week. Runners stop at the end of the race to regain all the energy they've spent in preparation and running the race itself.
My posts this week have been about hobbies. And sometimes rest can be a hobby as well, albeit passive. You can bask in the sun, float down a river, relax on the couch, or just nap the warm summer afternoons away.
I'm not saying I'd like to be a lazy pile for my entire life, I think I'd probably get bored. But I do enjoy the concept of Siesta. It's been over 13 years since I was in Spain, but I remember taking the afternoon off, almost every day to recover from the lack of sleep the night before, but also because may shops closed for a few hours mid-day. That could be one of the reasons why their economy tanked, but I'm not an economist.
Summer is known as the season of playful rest. Get out and do something that's different from the norm while the weather' gorgeous and work tends to be slower for many. Use it as your season of rest.
And that can be an explanation as to why I didn't write yesterday. I was resting.
That might be a stretch. but the concept of rest does have it's merits. Farmers leave fields fallow every seven years to allow the nutrients to return to the soil. The work week is 5 days to allow employees to have some semblance of time with their families before having to go back the next week. Runners stop at the end of the race to regain all the energy they've spent in preparation and running the race itself.
My posts this week have been about hobbies. And sometimes rest can be a hobby as well, albeit passive. You can bask in the sun, float down a river, relax on the couch, or just nap the warm summer afternoons away.
I'm not saying I'd like to be a lazy pile for my entire life, I think I'd probably get bored. But I do enjoy the concept of Siesta. It's been over 13 years since I was in Spain, but I remember taking the afternoon off, almost every day to recover from the lack of sleep the night before, but also because may shops closed for a few hours mid-day. That could be one of the reasons why their economy tanked, but I'm not an economist.
Summer is known as the season of playful rest. Get out and do something that's different from the norm while the weather' gorgeous and work tends to be slower for many. Use it as your season of rest.
And that can be an explanation as to why I didn't write yesterday. I was resting.
19.6.15
use your hands
Let's take a little tour. Start at the top of your head, go south, between the valley of the eyes, across the peak of the nose, hop the chasm of the mouth and keep going down until you've passed the either rugged forest or smooth desert that is your neck until you reach your collar bone. If you take a left or a right, pending on what you're felling like today, travel along the long expanse of your arms until you reach the end, and you'll be at your hands.
These two body parts at your extremities are extremely useful. That must be why some people use removal of a hand as a punishment. Jesus once said that if one hand causes you to sin, cut it off. There's also a law in Deuteronomy suggesting that it's acceptable to cut a woman's hand off should she intervene in a fight of her husbands by grabbing the other man by the genitals. Yep. There's some weird stuff in the Bible. Good stuff too, but a lot of things that would likely make some Buzzfeed list somewhere and the clickbait enthusiasts would rejoice.
But back to the hands. There's a number of hobbies that can be done with hands. You can draw or paint on a canvas or paper. R was telling me about a company that has a step-by-step painting class over dinner at various restaurants in the area. And I'm sure many of us have seen the videos of someone drawing various diagrams on a whiteboard trying to explain some complex concept to the world. In high school I remember sketching on scrap paper while waiting for the exam time to finish. Mind you, it was only of Sparky the Wonder Swan, a character I drew that I was reminded of when learning how to draw dragons. But most of the time, I'm somewhat terrible at drawing and painting. The fine motor skills are not one of my strengths.
I have knit in the past. I still know how to do the basics. Knit. Or K. K K K K K K K K K ... ad infinitum until I have a 20' long scarf ready to keep me warm in all situations.
Other options include gardening, as it is summer. The issue I run into here is I have a lack of a garden. And R takes care of the few plants we have in our window. Perhaps when we get a house there will be more space for me to take care of a small corner of the earth should it interest me. I could also take up woodworking. I do have a few ideas of things to create when I have the space, tools, and time. Our coffee table requires a new top (Something similar to this comes to mind). When a house appears in the picture, I'll have to acquire the appropriate tools to work with wood. I may even need to build a workbench too. It could be fun.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that many of my ideas for picking up a hobby using my hands require space and time. I have some time at the moment, but I don't have space. Perhaps one day soon. Alas...
These two body parts at your extremities are extremely useful. That must be why some people use removal of a hand as a punishment. Jesus once said that if one hand causes you to sin, cut it off. There's also a law in Deuteronomy suggesting that it's acceptable to cut a woman's hand off should she intervene in a fight of her husbands by grabbing the other man by the genitals. Yep. There's some weird stuff in the Bible. Good stuff too, but a lot of things that would likely make some Buzzfeed list somewhere and the clickbait enthusiasts would rejoice.
But back to the hands. There's a number of hobbies that can be done with hands. You can draw or paint on a canvas or paper. R was telling me about a company that has a step-by-step painting class over dinner at various restaurants in the area. And I'm sure many of us have seen the videos of someone drawing various diagrams on a whiteboard trying to explain some complex concept to the world. In high school I remember sketching on scrap paper while waiting for the exam time to finish. Mind you, it was only of Sparky the Wonder Swan, a character I drew that I was reminded of when learning how to draw dragons. But most of the time, I'm somewhat terrible at drawing and painting. The fine motor skills are not one of my strengths.
I have knit in the past. I still know how to do the basics. Knit. Or K. K K K K K K K K K ... ad infinitum until I have a 20' long scarf ready to keep me warm in all situations.
Other options include gardening, as it is summer. The issue I run into here is I have a lack of a garden. And R takes care of the few plants we have in our window. Perhaps when we get a house there will be more space for me to take care of a small corner of the earth should it interest me. I could also take up woodworking. I do have a few ideas of things to create when I have the space, tools, and time. Our coffee table requires a new top (Something similar to this comes to mind). When a house appears in the picture, I'll have to acquire the appropriate tools to work with wood. I may even need to build a workbench too. It could be fun.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that many of my ideas for picking up a hobby using my hands require space and time. I have some time at the moment, but I don't have space. Perhaps one day soon. Alas...
18.6.15
playing the sports
I have always never had an affinity for sports. Whether it be football or basketball, tennis or cricket. Regardless of what the sport was, there was a high chance I didn't like it. My two years in soccer ended up with me spending more time playing in the dirt than chasing after the ball. After that attempt, my parents tried me in baseball for two years where I barely hit the ball (although this was still where pitches were thrown until you either hit the ball or struck out), and was constantly scared that a ball might actually come towards me and proactively ran away from the ball whenever it came towards me. This was also accompanied by my inability to throw very far and my lack of stamina when running to equal two years of me not enjoying myself very much.
Finally my parents got the picture and team sports were not pursued in future years.
Swimming, on the other hand, was always enjoyable. I loved swimming lessons, and went all the way through to get my NLS (lifeguard qualifications) despite having some failures along the way. I think it took me five tries to pass Red. I kept up my qualifications for a few years afterwards, but then when it came time to recertfy, it happened to be on the same day as my first day of work at a summer job. Sigh, that ended that dream (you know, the one where you think it's good to be certified, but when you're actually doing the job, you're too scared of what it entails and always put yourself into the situation farthest from actually having to use your skills... yeah... I'm a pro.)
And when it comes to winter sports, I do enjoy curling. I don't go often, but when I do, it's fun.
But there's other potentials for what I could do to keep myself occupied.
Frisbee related activities: I have been known to sometimes throw around a frisbee with a friend or two. This doesn't happen often, but I can throw for a while before my arm gets tired. Some may suggest ultimate frisbee as an option, but I suggest my stamina sucks, seeing as I don't run. There are some who may suggest frisbee golf, or frolf. There's a frolf course at the Guelph Arboretum. I'm not fully sure how one plays frolf, but it could be fun to try.
Ball related activities: This is a bit of a vague category, because Sportsball is pretty much any sport with a ball. It could be croquet, soccer, basketball, or tennis, but not football or rugby, because balls need to be round. I used to play golf too, but my clubs aren't in the local vicinity due to lack of storage space.
Track and field. My lovely wife suggested I try to learn high jump, but if I remember back to my public school track meet days, that didn't go over so well, for me or the bar.
Perhaps I'm not meant to partake in sports. I like walking, so I'll just keep that going and use it as my lead-in to other activities. Like right now. I'm about to walk to bed so I can sleep. See? Coming in handy already.
G'night.
Finally my parents got the picture and team sports were not pursued in future years.
Swimming, on the other hand, was always enjoyable. I loved swimming lessons, and went all the way through to get my NLS (lifeguard qualifications) despite having some failures along the way. I think it took me five tries to pass Red. I kept up my qualifications for a few years afterwards, but then when it came time to recertfy, it happened to be on the same day as my first day of work at a summer job. Sigh, that ended that dream (you know, the one where you think it's good to be certified, but when you're actually doing the job, you're too scared of what it entails and always put yourself into the situation farthest from actually having to use your skills... yeah... I'm a pro.)
And when it comes to winter sports, I do enjoy curling. I don't go often, but when I do, it's fun.
But there's other potentials for what I could do to keep myself occupied.
Frisbee related activities: I have been known to sometimes throw around a frisbee with a friend or two. This doesn't happen often, but I can throw for a while before my arm gets tired. Some may suggest ultimate frisbee as an option, but I suggest my stamina sucks, seeing as I don't run. There are some who may suggest frisbee golf, or frolf. There's a frolf course at the Guelph Arboretum. I'm not fully sure how one plays frolf, but it could be fun to try.
Ball related activities: This is a bit of a vague category, because Sportsball is pretty much any sport with a ball. It could be croquet, soccer, basketball, or tennis, but not football or rugby, because balls need to be round. I used to play golf too, but my clubs aren't in the local vicinity due to lack of storage space.
Track and field. My lovely wife suggested I try to learn high jump, but if I remember back to my public school track meet days, that didn't go over so well, for me or the bar.
Perhaps I'm not meant to partake in sports. I like walking, so I'll just keep that going and use it as my lead-in to other activities. Like right now. I'm about to walk to bed so I can sleep. See? Coming in handy already.
G'night.
17.6.15
a puzzling experience
I sometimes think I'd like to be a detective. Not because I'm any good at solving mysteries (you should ask those who surround me about Tim-logic), but because you get to wear a funny hat and people can call you gumshoe. Maybe I was good at figuring out where in the world Carmen Sandiego was, but when it comes to more complex logic, it seems to stymie me. But then again, I do enjoy puzzles.
I enjoy crossword puzzles. I must take after my dad and grandmother. They're all into the crossword puzzles. I don't know if I can remember a time when my dad didn't have a crossword folded in his pocket ready to go should the conversation come to a lull. I've gone through fits and starts of doing the Universal Crossword and Newsday Crossword online. I'm fairly good at Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday for the Newsday Crossword, but Fridays and Saturdays tend to be too difficult for me. How can anyone know enough 15 letter words to fit the grid? It's astounding. The Universal crossword tends to be fairly easy every day and they tend to repeat many of the clues, so I avoid it much of the time.
I also sometimes enjoy logic puzzles. I picked up a book of about 500 logic puzzles from fill-ins to cryptic messages to full-on logic figure out who did what where and when based on the clues. I've only done about 3 so far, but the book still sits there, taunting me, telling me that I should try the puzzles and see how much I can do. I think I'll just leave it sitting there for a few more days before picking it up again.
But the puzzle I tend to enjoy the most is the jigsaw puzzle. It's something that allows me to drift off into mindlessness as my brain tries to put the colours and shapes into the correct space to make a pretty picture. I've spent sleepless nights working on puzzles as means to rid myself of whatever ponderances I was pondering at the time only to find myself 3/4 done the puzzle I'd just started a few hours earlier. It's a bit harder to do puzzles in our current apartment as the puzzle takes up the entirety of our eating space should I use the dining table and the card table we have takes up the useable living space. We need to get out of this apartment.
Puzzles are good rainy day activities. Puzzles are good mental activities. Puzzles can be good social activities too. I think of the family on my mom's side and the tradition of working on a puzzle at Christmas. We tended to all take a turn at whatever one was on the table trying to get a piece to fit. It was a bonding experience at a time when being near family is brought into the spotlight again. Though we all have our different lives, we had the goal of putting this puzzle together.
A piece here, a piece there. Put it in the slot and grab another.
I enjoy crossword puzzles. I must take after my dad and grandmother. They're all into the crossword puzzles. I don't know if I can remember a time when my dad didn't have a crossword folded in his pocket ready to go should the conversation come to a lull. I've gone through fits and starts of doing the Universal Crossword and Newsday Crossword online. I'm fairly good at Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday for the Newsday Crossword, but Fridays and Saturdays tend to be too difficult for me. How can anyone know enough 15 letter words to fit the grid? It's astounding. The Universal crossword tends to be fairly easy every day and they tend to repeat many of the clues, so I avoid it much of the time.
I also sometimes enjoy logic puzzles. I picked up a book of about 500 logic puzzles from fill-ins to cryptic messages to full-on logic figure out who did what where and when based on the clues. I've only done about 3 so far, but the book still sits there, taunting me, telling me that I should try the puzzles and see how much I can do. I think I'll just leave it sitting there for a few more days before picking it up again.
But the puzzle I tend to enjoy the most is the jigsaw puzzle. It's something that allows me to drift off into mindlessness as my brain tries to put the colours and shapes into the correct space to make a pretty picture. I've spent sleepless nights working on puzzles as means to rid myself of whatever ponderances I was pondering at the time only to find myself 3/4 done the puzzle I'd just started a few hours earlier. It's a bit harder to do puzzles in our current apartment as the puzzle takes up the entirety of our eating space should I use the dining table and the card table we have takes up the useable living space. We need to get out of this apartment.
Puzzles are good rainy day activities. Puzzles are good mental activities. Puzzles can be good social activities too. I think of the family on my mom's side and the tradition of working on a puzzle at Christmas. We tended to all take a turn at whatever one was on the table trying to get a piece to fit. It was a bonding experience at a time when being near family is brought into the spotlight again. Though we all have our different lives, we had the goal of putting this puzzle together.
A piece here, a piece there. Put it in the slot and grab another.
16.6.15
play a little tune
In the quest for a hobby to pick up this summer, I'm considering all options. This includes something that has been a hobby off and on for years. Music.
It all started when I was a wee lad and picked up playing piano. The first song I remember playing was Good King Wenceslas. (When my wife reads this, I'm sure she will start singing the song to me. Every. Single. Verse. Something about Vietnam-like flashbacks and home school choir.) My mom saw that I enjoyed playing and put me into piano lessons with the same lady who taught my sister a few years prior. So I took piano lessons once a week for 7 years. The one thing I remember is that I didn't practice enough. They say practice makes perfect. I went along the lines of practice is annoying, so do it so you seem to be slightly better than the previous week and hopefully your teacher won't notice.
My piano lesson days ended at the same time as my teacher's piano teaching days ended. I wasn't doing anything with the conservatory anymore, so I decided it'd be OK to move on and focus on school, or something. Through the 7 years, I successfully completed my Grade 2 and Grade 5 Conservatory piano exams as well as Preliminary and Grade 1 theory exams. No, I still don't play at that level, and no I likely don't remember much of what I learned in theory, so don't ask me to play a tune or transpose a song. Well, I could try, but it wouldn't sound very good.
In high school, I took music class because I liked music (good reason, right?), and picked up the saxophone. And after that the trumpet. Then the trombone, baritone, tuba, flute, clarinet, and various percussion instruments. I think at one time, I knew over 10 instruments, at least enough to play Hot Cross Buns on them. I bought a sax and loved playing as part of the jazz band. American Patrol and In The Mood were fun songs to play, along with the Fraggle Rock theme and various other tunes. I haven't touched my sax in a few years, so I'd be a bit rusty if I tried to play today.
After high school, my brother gave me his old guitar. I picked it up fairly quickly, but stalled after learning the basics, because there's only so far you can get being self taught. This was before the days of The You Tube where you can watch videos over and over again to get things right. I went off to Bible College thinking that every one who goes to Bible College can play guitar and perhaps there's someone willing to teach me how to play better. But that didn't work out so well for me. I'm not very forward in asking for help like this, and no one decided to try and teach me some new skills, so I remained stagnant in my abilities. The guitar is currently sitting across the living room from me and I haven't played it for a few months.
And then there's the built-in instrument that I have within me. No, not the one that creates farts. Get your mind out the gutter. I'm talking about my vocal chords and the sounds that come out of my mouth, not caused by gas explosions. About halfway through high school, the majority of puberty had come and gone for me, and I was suddenly confronted with the fact that I could sing and people weren't yelling at me to shut up. So I joined the choir for grades 12 and OAC. It was fun! I still remember some of the cheesy lines in the songs we had to sing ("On that road less travelled, places far and wide...", for example) and the fun we had in the various competitions and concerts. In Bible College, I learned about Taize and the repetitive yet beautiful four part harmonies that can be found intertwined with the lyrics. So I started leading Taize chapels and enjoyed the ability to create the harmonies. Then a friend joined me on staff and we formed a choir and recorded some of our music. Then one year, at a different place of employment, I joined a group of people in singing the Hallelujah Chorus. It. Was. Awesome. Still to this day I smile when I think of singing in a choir.
So there's some options if I were to consider picking up the making of music as a hobby this summer, or should I say re-visiting an old friend. Some of the options aren't very conducive to living in a small apartment, but for those who have been reading for the past week, there's hope should the house hunt turn out successful and we don't need to worry about the neighbours who live above or immediately beside us.
But for now, it is time for me to retire. To quote the Sound of Music, a musical we went to see in Stratford a few weeks ago (yes, I know it's a movie too), "The sun has gone to bed and so must I... goodbye!"
It all started when I was a wee lad and picked up playing piano. The first song I remember playing was Good King Wenceslas. (When my wife reads this, I'm sure she will start singing the song to me. Every. Single. Verse. Something about Vietnam-like flashbacks and home school choir.) My mom saw that I enjoyed playing and put me into piano lessons with the same lady who taught my sister a few years prior. So I took piano lessons once a week for 7 years. The one thing I remember is that I didn't practice enough. They say practice makes perfect. I went along the lines of practice is annoying, so do it so you seem to be slightly better than the previous week and hopefully your teacher won't notice.
My piano lesson days ended at the same time as my teacher's piano teaching days ended. I wasn't doing anything with the conservatory anymore, so I decided it'd be OK to move on and focus on school, or something. Through the 7 years, I successfully completed my Grade 2 and Grade 5 Conservatory piano exams as well as Preliminary and Grade 1 theory exams. No, I still don't play at that level, and no I likely don't remember much of what I learned in theory, so don't ask me to play a tune or transpose a song. Well, I could try, but it wouldn't sound very good.
In high school, I took music class because I liked music (good reason, right?), and picked up the saxophone. And after that the trumpet. Then the trombone, baritone, tuba, flute, clarinet, and various percussion instruments. I think at one time, I knew over 10 instruments, at least enough to play Hot Cross Buns on them. I bought a sax and loved playing as part of the jazz band. American Patrol and In The Mood were fun songs to play, along with the Fraggle Rock theme and various other tunes. I haven't touched my sax in a few years, so I'd be a bit rusty if I tried to play today.
After high school, my brother gave me his old guitar. I picked it up fairly quickly, but stalled after learning the basics, because there's only so far you can get being self taught. This was before the days of The You Tube where you can watch videos over and over again to get things right. I went off to Bible College thinking that every one who goes to Bible College can play guitar and perhaps there's someone willing to teach me how to play better. But that didn't work out so well for me. I'm not very forward in asking for help like this, and no one decided to try and teach me some new skills, so I remained stagnant in my abilities. The guitar is currently sitting across the living room from me and I haven't played it for a few months.
And then there's the built-in instrument that I have within me. No, not the one that creates farts. Get your mind out the gutter. I'm talking about my vocal chords and the sounds that come out of my mouth, not caused by gas explosions. About halfway through high school, the majority of puberty had come and gone for me, and I was suddenly confronted with the fact that I could sing and people weren't yelling at me to shut up. So I joined the choir for grades 12 and OAC. It was fun! I still remember some of the cheesy lines in the songs we had to sing ("On that road less travelled, places far and wide...", for example) and the fun we had in the various competitions and concerts. In Bible College, I learned about Taize and the repetitive yet beautiful four part harmonies that can be found intertwined with the lyrics. So I started leading Taize chapels and enjoyed the ability to create the harmonies. Then a friend joined me on staff and we formed a choir and recorded some of our music. Then one year, at a different place of employment, I joined a group of people in singing the Hallelujah Chorus. It. Was. Awesome. Still to this day I smile when I think of singing in a choir.
So there's some options if I were to consider picking up the making of music as a hobby this summer, or should I say re-visiting an old friend. Some of the options aren't very conducive to living in a small apartment, but for those who have been reading for the past week, there's hope should the house hunt turn out successful and we don't need to worry about the neighbours who live above or immediately beside us.
But for now, it is time for me to retire. To quote the Sound of Music, a musical we went to see in Stratford a few weeks ago (yes, I know it's a movie too), "The sun has gone to bed and so must I... goodbye!"
15.6.15
write it off
For those of you joining me in blogland (mind you, that's not really a place. It's just there), I've decided to pick up a hobby this summer to go along with my writing here for 100 nights. Yesterday, we explored running as a hobby. Today, we'll explore writing.
I'm not cheating by discussing writing while writing. I'm just thinking I could potentially write the next great Canadian novel. Using rhetoric, prose, poetry, and potentially even one of the many figures of speech I had to force myself to figure out in one of my courses a few years back. This seems all well and good until I think back to my days of trying to write stories in high school where the plots were full of more holes than swiss cheese and my characters had no depth. So perhaps this might not be the best option for me.
But there's a certain amount of enjoyment that can come from writing. Some say that writing is good for your mental health. I've considered journalling at various times in my life to allow what's on the inside of my head get out onto paper, where it can bother the lines on the page rather than interfere with the other thoughts that go through my head. But I don't like handwriting. Perhaps that's an issue. I can remember back to grade 10 where we were asked to submit an assignment in our neatest handwriting and I refused and typed it instead. I don't think I lost any marks. Perhaps that's where my inability to write by hand came from. But computers seem to have ruined it for good. It's much easier for allowing the words to flow off my fingers. But perhaps it's time to pick that up again.
I enjoyed writing opinion pieces and special interest pieces for the school paper when I was editor, but I had a reasonable sized audience back then. Much more than this blog has ever reached. I enjoy writing for an audience rather than just for the fun of it.
I think this is helping me realize that maybe I shouldn't pick up writing aside from my 15 minutes a day.
I'm not cheating by discussing writing while writing. I'm just thinking I could potentially write the next great Canadian novel. Using rhetoric, prose, poetry, and potentially even one of the many figures of speech I had to force myself to figure out in one of my courses a few years back. This seems all well and good until I think back to my days of trying to write stories in high school where the plots were full of more holes than swiss cheese and my characters had no depth. So perhaps this might not be the best option for me.
But there's a certain amount of enjoyment that can come from writing. Some say that writing is good for your mental health. I've considered journalling at various times in my life to allow what's on the inside of my head get out onto paper, where it can bother the lines on the page rather than interfere with the other thoughts that go through my head. But I don't like handwriting. Perhaps that's an issue. I can remember back to grade 10 where we were asked to submit an assignment in our neatest handwriting and I refused and typed it instead. I don't think I lost any marks. Perhaps that's where my inability to write by hand came from. But computers seem to have ruined it for good. It's much easier for allowing the words to flow off my fingers. But perhaps it's time to pick that up again.
I enjoyed writing opinion pieces and special interest pieces for the school paper when I was editor, but I had a reasonable sized audience back then. Much more than this blog has ever reached. I enjoy writing for an audience rather than just for the fun of it.
I think this is helping me realize that maybe I shouldn't pick up writing aside from my 15 minutes a day.
14.6.15
get a hobby
I've decided to try and use this 100 days to explore some sort of journey in learning or exploring life. Writing about life in general is fairly mundane at times and can end up getting repetitive and go off on tangents if I don't keep track of it. I'm sorry if I've ended up boring the one reader I have left now that the golden days of blogging are over and I'm just hanging on to a has-been medium for expressing my thoughts. 140 characters is all the rage, it seems. But I can't even type two or three sentences in 140 characters. So I end up writing like this: Hey @randomstranger. U R Kul. #FriendsForever #GoSportsGo #OnStorm
As you can see, it's not very exciting to keep up my vain lifestyle in 140 characters. At least with blogging, I can give my observing fan(s) something of substance, or at least given them a chuckle that will take them more than three syllables to describe when they try and tell of my genius opinions to the others that they influence.
Don't get me wrong, I don't do this for the fame. I figured out pretty quickly that my identity doesn't come from those who comment on here and that all I really use this for is a place to get stuff out of my head when there seems to be no other location for it to go. So thank you for reading, although that's not my goal.
Enough with that tangent, back to the topic at hand. I've decided that I would like to pick up a hobby this summer because I don't think watching TV and reading the same 6 websites over and over again is very fulfilling. I already walk, meaning that cannot be a hobby I pick up. And my goal is to not drop any beneficial habits or hobbies in the process of doing this. So walking will remain in my repertoire of things I do.
Each day this week I will explore a possible hobby for me to pursue and then I'll whittle it down to one or two I'd like to try given the time or willingness.
Running: A few years ago, when I was still living in Toronto, I tried to start running using the app C25K (Couch to 5 K) to help me get in the habit. C25K uses the concept that you can learn how to build up the stamina and endurance to run 5 km in 8 weeks by increasing your abilities incrementally. The program runs over 8 weeks. Each week, you have three identical workouts. For example, week 1: Run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat for 20 minutes, and then you're done. Each week increases the amount of time spent running until at week 8, you're running for 5 km non-stop. My experience with this app was an almost immediate failure. I went out for one run and had reasonable success with it. The next day, I went for a 5 km walk and got caught in the rain. After the rain stopped, I made it back home only to slip on the tile in the lobby of the building I lived in, strain my knee, and then limped around for the next week or two, thus ending my run at using C25K. The other excuses I have for this are life got busy with school, applying for a job, moving to KW, and it was summer, so the heat and humidity were too much to handle.
But every now and again, I hear stories of people who started running and their various success stories. Each time I hear this, it makes me think that this is something I could do to build up my strength, lung capacity, and overall stamina. My fears are people judging me because I look like a tool while running, although usually anyone who's new at something looks that way, that I'll fall and hurt myself, that I'll break a leg, or that I just won't be able to get to the place where I want to be.
I already walk a lot, as chronicled a few days ago. So this would be either in addition to my walks, or in place of some of them. I'd also like to go with my lovely wife, but her schedule is all over the place so it's hard to get into the habit of doing something when the time it happens might be different each time we try.
But it's something I keep considering. Something I admire when other people are able to get off their butts and get out and do. So maybe I'll pick up running this summer. Thoughts?
As you can see, it's not very exciting to keep up my vain lifestyle in 140 characters. At least with blogging, I can give my observing fan(s) something of substance, or at least given them a chuckle that will take them more than three syllables to describe when they try and tell of my genius opinions to the others that they influence.
Don't get me wrong, I don't do this for the fame. I figured out pretty quickly that my identity doesn't come from those who comment on here and that all I really use this for is a place to get stuff out of my head when there seems to be no other location for it to go. So thank you for reading, although that's not my goal.
Enough with that tangent, back to the topic at hand. I've decided that I would like to pick up a hobby this summer because I don't think watching TV and reading the same 6 websites over and over again is very fulfilling. I already walk, meaning that cannot be a hobby I pick up. And my goal is to not drop any beneficial habits or hobbies in the process of doing this. So walking will remain in my repertoire of things I do.
Each day this week I will explore a possible hobby for me to pursue and then I'll whittle it down to one or two I'd like to try given the time or willingness.
Running: A few years ago, when I was still living in Toronto, I tried to start running using the app C25K (Couch to 5 K) to help me get in the habit. C25K uses the concept that you can learn how to build up the stamina and endurance to run 5 km in 8 weeks by increasing your abilities incrementally. The program runs over 8 weeks. Each week, you have three identical workouts. For example, week 1: Run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat for 20 minutes, and then you're done. Each week increases the amount of time spent running until at week 8, you're running for 5 km non-stop. My experience with this app was an almost immediate failure. I went out for one run and had reasonable success with it. The next day, I went for a 5 km walk and got caught in the rain. After the rain stopped, I made it back home only to slip on the tile in the lobby of the building I lived in, strain my knee, and then limped around for the next week or two, thus ending my run at using C25K. The other excuses I have for this are life got busy with school, applying for a job, moving to KW, and it was summer, so the heat and humidity were too much to handle.
But every now and again, I hear stories of people who started running and their various success stories. Each time I hear this, it makes me think that this is something I could do to build up my strength, lung capacity, and overall stamina. My fears are people judging me because I look like a tool while running, although usually anyone who's new at something looks that way, that I'll fall and hurt myself, that I'll break a leg, or that I just won't be able to get to the place where I want to be.
I already walk a lot, as chronicled a few days ago. So this would be either in addition to my walks, or in place of some of them. I'd also like to go with my lovely wife, but her schedule is all over the place so it's hard to get into the habit of doing something when the time it happens might be different each time we try.
But it's something I keep considering. Something I admire when other people are able to get off their butts and get out and do. So maybe I'll pick up running this summer. Thoughts?
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