Neat map of Algonquin Park

Here's a neat survey map from 1893 -->


It's neat to compare the original map to a more modern one to see the changes (location of features, lake names, etc.)
Here's the newer map from 1997 in pdf format with lots of details.

I've been reading a blog by Jill from Alaska. Yes, she's another cyclist that I've found through GeWilli. You should take a look at her blog... she writes very well (she is a journalist after all) and I found her post from yesterday to be very inspiring. She also has some fantastic photos that she takes when she's out riding. I like that a lot of her pics feature her bike standing alone like this... cool.

Well, it's Friday and I have to say I'm really glad about that... it's been a crappy week at work and I really want to get the basement finished off and move onto the next "thing". There were some issues this week that caused us to have to move the drywall guy to Monday but that's it, I'm not delaying it any longer. With the latest delay taken into account, the basement should be ready for flooring by about the 14th. We're trying to decide what kind of floor we'll put down. I originally wanted carpet but the idea of a nice, high quality laminate in a cherry wood style would look really nice I think. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Okay, I gotta get back to work so I can jet outta here at 3:00 today and beat the traffic home.

Have a great day and a fantastic weekend everyone!

g.

At the risk of airing my dirty laundry...

I wanted to vent a little about my mother-in-law.

I'll start by saying that I believe that she always as a good intention in her heart when she says and does things. I'll follow that up with an observation that I believe she falls flat on her face with her execution of her ideas.

She provides updates about my niece's progress with the bone marrow transplant and it seems that she ALWAYS paints the worst possible picture, often exaggerating and mis-representing facts so that the we get an inaccurate understanding of the situation.

Case in point:
She said that my brother-in-law(J*) didn't want anybody coming down to visit them at the hospital. My other brother-in-law(D*) decided to go down anyway and have a little visit with his brother. It turns out that J* was so happy to have someone come down and "have a cup of coffee" to give him a bit of a break and, I assume, remind him that we're here for him if he needs us. With this revelation, Marie was chattin' with J* and mentioned that I wanted to drop by and have a coffee with him since I'm workin' a few blocks away from the hospital. J*'s response was very positive and he said he would love to have the visit. Now I feel like a heel 'cause I've been so close to where they are and yet I haven't gone over to see them because M-I-L said it wasn't a good thing.

This is where M-I-L and I have very different approaches to things... she thinks that you should keep away from people in sensitive situations whereas I believe that when someone is suffering, you should demonstrate that you are there, be supportive and not be afraid to "make contact" to see if the person in need is receptive to you support. In some cases they want the space but at least they know that you're there if they need you and you've demonstrated it through actions as opposed to words, which people are always quick to offer but they remain just that - words. Don't get me wrong, it's important to be sensitive to what the person wants and not force yourself on them, just let them know in a gentle way that you are really there and ready to support them.

It makes me want to respond the way that stewardess in the NicoDerm commercial acts. Take a look:


Imagine me responding to my M-I-L the way she handles that guy "THE SEATBELT SIGN IS ON! GAWD!" except I'd be saying, "STOP BEIN' A MEDDLING OLD LADY! GAWD!"

(in sheepish tone) Did I mention that my in-laws are helping us finish off our basement? What? Can't I still feel that way about her even though she's helpin' us? '(sheepish tone off)

Speaking of the basement, we've put off the drywall guys until Monday so I can finish off the last few things (framing the doors, putting up the vapour barrier, finishing the insulation around where the plumber worked yesterday, etc) I should have no problem gettin all the little things done by the end of the weekend even though on Saturday we're going over the Cobourg to get help from the local Member of Parliament to get our passports processed quickly in the event that we go down to Florida on March break. Okay, a few details on that one.

We're waiting to see how our niece is doing before we go on any family trips, just in in case. With the whole flight thing for Marie, last year she had bought a ticket to fly to a music teachers conference but ended up having her seizure so we got an extension to her ticket that expires April 1st. We figured that rather than driving for 24 hours with the baby, she would use the ticket, the baby would fly for free and she would be only travelling for a few hours versus days. The theory is that it will be easier than the road trip although I have to say I'll miss havin' her as my co-pilot and relief driver. We always have a blast on these long road trips... they're such an adventure with the kids.

Anyway, I have a 10:00 conference call so I'd better stop here and get ready for the meeting... it has the possibility of bein' a little lively (in a work kinda way) because of the topic.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Does the allure of $$$ sow it's ugly seeds?

Here's an interesting read on biofuels.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

AMSTERDAM

Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing electricity plants to use some biofuel — in particular, palm oil from Southeast Asia.

Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants.

But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale began to look more like an environmental nightmare.

Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked after the United States and China, concluded a study released in December by researchers from Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands.

"It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for Wetlands, a conservation group.

Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding.

As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review.

"If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels — or a 20 percent increase."

"Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to "just see what the effects are here in Europe."

In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The government, environmental groups and some of the "green energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify what is produced in an eco- friendly manner.

Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it pollute the Netherlands?'"

Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed world, including the European Union and the United States, and enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to produce than conventional fuel.

In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel fuel. But as many European countries push for more green energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home.

On the surface, the environmental equation that supports biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions.

But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil was advertised as green energy, but there was no research about whether it was really sustainable."

Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs.

The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for edible oils.

Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the government has encouraged its use for electricity.

Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The company now has replaced the palm oil it used with conventional sources of energy and local biofuels.

But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the European Environment Agency, said.

Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years.

Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' energy needs with someone else's food resources," said Creyghton of Friends of the Earth.

Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands International released their bombshell calculation about the global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused.

Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are released into the atmosphere.

To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia.

The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said.

"These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner.

But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say.

Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel.

Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in Indonesia for sustainability.

"Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you will have to prove that you produce it sustainably — that you are producing less, not more CO2."

Ya see, it another example of not lookin' at the big picture. Just because something is good from one perspective, doesn't mean it's not bad from another. Makes ya think eh?

Guy's night out recounted...

check out Jim's post about our night out last week. It was a strange experience...

It's not so much the temperature...

as it is the lack of appropriate attire for the temps. As I was readin' Geoff's post about the fact that he is still riding his bike into work, it got me thinking that my problem is that I'm not dressing for the weather. I insist on wearing things don't provide enough insulation and/or refuse to dress in enough layers for the temps. Gotta change that or stop bitchin' to the seats in my car that it's too damn cold. (I commute alone so there's no one around me when the car is so freakin' cold the seat cushions are actually hard) I can't commute on a bike like Geoff 'cause my commute is about 85km one way.

Details about yesterday... hmm... Alison "accused" me of being very brief in my e-mails... I dunno, I like to think I'm good at gettin' to the point and being very efficient with my writing... no? Screw you then! Kidding people. Alison and I had some good laughs and we both seemed to enjoy catching up. I'm not really good at regurgitating conversations... kinda like when I was as a kid tryin' to tell someone about a movie I watched - always had problems doin' that. What I can tell you is we're gonna meet up again and perhaps pull in one or two other people that we went to school with. We'll see.

Last night I went grocery shopping on the way home and picked up some nice lamb chops. Now I know that there are a lot of people out there that don't eat meat but I'm not gonna apologise for the fact that I do. In fact, lamb is my fave meat but I don't have it often so it's like a treat for me. One time, when we were first married, Marie surprised me with a nice dinner when I got home from work. She had made lamb chops and a home made plum chutney which was AWESOME! She said that she'll dig out the recipe and do it again sometime soon.

...

This post has been sittin' here all day and I keep comin' back to add to it and now I'm outta time so I'll end here.

One last thing... my niece isn't doin' well today (she had her marrow transplant today and there have been complications) so please pray for her as she struggles.

g.

Classmates part deux...

Okay, so I met up with Alison this morning and I think she may be stalking me.... JOKING!

Alison is as nice a person as I remembered and I had nothing to fear or be nervous about. We chatted for quite a while in Starbuck's across the street from my office. The topics ranged from our kids to where are they now to parenting to where we've been and who we've seen. It was a wonderful experience and we're gonna do again soon. I know that some people may want more details but I kinda hafta make up some of my time from this morning so I gotta run. I should also say that Alison made good timing from the Cook Islands to meet me and I appreciate it! ;)

g.

Whoa, that's cold...

minus 18!!! with an overnight low of -26!!! Holy cow that's cold!

Wow... that's not so good...

I re-read my post this morning and ummm... yeah... it doesn't paint a great picture does it. I need to emphasize that these were my thoughts, not the reality! LOL! Sometimes I need to take pause and think before I speak, or in this case write. My memories of Alison are good and she was always very nice... in fact, I remember her laughing at my jokes (okay, maybe THAT makes her crazy... who's gonna laugh at my jokes? LOL!) No seriously, we went to the same grade school and high school and rode on the same school buses so I can't imagine that she's changed that much.

I should also mention that I had a weird guilty feelin' about meeting up with her because I hadn't mentioned it to Marie. It wasn't for any other reason than I kept forgetting to mention it. I had told her that Alison had contacted me and made sure she knew it wasn't an "old flame" (just setting the context for her) but I forgot to tell her that we were meeting for coffee. Anyway, I told her and it wasn't an issue for her. I'll follow up later to let you know how the "reunion" goes this afternoon.

I've read Jim's post about the things that drive him crazy a few times (only 'cause he hasn't posted anything new in a week) and perhaps that's why I got thinkin' a few thoughts...

and on that note I give you...

"Things That Make Me (kinda) Crazy"

• why do people say that they will give or gave it "110%"... I mean, if they feel they gave it more than 100% then perhaps they weren't giving 100% to begin with...thoughts?
• when people are trying to say that something doesn't really bother them, they say "I could care less"... isn't it supposed to be "I couldn't care less"...? If you could care less, then it means something to you and if you couldn't care less, then it means nothing to you... I dunno... thoughts?

Okay, it's a very short list and by no means representative of all things that drive me crazy but they were two thoughts I had driving in to work today.

And in my usual style, let's move on to my next random thought... I work on the 13th floor...

gasp! you say "not the 13th floor!"

and I say, yeah, what of it? I ain't...


"very superstitious, writings on the wall..."


thanks Stevie, take five brotha... speaking of the wall, the building next to mine is a condo building and here I sit everyday, lookin' out my window at the people next door doing various things, walking 'round in their pj's, having breakfast, doing yoga, surfin' the internet... gets me thinkin', I wouldn't like to live where people are able to see that much into my home. For instance, does that woman one floor up think that we can't see her doin' the "downward facing dog"? I feel like I know her more than I should for a "window buddy". Wow, she's flexible... okay next topic!

For anyone that wanders over here and has a read of my blog, drop me a line and let me know if you have a blog (alright Jim, I already know you have a blog so calm down buddy...) so I can wander over and have a read. (VP) It's really neat that you can learn about people that you never would have known otherwise. Cool.

Geoff has been makin' life kinda hard for me by talkin' so much about "Paczki" and posting pics of that wonderful lookin' puffy ball of sweet goodness... I've never had one but I'd sure love to! I asked Marie about it 'cause her mom is of Polish decent and Marie hadn't heard of it before. Perhaps I pronounced it wrong. I'll check with her mom. This one looks the best to me, almost like a Krispy Kreme glazed jelly... mmmm, carbo-licious!

Well, it's that time again. Gotta get back to work.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Now for the calssmates update...

So I got an e-mail a couple o' weeks ago from someone I went to grade school and high school with. She got my contact info from classmates dot com. I remembered who she was (she had also entered her maiden name otherwise I wouldn't have know) and she mentioned that she was back up where we grew up for a day trip and she ran into my mom. They chatted a bit and my mom filled her in on some details about me (married, kids, living in Newcastle, etc). My guess is that she decided to see if I had entered any info on classmates. I had 'cause I was interested in hearing from people from my high school days to see where they are now. I missed the reunion last year 'cause Marie had her seizure the day in the days before the reunion so I obviously missed that. Anyway, Alison and I traded e-mails and kinda caught up. I have to say I was a little nervous about sharing information since we hadn't talked in a while and to tell you truth I thought:

What if she's turned into some psycho person?

I mean, suppose she all of a sudden she decides we're "best friends" and it turns out that too much time has passed and I don't like who she's become? I mean, if she thinks I'm an idiot she won't keep in contact with me, she'll disappear and I'll be left thinkin' she thinks I'm nuts but that's not a feelin' I'm unfamiliar with so I'd survive. LOL! Seriously though, when there's been as many years pass as there has been in this case, people change... life has a way of "forming" us into different things... we can become jaded by bad experiences... left vulnerable by being too trusting... I don't know, I guess I'm just sayin' that I nervous about meeting up for coffee. I'll be totally honest here... I also didn't want to meet a person who may end up being "needy" or pushy and wanting to pick up where things left off. The reality is, these thoughts are overreactions 'cause it's not like we were seeing each other back then, we were just friends so that's as far as it would "pick up" from.

Okay, I got ramblin' a bit there and I can't imagine what Alison would think if she read this... I'm sure she wouldn't meet me for coffee on Thursday if she read what I just wrote! LOL!

That wasn't exactly a good bit o' writin' but I always said that I tend towards a "stream of consciousness" style than any prize winning literature. :}

I believe that my promise to follow up has been fulfilled and so I now return to work with a umm... weird but satisfied feeling.

Have a good day!

g.

Loose ends...

So I got a feedback that I am a little lax in following up on post that I promise to give more details "later". In my defense, "later" is very ambiguous so I will attempt to follow up on a couple of posts that I promised more details about.

My niece... well, that is not a happy story. My niece is quite young and she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia several years ago. This disease requires a bone marrow transplant which can, often time, be a lengthy search for a donor match. Well, as it would happen, she had not only one, but three matches in her immediate family; her oldest brother, oldest sister and youngest brother. This is quite unusual but you also have to understand that she has six siblings so if anyone had a good chance of finding a match in her immediate family, she would!

Back in 2002 she had her first transplant and at first it appeared to be successful however, after a number of months passed, it seemed that they may not have "killed off" all her bone marrow before transplanting her sister's and that meant that her marrow was "fightin' it out" with her sister's. She managed to continue for a few years with medication but last year she took a turn for the worse. Her blood counts were down and they showed no sign of recovering so they decided to attempt a second transplant. This is an unusual move since they often will not attempt a second transplant. They decided to try again since they didn't get all her stuff out before transplanting her sister's and they also have a second match to try. This time her brother will be the donor and I believe they are adding something to the preparatory routine... somethin' in the way of extra chemo and I believe some radiation treatment too. This will be the last attempt and if it's not successful, they will make her comfortable but that's about all they can do.

I'd like to ask you all to keep her in your thoughts and prayers that this time they will be successful.

I think that's all I'd like to write about on this topic. It's little hard to think about right now... I feel so helpless 'cause there's nothing I can do directly to make it easier or even go away. It's a hard thing to balance giving her parents space and wanting to be there for them. This is particularly hard on Marie since it's her oldest brother whose going through this and she's a very compassionate person who will always be there to help. My feelings of helplessness are aggravated by the fact that my uncle is also very sick but he's over in England (I think I blogged about that before). When Marie and I took our two oldest over there (before the other kids were born) to visit my family, my uncle Kevin gave us a place to stay for one of the weeks we were there. Given the situation now, I so glad we had that opportunity 'cause until then, he was one of those family members I had met once or twice but didn't really know. I also got the opportunity to strike up a friendship with my cousin (his daughter) and I really have a special place in my heart for them. I'm glad that Kevin was able to meet his granddaughter before he went into hospital... he was a proud granddad waiting for her birth when he was over here in October. He reminded me so much of my granddad (who I was named after), both in looks and mannerisms.

Okay, I'm gonna go for a bit (and do some work) but I will come back and provide an update about the whole classmates thing later.

Have a good day everyone.

g.

Ahh, the memories...

a twist on a favorite ad.

Have a good day.

g.

Jim let the cat outta the bag...

in his last post. Capsized Canoe 2008 has been discussed and we've come up with a tentative route that I'm really excited about.

Take a look at the route we're thinkin' of:

There are a number of things that I'm lookin' forward to on this route:

1. Radiant Lake is supposed to be really neat. It's quite shallow in parts during the late summer, so it'll be interesting to experience... I may even get out of the canoe and walk if it's possible.
2. Hittin' parts of the park that I've never seen before. As much as I'm lookin' forward to sittin' on the island relaxing on Robinson Lake, it's in territory that we've covered once and that takes a tiny bit away from the route. What makes up for that is the fact that we were a little taken aback at the portaging and this year we'll know what to expect and we can raise the bar some more. A back-to-back comparison of the 2.5km port using the yoke pads will be quite interesting too.
3. As weird as this sounds, I'm lookin' forward to the challenge of the 3.5km portage that I'm hoping we'll have developed our technique for this year!
   
4. The fire tower at Big Crow Lake! Here's a neat site that I found that talks about fire towers in Ontario. I enjoyed reading the bit on the history of the towers and the details about how they were set up.
5. I'd like to check out the Ranger cabin near the fire tower... I hope no one is using it.
   

If you've been on this route before, I'd love to hear about it!

Have a great day,

g.

I know, another time waster

Your Fortune Is

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

C'mon, now that's funny!

You Are 15% Redneck

I'll slap you so hard, your clothes will be outta style. You ain't no redneck - you're all Yankee!

How Redneck Are You?

g.

Morning funny...

Okay, I know it's not my content but I wanted to share my morning chuckle courtesy of George Carlin...

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.

New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're a retard. When you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. When you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," Oooh, you're a huge asshole.

New Rule: Girls, just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.

New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."

New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two.

New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.

Busy day today so I'll have to try and squeeze something in later. The first one of George's bits reminded me to talk about being e-mailed by a friend from highschool that I haven't seen since then... more on that later if I get chance. (oh, and it's not that I didn't like her, it's just that we went our separate ways and never crossed paths again, like I did with most friend from back then:) )

Have a great day!

g.

Crying Indian...oops, that's crying Native American

okay, so I was lost in my last post... GeWilli mentioned a PSA from the 70's about a native crying after witnessing the white man not caring for mother earth... leave it to Jim to come through...

without further a-do, I give you "Crying Native"...

More reading...

I added a bunch of links on the right side of the page... check 'em out. I especially like the Canadian Canoe Route site... it has a database of trips that include great details like difficulty ratings and route descriptions, including distances.

I found out that my uncle over in England is quite sick so I'd ask that you all keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He was just over visiting us in September and October so it's a little shocking to hear that he's gotten sick so quickly.

It's another busy day here at work and, in what seems to be a trend for me lately, I have absolutely no interest in doing my work. This sucks.

Anyway, Jim and I have apparently started planning Capsized Canoe 2008! He found a link describing a trip that takes us south of Burntroot to Big Crow lake where there's a fire tower that give spectacular views. I should mention that another trip log mentioned that the condition of the "hut" at the top of the tower was not good so if you're reading this and want to go, keep that in mind and stay safe.

I found myself reading some articles on Outdoor Adventure Canada and one of them was a review of a feminine product. I know, weird for me to read that but I read it because it brought up the point women would potentially have a lot more to deal with when camping. For us guys, any bush will do and our "eliminating" needs are fairly basic. The fact the autor mentioned having to pack out what you brought then led me to think back to 2005 when Jim and I stayed on the island on Cedar Lake (me and my highschool buddies called it Get-away Rock). I brought Jim up to experience all that Algonquin is and I was very disappointed to find a lot of garbage on the island, mostly things like plastic water bottles and the likes. I'm no tree huggin' hippie but that kind of thing gets me really heated.. I mean, what are people thinkin'? Since when is it okay to just drop garbage anywhere you like? Would they shit right next to their tent too? C'mon people, have some respect for our environment not to mention the next campers that use the site. We always leave a small pile of firewood for the next people to use the site and we strive to leave the site cleaner than we found it. Ya know, I remember when I was a kids, there were all these public service type campaigns that told us to conserve energy by turning off the lights when we leave the room, to put litter in it's place (a garbage can, not dropped on the ground). It seems that these messages are not being taught to our kids in the public so it depends on the parents to pass the message on. That is a pitfall in the strategy as you see when you have kids in school... the extent of parental involvement in childrens lives varies vastly. It amazes me how many kids are left to raise themselves. I was a latch key kid with my sister but my parents were still deeply involved in our lives. Being busy with jobs to pay bills doesn't mean being totally disengaged in your kids lives. Damn. This is gettin' me heated! I gotta stop before I blow a gasket! LOL!

Anyway, guilt is compelling me to get back to work so, have a great day everyone! (and by everyone, I mean Jim and Geoff since you're the only two reading this) :)

g.

I can't concentrate!

I just want to be at home with Marie and the kids.

That's all.

I thought it might help to post it.



It didn't. :}

Have a good day,
g.

A killer headache...

kept me home from work today. I woke up a bunch on time through the night and my head was still aching. It was that kind of a headache that makes you feel like you gonna throw up. Needless to say, I wasn't great to be around today. I slept most of the day... Marie is so good to me.

The baby is gaining weight well and startin' to fill out her skin. She was so skinny at one point that her skin was all baggy on her legs. She's over 7 lbs now and startin' to put on the baby fat. I'mm gonna keep it short for today and call it an early night to see if sleep will help.

Have a good night.

g.

Now that's a big file!

I'm still workin' on the various reports here at work and I've come to realize why my system basically ground to a halt... the first of the two reports that I was runnin' finished this morning as I was chattin' with Jim on the phone and it ended up at 400MB! Oops... I guess I should have only run one at a time... oh well. The second is still runnin'... I hope it finishes soon so I can get my computer performance back.

Jim's hoping to get up to the paddle... um... factory. He was given a paddle through a connection he has to the family that owns Red Tail Paddle Co. and he's hoping to trade it in for one of the "bent shaft" paddles that they have which, as Jim wrote, can really help with fatigue and efficiency in certain conditions. He's gonna pick one up for me too so I'm really excited about the prospect of the performance on our trip. As you can see inthe image, the price is reasonable too considering the quality of the product. I saw the straight paddle Jim had over the Christmas break and it was beautiful. The darker wood inserts really look sharp and the resin tip is a good design for long life/durability.

I think I said this before but, I really should write more about my algonquin experiences and plans. I posted a bunch of pictures up to flickr and, as you can see in the new design to my page here, I have a "badge" link to the right. Please take a look and feel free to comment. There's one exception to the comment request... DO NOT mention the date stamp on the pics... let's just say it's a sore point with me.

I feel I should give some background on that situation... at some point after we'd started out, I remembered that I hadn't set the date and time on the camera after puttin' new batteries in (I had all the batteries in the charger so the camera had lost the setting). When I was settin' the date, I somehow turned the date stamp on and I never noticed until it was too late. That date stamp has ruined quite a few great pictures. I'll have to mess around and see if I can get them to "disappear" without it being too obvious. I've since learned about EXIF data that shows all the details about the picture which is really cool 'cause it records the camera settings for that picture which is good for amateurs like me so we can learn how to take better pictures by venturing beyond the "auto" setting on our cameras.

Speaking of cameras, I was lookin' at a used package that someone in Montreal is selling and it's *very* tempting to spend Mastercard's money on it. It's a Canon Rebel which is very similar to my 35mm Canon. The package includes:

-Canon EOS Digital 6.3 MegaPixel Body (with Manual and genuine Canon EOS DIGITAL Neckstrap). Also includes High Speed 256MB CF Card.
-Canon BG-E1 Battry Grip containing a 2 (original Canon) battery packs.
-Canon 420 EX Speedlite E-TT Flash (with manual).
-Canon EFS 18-55mm Zoom Lens.
-Canon Ultrasonic EF 55-200 II USM (1:4-5 * 5.6) Zoom Lens.
-Canon ET-24 Zoom Hood.
-Canon CB-5L Battery charger.
-USB Digital Cable and analog Video Composite Cable.

I really like the looks of that package. I think Marie would kick me out if I bought it. What she doesn't understand is that I really enjoyed takin' pictures with my old 35mm but the problem was the cost of the developing and when you're learning, there's a lot that you don't want to print. With the whole digital thing, you only have to print what you want and the rest is either archived for future or is deleted 'cause it was a learning experience. Yeah, not a lot to merit to the "reasoning" that I'm doin' in my head right now. Jim says I can talk myself and others into or out of almost anything. I usually involves some fairly twisted logic. I'm sure you remember that song lyric by Thomas Dolby "She blinded me with science!"... for me it's more like "He blinded me with bullshit!" LOL!

Okay, it seems like the reports are both finished... now to see if they're what I'm lookin' for or if I just wasted a lot of time. :}

Have a great day!

g.

Friggin' computers!

Okay, I never thought I'd post about work but what I came into this morning was *very* frustrating.

Yesterday I started running a security report on a server here at work and it was a doozie of a report... very big and long running. It ran for most of the day yesterday and I left it running when I left for home last night. I came in this morning and my laptop had been rebooted! The report?... Gone. Never to be seen again.

Damn. I just wasted most of a day.

I work for a very large corporation and they have thousands of computers and servers across the globe so I understand that they can't always give notice when there's a patch being delivered but come on, we're working down here. Anyway, I've decided to break the report down into smaller segments and I'll see if I can merge the files after the fact.

Enough about work.

So I've played around with the design of my blog here and I'd love to hear what you think (Jim and GeWilli's peeps that fell onto this page from their respective pages). I thought about puttin' up a post beggin' people to comment but two thoughts crossed my mind: 1) it's been done, and 2) I'm afraid that it will go unanswered and I'm not sure the ego can take that kind of a hit. :)


I have to say that I enjoyed playin' around with the code to modify the design and, although it not rocket science, it was fun and reminded me how much I enjoy that kind of thing. I sometimes miss the "hands-on" computer work that I started out doin' when I began my career in computers. I also got the opportunity to troubleshoot a problem for a user yesterday and again, it was refreshing and a bit of a confidence booster to see that I still had the skills. I think I'm at a stage in my career where I've forgotten more than I know... hmmm...

Well, the first of a bunch of the smaller reports is finished so I'd better go take a look...

later,
g.

For the record...

I think that the Mrs. Stromnecker comments were shitty in the context of bloggin'. I just connected her comments with some observations that I've made about the teaching styles that the curriculum seems to be fostering these days.

Jim... keep on bloggin! (how come that phrase has a 70's feelin' to it?)

Mrs. Stromnecker...

This blogging world has me quite intrigued. You get to take a peek into people's lives and often end up learning a thing or two. Jim did a post asking, okay, begging for help with a bet that he had with one of his business associates about the traffic to his blog. I'm sure you've all read it 'cause you're more than likely visiting my blog from his - apparently "Other Things" are not as interesting as "Algonquin Canoe Trips" :) Anyway, one of the comments was from someone names Mrs. Stromnecker about Jim's spelling and grammar. I don't know if this is a real person or not but it highlighted the fact that this blogging world can be a double edged sword in that it can often make us feel really good connecting to people and making our views known but, it can also be harsh to hear criticisms of ourselves or our points of view. Personally, my initial response when we read the comments on Jim's blog (he was over at my house the night after he posted the entry) was that Mrs. Stromnecker was in need of something to loosen her up (I'll let you use your own imagination with regards to what she could use). Then I thought, maybe this is an older teacher that no longer teaches and she misses that type of interaction that she had with her students. Someone named Sean left a comment on Jim entry from yesterday saying that content was more what blogging is about and I agree with that to some degree. Okay, initially I said "right on Annonymous Sean!" but then I thought about how my oldest son is in grade 4 and he struggles with his handwriting (or cursive writing as they call it now) and he often just prints his assignments. I was learning handwriting in grade 2 and by the time I was in grade 4, all my assignments had to be in handwriting and we'd lose marks if we printed. That's where I started to side with Mrs. Stromnecker a little in that these days we are quick to abandon the technical side of things in favour of ensuring the creativity is not stifled. Personally, I think there can be a balance most times and I find it a challenge to articulate my thoughts creatively whilst being technically sounds. Hmm, something to think about. Or maybe not.

Wow. Talk about stream-of-counsciousness writing eh? I think that was almost a GeWilli moment that I had. :)

Now for my next random thought... does anyone know if you can remove the date stamp from digital photos other than using some sort of cloning tool that removes it by covering it up? Some time during the first day of CapsizedCanoe 2006 I turned the date stamp on so I've ended up with the stamp on some pretty nice photos. I've googled and messed around with some software like Irfanview, ACDSee, Exifer, etc and not been able to find a way. Any input is appreciated. (that last request for input is directed at all the "Jim-o-philes" that had found there way here from his blog)
How's that for a segue to my next thought?

I've often wondered why I don't get any traffic from GeWilli's blog 'cause he has quite a few regular readers. It's prolly 'cause they're all cyclo-crazy gearheads (not a bad thing, just pointing out that they are in their own community). In hopes of drawing in a larger audience... did I mention that I have a bicycle? It's hangin' in my garage right now but I have been known to ride it occasionally. (Great... now I've started "markin' out" to the cyclocrossers... have I no shame? lol!)

Hey, I got an e-mail from Annonymous Jen recommending a wine... Terra d'Aligi Tatone Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2000. She said it's not expensive, had good cherry undertones and she really enjoyed it. I took a look on the LCBO site and they don't list a 2000 vintage but they do have 2002. Here's the listing since they use javascript to bring up the database entries so I can't give a direct URL to the listing:

TERRA D'ALIGI 'TATONE' MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO 2002
VINTAGES 994616 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 15.75
Wine, Still Table Wine, Red Still Table Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : D

Made in: Abruzzo, Italy
By: Spinelli Srl

Release Date: Oct 14, 2006

Tasting Note
A fragrant Montepulciano with the depth and structure to match a range of grilled food. Cran-cherry, tea, mineral and a few cedar notes. Good fruit ripeness, softened tannin and lively acidity. Nothing out of the ordinary but a reliable red with good length. Ready to drink. Score - 86 (Jeff Davis, Wine Access, ?First In Line E-Report?, April 15, 2006)

Sounds good to me. I'll see if my Bliquor store has it. (Newcastle is too small to have separate Beer and Liquor stores so we have a combo store with a big walk-in cooler to "git yer own two-four" of domestic beer. Thanks Annonymous Jen for the tip!

Well, as usual, I've put off my work long enough so have a great day everyone!

g.

New year, new habits to form...

I've nver been very good at remembering people's birthdays so I was interested in a link that my sister sent to me. There's a website that sends you reminders for people's birthdays:

http://www.birthdayalarm.com

I signed up and sent out a bunch of e-mails to people asking them to respond with their birthdays so that I can acknowledge them on their special day. My most embarrassing birthday slip-up was when I went golfing with my best man on his birthday, didn't realise it and even let him pay for his game! Then I called him a few days later and said, "Hey, isn't you birthday sometime around now?" to which there was a slight pause at the other end of the phone before he responded, "um, yeah, we went golfing on my birthday... "

What a heel I am.

Anyway, many years have passed and this year I want to be the first year that I remember my friends birthdays. If I haven't had chance to send out the note to you, please e-mail me with your b-day so I can set up the reminder for myself.

Well, back to work... have a good day everyone!

g.

Time-waster...

Check it out...



I had hoped I would have faired better than that but anyway, there's my result.

Here's a joke for ya:

"Hello, is this the FBI?"

"Yes. What do you want?"

"I'm calling to report about my neighbor Billy Bob Smith! He is hiding marijuana inside his firewood."

"Thank you very much for the call, sir."

The next day, the FBI agents descend on Billy Bob's house. They search the shed where the firewood is kept. Using axes, they bust open every piece of wood, but find no marijuana. They swore at Billy Bob and left.

The phone rings at Billy Bob's house.

"Hey, Billy Bob! Did the FBI come?"

"Yeah!"

"Did they chop your firewood?"

"Yep."

"Merry Christmas Buddy."

And with that, I'm outta here!

g.

Okay...

I know, I don't write with any regularity and then I post like a fiend!

I had to bring two quotes to you from the awesome person who is GeWilli:

I'm putting on weight, eating lots and lots, which hopefully down the road can be energy re-routed to muscle growth or long ride fuel. At least that's how I'm looking at me getting fat.

It plays off the fact that once i get talking its often hard to shut me up...

Hee hee! I'm takin' the same approach to my Christmas/winter "fuel storage". LOL!

I think Jim will back this up when I say that the second quote also fits me to a "T" so you're not alone Geoff... okay, I'm shuttin' up now!

g.

I made it!

It looks like the migration went okay.

Phew.

I was over readin' GeWilli's blog and wandered over to Kerry Litka's diary and read her latest entry and had a good chuckle. It took me back to my highschool days and the wise-cracks that I hung out with... I could just imagine that conversation happenin' in the hall hangin' out at the lockers... hee hee!

"Dude, don't exacerbate me while I'm masticating."

I'm also happy to announce that Jim won his bet and will be enjoyin' a very expensive bottle of wine that I'm hopin' will be opened while I'm around! ;)

The more I think 'bout CC2007 and the latest route on the low maintenance ports, the more excited I am about doin' it. As I said to Jim, the nervous feelings I get as I imagine tryin' to find the portages is quite exciting. I'm lookin' forward to the challenge. We talked about some of the things we'll do different for CC2007 and basically the list can be summarized as:

• pack less food
• pack less clothing
• buy the new gravity feed filter
• buy the "bent paddles"
• make sure we have down time to enjoy our time in the park
• slow down enough to enjoy the first day trek to Robinson Lake
• snap more enroute pictures
  

In my usual stream of consciousness approach to writing... Christmas was great! The boys were really excited with the gifts we got them and we really surprised them by hiding the air hockey table in the back room and not showing them 'til they opened all their gifts under the tree. They absolutely loved it and they were thrilled to get the hockey net for outside too. It took forever for me to put the net together. It turned out that the gut feelin' I had about the instructions being wrong were spot on! They had me puttin' the net on upside down. The frustrating part was that I insisted that I stick to the instructions and got nowhere except pissed off. In the end, I gave it another go late last night and flipped the net around to the way I thought it should be and it went together easily. See, sometimes it doesn't pay to read the instructions first!

I'll have to download the pictures and movies from the camera and post some up here.

Well, back to work for another day... have a good one!

g.

Why do I feel...

that awful feelin' in the pit of my stomach with this on my screen:














I'm hopin' that the big blogger 'puter that I imagine is up there at eBlogger Central can perform this task without me havin' to start my blog all over again... I'll push publish and see what happens... good luck and I'll see you on the other side!

g.

From the comfort of my home...

Jim and I discussed the possibility of altering our route for CC2007 to include a swing back on close to 6km of low maintenance portages. He had proposed it a while back and my initial reaction was 'No friggin' way". After a glass of wine and a few of Christmas Port, we have decided to give it a go with the option to change our mind at any time. :) I suggested that perhaps on day 2 when we're staying on Robinson Lake, we could make a little trip out to do the first of the low maintenance portages out of Robinson to see what it's like. We would have the luxury of leaving our packs at camp and just having our waistpacks and the canoe. Jim pointed out we could also try fishing in the next lake over (Junco Lake) as we both want to make sure we get some fishin' in and ideally have a meal of fish.
This year we had a little taste of what a low maintenance trail would be like 'cause there were some tornados and severe winds in the weeks before out trip which resulted in downed trees blocking many portages. I had the canoe on when we came across this blockage which resulted in me having to climb over one tree and leave the trail to go around the next. It wasn't as easy as walking the open trail but it wasn't impossible. Right now we've got all the courage you can have sittin' in the kitchen surfin' the internet lookin' at pictures but I'm pretty sure we're gonna do the low maintenance route Jim outlined on this map he posted to his blog.

We got talkin' about how we really like the historical site we've come across in the park like the logging alligator on the site of the Barnett Farm Depot on the southern shores of Burntroot Lake. Jim said he found that most people he showed the pictures to weren't grasping the significance of what they were lookin' at. A common response has been "soooo, it was used for logging?" A less common response (but also the one we identify with) is "Wow! That thing pulled itself over land? Can you imagine what that was like? It would have been cutting edge technology but it would have been hard work." There's also the raspberry patch at the Barnett farm that had grown wild and taken over the clearing where you can imagine there was some sort of work yard or area where the loggers loaded up their horses or piled all the supplies they would then haul down the slope to the water where their boat would be docked. Cool.

Jim also told me that he showed his Dad a picture that I took of the steam fittings in the alligator that showed the name of the company that manufactured them and he knew of the company from his days in mining as an explosives engineer. He said the company still existed in the 1960's... cool eh?





I just showed P* the pictures and talked to him about what an alligator was and he was totally into it. He wants to go up to Burntroot with Jim and I and perhaps he'll get his opportunity in the next 4 years. I want him to be stronger at swimming and build his stamina so he can handle the portages.

Well, I'm gonna head off and hold G* for a bit and enjoy the Christmas holiday.

Happy Christmas everyone!

g.

Here's a mini-review...

of the yoke pads that Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories sent to Jim. Take a look at the video that Jim put in his blog.

It's looks very promising for the portaging. I know that there's nothing that would make it easy but without the yoke burying itself into my spine at the base of my neck, it will be easier. I also think that with the sling design, the yoke won't be pressing into the muscles in my shoulder so again, it'll make it easier. The biggest problem with the portaging was the pressure points; the weight of the packs and canoe were not an issue for me. I really get excited about CC2007 because of two things: 1) the challenge of the portage and being able to correct some of the mistakes we made this year and 2) the idea of staying on Robinson Lake on the island we found on the trek out this year. The picture on the left is what we'll be lookin' at as we sit in our thermarest camp chairs relaxin' after catchin' some fish for dinner and sippin' our tetrapak of wine. Aaaah, that place is our little piece of heaven on earth. People who have never been up there will never fully understand how awesome it is up there. I can't wait!

Jim and T are coming over Friday night (I hope) and we're gonna have some Christmas cheer, play some games and have some great laughs. I only hope that Marie has the energy to stay up for a bit. I bought some Christmas Port for Jim and I to try as well as some red wine from the McLaren Vale in Australia. The first wine is from d’Arenberg and called "d’Arry’s Original Grenache Shiraz" and of course is a blend of Grenache and Shiraz. I'm really looking forward to trying that one. The second is called Holy Trinity from Grant Burge Wines. It's a blend of 9% Grenache, 36% Shiraz and 25% Mourvedre. I've never heard of the Mourvedre grape. These are two wines I've never tried but they come highly recommended from someone I trust with a fairly experienced palette.

The port is from Dow's and it's a Reserve Port released for Christmas. I was tempted to pick up another bottle of a port that I bought last year from Warre's (the 10 Year old Otima tawny port) but I decided to be a little more adventurous like I was with the wine. I guess I was in a mood when I was shopping eh?

The last two items I bought were beer. The first was for sentimental reasons... it's a beer that I had with my Uncle Kevin in his local pub just outside Wigan when we visited England 5 years ago called Old Speckled Hen. It's a live beer over there so I have hopes that the new can might be a close representation although I don't expect the same experience. The second beer I bought is a fantastic beer from near where I grew up. Hockley Valley Brewing Company makes a very nice beer called Hockley Gold. I really think they've struck a good balance between having some flavour and not being too strong to scare aware the Coors Light crowd. Hey, Marie and I both liked it so it's got to be a good balance since we prolly represent both ends of the spectrum.

I wouldn't mind hearing any other recommendations on wines, ports or beers that you've enjoyed.

Gotta run.

g.

Here's a website I got lost in...

Tail of the Dragon is about a section of a US highway that has 318 curves in 11 miles. The couple that writes on the site also documented their various trips in and around SC, GA and FLA. I found it quite interesting to read and it had me wishin' for a motorcycle again. I had hoped to get my M1 a couple of years back but I ran into resistance from Marie. Ya see, before we got married she worked with people who had acquired brain injuries. That means they were either a victim of tragic circumstances or they were doin' something pretty stupid like riding a motorcycle at high speeds doin' tricks or somethin' like that. Hence her resistance to me gettin' a motorcycle.

Anyway, have a read if you get a few moments and let me know if you found it interesting too.

g.

Today is the first day...

that I'm struggling to stay awake since the baby was born. Marie had a headache all day yesterday and through the night so stayed up late last night to help with the baby and then stayed back this morning to help with the baby and gettin' the other kids ready for school. It was nice to spend time with the boys this morning but it means I was late gettin' into work. I don't feel up to stayin' here late but I think I may do some work tonight from home to make up for it.

I went out to Dollarama to get stocking stuffers for the kids and I hafta say that it amazed me how many little things you can get there. I mean, no realy high quality toys but candy, art supplies and that kinda thing are there and I walked out with a lot of schtuff for $20. I can't wait for the kids to open their stuff on Christmas morning.

My parents are coming down for the day on Christmas Eve. It'll be a lunch kinda thing. I'm not sure what we're having but I got thinkin' that I should really buy a turkey tonight if there's any hope of having clod turkey sandwiches this year. mmmm... turkey.

This is my last little hoorah before I get back on the healthy eatin' wagon again. I fell off and put a some pounds back on over the past few months. It all boils down to the amount going in versus the amount being burned... I'm runnin' a significant surplus, that's for sure. I've learned that I still don't handle stress in a good way in so far as I turn to food too easily, too often. The other problem is fatigue... I reach for food (and always that bad stuff) when I've got low energy. Yesterday and today are good examples of that.


Well, enough of this... I gotta get some work done since I've been in a meeting all morning.

Have a good day!

g.

Is there a BBQ road trip in our future?

Jim and were discussing BBQ based on one of his recent posts. The place we went to last year after the infamous Toronto Outdoor (non)Adventure Show is now gone so I went in search of another BBQ place to go. I came across a reference to Camp 31. I sampled their offerings back in 2003 when I organized the annual TDIFest get together in Burlington for the TDIClub.com community. Little did I know when I organized the 'Fest, that Burlington has a Ribfest on labour day weekend which coincided with the traditional date for TDIFest. Anyway, they had great BBQ and they are only a 2 hour drive from our house. (I can't help but think that there's a business opportunity somewhere in there if two guys are thinkin' about drivin' 2 hours one way to get some good BBQ.)

We decided that we may arrange for babysitters and take the girls on the outing with us. We're shooting for Feb/07 and if we make it a Wednesday night it's all you can eat pork ribs!

mmmmm... BBQ.

g.

Things are going well...

and it's back to work today so I need to get my mind in gear and produce some results. It's been a bit of a write off this month so far with the anticipation of Gracie's birth. Now she's here, I'm thinkin' to myself, "wadda ya mean it's Christmas this weekend! When did that happen?"

Damn.

I gotta get out and get the last minute stocking stuffers. I also need to make a visit to Canadian Tire to return a string of lights that had a broken LED casing (and I didn't need it). I also need to get them to check the car battery. I had to boost the car this morning for the third time. When the car sits for 3 or more days, the battery goes flat. As long as I'm driving it everyday, the charging system keeps it topped up. It's still got a little warranty left on it so I should get a couple o' bucks off the next one. I was thinking of getting one of those Optima batteries this time and I don't believe CT sells them. Oh well, we'll see. I also got a great little Christmas tree gadget... it's an ornament that is attached to a control module that you plug the lights into. It's touch sensetive and allows you to dim the lights or turn them off by touching the ornament. Easier than climbing behind the tree and knockin' stuff off.

Anyway, a few quick mentions and then I gotta get caught up on work:

• congrats to Geoff for reaching his goal of racing in the cyclocross nationals
• Jim (aka Mr. Moneybags), thanks for getting the (free) calendar for me :)
• Jim, I agree, let's get the water filter and let's do a pro/con list for the stove thing and I'm not so sure I want to be the first to be able to do a write up on 6km of low maintenance trails ;)

Have a great day everyone!

g.

She's here!

Well, after a long wait, Marie gave birth to our baby daughter on Wednesday around noon!

I can't find the words that convey how I feel... I keep saying "I've got a baby daughter!" 'cause I can't believe it. The boys are happy and D* is warming up the our new little bundle. He'll take a little longer 'cause he's no longer the "baby".

Marie and Baby G are doing well and will be home tomorrow. Despite all the issues with Marie, everything is fine and she doesn't have any worries related to her condition and the birth. We'll know more about her "brain thang" in February but until then... we're gonna enjoy our new baby and get used to the idea that our family now numbers six.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support. All the anxiety I experienced throughout the pregnancy was all worth it now I have a beautiful daughter.

I guess I'd better go update my profile from this:

Ordinary guy with 3 awesome boys (4th kid the way), a beautiful, loving wife and a small circle of friends.

to this:

Ordinary guy with 4 awesome kids, a beautiful, loving wife and a small circle of friends.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Well... in less than 24 hours we may be holding our new baby!

They are saying that they want the labour to be as short as possible. Funny, I don't remember hearing Marie contradict that approach! LOL!

My parents and two of my aunts came over yesterday to help us get a few last minute things done. My Dad and I moved the other boys' rooms around. M* and D* are sharing a room now and P* has his own room. P* is sleeping on the bottom bed of the bunck beds I made and I have stored the upper bunk since M* didn't want to be on the top bunk and D* is too small for the upper one. D* is also struggling with the idea that he won't be the "baby" anymore so I figured that letting him keep his little bed would be one less thing for him to adjust to.

I'm sittin' here at work and I can't concentrate on anything work related. (I mean more so than usual, Jim!)
---------
I got busy at work (finally able to focus on something) and didn't publish this so... I'll click publish and try to get some sleep before the big day.

See ya!

g.

Okay, so I may have been in my own world...

but I was really excited to find out that Yusuf Islam (a.k.a Cat Stevens) has recorded a new album! I have fond childhood memories of listening to Cat Stevens in our basement while my parents had friends over for drinks.

I really liked this one... kind of a jazzy/funky feel to it.

Check out the rest of them... he does Peace Train... awesome.

FOUR MORE DAYS!

that is all.

it's hittin' me now...

five days until the baby's born!

Wow.

This year has absolutely flown by... the time since Marie's seizure in May is just a blur in my memory. In retrospect, I think I was on autopilot a lot, tryin' to cope with the flood of information and decisions that had to be made. There were scary moments but we've also managed to have some amazing, happy moments. At one point, I thought I would look back on this year and think of it as "the year from hell" but I find myself thinkin' of it as a year filled with great moments. Ah, what the hell, I feel like a year-end recap even though it's not over yet...

• we had a great trip to Florida with my in-laws
• Marie got pregnant
  
• Marie had her seizure
• Marie and I celebrated (kinda) our 10th anniversary
  
• Jim and I went to Algonquin and did the trip I always intended to do
• My boys have grown up so much... P* is 9 years old and makin' me proud every day, M* is gaining confidence and coming out of his shell, and D*... wow, he is really becoming a deep character with an amazing sense of humour
• I re-modeled our family room
• My mom had her back surgery to fix some major issues she had
• My sister sold her house
• My parent built their "apartment" in the farmhouse and are very happy with it
  
• I'm finishing off our basement
• The baby is about to be born
• Christmas is almost here... one of my favorite times of the year 'cause you get to see family and generally people are in great moods
  

Through our experience this year, we discovered how generous people are and how many friends we have out there. From my brotha Jim living behind me, to our neighbours a few doors down to my good friend Geoff out there in R.I. enjoyin' his "new" life... everyone had something positive to say, helped out with things like taking the kids for a few hours, cookin' meals to help me out when everything had just happened... there is a lot of good out there and it's not as hard to find as some people think.

I also know of three people who have accomplished some great physical accomplishments: Jim ran his first half marathon, Geoff has re-discovered his biking and my sister's childhood friend complete an ironman! Those are AMAZING accomplishments and are very inspiring!


Well, I need to get ready for a meeting here at work so, for now I leave with those great memories in my mind.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

I Think I'm NUTS...

okay, so I've used that as a title before... perhaps it really is true. LOL!

The countdown is on and all off a sudden I'm feelin' like there aren't enough hours to get complete everything I need to get done. I was supposed to switch the boys' rooms around since we're now having to have two kids share one room. We're puttin' the two youngest together in the large bedroom so that they have enough room to move. The oldest will go in one of the other two rooms and of course, the baby will get it's own room so that they others are not disturbed by the baby in the night. I guess I'll get that done after the baby arrives. My reasoning is that the baby will be in our room for the first month anyway (it makes the night feedings a little easier on us). I think I've convinced Marie. ;)

The biggest task I have right now is finishing our basement. We finally had everything fall into place on the financial side of things and so we decided to take a run at having the basement finished before the baby is born. The problem I had was with the cost of paying someone to do the work versus doing it myself. I mean, a little more than half the cost was going to be labour and that was kinda hard to come to grips with. This is all work I can do myself so I decided to have a go and see how far I'd get. Well, the entire perimeter of the basement and all the rooms are framed, the shut off taps for the outside faucets have been moved to a more appropriate place, and all I have left to do is the boxing in of the various beams, ducts and pipes on the ceiling.

What have I learned so far on this job:

• I can work much faster with wood framing versus steel
• The new flexible water line is much cheaper and quicker than copper piping
• The new nailgun I bought is much faster than hammering and it can help when you're working solo 'cause you can fire a couple o' nails in to tack something up real quick
• You really can't underestimate the importance of having the right tools for the job as well as quality tools
• I don't particularly like plumbing
• I really like workin' with my hands which I don't get with my day job sittin' at a bloody computer all day
• I sometimes over-think things and should just go for the simple solution more often

I'm hoping to start the electrical work this weekend and then I can insulate next week after work and then perhaps I can get the drywall done the following weekend or week. I'm having someone come in to do that since I'm too slow and get frustrated easily doing the dryall mudding and taping. I don't like to see the seams in the finished product. I'm still toying with hanging the drywall and then paying someone to jsut do the taping... we'll have to see. If I do hang it, I will be renting the jack or hoist or whatever it's called to lift the drywall onto the ceiling. Jim can attest to the fact that I struggle with puttin' up the drywall on the ceiling. :} He was present and assisting during my last attempt and I'm sure he was thinkin' "what the hell is this guy doing thinkin' he can hang drywall..." or perhaps "am I safe workin' next to this guy?" LOL!

Ya know, when I worked in the trades (as an apprentice electrician), I said I wouldn't mind workin' in an office and I really liked the idea of workin' with computers. Now I've done that for 12 years, I find myself enjoying doin' more trade-like work. Perhaps it's because I'm workin' on my home and makin' it a better place. Maybe it also 'cause I can see progress everytime I finish for the night, unlike my job where things can move so slow that sometimes it almost feels like I'm regressing. Who knows... I'm gonna enjoy it while I can.

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

Well, I've had this update sittin' for a couple o' hours without being able to get back to it so I'm gonna publish it and come back later if I get chance.

Have a good day!

g.

CC2006 - The Movie

Jim has created another video from all the pics we took on Capsized Canoe 2006.

Take a look at it. I think it captures some of the good scenes. I should put up some of my video clips that I took... like the crackling fire our first night on Burntroot Lake.

Who am I kidding? I'll never post them... I barely have time to think these days. The countdown is on... about 3 weeks we think. We think the doctors will say plan for Dec 12 for the delivery. I kinda wish it would be on teh 16th since that my Dad's birthday but then again, perhaps not sharing a birthday with a family member is a good thing.

Okay, that's it for now... back to work.

Have a good afternoon.

g.

I couldn't have said it better...

If God intended us to drink beer, he would have given us stomachs.

I'll leave you with that gem... :)

g.

Whoa! Now there's some bass playin'!

Reminders me of Stu Hamm... excellent stuff!

Awsome guitar playing...

Check this out:



This is Rodrgio Y Gabriela and they are amazing. I really like this rendition of Stairway to Heaven.

I'm gonna go out and buy their CD... their playing is that good.

Here's another one that I really like:

Lest we forget

I was at a Remembrance Day ceremony today and it struck how many of the WWII veterans have passed away and how it seems that perhaps the message is not as strong as it was when we were kids. I had my Granddad to tell me firsthand stories about his experiences in the war as a nurse in the British Army. There were two stories that stick out in my memories; the first one is about when he was blasted through a brick wall when a bomb went off nearby. He walked away miraculously with only bruises and minor scrapes. The second was of him finding a barn at night in occupied territory and hiding in it to try and get some rest. When the light of morning broke he found himself lying next to a German soldier who had a bullet hole in his head.

Thank you to all our loved ones who went before us to ensure our freedom. Let us not forget the sacrifices they made… let us not forget the sacrifices our soldiers are making even today.

Let we forget.

Clean air... some facts...

Here's a good article on the whole "clean air" thing.

It's funny how the automobile is always made out to be the bad guy in the fight for clean air and it turns out that automobiles only account for less than 10 percent of smog-forming emissions in Canada and further to that, new vehicles are one-tenth of 1 percent! Wow, how much more can be gained from new cars? Perhaps it's time to shift our focus to other areas to improve the air quality.

You should also note that as far as greenhouse-gas emissions, new vehicles account for one percent of the 12 percent Canadian total for on-road cars and light-duty trucks.

I agree with Gerry Malloy's closing statement:

It will take a multi-faceted approach that goes well beyond further regulation of new-vehicle emissions to significantly improve either situation.

Like the approach to renewable, cleaner energy sources, reducing emissions will have to be tackled across many areas to see lasting improvements.

Cool "green" technology...

Check out this article in yesterday's business section of the Toronto Star. I'm crazy about the whole biodiesel thing so I found this really facinating.

Here are a few highlights that caught my eye:

Bio oil is a "green" fuel that contains no sulphur dioxide and half the nitrogen oxide of conventional oil. But just like conventional fuel oil, bio oil can be used in industrial boilers, diesel generators and in turbines that generate electricity.

In a biorefinery, the gases and charcoal can be recycled as fuel for powering the system and for pre-drying the biomass. The oil — representing about 60 per cent of the mix — is separated out and can be shipped off as fuel oil or used as a source of chemicals for making everything from plastics to foods to fertilizer.

and this brings up an interesting point:

"We have to start thinking of bio oil as a major biofuel," says Layzell, pointing out that bio oil's potential as an industrial fuel tends to be overshadowed by sexier renewable transportation fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

and that is, (I believe) there is going to be success only if we approach the renewable energy challenge from multiple points. I thing this whole bio oil thing coupled with biodiesel, ethanol, solar, etc is where we will find our future energy needs. I'm no scientist like Geoff but I can understand enough to know that the future is not as far off as it once seemed.

I wonder what the emissions are from the biorefinery? I'll have to see what I can find out about that.

Easy install of new DSL modem and service...

Jim found a great deal on DSL service that I couldn't turn down. $18.95/month taxes included is an awesome deal. It's a one year special but even in the second year it's still $1 cheaper/month than Bell was willing give me and I have all my services with them (land line, 2 cell phones and satellite TV). The install was easy but now I just need to see if I can connect to work via the VPN and then I'm home free and enjoying the savings!

Have a good day everyone, I'm off to bed now for about 5 hours.

g.

Yesterday was an AWESOME day...

Marie had a couple of appointments at St. Mike's and we couldn't get anyone to take care of my youngest or drive her down so they came into the city with me, I dropped Marie off at the hospital and then my son came to work with me. It cost me a half day vacation time to take them back home but it was worth it. It was great having D with me at my desk as I worked. He drew on my whitboard, played a little gameboy (we brought hi older brother's gameboy) and we went on a little tour of the office and visited the two admin assistants on my floor who of course spoiled him rotten with candy and trinkets. He left the office with a little flashlight and a three flexible frisbies for him and his brothers. I was on a conference call for a good part of the time we were there and it was so nice to look over at him and see him smiling back at me. I wish I could have him in a few times a month... hmmm, maybe I can do that... sommit to think about anyway.

On other topics... check out Geoff's post about diesels. It's at the bottom of the post about Beer Intervals and the part I'm referring to begins with "...another good read is over at CNN/Fortune..." and read the linked article from CNN/Fortune. I found it to be an good read and I'm quite excited about more diesels coming to North America. My dream vehicle (keep in mind I'm about to have my fourth child enter this world so functionality is the order of the day) is a minivan with a diesel engine. I think that all those people who drive minivans would have their eyes opened if they had a chance to drive one with a diesel in it. The tourque is just what you need when you're hauling around a van full of people. (mind you, there are a lot of single child families that "have to have" a minivan that could use a more fuel efficient car but that's a whole other discussion).

I'm still convinced that the way to go is more diesel vehicles on the roads with biodiesel available at every diesel pump in North America.

I gotta go for now so... have a good day!

g.

Blogger is startin' to frustrate me...

Is anyone else havin' problems creating and publishing posts? Specifically, sometimes the posting page just won't load and other times the whole dashboard takes forever to load... as in, I start it loading and several minutes later (if it doesn't time out) the page loads. It's to the point that there have been a few times I wanted to post a quick update and I didn't 'cause it wouldn't load when I had time to post and then I got busy and never came back. Oh well, I guess I can't exactly ask for my money back eh?