So I found myself wandering around the blogsphere...

when I stumbled on this blog by Down Town Kevin Brown. I just scanned a few of the posts and came across some video links... I watched a few but found these ones particularly funny and wanted to share them with you.

This one is a longer skit but I think it's well done and funny:


Then there was a series of advertisements from Hillshire Farms. I've never heard of them (they must be in the U.S. only) but this one in particular made me laugh out loud and nearly made the water I was drinking come out my nose. When you watch it, pay attention to the Asian girl's facial expressions. (oh, and don't have any liquids in yer mouth, ya might me wipin' them off the screen, LOL).


The "Woo!" she does at the end is priceless!

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!

g.

Hello Baaaaaby!

I got my car back last night! It feels like a new car... the transmission seems to be strong and smooth, the shifting is nice and clean/crisp... it's a thing of beauty really. After driving the van for a few days, I always notice how nice it is to have all that torque that the TDI gives you... it's not the first time I've noticed this (I always make that observation when we're done a long family road trip in the van) but it was even sweeter last night and this morning gettin' to do some long drives on the highway.

We're now down to 7 days 'til we leave for Algonquin! Woo Hoo! I can not wait! I'm really lookin' forward to it... I think the first day is gonna be awesome. It's a long haul with the HUGE 3km portage that has major elevation changes on it. Jim and I were speculating on how long it would take us to get to Robinson Lake... last year it took us 12 hours (I think) to get to Burntroot Lake, which is one lake south of where we're going (and we have to briefly pass through it to get to Robinson)... we're hoping to be in the 11 hour range to get to Robinson given that we've done this route before and more importantly, know what to expect. Last year some of our progress was slower 'cause we were learnin' as we went. This year we know where we're goin' and how hard it'll be. That was one of the biggest umm... I guess, shocks of last year... this carrying a canoe on yer head for several km's at a time is hard, especially goin' uphill.

Anyway, my day is absolutely JACKED so I should stop procrastinatin' (don't get me wrong, I enjoy chattin' with ya) and get back to work.

Have a GREAT day everyone!

g.

So I may be late to the party on this one...

but have you heard of Biomass to Liquid fuels? I mean, Fischer-Tropsch fuels have existed for a long time (since the 1920's) however, the emissions from the process where considerable and I think in today's environmentally sensitive political and social climate, would be unacceptable.
I've known about BioDiesel for a long time but this seems to be different. It's synthetic diesel made from a different process than transesterification that is used by biodiesel from veggie oil and animal fats.

That brings me to Carbo-V process used by CHOREN Industries.

Shell has invested in CHOREN Industries to produce SunDiesel which has the following advantages:

• has a high cetane number and therefore much better ignition performance than conventional diesel fuel
• has no aromatics or sulfur and significantly reduces pollutants from exhaust emissions
• can be used without any adjustment to existing infrastructure or engine systems
• is largely CO₂-neutral

SunDiesel is a BTL fuel - that is, it's a Biomass to Liquid fuel.

Biomass, in the energy production industry, refers to living and recently dead biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production. You can read about Biomass in it's wikipedia entry.

From the CHOREN website, there's a page that talks about the potential of biomass. Here are some of the highlights:

• Biomass is a sustainable resource that it is constantly being formed by the interaction of air, water, soil and sunlight.
• There are almost no limits on how much biomass can be grown. The continuous growth of plants on our planet exceeds our primary energy requirements many times over.
• Only 50 % of this unused annual potential would be enough to supply the raw materials for eleven large-scale industrial SunFuel production units i.e. for producing approx. 2.5 million t/a of SunFuel.
• In theory this amount could be used to produce 30 million t of SunFuel. This would be enough to meet 50% of the total automotive fuel consumption needs in Germany – including air traffic. And there would be no restrictions on the supply of foodstuffs either.

CHOREN is a German company but it's still very relevant to us here in North America. I had link to and read an article on this type of process (and I believe I blogged on it too) but I guess I just viewed this as some future potential, not a here and now possibility.

Anyway, I've used up a lot of work time reading about this stuff this morning so I'm gonna go for now but I'd love to hear about what your thoughts are on BTL fuels and if you know of any other information on this topic. Does anyone know if there is fuel being produced here? From another perspective, does anyone know of any company that I could invest in that is poised to start producing BTL fuels that are environmentally friendly?

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Two and a half plus hour commute

That's how long it took for me to get into work this morning. It started out with a walk to the bus stop. Then a bus ride through all the towns between my house and the train station. Then a train ride into Toronto followed by a subway ride to Bloor/Yonge and finally a walk several blocks to work. I left my town at 5:10 and arrived at 7:45.


And they wonder why people insist on driving to work instead of taking public transit. I would kill someone if I had that commute to face everyday. I'd prolly just quit my job and work at the local Tim Horton's. My commute would be 3 minutes, I could walk, ride my bike, run... anything but take my car. That would only last for as long as it takes to default on my mortgage and for the bank to repossess the house though. I think I could make the uniform work, or perhaps I'm better as a giant coffee cup.. thoughts?



Jim has come through again with the lists for our trip. I'm tellin' ya, it awesome for someone like me to have a friend like him to keep me on track and organized. So far things are lookin' better than last year... gear list is lighter, food pack should be lighter... I'm thinkin' that we'll end up with packs that are in the neighourhood of 50lbs with my hydration pack filled. The menu is lookin' yummy too. This year we're takin' up wine again only this time Jim found tetra packs of wine in small sizes... something like 350ml (about the size of a can of pop).


Jim and I were also talkin' about where we'd hang the hammocks and we've taken a look at some of the pics that I took of the island. We may not get exactly where we imagined but we will find somewhere to hang them even if it is a little away from the main fire pit area. (we obviously wouldn't want to be too close to the fire pit) Jim learned a lot on his solo trip (even though it got cut short)... he's still workin' on the writeup but I promise you, it will be worth the read when he posts it.

Well, another day has come and gone. I'm gonna be leavin' shortly for my monumental trek home.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Damn car

So it looks like I have a big repair bill coming to me for my car. Sheesh... just when things were lookin' better on the $$$ front too.

Damn car.

I'm sorry car, I love you... I didn't mean it.

It looks like there a transmission issue. I am embarrassed to say I believe this one is my fault, not mechanical failure... I'm just not ready to say what I did out loud and admit to it. I'll have to wait to hear back from the dealership on what the problem is. I know a lot of you are sayin' "you're crazy takin' it to the dealership!" but I assure you, I have found a gem of a dealership in a smaller town. They charge a fair rate and have never tried to talk me into unnecessary work. I usually do my own maintenance and have even changed my timing belt with the help of a few members of tdiclub.com lookin' over my shoulder. I just didn't feel comfortable with this one since I know zero about fixin' transmissions and I don't have a lot of time right now since I took a some freelance database work to help with the finances. I guess it's a good thing I took that work on now... only problem is I'll prolly end up spending all the money I make on the car repair (hopefully not more than I'm makin' 'cause that would suk).

Anyway, Jim and I are gettin' together this weekend to go over the final details of our Algonquin trip. As he mentioned in his latest post, we didn't get a room at the hotel in Mattawa 'cause they were all booked up... who'd o' thunk? We're stayin' at the same motel as last year where the owner had put in a sub shop and I'm happy to report that he has now expanded his culinary skill set to include a Chinese food buffet! Ya gotta wonder how he even had enough customers to make the sub place successful... I mean, Mattawa is a *very* small town and he's not even *in* Mattawa! Good for him though. We've secured ourselves a non-smoking room which, I suspect, will smell very much like a smoking room like our non-smoking room did last year. Oh well, beats sleepin' in the car I guess.

Well, I'm anxiously waiting to hear from the dealership but I also have work to do here at home (I'm glad I brought my laptop home last night, I almost left it at work for the night).

Have a great day everyone.

g.

Last night's footie game was awesome

BMO Field is a fantastic venue. There isn't a bad seat in the place. I was sitting in the supporters section behind the south goal. The viewing angle was just west of the centre of the field. The game was a good game, I was cheering for Uruguay but the USA won by one goal. There were a few shoving matches and at the end both team got into it a little but in the end no one was hurt.

I went onto the Toronto FC site today to see if I could get tickets for one of their games but it doesn't look like I can. I've made some inquiries on the facebook marketplace but I'm pretty sure they'll be askin' for more than I'm willing to pay.

I even contemplated season tickets for next year since the seats are only $200/season in the section I sat in last night but there's a waiting list. I signed up anyway figuring I'd deal with the decision if/when they contacted me.

=======================

You see the dashed line above, you know the drill...

Have a great day everyone!

g.

So a buddy of mine...

bought tickets to the FIFA U-20 world cup tourny going on in Canada. Mike gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in going to a game since we'd been talking about trying to get out to see Toronto FC at the new BMO field. I said yes and he said it was his treat. I asked if he was sure and he said yes so I'm meetin' up with him tonight after work. The match is set to kick off at 19:45 and it's USA v. Uruguay. I'm really lookin' forward to this as I've never seen a live soccer football game at this level... I was tryin' to get tickets to a game between Aston Villa FC and Toronto FC but that's a game that's out of my budget so my immediate chance to see a Premier League team play live is gonna pass by... oh well.

GeWilli seems to be in some sort of poet mode or sommat... take a look at the way he wrote out his post titled "spinning".

Marie and the kids are coming down to my office this afternoon (dropping off our nephew who's been staying with us for the last week) and I'm really excited about that. It always makes me happy to see my family during the day... I wish I could do it more often.

==================================================================

Well, yet another post started with good intentions but the day "happened" and I must hit the publish button once again...

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Jim left for Algonquin today

Well, Jim started his solo trip today. I was talkin' with Marie about it last night... she asked if I would like to do a solo trip. I told her I'd love to do solo trip. She said she doesn't get it so I tried to explain that I thought it would be awesome to go off on your own, face the challenge of paddlin' a solo canoe, findin' all the portages, not havin' someone to chime in on the decision making ("do ya think the portage is in that inlet or around the next point?")... spending the nights alone in the sounds of nature out in the fresh air. She said she still didn't get it so I compared it to people going on silent retreats and that kinda helped her see what I was gettin' at.

We're goin' trailer campin' with the kids this weekend. I'm really stoked about it. I've talked about how I love both the "car camping" as well as the back country camping. I like havin' the kids around, being excited about every little thing, approaching it like it's an adventure. We'll inevitably end up fishin', swimmin', havin' a campfire, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs... it's gonna be a blast!

Marie's Dad bought a boat and he's puttin' it in the marina near us. P* is really excited 'cause he's soooo into fishin' right now. I'm gonna have to get my boat and fishing licenses real fast. In fact, I should prolly get my fishing license this weekend 'cause we will end up fishin' and it's not worth the hassle if we get caught and we will be in a provincial park so the likelihood if gettin' caught is prolly higher in the prov. park than just at the lakeside spots.

The drive in today was just plain stoooopid... two and a half hours almost to the minute... a high speed crash early this morning closed the eastbound lanes of the 401 and of course, westbound drivers had to stop and look... as if there's anything they can do to help at this point... move along people! The emergency services have everything under control!

Idiot drivers.

Or well, lots to do and like GeWilli, if I keep postin' I'm sure it'll sit for hours with very little added after this so I'll hit publish and move on the next "To Do" on my list today.

Oh, and send you positive thoughts and prayers to Suki... she's hurtin'.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Fast paced world...

"The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it."
- Harry Emerson Fosdick

I liked the quote... I'll have to read up on Harry Emerson Fosdick to learn who he was.

CC2007 mystery gift problem... solved!

So Jim had come up with the idea of each of us getting a little surprise "gift" for Capsized Canoe 2007. Jim got these lexan wine glasses that collapse for travel so we can enjoy the wine we're bringing rather than drinking the wine from our coffee mugs. I was really wracking my brain to come up with a good gift and wasn't havin' much luck so I decided to wander down to MEC and browse through the stuff there. That's where I found the GSI H2JO! Coffee Filter that fits on most wide mouth nalgene water bottles... what a GREAT idea! We both love to have our coffee in the morning with our porridge so this is gonna be perfect. You can also put loose tea leaves in it and have some nice tea. There are two ways to use it - put the tea leaves or coffee grounds in the basket and turn the bottle upside down and let it brew or... you can put the leaves or grounds into the bottle with the hot water and then use the filter to strain the leaves/grounds as you pour the drink. Cool eh? The only caution is that the bottle will be hot to handle but it's not like you'd be traveling on a portage with the stuff... it's most likely that you'd be doin' this when you're stopped (morning or evening meals).

Well, it's a great day outside today... my boss and I sat over at "Fourbucks" (as GeWilli calls it) and had a coffee out on the patio. Great day for it... perfect temps, low humidity, sun shining, great... um... scenery... good stuff.

Since I had an extended break this morning, I'm gonna make this one short and get a few things done so I can leave at a decent hour this afternoon.

Have a great day weekend everyone!

g.

The "Yes Campaign"

For those of you reading this that live in Ontario, please take some time to investigate the Fair Vote Ontario website. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of feeling like my vote doesn't make a difference and that my voice is not being heard. Under the current voting system (first-past-the-post) that may very well be true. Under our current (and I believe outdated) system of election, a party can win just 40% of the votes, get 60% of the seats, and 100% of the power.

The only voters sending MPs to Ottawa are those
who support the most popular party in their riding.
In other words, your political beliefs and place of
residence determine whether your vote counts. If
you hold the "wrong" political views or live in the
"wrong" place, your vote means nothing

- source "This is democracy?"

In Ontario we are proposing that we move to mixed member proportional (MMP) voting system, similar to those used in New Zealand, Germany, Scotland and Wales. Below is a description from the Fair Vote Ontario web page:

MMP SYSTEM: ONE BALLOT, TWO VOTES

The MMP voting system allows each voter to cast two votes: one for a preferred local candidate and one for a preferred party.

Ontario would have 90 ridings. The riding seats would be filled as they are today, with voters casting votes for a single local candidate. But the legislature would also have an additional 39 at-large seats. To fill those seats, parties would nominate lists of candidates, some of whom would win seats depending on the portion of votes their party received. Each party would have the number, or portion, of seats its popular vote warrants, not more, not less.

MORE CHOICE, EQUAL VOTES, FAIR RESULTS

Not only does MMP make all voters equal, it also tends to produce legislatures with more women and visible minorities. Parties will find they win more party votes when their at-large candidate lists balance the number of women and men, and include minority candidates.

I've decided to join the campaign and I hope that you give it due consideration. This is our province, it should be our government. Let's take responsibility and make this historical and very important change happen!

g.