Random Thoughts

Simple Simon

Lately I've been the pie man... I've been making lotsa pies and taking them places. Which I guess is good, because if I was eating them all, I'd be so much fatter. As it is, the pie I'm sharing is still affecting my waistline.

Blueberry pie 1: Melanie, Jen, Dan
Blueberry pie 2: Lisa
Blueberry pie 2: Trevor, Dave

Only the last pie was really good. The first pies were done in with convection on and the filling didn't get hot enough to melt all the sugar.

Peach pie 1: Mom and Dad
Peach pie 2: Dan, Fiona, Martin, Fiona's mom

These were pretty good. Fiona and my father both really enjoyed them. I didn't crimp the edge well enough, though and they boiled up and messed up the bottom of my oven. I'd bake them on a tray, but the metal deflects the heat from the bottom, which makes for a soggy bottom crust.

Pie x: I've got one more pie crust in the fridge. Possibly I'll freeze it.

Update: Nope - mom bought some really tart apples. So I made apple pie with them - they were really flavorful under all that tartness and the pie was really good.

Poker Night

Aaron, Anthony, Dom, Sean and I met at Rick's house for poker and pizza. It was so nice outside that we started playing outside until it got dark. Then we moved it into the kitchen. It's hard to tell, but I think Aaron and I were the night's winners - though nothing as dramatic as my first session! I think I'm probably even overall...

A good time was had by all. We do need to find some new variants, though.

The variants that we play are:
-kings and little ones
-queens and followers
-hi/low chicago

Other games that we play are
-7/27 (which I'm pretty lucky at, but it's a lot of addition, which stresses me)
-chase the ace (which I really like - it's fun, the pot is large, the risk is low... but I never win)

Fun in Ottawa

So we didn't spend ALL our time working... once it got dark, we partied! Here we are at the Cornerstone Bar. It appears that they hire totally based on looks, as the servers are all very attractive. The guys were ogling away. Sean had already had a whole bunch of beer BEFORE he joined us for shots and dinner. As you can tell from the pic, he's a happy drunk. We called John and his wife to join us to ogle the servers. (The red dress is apparently 25 bucks at American Outitters.) We did assorted shots and snacked on various appetizers. After that we hit the pubs and danced a bit (if you could actually call it dancing...).

Another night, we stayed in for pizza and played drinking games. Nick and Sean started playing 'caps', a drinking game where you try to knock bottle caps off the other person's beer bottle. Sean's waaaay too good at that kind of game, though (probably too much practice) and I took over from Nick. I don't like beer, though, so I was drinking rum. Sadly, I didn't fare any better than Nick did and my rum was gone pretty fast.

On the last day, we took a walk through the Market. We grabbed food at an enclosed patio restaurant (undercooked pasta, not so great) and then got dessert at a cake shop called Oh So Good. The cake was really, really expensive ($7/slice!) - but also very very good. I ordered a lemon cake that was deliciously tart and moist. I tried Sean's chocolate cake and it was actually better than homemade chocolate cake. The crumb was dense and smooth, yet also light. The cheesecakes were pretty ordinary - cheesecake is pretty much the same wherever you go.

Buildings in Ottawa

Click here to view large image

Here's a panoramic view of the Parliament Building in Ottawa. I took this on the last day as we were walking through Ottawa - this building was between the hotel and the office. We were lucky to get some pretty good weather for the entire duration. There are a couple more shots below.

Also to the left is a shot of the Supreme Court of Canada. It's not nearly as big as Parliament. Finally, here's one more shot of the Parliament buildings (this one not stitched together, just a regular shot).

I'll post more shots later, along with some party shots with what we did at night!

Ottawa Hotel: Albert At Bay

I've mentioned this hotel in passing before, but this time I had my camera! This is the base room at the Albert, and it's awesome. The upgraded rooms, only about 10 bucks more per night, have dedicated dinning rooms and king sized beds. The one time I got upgraded to an 'executive' room, it wasn't much different, other than it had a Neptune air jet tub.

This is the main room, pretty standard, except that every suite in this hotel has the bed in an actual bedroom, not in the main area with the rest of the stuff. It makes entertaining in your room a lot easier.

Anyway... on with the tour below!

A small study is off the main room - some rooms instead have a dining room. I didn't really use this room at all. There are 3 phones scattered around the suite, including a cordless.

This, for me, is the big selling point - a fully equipped kitchen! Out of frame are a normal sized fridge (useful for water and booze!) and microwave. The cupboards are stocked with dishes. Great for snacks... They usually stock a basket with dish towels and usually leave a couple packs of cookies. The deal is that I get the Oreos and Sean gets the Fudgeos. They leave a flyer for an internet grocery as well. I've never gotten the chance to actually cook, though.

Here's the bedroom. It's pretty standard, though in a separate room. There's an additional TV in here, a closet, the usual. It's nice, but not opulent. It does, however, have a master bedroom bathroom! This is a really nice feature, because it means that if you have guests, they can use the main bath. Also, the master bath has a nice big glass shower stall. I tend to brush my teeth in the bath that i'm not showering in to avoid wet feet! Also, it's nice because if you don't have your room cleaned while you stay (I tend to hang the Do Not Disturb marker out) then you have 2 clean baths to use.

Lastly, here's the main bathroom. The bathrooms are nicely appointed, with granite countertops. This bathroom has a bath tub instead of a shower stall.

Dinner at Sean's

I worked at Sean's house today and went to lunch at Swiss Chalet with Renato and Dom. We used to get 20% off, but now we just get free drinks... Not as good for me, since I usually just get water. I like iced tea, but I slug it back, which probably isn't too good for my waistline.

Jax and Sean invited me for dinner. I bbq'ed some rib steaks that Jax had marinating and Jax made corn (really nice and sweet!). Everything was really good. Their son Brandon (almost 4) is a bit of a picky eater, so he mostly ate noodles and broth. Sarah (15 months) is demanding when it comes to food - and she likes to feed herself.

We player outside for a bit, then headed off to a couple stores with Brandon to find the remote control version of Wall-E the robot. I was impressed by Brandon's reading skills - he can actually sound out words - a bit of trouble with "Indiana" (Jones) but no trouble with "lotto centre". Just like daddy - all about the gambling!

Sarah liked Wall-E too. She would booty-dance along with it when it was playing music and waving its arms. Too much Girlicious on the iMac! She likes me too, now, and will come and ask to be picked up when she's in the mood. She has a toy that makes bubbles which she really likes (she lead me across the house to fetch it from the foyer) and can say "bubble" and "pop!".

Sean and I also played a bit of head-to-head Tetris on the Nintendo DS. Long story short: he sucks!

A Day In The Life... Mary Brown's

I finally got the chance to work (well, volunteer) in Scott's Mary Brown's Fried Chicken restaurant! Throughout highschool, I had always wanted to work there, but it was the last place Scott wanted to be. Heh, I think he regrets it now, though, since he had to admit that I picked things up faster than their average new employee.

I got to do all sorts of stuff - preparing potatoes was the worst, cuz I'm slow. I breaded and fried chicken and taters, which was fun. I unpacked raw chicken for Scott to cut on a huge circular saw (I didn't try the saw). And I packed orders (which is actually harder than it sounds, because the taters, sandwiches and chicken fingers are fried to order, and that's part of packing).

It was pretty hard work - mostly the part about being on your feet all day. My feet were hurting by the end of the day.

After we closed the shop, we went to Scott's place and set off some fireworks in the backyard. The first firecracker wasn't buried properly and fell over - shooting balls of fire over the fence into the neighbour's yard! After that, we got a bigger pot and things went more sedately.

By the end of the evening, Scott was trying to convince me of young-earth creationism again, which is fun, because all the 'science' is soooo flawed or deceptively presented. The moon dust argument was the one he was talking about. I think he was starting to get upset when I was challenging everything though, near the end. Oops!

Dom Visits for Breakfast

I took today off to make some birthday cakes for Trev and Rucell. Dom brought his car into town to get his windows tinted and the clear plastic car hood protector applied. So I picked him up and made a big pancake breakfast (any excuse to eat). We did a pretty good job at getting through the pancakes. I didn't have any maple syrup, so I substituted a simple sugar syrup with some strawberry jam to make a strawberry sauce

Here's an older pic and the recipe. I used 2 eggs and didn't measure anything. And I think I substituted veg oil for some of the melted butter. Really, it's hard to mess up this recipe! I cooked the eggs in a lot of melted butter this time, so they were beautifully easy-over with no hard bits.

We chatted and wandered around the mall until his car was ready around noon.

Blowing the Budget

Sigh. It's not my FAULT! There were just too many good opportunities presenting themselves.

Victorinox Forschner chef knife: $30
These knives won America's Test Kitchen's approval, being both really sharp, ergonomic and inexpensive. It's a stamped knife, rather than forged - but it compares identically to my Henckles knife in terms of sharpness, and that cost around $90. Renato found it (new) on eBay and bought it for me - I haven't really seen them up here, and the Canadian webstores are a bit expensive.

Nintendo DS: $114
I played with Sean's and it was a lot of fun. Dell had them once for $99 and I waited for the Days of Deals, but they didn't go on sale. But THEN! I was in Superstore buying supplies for Father's Day dinner and they had a "Don't Pay the Tax" event. So... not $99, but $129 with all taxes included.

Dell 1320c Color Laser Printer: $150
Ok, those aforementioned Days of Deals? They had a color laser printer for sale for less than the cost of the toners inside it. The toner is a bit pricey, but I don't print a lot, it's cheaper than an ink just and toner doesn't dry out. Photo print quality is really good for a laser.

Oy. Individually, nothing too expensive... all together though, it adds up.

Father's Day Dinner

Mom and Dad came here for Father's Day. I cooked up some steaks on the neighbours' barbecue and made a herb pesto to dress some pasta with some herbs from the garden. I made a side salad with raspberry dressing that tasted remarkably like Swiss Chalet's raspberry vinaigrette.

Aside to Dom: A couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a tablepoon of sugar, a small squirt of mustard (1/2 tsp), pinch of salt, black pepper, and seedless raspberry jam until it's the desired thickness/sweetness.

Dessert was bourbon caramel custards. Because I was using cream plus milk, I reduced the recipe by about 1/3 to make smaller custards... it's really rich when using a higher ratio of cream!

Dinner w. Jen and Naomi

Jen and Naomi came over for dinner today. Naomi was a bit shy at first - she probably needs to see me more often. I think I'm fixed in her mind as having long hair. Anyway, after she loosened up we had fun playing in my neighbour's jungle gym, on the piano and on the beanbag.

For dinner I bbq'ed a tiny 6 bone rack of ribs and made some simple pasta with garlic and shrimp and parmesan. Naomi, who kind of shares her father's vegetarian tendencies, surprised us by not only eating a fair portion of pasta but REALLY enjoying a couple of ribs and even trying a shrimp! She refused to actually handle the ribs, but actually started crying when Jen stopped holding it up for her to chomp on. Heh, it must help that Dan's not around oozing revulsion.

PS. Jen, here's the recipe.

Ottawa - Upgrades and Drunkards

Went to Ottawa again for a meeting. To chair a meeting, actually, even though my manager was there in the room and knows waaay more than I do about the process. Anyway... to the non-work details!

Sean and I flew in on Thursday evening and went out for dinner with Sylvie, Sandy and Lise. Um, I don't remember where we went exactly, other than the portions were huge. I tried a mojito (rum, lime, club soda and mint) and was a bit disappointed that I didn't like it, since the neighbor has an abundance of mint in the backyard. We also tried a variety of shooters, including Sean's favorite, the Florida Tracksuit (Red Bull, Red Sourpuss, orange vodka) and a Jager Bomb.

Anyway, Amy and Angela joined us later for a couple drinks - I tried a Smirnoff Ice - didn't like that either. It was WAY too sweet - it tasted like I was drinking sugar. Around midnight, we headed back to the hotel, but Sandy and Sean stayed out for more drinking.

My hotel room got a free upgrade - which wasn't really fair since Sean booked the room for me. I was all excited, except when we got to the room it was pretty much the same as all the other rooms. The only difference was that it had a Neptune whirlpool bath. I tried it when I got back to the hotel - there were many little jets and they were very powerful. It was kinda like sitting in a choppy ocean. They're adjustable, but I didn't find it very relaxing. It was fun to try, though.

Because of that, I was still up when Sean came mischievously banging on the door when he returned to the hotel, thinking that he'd wake me up! He was pretty sloshed, but at least he's a happy drunk! He didn't have a hangover in the morning, though.

Gardening

Spent a bunch of time (and money!) in the garden today.

There were a couple of caterpillar nests in the field behind my house. I hopped the fence and cut them down with some shears. I put them in a plastic bag that's currently in my recycling bin.

Bo says she's seen rabbits around, so I took a quick trip to the local dollar store to get some cheap plastic fencing to go around the garden. It's not very high, though... we'll see if it works.

I also bought some cages for my tomato plants. The tomato and lettuce plants seem to be growing really well. Sage, thyme and tarragon came back from last year. I've re-planted parsley and rosemary. I'm not sure if I'll bother with basil this year - it didn't do well last year.

Riley's Birthday

Today was Riley's 1st birthday party! Rucell really went all-out on the arrangements. There was a TON of food, 2 clowns (good thing, cuz one was really late), a Cars (Disney movie) themed cake and 3 pavillions. I got there early with 60 cupcakes to ice (recipe later for the chocolate ones). Almost all of them were eaten, too. I also fried about 200 spring rolls and cooked about 3 packs of spaghetti.

Riley seemed to really enjoy himself. I got to play with him a lot. He really, really liked the cupcakes - though his dad only let him eat about 1/2 of one. He stayed up really late - I wonder what time he'll be waking up tomorrow! Heh, we never did get around to opening the presents. Among the guests were Nervada, Karen (pregnant and due in September!), Stephanie and Nathan. Also Neil, Bambi and Glenchie. Erich, Katherine, Gaby and Matt showed up really late. Trev's mom, dad, grandmother, brother and Aunt Tish were there as well. Their old neighbor Nermal...And lots of others... I'm missing tons.

We stayed late and watched Ultimate Fighting on Pay Per View. By the time that ended it was really, really late.

Visiting Scott

Just got back from Scott's house.

Sounds like he's in for some exciting times, though it's not public knowledge yet so I can't post it here.

Anyway, we caught up on old times, grilled asparagus, mushrooms and sausages. We also made our way through three quarters of a bottle of tequila and three quarters of a mickey of rum (mixed with slushy - even Heather, his wife, liked that!). Heh, Scott was pretty wasted when I left (ugh... Heather might be miffed with me tomorrow!). But here I am, fine as usual after drinking... I think something in me resists drinking past a certain point.

As far as tequila goes, it just tastes like slightly adulterated rum to me. It's surprisingly palatable with the salt and lemon, but... well, not that interesting.

Scott had picked me up earlier at my place, so I took a cab back home. Haha, Scott was so toasted that he gave the wrong address to the cab company - when I checked it outside, I had to go back in and call them with the corrected address. Hopefully he's ok by tomorrow!

Ottawa Again!

Went to Ottawa again on work. Of course, I couldn't find my camera... Eventually, I'll get pictures of Ottawa up.

Anyway, went there for a meeting and stayed at Albert On Bay. The room, as usual, was awesome. Only one bathroom this time, but a full dining room seating 8 and a separate bedroom with a nice king bed. Sean, Sylvie and I went to the pub after work, where a singularly awful band was playing fiddle and guitar. Half the patrons left, but we stuck it out.

Sean found a new favorite shooter, a Florida Tracksuit. It's made with a shot glass of red Sourpuss and orange vodka, dropped into a half glass of Red Bull. I thought it was pretty vile, personally. We also tried a Jack Frost (Jack Daniels and peppermint schnapps, tasted like mouthwash), Apple Pie (some sort of apple liquor/brandy and butterscotch schapps) and a Viva Puff (red sourpuss and creme de cacao - tastes like those chocolate covered marshmallow/raspberry jam cookies).

When I got back to the hotel, I was so bloated that I looked pregnant! Yeesh. But I wasn't drunk or anything... Sean was ok this time too, despite having the same shots as me along with several beers. No hangovers or anything, either. So I still haven't experienced a hangover (not that I want to).

Ottawa Trip

Unlike the last trip, this one was only 2 days, for an all-staff meeting. Sadly, I was slightly sick for a bunch of it, and now I'm -really- sick... I've basically lost my voice completely.

Anyway, the meeting was productive. There was also a 'recognition' portion where I got a thank you note and gift for work that I did with some of our tools. Which was very nice (especially the note!) but did make me the target of jokes for the rest of the evening, since I just recently joined the team...

We also went out for a night on the town after work on Wednesday and had fun - though the last club that we went to was very odd. Bunches of young kids (well, you know, from my aged perspective) a few older people, a couple of solitary people just hanging around..

Best Hotel Ever!

Went to Ottawa for an overnight meeting (more on that later) and stayed at the best hotel ever: the Albert at Bay. For the same price as my one-room, pay-per-day Internet, noisy Ottawa Marriott, I got a suite that was bigger than my friend's condo! Apparently the rooms are converted condo/apartments.

TWO bathroom! The master bedroom ensuite had a glass enclosed shower stall, the other had traditional tub. The bedroom is in a separate room with a huge closet and safe. Full kitchen with fridge, stove, dishwasher. It was fully stocked with cutlery, dishes and quite nice pans (Lagostina aluminium bottoms). There was also a separate office that I didn't really use at all - likely it was a second bedroom before being converted. The main room was big enough to have a kitchen table along with a sitting area and TV. The balcony was nice too. Internet was free - though I didn't have my laptop there since it was only one night.

And at $140/night, it's cheaper than the other hotels that I've stayed at, too.

Week of Kids

Naomi still gives me a suspicious look every now and again, but she's quite happy to play with me and only once mentioned that I had cut off all my hair. We had a good time - she's grown into a destructive streak where everything has to be knocked over or torn down! No sooner had Dan gone to take a shower than Naomi exclaimed in a surprised voice: "Oh! I pooped!" Me: "Daaaaan!" But he was already in the shower.

I went to help out the neighbors with some computer stuff and played with Daniel and Amelia. Amelia is FINALLY used to the short hair now, so that's good. She's not at the point yet where she's demanding to be picked up all the time, though (or maybe she's outgrown it) - she mostly likes playing with dolls and strollers.

So it looks like I'm good again with all the kids.

Dinner at Trev's x2

Hmm, this post disappeared on me.

Earlier this week Rucell invited me to dinner. She bbq'ed some salmon and sausages. It was really really good. I don't have a bbq, so it's always a treat. I brought some cupcakes to test drive for Riley's birthday next month. He seemed to like them. Riley's very co-ordinated for a 10 month old. He enjoys rolling things around on the floor and chasing after them and can walk unassisted (though he prefers to crawl most of the time).

Yesterday, I took Trev some split pea soup (apparently one of his favorites) and some oil biscuits to dunk in it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but unfortunately the chicken that I had bbq'ed last minute was just a bit underdone. Oops. I'm so helpless without my meat thermometer!

Riley's totally used to me now (finally!). He waves and demands to be carried around. His favorite play is slapping down spinning round things on the hard laminate floor.

Exercise - Swimming

So my trampoline broke and I've been gaining weight (have you noticed that I haven't updated the weigh-ins for a while?... it's too depressing!) I haven't gained enough weight back to have to give back any rewards, though.

Since I cut my hair and have prescription swim goggles, I bit the bullet and bought a yearly swim pass. The intent is to swim 3 times a week - so this involves getting up really early in the morning. Blech. I went twice this week and enjoyed it quite a bit - the swimming, not the getting up early. I better see some results soon!

Work

A few weeks ago, I started working at a new position in my department. So far, it's only temporary, but there's a lot of pluses and minuses.

Pluses:
I work with people I really like, and in general, it's a strong group.
The manager is really good at motivating.
The work is really interesting and challenging.

Minuses:
There's a LOT of work, and it's more stressful, while the pay is about the same.
Given the nature of the job, people don't automatically "like" me as much.

Interesting:
I've gotten to travel a lot - so far, to Halifax and Ottawa.
It's sort of high profile, which has both good and bad points. I'm dealing a lot more with my manager and even our executives, which I rarely did in my usual position.
I've heard rumors that my old job might be moved to a farther location, which would cost me more in gas than it's worth. So staying in my new job for as long as I can is probably the best thing right now.

Ottawa

I spent this past week in Ottawa for work. Of COURSE I didn't bring my camera, and I would've liked to get some pictures of the legislature buildings and other places. Oh well, maybe next time. More below...

The train trip there and back on Via One were great. Meals and drinks were served and, unlike last time, the food was pretty good! On the way there, the appetizer was a lobster and feta salad (the lobster bits were seen, but not really tasted). The main was "Thai Curry Shrimp". The shrimp were plump and tasty but the curry wasn't really a curry - more like a pale white ginger sauce. It was still pretty good, though. Dessert was a mousse that was ok. On the way back the food was better - smoked salmon appetizer, sole and shrimp in cream sauce with spinach and rice, and a wedge of caramel cheesecake. Of course, I was downing white wine with the meal, so maybe that had something to do with it. Apparently, I become flushed when drinking wine, as opposed to other spirits. I also enjoyed a couple of rum and cokes (the rum was Lamb's white... and tasted pretty good, so I might have to get some.)

The hotel, by contrast, sucked. I'm not staying at the Ottawa Marriott anymore! The internet was a gouging ten bucks a DAY, so I didn't get it. The fan, when on, intermittently made a noise that I was mistaking for a helicopter outside the building! I could also hear water noises from the other rooms. Bah. Next time, I'll take Sean's advice and stay at the Albert on Bay (I think) which has complimentary internet and an in-room kitchen! Heh, maybe I'll pack food in my luggage! The only good thing about the Marriott was that we didn't have to go outside to get to the building where the meetings were taking place.

The meetings were a bit on the boring side. Funnily enough, less fuss was made about my haircut than at my previous meeting where the people had never seen me before anyway. So that was good!

After work, we went to a pub where Deb lost her wallet (shades of Sean!) but then found it in her coat lining. One manager was ribbed incessantly about being the only one to fail a training test recently (poor guy! He was laughing along with us but there was a slightly plaintive quality to it).. but really he seemed more thrown when Dom pointed out that he looks exactly like a young Donny Osmond, which cracked me right up. Apparently his wife has made the same observation. Someone needs to show his kids some Donny Osmond musical performances and tell them it's Daddy! (Uh, I'm a bit unsure about who Donny Osmond is, exactly...) My fish 'n chips were just OK, though it was a huge portion and the whiskey and mushroom gravy was really nice.

When we returned to the hotel we commandeered a projector and an empty conference room and played video games on a Nintendo Wii for a bit. My tennis practice stood me in good stead, but my lack of bowling was very evident.

Another night we went to a casino buffet to celebrate a co-worker's retirement. Again, the food was just OK, though everyone else seemed to enjoy it. No one really gambled, though, just some slots. We wound up leaving early, which was good, since I was pretty tired.

I'm really glad to be home, though, after 2 weeks of being mostly away. Traveling is fun, but I miss good home cooked food.

The Kids Are Afraid!

Unlike the adults, the kids don't care for the new haircut.

Naomi, the first to see it, came running and shouting "Jason!", as usual. Then she saw me and screeched to a halt, backed away and started mumbling under her breath. After some explanation and a few suspicious looks, we were playing as usual - with the odd sidelong glance.

The next door kids had different reactions. Daniel, the older one, flatly told me: "You're not Jason." But showing him my old ponytail convinced him that it was me. Little Emilia, on the other hand, was too shy in the little time I had to convince that I was trustworthy. So she'll have to get used to me all over again!

My godson, Riley, took one look and then clung to daddy. Since we were at my place, I didn't have the plastic rings that we had so much fun spinning on the floor last time. He slowly became used to me after about 10 minutes or so and then was ok - though he was still looking to Trev for occasional reassurance. He was pretty tired, though, after a long day out.

Halifax

I started a new job (still with the same employer) last Monday, and we kicked off with a team meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, I suck, and didn't take any pictures. We had a pretty good time, though, and the team as a whole seems really strong, so here's hoping I can keep up. (Ugh, already ended up working most of this weekend to deliver a spreadsheet template.)

Despite being pretty ignorant of the group's functions, I still took part in the debates and discussions. Heh, hopefully I didn't make TOO much of an ass of myself. (Sean would tell me though, I hope. And Sandy bought me a drink after I incoherently, but correctly, questioned a project manager's prioritization of his project.)

Anyway, work stuff is just... work stuff, so here's what we did after hours!

Just a warning, though, apparently websites in Halifax have a LOT of useless Flash. Yeesh. So my links will be past front pages and may stop working in the future.

On Monday we got dinner at an Irish pub called The Old Triangle. I had an OK Irish Stew that was more root veggies than lamb. (Mental note: Eric may be unsound when it comes to food recommendations.) After, we went to The Lower Deck for beer and saw Signal Hill. Their music was much better than their website, a lot of 80s covers and maritime songs, so it was a good time.

Tuesday evening, I went with Sean and John to Casino Nova Scotia (I think). I don't really gamble, but I learned enough about Black Jack from Sean to be almost tempted to play. But not quite! The odds are actually much more even than I thought they were, for Black Jack at least.

Wednesday was party night. All of us went to the Pogue, where we left after being told that they wouldn't run a tab because they were too busy (they weren't) and substituting Eric's beer with something that was apparently vile. So Sandy ended up having to practically chug his pitcher of beer - the early start of a huge hangover for him! Our manager, who's local to the area, ended up tearing a strip off of the poor server/barman/whatever it was. Wet snow as falling, so there were a lot of snowballs being thrown.

Anyway, we headed back The Old Triangle. By this time, I was starving, so I was feeling the shots and beer that were ordered before the food came. (I should've gotten their mix for the Killer Koolaid - It was awesome and not nearly as good elsewhere.) This time, I ordered a Dublin Pastie. It had been sold out the previous visit and I found out why - it was great! Chicken and ham in bechamel sauce, wrapped in thick puff pastry. Mmmmm.

Repeating Monday, we then went back to The Lower Deck, where Signal Hill was performing again. Many pitchers of beer were consumed (but not by me, I was taking a break). After that, we went to Cheers, a club with a live band (nothing near as good as Signal Hill), dance floor and a crowd that looked about 10 years younger than me... and I'm the youngest of our group! That didn't stop the ladies in our group from being hit on, though! We passed through the Liquor Dome, but the crowd there was even younger.

More shots ensured that some of our group would have a banging hangover the next morning. (I'm told there was some puking going on...) I just had 3, though, so I was fine. I would gladly blame my dancing on the drinks, but unfortunately I did the dancing before the drinking... whatever. Sambuca and some chocolate thing was better than expected, but the Killer Koolaid here wasn't nearly as good as at the Triangle. Francina and I spent the earlier portion of our visit being bemused by the kids (heh, I'm so old!) and she was getting hit on by a truly creepy older gent.

Unfortunately, the evening ended on a low note - Sean's jacket got stolen! And it had all his ID in it as well! So we had to call Jax, back in Ontario, at 4am to cancel his cards. She was not impressed.

The next day was a bit of a drag - a bunch of people had hangovers and those of us who didn't were damn tired. The worst part was waiting at the airport for the flight to arrive - we were delayed and ended up waiting for a few hours. It was fun to fly - I haven't been on a plane since I was really young.

Chop

So I got my hair cut today - more than 2 feet of it, and there was still enough on the floor to make a large cat out of.

My co-workers are tickled pink. Initial first impression: I'm gonna get a cold - it's FREEZING without hair covering my head and neck. It looked flat, but there was evidently a lot of insulative value there. Also, the gunk that the hairdresser used is a bit smelly - I'm anti-scent in general.

Overall, though, it looks pretty ok. Better than what I had, anyway. There's only so much you can do with a fat face!

Fish at Jen's

Yesterday I went to Jen's to cook dinner. In general, I cook whatever is on sale, and this wasn't any different. On sale: cod, potatoes, romaine lettuce, strawberries. So since we're supposed to be watching what we're eating, that was pretty good.

I breaded the cod with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese (bad!) and we baked the potatoes (good!). The romaine and strawberries, with some balsamic vinaigrette. I wasn't too happy with the cod and won't be making it again, but Jen (and surprisingly, Naomi) enjoyed it. I did like the tartar sauce though! (Bad! Jen didn't have ANY!)

Sh!tstorm

I use solitaire games on the computer like a magic 8 ball... yesterday, I 'asked' how productive my day would be today. The answer? The most unequivocal NO I've ever gotten. (Stop making fun of me, it's just a harmless little ritual that I don't take seriously!)

Shortly after I was seated at my desk this morning, I heard cataracts of water crashing down around me. Then, a bit of a sprinkle on my head. I grabbed my laptop and flung my chair backwards, breaking some dishes that were on the desk that were brushed aside by laptop cabling. I was just in time to avoid several liters of water crashing down right where my chair had been and over my desk. Argh.

Apparently, a toilet overhead had overflowed. EW! I stuck around to make sure that my entire area was hosed down with bleach by the cleaners, who also tossed everything I had on the upper shelves (forced tidying!). That took about an hour and a half.

Then I headed home to take a leisurely long shower and toss my clothes into the washing machine. (They weren't wet or anything, but I'm sure some droplets hit them.) When I got back to work, I spent the rest of the afternoon re-arranging my office furniture to another corner of the room to avoid future problems.

So yeah. I got absolutely nothing done.

Friday VIsits

I went to the parents' house for dinner after and cooked some nice strip loin steaks that my dad picked up and a whole bunch of roasted veggies - mushrooms, cauliflower, eggplant, garlic, broccoli, onions, sweet potato. It was good!

Then I passed by Trev and Rucell's place to play with Riley. He's crawling all over now and can stand unassisted (when he wants to) We had fun chasing each other around and spinning toys on the laminate flooring in the kitchen. He's very physical. He's firmly in the "likes Jason" camp now - heh, he's been one of the slowest kids to get used to me... it took 3 visits! Granted the first time he was only a few months old.

Anyway, T/R are buying a Mattamy house near my house. The 'Mattamy experience' is very different from mine! They have so many upgrade choices and it's all laid out with pricing and diagrams in a thick book! The different cabinetry configurations for the kitchen alone are dizzying. Everything seems fairly reasonably priced too! It looks like a lot of fun. Too bad I can't afford to get one! It would be a lot of fun to choose the various finishes and configurations.

It would be waaaay too easy to spend twenty thousand plus on the various upgrades. 9' ceilings, glass shower, maple staircase, a couple of cabinet tweaks, some upgraded carpet (doable by room!), a quartz countertop, potlights... all stuff I'd like but very expensive when put all together! T/R are getting most of them ;-)

I can't wait to see it!

Wii (more!)

Melanie and I went to Jen and Dan's to play games on the Wii (and also Ivanhoe, but Melanie's kid woke up and she had to go...). We played tennis - I had fun, but was really starting to lose focus at the end and was really sucking. But everyone got to play with everyone, which was nice. We also played a couple of games of this trivia thing which was pretty cool and I barely managed to eke out a win in one game.

Jen told us a really funny story - apparently her girl Naomi will spontaneously break into a song where the only lyrics are "Holy fuck!" All I can say is, they haven't REALLY heard it until I've rehearsed it with her for a couple hours! Heh.

I brought over some cake, but people didn't like it as much this time (or maybe too many people concerned about their weight)? Same thing at work - each time I went there were tiny slivers gone off the pieces of cake. So I just polished off two of the four leftover slices. Rules? What rules?

Daniel and Amelia

My neighbour's kids love me. *slightly smug look*

Now, whenever I'm visiting with them, Daniel starts asking "Jason sleep in my house/bed/couch?" Heh, I've gotten away without having to sleep over, though. Which, really, I'm right next door! Daniel has an obsession with monsters - he likes to run from them and chase them and pretend to be knocked down by them. My imagination has a really hard time keeping up (especially when there are adults around - it's kinda embarassing).

Amelia (it might be Emilia), his younger sister, is a very very shy little girl - her mom warned me that she doesn't like visitors. But with me, she'll toddle over and raise her arms to be held. Yesterday, her mom kept trying to read a book with her, but she kept yanking the book away and closing it, then handing it to me to open for her, saying "Do! Do!" Her mom was pretty incredulous.

I was like "infant mind control... it's one of my talents!"

Helping Out

Still sick. I took Thursday and Friday off of work to rest. Mom and Dad passed by with very welcome food (roasted pork and steamed buns - yum!) and Dad shoveled the mountain of snow off my driveway. My neighbor was going to do it, but apparently he strained his back. Thanks!! I was going to leave it till Sunday, when hopefully I'd be feeling better.

Feeling achy and congested doesn't seem to have affected my appetite at all, sadly! All it's done is prevent me from exercising (or an excuse not to?).

Superbug

I think I'm culturing the superbug.

Had dinner with my sick parents, then spent most of the weekend with sick friends, and I just got back from kidsitting my neighbor's sick kid while she took her other sick kid to the clinic! And I'm sick too - I warned her, but she really didn't want to drag both kids to the clinic. I suppose with me, he just got exposed to 2 sets of germs and the clinic would've been more.

On top of that, a foot of snow fell outside - I think I'm going to take tomorrow off. My neighbor cavalierly offered to have her husband shovel tomorrow. I don't feel too bad, cuz I'm sick and I got the last big snowfall. (Plus, payback for babysitting!) I seem to be running out of toilet paper (tissues ran out a loooong time ago).

Wii at Jen's

Went to Jen's to play with Naomi and make dinner... since Jen's watching what she eats (and me too, supposedly), I tried cooking with an eye toward a low calorie dinner:

-roasted veg with very little oil
-fat free bread (well, it's always fat free...)
-prosciutto wrapped stuffed chicken breasts (will post the recipe)
-fresh pineapple for dessert

After Naomi went to bed, Jen and I played various games on the Nintendo Wii. She totally killed me at everything... but tennis ;-)

Games!

Tonight Melanie and I went to Jen and Dan's house to play games. I narrowly lost the first game due to some crappy mistake (darn!). Then I badly lost a couple of games of my new favorite game, a card game called Ivanhoe. Sigh. I won when I first tried it earlier this week - beginner's luck I guess.

I was only slightly redeemed by totally owning at Wii Tennis (hee, that's a challenge, Dan!). But I swear there's a way to move the net player and baseline player independently in doubles but I couldn't figure it out. Melanie and Dan insist there isn't . Sean? Am I hallucinating?

Dinner at the Parents'

Had dinner with Mom and Dad tonight - I arrived at their place to find that Mom had done a full rib roast dinner with all the trimmings! The small prime rib was perfectly cooked to a medium rare, the veg had been roasted with leeks that got nice and sweet and her yorkshire puddings puffed perfectly - as good as I've ever gotten them!

Afterward we baked an apple cake. Mom really liked it, but it wasn't as moist as the one that I baked earlier this week. I'm not sure exactly why.

The only thing I forgot was to get some leftovers to take home with me! Also, weigh-in day is tomorrow, and I'm thinking it'll be baaaaad news!

Recipe: Tilapia in Ten Minutes

This was really, really good - and super fast! Tilapia fillets are on sale this week, so they were a yummy dinner. Baby spinach was also on sale, and I must say that having it there and prewashed is very, very convenient. The dressing is a simple one of brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. It's important to season the fish here, instead of seasoning the dredging flours... that way, you have control over how much seasoning the fish get.

Pan Fried Tilapia

Start a heavy (preferably cast iron) skillet preheating on the stove over medium high heat.

Season the filets with salt and pepper on both sides, being fairly generous.

Whisk together roughly equal parts of flour and corn starch - a few tablespoons of each should do.

Dredge the fish in the flour.

Pour enough oil in the pan to liberally coat the bottom after swirling. The oil should be shimmering slightly and the oil should move easily, but if there's any smoke wisps it's too hot - let it cool off a bit.

Shake any excess flour off the fish and put it into the pan. It should give a nice sizzle. Cook for about 3 minutes and then flip carefully with a spatula and cook for another 3 minutes or so till golden.

Mattamy - Buying a house!

So I visited the Mattamy trailer twice today, the first time with Jen and then later with Trev, Rucell and Riley. They've got a subdivision starting in Newmarket and it's close to where I live now.

So yeah, Trev and Rucell bought a house while I played with Riley :) Then Riley got really tired and cranky and conked out instantly in his dad's arms (mental note: baby crying = bored, tired, hungry, needs changing... eliminate each one!)

It's really nice. There was one that I liked too, but they're a bit out of my price range and I don't have a deposit. Anyway, I'm glad they'll be close by - almost neighbors! Well, when it closes next year, anyway.

Sushi Feast

Jen and I had a feast right before the end of the holidays. Jen got a whole bunch of sushi delivered and I picked up a couple of lobsters on the way back from work. Everything was delicious and we finished almost everything! Naomi looked interested in the lobster but chickened out whenever we offered her any - Daddy's little girl, everything here would've totally grossed Dan out! Man, was it ever good!

I read Naomi a few stories before bedtime and tucked her in. She asked for Tyrone, a Backyardigan. I went to look for him and found a stuffed Pablo and Tasha (correction from Jen: NOT Uniqua), but no Tyrone. Jen told me later that they don't have Tyrone! Sigh! Naomi waited quietly while I was looking all over the house, but once we said goodnight she was a bit fussy.

Riley Standing

Trev, Rucell and Riley dropped by for dinner over the holidays (nothing special, just some roasted chicken and spaghetti, if I remember correctly - it was kinda last minute). Anyway, Riley can do an assisted stand now, hanging onto the coffee table. His favorite activity is to be tossed into the air, which is pretty tiring. Peekaboo is less tiring and received with less enthusiasm, though he still likes it. We confused him with my digital piano's vocal samples, he kept looking over to Rucell, who was sleeping on my couch.

Celebratory Summarization

So it was a fun holiday - I'm pretty sure I spent most of it eating. Christmas was spent with the family and surrounding days were spent with friends. Along with the aforementioned work lunches at the Keg and Swiss Chalet, I went to Montana's with friends (met Erich and Catherine's baby son Matthew for the first time) and just got back from the next door neighbors' house. (I'm so glad they decided not to move to Ottawa - they're so nice and their kids are adorable!) Also met Martin and Fiona's latest addition Oliver and played a bunch more games that I liked but of course can't remember the names of.

I walked to the mall this morning for Boxing Day. I went looking at a burr coffee grinder and Kitchenaid food processor, but they weren't that good deals, and the reviews on the grinder were mediocre. Instead, I came away with a clearance Kitchenaid cake pan to match the last one I got on clearance (lucky! Having a single round layer pan is kinda useless). I also got a mini-trampoline for 25% off - making it $45, which is about the same price as the online stores in the States. Carrying it back to the house was a bit of a pain though. More on the trampoline in a separate post, though.

Car Flakiness

Bleah, I think the car is allergic to Richmond Hill - whenever I go there it acts funny.

Last week, as I was leaving, the gas tank was reading empty and the gas light was on. I was pretty sure that I had left it with about a quarter tank of gas, so I was a bit concerned that there was a leak in the tank or something. Anyway, I pulled in to the nearest gas station (a no-name, old pump, full service station) and got 20 bucks of gas. When I turned back on the car, it was reading half full. 20 bucks wouldn't get me to half full, so I figure there was indeed gas in the tank.

Then, a week later, it feels like the power steering isn't as strong. But I'm not totally sure about that. I mean, it seemed really noticeable, but now I'm wondering if I was just imagining things - maybe it was seemed stiffer compared to steering on slushy roads...

Sympatico Bandwidth Throttling

Jen alerted me that Sympatico has started throttling bandwidth to a ridiculous trickle. Goodbye, Sympatico, nice knowing ya.

Sunday Outing

Went to play shuffleboard with Dave. Cheap fun - only cost about $13 for a couple hours. Dave called ahead to make sure the shuffleboard tables weren't being used as ersatz buffet tables. Heh, I did well with the shuffleboard: 8:1, I think.

We went to a nearby Thai restaurant, Our Thai, for dinner. I didn't order anything since I'd eaten just before leaving. Besides, the place wasn't very busy and the menu didn't look very appealing. Dave's food didn't look that appealing either, though he said it tasted fine. I mean, it didn't look bad, per se, but just not very creative.

I passed by IKEA, but unfortunately they close early on Sundays. On the way back I missed my turn into the subdivision, so I passed through Dominion and picked up some sale items that made a nice... uh... snack - if 12 yorkshires stuffed with roast beef and tomato could be called a snack.

Mom's Birthday Food

Last Saturday we celebrated my mom's birthday. I did the cooking - sadly with mixed results.

The good: the rib roast was perfect and very very tender. I suppose that's the most important thing, food wise. The veg and potatoes also turned out well. Tilapia that my sister brought back from Barrie was tasty fried up for lunch - she got a great deal on it. Carrots cooked in a saucepan with a tiny bit of butter and no extra water from (Heston Blumenthal) were good too.

The bad: The pound cake was a bit heavy, though it didn't matter too much going into a trifle - which was a bit on the boozy side. The yorkshire puddings were tragic: they were inedible hard pellets of disappointment (but they were eaten anyway). I think I inadvertently put in too much flour - I made them again tonight and they turned out beautifully (though they make a mess of oil in the oven).

Dinner at Riley's

... And Rucell and Trev's, of course! I dropped off some oatmeal cookies and stayed for a yummy dinner and playing with Riley until he got grumpy and went to sleep. Rucell has a neat trick (which apparently Trev can't duplicate) of patting his bum that sends him instantly to sleep. Riley's really flexible - he can suck his toe! Unfortunately, when he saw the camera, he wouldn't do it, so this is as close as I got to getting it. He's getting used to me though, and doesn't fuss when I play with him. (First visit: wailing, second visit: tolerance, third visit: smiles)

A B C D... N A O M I

Jen and Dan's daughter, Naomi, is just barely 2 years old and she knows her ABC's! She can also use chopsticks! (warning, QuickTime).

Dan got a MacBook and put up a gallery with it.

$1.10 USD

Wow, the USD is just getting pwned by foreign currency, including the Canadian loonie! Time for a vacation to the States!

It may be over-valued right now, but considering that there were some who doubted the Canadian dollar would hit $1.05 USD, this is quite an over-acheiving currency!

Meeting at Mandarin

Went to a union meeting at The Mandarin (a Chinese buffet) with Sean and Dom. I totally pigged out on ribs, shrimp, roasted duck, prime rib, spring rolls and egg rolls. For dessert, I had a waffle with ice cream and blueberry sauce, a lemon meringue tart (surprisingly reasonable tasting), and a creme brulee (gross, didn't finish it).

The meeting half of the evening is always the downer - I'm usually bored out of my mind and sometimes end up misbehaving. We always contemplate leaving after the food, but guilt (particularly Dom's!) gets us to stay. In this case, it was a good thing - because I ended up winning the last door prize of the night! It was a fleece vest, appropriately sized XL.

Poker

Invited the poker gang over to my place for dinner and a game. As usual, it was a lot of fun - heh, even though I lost about $50! Oh well. Dinner went well too - except for some undercooked chicken wings (I blame my sister's house in Barrie, where I left my meat thermometer...) Dom came early, Aaron won big, Rick brought a yummy pizza, Ken's just retired, Sean came out about even (I think). A good time was had by all, though we need to research more poker variants. My kitchen table isn't ideal, either - it's glass surface reflects the cards as they are dealt. We covered it with a flannel sheet, but cards didn't slide as well.

On the menu was a whole bunch of roasted stuff (I just stuck everything in the oven), salad with homemade dressing (too sweet for Rick, just sweet enough for Sean), sausages, caramel corn and brownies. Everyone did a number on the brownies, but the caramel corn was hardly touched... strange, with Jen/Martin/Fiona/Dan, it's exactly the opposite.

Thanksgiving Birthday

My birthday falls on the Thanksgiving weekend, so we do a LOT of eating. We made a turkey with stuffing, gravy, assorted veg, cheese sauce, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and chocolate cake. It was a pleasant, uneventful day with a bit of uncomfortable stomach from overeating. Leftovers will last a few days at least!

Recapping

Yes, lazy.

Been doing bunches of stuff, most of which I've probably forgotten. Dinner with Trev, Rucell and Riley... Nuit Blanche with Dave in the distillery district, Ken's retirement party at Sempre in Etobicoke, playdate and lunch with Naomi, playdate with Riley and a few dinners with the parents. I think that covers all the high points.

I am descending into sickness with a quickness. This afternoon I thought I had an allergy in my sinus cavity. It's since descended into a sore throat and nasal congestion. Drat. Looking for the Tylenol Flue right now.

Week In Review

All in all it was a pretty good week. I took 2 days off work because my driveway was being paved with its topcoat and I was stuck in the garage (I have a lot of vacation days, because I haven't taken any for a loooong time).

Jen and I split some chocolate ordered online - batches of 5g squares of 70% dark chocolate flavored with coffee from different countries and some Valrhona 40% milk chocolate squares.

I went to see Brandon, Sara and Sean's new Macs (iMac... pretty!). Brandon and I played on his Mac Mini, a cool Whack-a-Mole game that seems to encourage violence, and bowling with plastic pins on the hardwood floor.

Played cards with friends and won about 60 bucks (yay!) and got lost on the way home because they had moved the community mailboxes that I use as a landmark. And that's a good thing, because my mailbox was moved to a more convenient location just a tiny bit down the street from my house - which will be way easier to get to than 3 blocks away.

Riley's Baptism

Today I participated in Riley's baptism ceremony and celebration. It was an honor - heh, and I'm likely spiritually unworthy, as I'm not a devout Catholic! The ceremony was very short and ended with water from the fount being poured 3 times over Riley's head and blessings being passed along and a candle being lit in commemoration. Riley was really well behaved throughout the whole thing. We went to lunch after and ate far too much. Later in the day, we went to Trev and Rucell's (the proud parents) house where Rucell and her friends had prepared a LOT of food and spent the rest of the evening getting to know everyone. Bonus points if you figure out the pic.

Busy Long Weekend

It was a VERY busy long weekend - not a single day all to myself! I had guests over twice for meals and went out twice. I'm very tired :-)

Details below...

Saturday: I had invited my neighbors, Mike and Bo, over for lunch with their kids. Unfortunately, Mike got called away unexpectedly at the last minute. I think Bo might've wanted to reschedule, but everything was already cooked. We had shrimp pasta, tomato salad, steamed mussels and fresh bread. I think that she enjoyed it and she asked about how the sauce was made. Bo brought over a bottle of Frangelico, and I used some the next day in a dessert.

Her kids, Daniel (4) and Emilia (13 months), had a lot of fun, too - I think to Bo's surprise! When they first came in, Daniel wanted to go straight home, but he loved the Sumo beanbag. He would take running leaps into it and jump off the stairs into it. He also really liked playing on the piano. (Hmm, I meant to write about both of those, but never really did.) Emilia loved the peeled and seeded cucumber spears - she'd never had them before - and ate about half a cucumber! At first, Daniel wouldn't eat anything, but later he got hungry and enjoyed some macaroni and cheese and carrot sticks. Bo was rolling her eyes and said that if she cooks the stuff at home, Daniel doesn't eat it.

Saturday evening: I went with Dan to Fiona and Martin's house to play games. It was a lot of fun. Fiona's expecting a baby and it's due in 2 months!

Sunday: I went to help Dave K move into the apartment he'll be staying in while doing a Master's degree at McMaster University. It was really, really tough. He's on the third floor of a building where the stairs are an exterior wooden structure at the back. But the passage to the stairs, between the buildings, was only just wider than shoulder width! So we weren't able to take in the sofa or kitchen table (frankly, though, I don't think either would really fit). Anyway, there was a lot of lifting and even more climbing. I'm surprised my legs aren't killing me.

Dave D (too many Daves!) bussed into Hamilton to help as well, but they had given him the wrong house number - yeeks. He wasn't upset about it, though, from what I could tell. By the end of the day he was sprawled on the floor of Dave's apartment sleeping, exhausted.

Monday: Dave B (more Daves!), Trev and Erich came over to do some RPGing. I made chicken pasta, more tomato salad (Erich brought over some lovely heirloom tomatoes and paid for the ingredients), garlic bread and peaches with hazelnut liqueur, oat crumble topping and pound cake. Erich brought a white wine that was very acidic - I didn't care for it, but I don't drink wine in general so it didn't matter (I just like tasting). Trev and Dave aren't fans of tomatoes in general (hey, Erich requested it!) but Dave B seemed to enjoy the dessert.

Whew! I'm going to have to sleep at work tomorrow!

Testing, Testing

So I joined a competion at work for a promotion that I'm not sure I want. Basically everyone lies about their credentials to qualify to write a test to see if you get the position. Even our CFO has agreed that it's a really dumb process (he refers to it as a "beauty pageant").

Anyway, I'm pretty good at tests, but not so much at the lying about the credentials. I mean, really, some of the stuff that they want you to put on the application is pure memorization stuff about silly processes (like the 'software release process') that are all listed online. So sometimes I don't get to take the tests because I don't put it on the application.

This particular test was pretty focussed - just on programming. I think I did ok, but all my answers were sub-optimal. I could've used regular expressions on the first question but didn't know I'd need to know it, so I did it the long way. Stuff like that. I'm a bit worried about the last question, because I think the writer of the question didn't use order of operations in forming his answer (ie. the answer was 2007, I think, if you DIDN'T use order of ops, which didn't even occur to me to do, since it's just incorrect).

So we'll see, I guess.

Poor Finger

Sigh. Not paying attention and rushing with the chopping - not a good combination. I took off a good bit of fingernail. (Good thing I have fingernails! They really do protect your finger!) Do NOT click on the continue link if you're squeamish... it's not that bad, but if you're squeamish it might be disturbing.

Annyway. Blood went everywhere: the walls, floor and sink in the kitchen and bathroom. Apparently fingertips bleed like crazy. I wrapped a clean sock around it and applied a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, I held it too long and I bled and clotted around the sock fabric. I soaked it in water (cold water, warm water, salt water) for hours trying to get the freaking sock off. I cut away everything except the bit that was stuck to the sock.

Everyone I was talking to was bugging me to go to the hospital (Renato, Brian and the pharmacist working the late shift at the drugstore that I eventually went to buy bandages at) but damned if I was going to go to the hospital with sock stuck to my finger. I slowly peeled it back - that was painful... I could see little tendrils of flesh coming up with the fabric.

Of course, that started it streaming blood again. This time I clamped paper towel over it instead and headed to the hospital. $12 in parking, 5 hours, some nice gauze fingerbandaging and a tetanus shot later, and I was free. It's been healing nicely since and now I can type on it.

ow

owowowowwww! :(

Big Ticket Items

Updated with new stuff AGAIN! (sigh)
Got a good set of KitchenAid clad pans, so the All-Clad pans are off the list.
These are the "big ticket" items that I'm saving up for. Any excess "fun budget" will go towards these items:

Thermapen
I've got one of these, but I want the fast one instead of the one I have now. Mom'll probably get my current one.

MyWeigh Kitchen Scale
I haven't decided which model, but this brand is very highly reviewed. Thing is, the pro version is about the same price but it's kind of bulky. Kitchen scales will make baking a lot easier and more accurate. Hmm, there's some debate going on on some sites on both the manufacturer and the retailer - so more research needed on this one!

1kg of Chuao
My favorite chocolate. Considering that buying a kilogram block is about 1/3 the cost of 1000g of chocolate bars, it's a good price! Heck, for that price, I'll mold it into wafers myself! Gotta find a local source, though.

Kitchenaid Pasta Attachments
I've been toying with the idea of making my own pasta for a while. This is actually cheaper than a pasta machine with a motor, so hey... Also, it got better reviews than the other machines as well. The thing is, I do like dried pasta just fine. So it's not higher on the list.

Aerogarden
This looks like sooo much fun. Don't know, though, if I keep my house warm enough to use this. Also, it looks like you have to buy consumables (ick), such as seed pods. But there's no dirt! It also got good reviews from Fine Cooking.

So yeah, going into "saving mode"! Gotta have goals, right?

Not on the list anymore:

All Clad Stainless Cookware
Ok, this one is over-the-top expensive. But it should last a lifetime, right? If I can find some Gourmet Standard (a cheaper brand that is reputed to be the same quality) then maybe I'll settle for that. Cuz the cost of this? Is a few mortgage payments! Got some good KitchenAid clad pans for just $300.

Kitchenaid Clad Pans

Yeah, okay. Budget? What budget? Again, more deals! These will take the place of the All-Clad pans in my Big Ticket Items wishlist. These were an awesome deal in the clearance warehouse sale at Sears - just $300CAN (regular price, $500USD from the Kitchenaid online store), so approximately half price. So technically, they're saving me money, right?

They're Kitchenaid's top-of-line pans, as they're clad metal - which means the aluminum interior extends to the top of the sides of the pans, sandwiched between stainless steel. I don't know if they're as good as the All-Clad, though. These pans make 2 of my Paderno sauce pans (aluminium base) obsolete since they don't do as well on my gas burners as they did on my electric apartment stove.

Aluminium Easel

My budget this month is not kind - I'm already in the hole because of a whole lot of bills coming in all at the same time (taxes, car insurance, house insurance). So of COURSE fate is sending me deals to spend money on! A mysterious flyer appeared in the passenger seat of my car (I don't get papers and my mom says she didn't put it there). It was for Michaels and included a couple of coupons for 40% off a single item. Forty percent! So of course I went browsing. I found this easel which was $99, so I got it for $60. I'd been searching for my parents' easel but couldn't find all of it in their basement. This one is much nicer, though. I don't know if I'm actually going to be painting yet... we'll see. Till then, it makes a good display stand for some art in my living room.

Dinner with Stephen and Jen

Stephen, Jen and I went to Moxie's for dinner tonight. It's the first time I've seen Stephen in about 4 years! We started with crab cakes and bruschetta. Stephen got some chicken pasta. Jen and I ordered steak and lobster. It was all very yummy (except the chef didn't take the strings off the string beans - minor really). Stephen treated us - Thanks Stephen!

Earlier, I showed Stephen around my house (he hadn't seen it yet) and later we went to Jen's place, met up with Dan and played Ra, my newly favorite game, I think, taking over from St. Petersburg. (Won one, lost one...) Also took a ride in Stephen's Porsche Carrera convertible (uh, not that year model... an older one that he's fixing up).

So yeah, lotsa fun!

Dinner at My Place

The guys came over to RPG and have dinner. The menu:

Maple Balsamic Salad
Rum glazed beef ribs
Macaroni and Cheese
Lemon Bars

A "New" Car

I got one of my parents' cars a Toyota SUV. (It was either that or the minivan!) They made me an offer I couldn't refuse and so... Anyway, insurance is all set up now and now I just need to switch over my house insurance so that I can get a small discount. Also, had to rework my monthly budget and it'll take me a year or two more on the mortgage. I'll also have to resist the urge to shop and eat out now that I've got transportation!

Neighbors...

My well meaning but misguided next door neighbor thought it would be a good idea to seal the seam between the asphalt drive way and garage with... expensive synthetic... motor oil. Sigh.

Not a good thing

Sigh. I spent the evening scrubbing it away with detergent on my side and washing it down with the hose (that said kind neighbor actually gave me a week or so ago!). Ah well, hopefully the second lift will stick down and eliminate any remaining residue.

Ooey gooey... not good

Sigh. I think I may make a separate category for my feet!

Yesterday it was raining. My shoes aren't waterproof, indeed they're breathable foam, so I wore a slightly uncomfortable pair of boots and just didn't lace them up properly. But they must have been rubbing (or slightly too small?) because when I got home, my entire big toe was covered with watery blisters. It's not especially painful, just kind of gross. Won't be wearing those boots again!

Budget-Fu!

I'm a compulsive budget keeper. Every month, with the aid of spreadsheets and money programs, I calculate what categories I spent every dime on vs. what I had allocated on them. It's kinda fun, actually, and doesn't take too long. My earnings are pretty easy to predict and steady (though lately they were good with the acting manager position). Spending, less predictable.

But not this month! This month, I spent within 20 dollars of my expected expenses! If I lump the garden money into the Fun budget, then I did not miss any category by over $20! (Food/Utilities slightly under, Fun slightly over) Woot!

Gardening

On the weekend I planted a herb garden. It was waaay too much work and took about a day to dig up the sod and dirt, and then mix in 5 bags of soil into the hole. The soil cost about $9 and the plants cost about $20. So I'd better get over $30 of herbs back out of this!! Some of the herbs (excluding the basil, I think) are perennials, so we'll see what comes up next year.

Below is a list of what was planted.

A. Basil (Italian?)
B. Different kind of Basil (lettuce?)
C. Garlic Chives
D. Sage
E. Uh, ok... double letter on the basil
F. Flat leaf Italian Parsley
G. Tarragon
H. 2 kinds of Thyme

Conference

Ok, totally not keeping up with the journaling. Once I fall behind, it's hard to start up again until I've totally forgotten anything interesting (well, as interesting as things get around here...)

I went to a conference in Cornwall held at Nav Canada in Cornwall. The facilities were really nice, if a bit old. The actual conference was informative, if boring at times. Took the train for the first time. And I gained 5lbs in 4 days. Sigh. More details below.

The train ride on Via1 was pretty cool. It took about 4 hours each way. It was really comfortable - we reserved a table for 4 and played cards. Oh, and my fellow travellers spent a lot of time ogling a cute girl on the way back (2 Seans, Dom and Sandy).

The train food was mediocre. On the way there the appetizer was a yummy wine-poached pear with brie cheese. The main course was a HORRIBLE "General Tao's Chicken" - stringy and overly brined. The dessert was a profiterole bar with cream and chocolate. On the way back, pate and jelly on melba toast was the app. A dry pork chop in lots of gravy and pureed turnip was the main (ew) and the dessert was an awesome custard-caramel-flan.

NavCan was pretty neat. Apparently pilots spend months there training. There were a lot of facilities for fun, which was good because I didn't bring a laptop (they said not all rooms had internet - but of course mine ended up having internet). Sean and I were about equal at table tennis (embarassing, but I blame the crappy rackets with no rubber!) We swam in a pretty big pool - spring board and water slide. Sean somehow managed to put on my bathing trunks so I used his. Senile! And pool tables, which I totally suck at. There was also a really nice trail along the lake and the weather was wonderful. Late nights were spent playing poker and euchre.

I ate for 4 days straight. Snacked on the way to the train. Ate on the train. Got to Cornwall and had a prime rib buffet (mm) at NavCan. NavCan catered the rest of the meals - meaning there was lots of food, but it was mediocre. To be sure of getting something to eat, I'd take the main course and 3 slices of pizza in case the meal sucked. Usually I'd end up eating both. And of course every meal had dessert (cake and cookies). In between meals, the conference halls were stocked with snacks, so we'd eat those too! I can't imagine staying there for months - the food was fine for a bit, but nothing like good restaurant food or home cooking.

On the charter bus back to the train station, the transmission gave out and we almost missed our train ride back to Toronto. The picture is us waiting at a city bus stop! The charter company called Via Rail and got them to slow down so that we could catch the train.

All in all, fun but exhausting! Glad to be back.

Lazy

Yeah, haven't been posting lately... sigh. Lotsa food stuff going on, went to Martin/Fiona's house to play games ... uh... yeah. Think I have some photos to post. Just lazy.

Training Jaunt

Just ended a training jaunt. The first 3 days were, of all things, on Windows XP. That was pretty boring. The last day was on SMS (Systems Management Server, not the messaging stuff) which was actually kind of neat. Too bad they couldn't have reversed the time spent on each.

Anyway, the training took place in downtown Toronto, just next to the Eaton Centre. The Marriot, where I stayed, had an awesome LG LCD widescreen, so that was really nice. I also ogled some All-Clad pans ($1600 for the set I wanted!) and bought and expensive electric knife sharpener at Williams Sonoma. Heh, I used most of my food expenses for it, leaving me very little to eat over that week!

Aaron and I walked down to the St Lawrence market. Lotsa cool foodstuffs there - fairly large, bacon wrapped pieces of filet mignon can be had for just $5! But I couldn't really buy anything as I didn't have a place to keep it refridgerated.

Overall, a fun week! Well, except for the hours spent hauling my luggage on the subway/bus on the way there and back.

Dave's New Car

Dave's new car is a BMW 328i (I think! Silly BMW all Flash page, so this link is to a review). He just picked it up today and it's really nice. Integrated iPod connector, auto dimming mirrors, individual heating controls - even little gadgets that extend the seatbelts toward you when you start the car.

Speaking of starting the car - you insert your keychain into a slot and press a button to start the car, which is pretty neat. Dave let me drive it for a bit and it handles really well and the engine is really quiet - I'm a bit out of practice driving a standard, though. We went to Toronto and got a great deal on a meal.

Opportunities Overload

Ugh. Lately, there seem to be a lot of internal job competitions happening in my department and they're stressing me out a bit. I've submitted applications and/or written tests for 3 other job competitions, but this last one is more than I can bear right now.

I'm currently doing a developmental assignment as a technical Team Leader and it's rewarding, but very hectic. Meanwhile, I'm trying to provide as much support as I can to my home office, because they're currently without support. Capping it all off, I'm sick and miserable, and I can't call in sick because there's too much going on at work. If I weren't doing this assignment, I'd definitely be sick in bed.

So yes, I'm whining.

Deathly Ill

Groan. I've picked up a flu bug. I think from my sister who was really the only person visiting me.

I figured if I worked at home, I could still work - but I started aching in all my joints and couldn't concentrate. So I called in sick after a teleconference which I had to chair and was totally out of breath. Then I tried to sleep, but phlegm keeps building up in my throat and then I can't breathe. Finally, I made an emergency call to the parents who brought over some cold medicine. I'm now waiting for it to kick in and drinking a too-strong garlic chicken soup to try to recover by tomorrow, when I'm supposed to visit an office for a meeting.

Cars

Lately, I've been doing a fair amount of travelling in rental cars. My company will only pay for standard cars, but I've gotten a different car each time. This isn't going to be really detailed - I'm not a car person.

The first car I got was a PT Cruiser. It was really comfortable, seemed powerful enough and had a lot of luxury features. The interior space seemed really big. The power steering and automatic transmission were very smooth.

By contrast, the Kia Spectra felt like a toy. There was a lot of plastic in the interior and the steering wheel felt cheap. The power steering was underpowered and the engine felt weak.

Most recently, I got the Kia Magentis. The most interesting thing about it is the 'shiftronic' sports-style automatic transmission that lets you select your gears. That was kind of fun, and actually useful for easy passing on the highway. The trim level was much more luxurious and the engine was a bit stronger than the Spectra.

I think I liked driving the PT Cruiser best, even though it's a bit ugly.

No updates, really...

Blah. Been busy. No updates.

Work:
Been doing an acting managerial gig. Lotsa administrative stuff, very little tech stuff. I enjoy it as a change from my regular job, but I'm not certain if I'd like to do it permanently if it were offered to me. There's also a lot of after-hours unpaid overtime involved, which I don't mind, but it does cut into relaxation time. I also wrote a test for another position, but it's just for a pool of potential hires, so who knows if anything will come of it. Totally over-studied.

Fun:
Well, not a lot, as I was really concentrating on studying. Last weekend was the first weekend after writing the competition. I visited with the next door neighbors, who are really nice. I made some really nice cinnamon buns and my neighbor made a very yummy light cheesecake topped with peaches. I got to take some home with me and ate it over the next few days.

I also attended a family birthday party. It's been a while since I've seen them, and of COURSE they all mentioned how much weight I've gained. Heh, brutal but honest, I guess. I made an elaborate, 4 layer chocolate cake, layered with raspberry whipped cream, surrounded by chocolate buttercream and topped with glossy ganache. Unfortunately, the cake was a bit dry :-(

People still seemed to like it, but if it weren't for the brutal honesty (see above) I'd think they were just being polite. Of the cakes there, mine was the most eaten - but given that the other 2 cakes were storebought/no-flour cakes, that's not saying much. I threw 1/2 of my piece of cake out rather than eating it.

Neighbours

The family that share my semi-detached home are really nice. The husband, Mike, has been shovelling the shared driveway so I'm feeling a bit bad (though a couple of times I've managed to get the snowplow stuff thrown up at the bottom of the driveway). It's even worse, because they park in the driveway, so there's not a lot to shovel. Meanwhile, my driveway is empty so the whole thing is covered with snow.

However, with my foot the way it is, I'm very grateful not to have had to shovel the load of snow that fell yesterday.

My Stupid Foot

Argh! The gout has flared up again. It's definitely triggered by impact and this one was definitely Anthony's fault!! (Heh, Anthony, if you're reading this...) I was doing an acting assignment at work as Team Leader (a quasi management role) and Anthony phoned me as I was climbing stairs. I tried to answer the phone while continuing up the stairs, tripped, went flying and banged my toe. So yeah, I blame Anthony! Heh.

Needless to say, it's been getting worse - on Wednesday, Dom kindly drove me home as I couldn't walk, I took Thursday off. I went in on Friday but now it's hurting really bad and I can't get my shoe on. My right foot is visibly higher than my left foot with swelling.

Sucks, I say!

Christmas Dining

Whew. Hardly ate at all today, because I ate tons last night.

Had a Christmas lunch with my co-workers at the Keg. I had calamari, a Keg-sized slice of prime rib and a creme brulee. All of it was very good - the prime rib was nicely medium rare and the custard was very wide and shallow, so it had a nice large crunchy top. So it was a fun time with Dom, Renato and Sean.

For dinner, I went out with friends (Catherine, Dave, Erich, Rucell and Trevor) and ordered MORE food. It was fun and tasted good too. More about the restaurant we went to in the next post.

So yeah. Lotsa eating.

Naomi's Walking! Fast!

Wow... this is apparently 2 days after she took her first steps on her own! Lookithergo! She kinda has this clap-reach-jab routing happening. Jen posted the vid to youtube, so I shamelessly embedded it here.

Win Some, Lose Some

Played poker with the guys again. Unlike last time, I got off to a disastrous start, just bleeding money really fast! I stabilized after a bit (heh, was able to return the $20 I borrowed off of Sean after running out of cash!) but couldn't really recover. All in all, lost about $80 or maybe a bit less. It was still a lot of fun.

We met at Rick's house after work and he made some awesome pizzas. I ate myself silly, but hey, they seeme