By the way...

did ya read about Jim's triathalon? It's a good read... he did very well.

He also did a write up of his solo trip to Rock Lake... it was quite the adventure!

I should have mentioned these posts earlier but since most of you come to my blog from his, you would have already read them. :)

No big plans for us this weekend... just trying to get things organized around the house for the kids starting back to school and Marie starting up her music teaching again. (myc.com is the program she teaches)

I'm actually looking forward to working on the house since it's kinda been gettin' out of hand lately. I'd like to tackle the garage before the cold weather gets here too so that I can get my car into the garage to service it over the winter.

What are you doing this weekend? Anything exciting?

Anyway, whatever it is that you get up to this weekend, have a GREAT weekend and don't labour too hard on labour day!

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Whoa... I almost broke one of the facebook etiquette rules...

I'm sittin' here on my 5th beer and I started to leave comments on people's facebook walls... don't worry, I caught myself and erased them... instead I am posting here... perhaps it's best if I stop here...

Oh, and... Happy b-day GeWilli. The 4th one was for you! :)

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Readers, meet tumblr; tumblr, meet the readers

I just started playin' around with a new kind of blogging using the tumblelog format.


I've set up an RSS feed for this blog that automatically sends content to The Life Of Suds so that I can keep this format until I make a decision (which could also end up being that I keep both going... we'll see...). What I really like about the tumblr format is that I can use a widget button on my mozilla (firefox) toolbar that allows me to very quickly and easily share a website link with the click of a button. You'll find quite a few that I've already shared as I "tumbled" on to them. Anyway, take a look and see if you like it.

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A quote for Suki...

and for anyone else that happens to read this...

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
--Henry Ford

Another gem from Lifehacker.com...

Check this out...



This is a bootable CD that will turn almost any computer into a media centre. It's temporary too... all you have to do is remove the CD and reboot to get back to the O/S on your HDD. I have an old laptop that I wanted to use as a video player when we go on long road trips (like down to Florida)... the problem was getting the software to play DVDs... I mean, i could get it but not for free. I had tried a few but they were kinda buggy and would hang when playin' the DVD so I'm gonna try this one. It's not a top priority since we don't have any road trips planned right now but once I do try it out, I'll let you know how it worked out.

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I'm kinda torn...

whilst I like the idea of facebook and the fact that I have been able to find people I had lost contact with, I am not particularly into all the "super-duper" apps that a lot of people seem to like... it kinda stoops to the myspace level versus a more sophisticated/mature on-line social network. (okay, that sounds a bit "snobby" but I do find the myspace environment to be somewhat immature in nature, sorry folks). I came across this article (at my new-found fave website lifehacker.com) about facebook etiquette that I wanted to share. I posted the article below and you can read it directly from here:

As Facebook slowly but surely begins to take over all aspects of our lives, I believe it is important to keep in mind certain principles of etiquette when using the social networking service. Having been a user since 2004, when it was still exclusive to certain colleges/universities, I like to consider myself somewhat of a facebook veteran. I would therefore like to contribute certain Facebook etiquette rules:

* One should not friend another whom they have no association or connection with whatsoever. Doing so makes you what I like to call a ‘creeper’.

* Poke with moderation and caution (I stand firmly by this etiquette principle).

* When speaking with someone whom you have been casually ‘facebook stalking’, try to pretend you do not know everything about them. Avoid comments like: “So, I saw you and Mike broke up on facebook…”

* Drunken facebooking can get you in trouble… Try to restrain yourself from leaving an inebriated wall post on that cute guy or girl’s profile.

* Additionally, writing on your own wall is somewhat of a "faux pas" (I believe strongly in this one as well).

* Beware of potential employers browsing facebook photos. That body shot or keg stand picture might not encourage hiring.

* One’s profile should not be overloaded with unnecessary applications (such as Superpoke, Food Fight, ect.), Facebook is not meant to be like myspace.

* Being part of too many Facebook groups devalues the ones you truly care about, try to stick to a select few (under 25?).

* One’s popularity is based on the number of “Happy Birthday!!!!!” wallposts they receive. Do not forget to leave one on good friends’ walls on their special day.

* Finally (for now), do use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with people whom you otherwise might not but do not let it replace actual human interaction (easier said than done).

I like a lot of what the author posts. There were also a few comments that I also agreed with

With that being said, it was very nice to get all the birthday wishes from people through facebook. I'm not going to comment on the implication about popularity made in a point above but I will say that it was very nice and put a smile on my face to get the b-day wishes.

I'm sittin' on a conference call here at work right now and even though I'm not thrilled about having to be on the call, I should prolly stop writing here and pay attention to what's being said on the call.

Have a good day everyone!

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I give you a cut from "Weapons of Grass Destruction"

Hayseed Dixie does a number of bluegrass covers of well known rock and pop songs that I really like... it's kinda like the Paul Anka "Rock Swings" cuts... really awesome to hear a song done in a different style than we're used to.

R.E.M.'s Everybody Hurts:


Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit:


David Lee Roth doing Jump! with a bluegrass band:


Hayseed Dixie doing Outkast's Roses:


Just wanted to share those...

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So I tried the utility out...

and it seemed to do a good job of cleaning up the registry and cookies. I'll hafta see how the performance changes, if at all, and report back. In the meantime, here's the button for you to take a look if you like:



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A neat utility that I'm gonna try

I'm gonna download this utility and see how it works. I'll report back here after I've tried it. I had a conversation with a consultant that was at work a few weeks ago and we were talkin' about windows and how it gradually slows down over time and how MAC tends to be more proficient at releasing resources and keeping the system clean. Anyway, I'll try this utility on my home machine and get back to y'all.

By the way, the button is not linked right now, I figured I should try it out before I pimp it out. :)

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Here's a neat blog I found today...

Lifehacker.com - which is a software and productivity guide. I was fascinated with the post showing the responses to their request to send them pictures of people's "go bags". Take a look here and see what people carry around with them everyday... it's very interesting and to be honest, I find the idea of getting a nicer bag for me to carry my stuff around in. Right now I use my laptop bag and I find it to be heavier than it needs to be. Anyway, take a look at what people submitted, maybe you'll find it interesting too.

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Is it bad...

that I'm eating my lunch at 10:30am?



Gawd, I'm starvin' today... I'm wishin' I had this guy's burger!

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Haven't really got far with the triplog...

so I thought I'd post a few pics for you to see.

This is me on our second last portage of our last day. I had done a pretty stooopid thing and packed my hat deep in my backpack (actually, I had left in there the previous night and inadvertently packed everything on top of it the next morning) so I used my bandanna to cover my chrome-dome... it turned out to be pretty good since it allowed more airflow than the Tilley.

Here's Jim on the last portage too. We're lookin' so much more refreshed than last year. It's amazing how much influence the psychological aspect of physical activity plays in the overall experience. We knew what to expect (having never done serious portaging before last year) and it really helped set our expectations. We also adjusted our pace and the load we took which always helps with the physical aspect of the trip.



We saw lots of moose on this trip. This moose wasn't bothered by us in the least, she kept numchin' on the lily pads... we ended up drifting real close to her, about 25to 30 feet at the most I'd say. It was at that point that I thought about how strong moose are and that she may decide she didn't like us floating and would rather see us swimming... I started to paddle away from her at that point. :)


The lake we stayed on was nice and quiet... here's a pic of the sunset... it was taken on the second night we were there. The first night is missing from my pics for a very specific reason that I will talk about when I do my trip log. In the meantime, enjoy the sunset...

We made it back alive!

So it was a GREAT trip to Algonquin. The trip included highlights such as fresh bear tracks, fresh bear poop, close encounters with meese (okay, I know, moose is also the plural but it's not nearly as funny), line ups at portages, amazing weather and fantastic sleeps in my hammock lookin' up at the starry sky.

I've got a lot to write up but I want to get it all together before I publish it. We ended up doing the loop in 3.5 days instead of 4.5 days so, as you might imagine, I was feelin' pretty, um... tired at the end of our travel days. Here's a shot of me lyin' in my hammock on our last night in the park. I think I was conscious for all of 5 minutes after I clicked this pic. I slept like a log. :)

More to come later...

Have a great day everyone!

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So I'm frantically trying to get all my work done...

before we leave tomorrow afternoon and it feels like I'm loosing the battle... so much to do, so little time. On top of a surge of work at my corporate job, I also started a business on the side doing application development and database programming and development for small to medium sized businesses. (before you start sayin' I'm crazy for adding more to my plate, I figured it would be better for me to pick up some extra work at the hourly rate I can get doing this stuff than Marie can get workin' at the local Tim Horton's... an no, she wouldn't be dressed like a giant coffee cup - that's my job!)

Anyway, things are rollin' along with regards to out trip in no small way because of Jim. If he didn't take control of that, I'd be shopping on the way up to Algonquin! As it stands, there is a distinct possibility that I'll be still packin' with Jim sittin' in my car on my driveway... very reminiscent of CC2005... don't worry Jim, I'm kiddin' (you hope!) LOL!

Anyway, 1 DAy, 4 HOURS AND 34 MINUTES until we leave! Holy Sh1t, I gotta go! Load up the llamas!

Have a great day everyone!

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