Lizard Droppings

Still Amazed at the Internet

2011-09-08T11:35:00.000-06:00

Watching an old wartime movie on AMC -"Submarine Seahawk". Am surprised by the beauty of a star I had not seen before. IMDB tells me her name is Mabel Rea. Hmm.. never heard of her. Google tells me she died in 1968 at the age of 32...I guess that's why. Google sends me to a site called http://findadeath.com . This tells me her death was a result of a car accident on December 24th, 1968. There is another link to http://findagrave.com. I'm not kidding. On it, there are actual photos of the cemetary in which she is buried and her head and footstone. Wow.. All of this information took me less than one minute to gather.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0713756/
Find a Death: http://www.findadeath.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24075
Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7454732

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Good old Saskatchewan ass soaking

2011-07-28T09:35:00.000-06:00

I drove to this neighborhood specifically to go to this Vietnamese place. I was craving me some pho soup. When I get there at 9:07, I discover they have been closed for the past seven minutes. Cursing not having left work earlier, I decide to wander down the street to a busy looking Italian place I saw when I drove by. It’s a beautiful warm night and the walk feels good. It’s nice to be moving at my own will as opposed to from one troubled computer to the other.

I get to the restaurant and as you walk past one of the windows, you can see right into the kitchen. Right down the galley style prep line. I am encouraged to see that everything is shiny clean and organized. The two cooks are working away and neither looks like he has the sniffles. I swell with confidence.

The patio is the type where the restaurant has decided to forego a few parking spots in their lot and put up some tables. I decide to go inside to tell the hostess I will be taking a table outside. She is in the middle of a salvo of ridiculous questions from a person ordering take out. She maintains remarkable poise throughout the ordeal. I’m reminded of Jack Nicholson’s character in As Good As it Gets. The guy is asking “What kind of turkey is it? Roast? Turkey breast? Dark and light meat? Or just the turkey loaf from the deli? And what do you mean by whole wheat? Is it like Wonder Bread brown? Or more of a whole grain? Do you offer more than just regular mustard? Is the lettuce iceberg, or romaine?” And on and on..

So finally he stops and muses for a moment, then announces, “I’ll be back later”. Turns on his heel, and leaves.

If this were a cartoon, and not real life, the waitress would have an array of different sized question marks surrounding a tornado shaped squiggle above her head.

As she watches him leave her gaze falls upon me. Sizing me up. I decide not to ask ANY questions and just wait for her to offer her sales pitch whenever she ready. In an attempt to help, I am smiling more than I should be.

She senses my nervousness and offers me a playful eye-roll and a smile. I commend her on her calmness when responding to Mr. Turkey Sandwich. I advise her I would like to sit outside. So she hands me a menu and tells me to have a seat where I want and someone will be right with me.

I navigate myself to the patio, find myself a good seat at a clean table near the sidewalk edge (good for people watching) and sit down. Chair puddle. Fuck. Not a small one either. I have soaked my entire ass. I jump up as if that will help. Stare at the chair in disgust. I then quickly sit in a nearby DRY chair to weigh my options. My entire ass is soaked and even though I am wearing an untucked shirt, it is not quite long enough to completely cover my shame. I do NOT want to sit in a plastic chair in the middle of a parking lot in wet pants. It hasn’t rained in 2 days. Is this even WATER? My vehicle is 2 blocks away because I parked close to the Vietnamese place and the sidewalk is teeming with people and buskers ready to cast judgment. The dining room chairs inside the restaurant are upholstered fabric. Maybe I could make my way back inside and ask for a table. Then proceed to allow the dining room chair to absorb my wetness a bit until I can sneak to the bathroom and hopefully use the hand dryer to dry my pants. Good plan.

I won’t re-narrate my actions as they occurred much the same as above. Except the hand dryer. Because there wasn’t one. But over the course of dinner, my pants dried out to a sufficient amount so that I could go back to my truck without embarrassment.

No eggs.

2011-06-29T08:31:00.000-06:00

This morning I wanted an egg sandwich to go with the bacon I had pre-cooked the other day. After assembling most of the team, I realized I had no eggs. This was troubling. I can't just make a bacon sandwich...can I? Surely not. That would be careless.
I glance over to the fruitbowl and I see fresh tomatoes. Bacon and tomatoes? Wait! That's mostly a thing. Now I just need some lettuce, which we happen to have in stock, and I'm good!
Rye bread goes into the toaster, tomato sliced (not too thick), cheese sliced, bacon warmed in microwave. It's all coming together. Now I just need...oh crap.
I didn't even need to look in the fridge to know that we were out of mayo. I had used the last of it some days ago when making lunch for the kids. I've been to the store a few times since then, but had forgotten to pick it up. A couple of times, Tannis had even called me to ask "Do we need anything from Safeway?" on her way home. "Nope!", I'd exclaim cheerfully, "We're good!".
No we're not. People who are 'good', have mayonnaise.
Then I had a thought.."Why can't I just make my OWN mayonnaise?"
Sure, it's a little ambitious to be whipping your own mayo on a Wednesday morning before work. But we had all the usual suspects lined up for a BLT, so my path was forged already. I just needed to walk it.
For those of you who read Encyclopedia Brown as a child, this is the point in the story where the question would be posed:

"Why is Bugs Meany lying when he says he can make his own mayonnaise this morning?"

Some of my more astute and observant readers have already forseen what is coming. I didn't. I opened the door of the fridge to grab some eggs and...Nooooooo!
I remembered too late that the reason I was making a BLT in the first place was due to my lack of eggs. Oh well. I rumaged through the salad dressings and found something other than Ranch that was creamy.
So, what did I learn today? When life gives you lemon poppyseed dressing, use that instead of mayo.

Mrs. Mikes - A cautionary tale

2011-06-14T22:19:00.001-06:00

I received an e-mail this morning that caused me great conflict. My Burger Club mentor asking me if I was planning on attending this weeks excursion to Mrs. Mikes. I initially responded "no" as I had a case of food poisoning a couple years ago there. And shortly after that, I saw a news report about some infected beef that was found there by the health authorities. This didn't bode well for my making a return visit.

In fact, the time we were to meet there was 11:30, and at 11:20 I was still in my house. My commitment to Burger Club prevailed and I raced to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee and pulled in to a parking spot just down the street from Mrs Mikes at 11:38. If I can't be fashionably dressed, I might as well be fashionably late.

The sun was strong and hot as I took my seat at the table of men. I displayed dominance by arriving with 4 days of beard and wearing my finest grimy sandals. There was some posturing at first, but they eventually accepted me as their new alpha.

I steeled myself for the possibility of being poisoned, and strode confidently to the take-out window and ordered a Single King ($ 6.00 taxes in). I apologized to the clerk for ordering off-menu, but she assured me that people do it all the time. I fell short of telling her that I was simply trying to reduce the amount of salmonella I was about to ingest. There seemed no way for that to not sound confrontational.

A few minutes later I was handed a hot mess of meatlettucemayobunpicklemustard. I appreciated the faith the clerk showed in my eating ability by only handing me the allotted ONE NAPKIN. I asked for more napkins and was given a SECOND NAPKIN. That's OK. I like a challenge.

As I unwrapped the burger, I was immediately concerned for all of the people in the world who would not have any mayonnaise because my burger had ALL OF IT. It was oozing out of all sides and dragging the shredded iceberg lettuce with it. I reluctantly picked it up and chose what I thought was the head of this creature, and with some trepidation, bit down. The chain reaction that this caused, was immediate and really, really messy. Nearly half of the shredded lettuce, lubricated by the copious mayo, oozed out the back of my Single King and hung there; draped from my burger down to the wrapper on the table. I recoiled to wipe my mouth with as little of NAPKIN ONE as possible.

My had was filled with what appeared to be an albino Rastafarian with an affinity for cream rinse. In respect for the lady that was now seated at our table, I reduced the lettuce in my burger by pulling it out onto the foil wrapper. This was helpful in removing most of the mayo as well. This made for an easier time as I progressed. I used every bit of NAPKIN ONE and SECOND NAPKIN as I progressed through my bukakke burger. (Don't Google that-SO NSFW).

Once I had removed the lettuce and mayo mess, I was able to concentrate on the flavor of the burger. The bun was appropriately sized. It didn't let me down. The burger patty was a decent size and there seemed to be a lot of filler lending it to have an odd color and texture.. This is what I have come to expect from "Fat Boy" style burgers. So I wasn't surprised.

Aside from the mayo, the other condiments were amount appropriate and complimented the burger well. I like a thinly sliced tomato on my burger, but in this case, I felt they were too thin. Nitpicking a little there. But the tomato didn't even have the seed and gel part. Just the cellular walls. It was odd.

All things considered, I rate Mrs. Mikes a 3 out of 5 in each category. I would have elevated a couple categories to 4 had there not been the issue with the lettuce and mayo. I also felt the price was too high for what was definitely not an all-beef patty.

Cubs Leader = Me

2011-06-07T21:58:00.000-06:00

In the fall, Mitch joined Cubs. And this spring, after a great deal of paperwork delays, so did I - as a Leader. My shirt is bigger, and he's the one that gets to collect the cool activity badges, but aside from that there isn't much difference.

I really am enjoying working with the kids and the other leaders. Mitch has become more and more independent as we attend more meetings. There are no other kids from his school that have joined, so it was tough to find people he related to quickly. But he kept at it, and has become friends with a few of the other Cubs.

This past weekend we went camping at Birds Hill with all of the Service Area 9 groups. There were over 80 cubs and some 300 campers all tolled. It was a great experience for both of us. Mitch spent the day Saturday going around with the other Cubs and leaders to the various activity stations while I conducted a geocaching activity for the 6 Cub groups. It was a blast.

From building Cub cars, selling popcorn, going camping, hiking, launching rockets, singing camp songs, and completing badge work activities, this has been a very fun experience. I'm looking forward to next fall when we start up again.

Food Symmetry

2011-06-07T11:50:00.001-06:00

Presentation of the Kona burger at Original Joe's seems to be saying something about the cook's OCD. For the 2 optional sides, I chose the Caesar salad and mango pasta salad. For the latter, I was unable to find any mango, but there were entire peppercorns to munch on. Not pleasant.
The burger was quite tasty. The pineapple, bacon, and bbq sauce worked well together with the burger patty.
Speaking of which, based on the price of the burger and 2 sides (14.99) I'm quite certain it was not beef, but unicorn, or perhaps mermaid.
As usual, the best part of my lunch was the company. Burger Club is awesome!

An open letter to Burger Club

2011-03-09T14:44:00.004-06:00

There are definitely different burger philosophies out there. The typical "Winnipeg burger" incorporates a thin-ish patty of seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato, onion and a thin meat sauce that is seasoned with chili powder and usually cinnamon and nutmeg. All of this is served on a day old kaiser made with an egg dough to give it a crumbly texture and glossy sheen(not the sheen that lives with porn stars).
I propose we visit 2 and no more than 3 of the type of establishment that serves this classic Greek burger.
There is also the other type of burger of the "bistro" variety that generally uses a thicker meat patty. No chili here, but you will still see the requisite lettuce, tomato and onion. In place of the 'one molecule from plastic' processed cheese slice found on most Winnipeg burgers, you will often find a slice or two of cheddar, swiss or mozzarella. Accompaniments available will include seasoned bacon, mushrooms, and sauteed onions.

There is always going to be a burger for everyone. Except vegetarians, I guess. And don't get me started on hippies trying to pass off giant mushroom tops and compressed olive patties as 'burgers'. Not meat=sandwich. End of story. Yeah I'm lookin' at you, Boon Burger.
The important thing to remember: we all love hamburgers. So instead of burger club being a wedge that drives us apart, let it create a bond that holds us united in our support of hamburgers.

Seagate GoFlex

2011-02-28T00:26:00.000-06:00

Or as I call it...Seagate NoGoFlex. I bought a Seagate GoFlex TV streaming media player. Basically it allows me to access media shared on other computers on my network on my TV using a simple menu and a remote control. So far, I like it. But it lacked the speed and convenience of a local storage medium. No hard drive meant that everything had to stream over the network. This slowed things down for other users, and led to annoying buffering when other users were on Netflix or streaming media sites. Yes, we're a very connected family.

So I ordered a GoFlex internal drive. I figured I could load it up with a bunch of shows from my computer, and then watch it locally on the GoFlex TV unit. But so far, When I attempt to write files to it using my Windows XP desktop, I get constant delayed write failures, even though I have turned off the delayed write setting for the drive. Yet it works fine in my Windows 7 notebook. Why? Oh, you don't know either? Boo.

Well, off I go to the internet to see what the various support forums have to say. Wish me luck.

Netflix.ca = Goodbye Blockbuster

2011-01-07T00:41:00.004-06:00

We got the kids (ya right) a Wii for Christmas. And as much as I enjoy swinging my arms and jumping up and down in my rec room holding a buzzing plastic wand, when I saw the free Netflix channel download on the Wii Shopping channel...well...free was right in my price range. And at 7.99 a month after the 30 day free trial, it's not a tough decision. I'm sure that somewhere on this planet there exists a cheaper, more convenient and similarly legal entertainment delivery method. But that is probably in the same fairy-tale place as free lunches and daily hugs from [insert name of heart-throb/supermodel].

Canada's version of Netflix lacks the DVD/Blu-Ray home delivery component. You are only able to stream to a game console (Wii, PS3, Xbox) or your PC. There are set top solutions available from other manufacturers such as Seagate's GoFlex. But as of this writing none work. There are some network capable Samsung TV's and Blu-Ray players that are announcing a firmware update to allow direct streaming from Netflix.ca without a game console. And finally, you Apple folk can sign up with a litany of devices (iPhone, iPad, AppleTV).

What you miss by not having access to the DVD/Blu-Ray delivery method is the newer and seemingly more popular titles (read: expensive to license). But to paraphrase from the great Shawn McCarthy "I've never had trouble finding something to watch". The selection is well categorized and offers selections based on your previously viewed content as well as in response to an optional likes/dislikes survey you fill out when you sign up. The interface is uncluttered and easy to navigate with the Wii remote. Your selection will begin to play in just a few seconds, even the HD titles. You can pause or stop playback and resume at any time. And if you miss anything, rewind and fast forward presents you with screen shots to reduce the guessing as to where to stop.

To give you an idea of the available selection, imagine going in to Blockbuster and only being allowed to select movies from the "middle" of the store. You are not allowed to look along the walls at the new releases. Unless you pay extra. Extra meaning you spend 120.00 on Apple TV and 4 bucks to see a movie, or 99 cents to watch a TV show.

I hope Netflix works hard on growing and rotating their selection. But as it is, the value is definitely there. I recommend it.

"ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!"

2010-11-22T03:32:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I joined the ranks of Facebook. There were just too many things I was missing as a result of not having yet drank the Kool-aid. My concerns were mostly due to the wax and wane of the privacy policies and the lack of security granularity available to the users.

There are a couple of things that stand out to me. The mind boggling "friend suggestion" tool with its digital clairvoyance, and the lack of control over being tagged in photos that others have posted of you.

So you can imagine my joy when within 5 seconds afer signing up, it was suggested that I become friends with a number of people I am in close acquaintance with, and I accept a dozen friend requests that were inexplicably waiting for me already.

Well, I managed to get over that within about 10 minutes. And as it turned out, that was just long enough for a friend to tag me in a few photos...huzzah!

Well, I welcome Facebook, my new Lord and Master. I hope to be a dilligent slave to its every need and whim.

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Schtick

2010-05-04T13:18:00.001-06:00

Few will argue that one of the most important traits you should nourish in your children is a sense of humor. I have always tried to encourage this in my kids. They are now approaching the ages when their sense of humor matures beyond the obvious kid-based fare (toilet sounds, toilet words, etc) to more evolved content.

The other day I was getting the children prepared for bed. Brooke can be a bit lazy when it comes to picking out pyjamas. More often than not, her version of PJ's ends up being a piece of clothing (usually the shirt) that she has worn all day, and some pyjama bottoms added. Sometimes she just takes off her socks and tries to get away with going to bed like that. On this night, she decides that she will wear old sweat pants with a hole in the leg and a pyjama top. I tell her that she should not wear those pants outside the house any more, because she would look like a hobo. I use that word alot when chastising my kids for a dishevelled appearance. ("Did you brush your teeth?" "No." "Y'know hobos don't brush their teeth either, maybe you should be a hobo.", etc)

When I was a kid, I would be called a street urchin under the same circumstance. I never really knew what a street urchin was, I just knew it was bad. It didn't have a physical form in my mind. And because that was my view, I always kinda thought that my kids had the same limited vision of hobos. Not so.

Brooke's initial response was "I am NOT a hobo. Of course I wont wear these to school." This is predictable. Mitch on the other hand, comes storming into the bedroom wearing a wife-beater and underwear proclaiming "I want to be a hobo!, I could be a hobo."

Now frustrated by losing the limelight and being challenged for her attire, storms out of the room huffing, "Then go grow a beard...and....get a harmonica!"
Stomp, stomp, stomp, back to her room. And adding:
"...and a can with FIRE IN IT!"
*Slam*
Then. On the other side of her door. Giggling.

We all had a good laugh over that. I never really thought that the kids had an image in their head of an actual hobo. And the timing and delivery of Brooke's retort was just perfect.

In re-reading this, I see that the content is you-had-to-be-there ish. Too bad you weren't there.

Egg-sperimentation

2010-03-07T10:53:00.000-06:00

The other day a I came across a YouTube video of Gordon Ramsay (Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, The F word, etc) making scrambled eggs. I wanted to give it a watch for two reasons:

1) Whenever he has a new cook start in his kitchen, this is the "proving" dish he uses to determine their ability.

2) I have NEVER actually seen this guy actually cook anything. So far, he's all talk.

The recipe is simple, as it should be. Two Eggs, butter. You crack the eggs into a preheated pan, drop in the butter, and start stirring. And keep stirring.

Keep the eggs moving constantly, and as the pan heats the eggs, temper the process by removing it from the heat (still stirring). As the curds begin to form, keep adding and removing the heat until you have a cottage cheese-y consistency. Done.

What you are left with is a very moist, semi-dense mass that, although tasty, is not the fluffy consistency I like. I decided I would take a portion of what he was using, and add my own twist. The results were, in my opinion, fantastic.

The recipe is very similar, with a slight change:

-2 Eggs
-pat of butter
-1/2 tsp water

Why water? Well, it seems to help with egg volumization. The stirring and folding of the eggs that we do later creates air pockets that trap a small amount of the water and steams the egg. I have tried it without the water, and I find it to produce a denser, and slightly drier final product.

Another change, melt the butter in an 8" frying pan. Allow the butter to heat through. But don't burn it. If it turns brown, start again. Your pan is likely too hot if that happens.

Crack the eggs in a bowl. This serves 2 reasons. First, clumsy egg crackers will have a chance to remove any shell fragments before the eggs are in the pan. And it allows you to slightly stir the eggs. Not whisk with a fork as many people are likely to do, that blends the eggs into one single coloured substance that taste just fine once cooked, but are not the visual end product I'm looking for. Just mix the eggs with a spatula lightly until the yolks become broken and separated into a dozen or so strands. Don't over-mix.

Pour the mixture into the pan. Let it sit till you just can't see the bottom of the pan. Maybe 15 seconds. This is a good time to drop the toast in the toaster. Return to the pan and start pulling the egg from the sides toward the centre. Do this once or twice more or until most of the egg mixture has had contact with the pan.

Now, start folding the mixture while breaking it into smaller pieces. It will likely be necessary at this point to remove the pan from the heat. Stir and fold the mixture gently until you are left with a mound of what looks like moist popcorn. The moment that all of the egg has solidified into either yellow of white curds, immediately remove from the heat and serve.

I tried this on my kids this morning and is ANYBODY knows scrambled eggs, it's Brooke and Mitch. The eggs were a hit.

Perhaps not up to Gordon Ramsay's standards. But %*#@ him, as he would say.

For the sake of my country, I will stop watching the Olympics.

2010-02-23T16:51:00.000-06:00

At least when Canada is competing. It feels like I am something of a pox for the Canadian athletes. More often than not, when I am watching the telecast of an Olympic event, our team loses. Oh sure, you could argue that there are others who are watching as much of the Olympics as I am and this surely can't be my fault. But I present for your assessment the following scenario. Sunday's hockey game between the American and Canadian men.
Spectators had barely taken their seats when USA pumps one in the net. Crap. Thinking I had time to run upstairs at tend to the seasoning of the broiling chicken wings, I leave the room and head to the kitchen, only to hear that the Canadians have scored. Good news, but what the hell? Why am I not allowed to see that? So I return to my seat only to witness a short time later a goal by the Americans. This continued as the game progressed. Leave the room to make dipping sauce for shrimp, Canada scores, return to my seat, Brodeur flops. I still regret not leaving the room during that last ditch effort by Canada at the end of the 3rd period. I may have been the reason we didn't tie it up.
Although, I am watching the live feed as I type this, and I see Canada's Ashleigh McIvor has won the gold medal in Ladies Ski Cross! Woohoo! So maybe I can be a spectator. But I will only use the Internet. Maybe it's the inherent time delay that saves our athletes from my bad mojo.

Does it HAVE to be a civet cat?

2010-02-11T16:32:00.000-06:00

Every time I make/drink a bad cup of coffee, I am reminded of civet coffee. It's an odd relationship, because from what I have heard, civet coffee is quite delicious. Despite the fact that it is made from cat shit.
For those unaware, civet coffee, or Kopi Luwak, is made from beans that have been passed through the digestive tract of a civet cat. And no, this is not akin to sausage making, where the tract is removed, prepared and washed beforehand. The cat eats the beans, and then an appropriate amount of time later...poops the beans out. The beans are harvested and presumably washed, roasted, and ground for coffee.
As with many foods (black licorice, prairie oysters, haggis, human placenta) I'm sure that the early adopters of these items were unable to find any other food, or were completely insane. I mean, what circumstance would cause someone to pick through cat shit to get their morning fix of coffee?

[Somewhere in Africa] [interior kitchen] [morning]

"Dammit! Honey, Fluffy got into the coffee again!".
"Well you better figure out something, jackass. Because if I come downstairs and there isn't coffee, I'm gonna smash your Xbox!"
..later...
"Coffee's good. How come you're not having any?"
"Er... I had mine already"

My question is...why does it have to be a civet cat? Why do I have to wait for my shipment of 80-200 dollar per pot coffee. I want to set up my own Kopi Luwak coffee business right here in Canada. I'm sure it could work. I would just need somewhere to keep the cats because my wife isn't particualrly fond of cats. And everything I know about her tells me she would not be ok with a dozen or so cats walking around the house wearing diapers. Although I think extracing and washing the beans would be an excellent craft for the kids in her home daycare. So I suppose I could start small. Perhaps have someone board the cats for me. But that creates a staffing issue. I suppose I would be obligated to pay this person for their time. This is cutting in to profits.

My neighbor has a cat. Perhaps on one of the cat's trips into my yard I could jam a few beans into her. Then, when she comes back to poop, (and trust me, she will) I simply harvest the bounty. Full profit!

Birthday Full of WIN!

2010-01-24T01:25:00.000-06:00

No no. Not MY birthday. My wife's.

In her world, my wife treats her birthday as a National Holiday. And not the North American "made up" ones that are created simply to round out the days off we get throughout the year. I'm talking about one of those old world, Chinese or Bolshevik celebrations that involve complex ceremonies and animal sacrifices. Entire villages gather in the public square and stand mute, facing East waiting for enlightenment from an unseen God. Those who avert their eyes, even briefly, are delighted to be beaten with sticks for their lack of faith.

The people of those villages have a fleeting understanding of the conviction the likes of which my wife has for her birthday.

This is not a critical assessment of her views. Far from it. I quite respect her devotion to treating herself special this one day a year. She, of all people, deserves it. She works very hard as a wife and mother, and a patient caregiver to the legions of snotty, screaming, toy scatterers she is charged with caring for.1

I have always struggled to contribute to Tannis' birthday happiness, but have more often come up short. I am not the best event planner or gift-giver. I find all to many of my gift ideas are tainted by what I think I would like to receive. And whenever I have tried to plan an event, it is often undermined by forces beyond my control. To make matters worse, she is excellent at these efforts. Her ability to plan and orchestrate a day is carried out with military precision. Although, instead of battle fatigues and a cigar, she does it with a stylish outfit and an iced tea.

This year was going to be different. It all started when I went to Canadian Tire to buy light bulbs. I walked past a post-Christmas sale display of kitchen appliances and saw an electric frying pan. Exactly what she has asked for. And before you judge me too harshly for appliance shopping for my wife for her birthday, trust me, an electric frying pan is one of the least offensive things on her shopping list. In past years she has asked for a mop, and a vacuum. So, gleeful in my find, I purchase the frying pan.

The next gift was an impulse purchase that I wasn't too sure about. I started the day shopping with the kids looking for a few baking items that, as it turns out, are only available from a company that does not ship to Canada. The birthday was only a week away at this point, so I decided that negotiating a borderside shipping proxy was going to take too long. So back in the car we hopped and head to Best Buy to check out another purchase option that I had thought of.

I don't need a voting button on this blog to know that the penis-based readers are nodding approval at my new choice of repertory in which to shop, where the penis-less readers are likely recoilling in horror. But I hadn't thought of this purchase strictly alone. I have been trying for a couple of years to put together a portable computer for my wife to use out of parts of non-functioning end-of-life systems from the office. And last year, just when I thought I had a working system for her, it died a quiet death after only 3 uses. She wanted a light-weight computer that she could use to check her e-mail and such while on the main floor, or up in the bedrooms. Enter: the HP Mini Netbook.

I was nervous to present it to her, thinking that she would find he screen to small, or the keyboard too diminutive. But as it turns out, she couldn't have been more pleased. Since opening it and configuring it, she has been using it almost constantly. Anybody that reads her Tweets knows that she has really been enjoying it. Technology FTW!

The last component was the birthday dinner. I have planned this type event in the past with varying degrees of mediocrity. Don't get me wrong, we have always had fun. But we always have fun, it's what we do. I would like just once to have her come home after one of these dinner outings and run upstairs to flop in her bed with her diary and catalog all of the swooning that she did that evening and then calling all of her friends to relate the tale. Last year we went to Homers Greek restaurant for dinner(moderate win), followed by glow in the dark mini-putt(measurable fail). I was hoping to find an event that would engage the kids, but I lost sight of the goal. This is Tannis' day.

This time I decided that I would take her out to dinner and invite a few of her friends. I made some calls, and got RSVP's from Nat, Toshya, and Ange. Nat (via Jacques) informed me that there was a Geocaching Pub Night at the Round Table that night. So I decided that to be the venue so that it would be easier for a few of our other friends to join her for drinks or dinner if they wished.

It is always a challenge to get my wife to do something on a schedule that isn't her own. But the fact that we had a reservation made it easier to be on time and it worked out perfectly. The surprise she showed on her face was worth all of the planning. And we had a wonderful dinner with some exceptional people.

I am lucky to have this woman in my life and look forward to celebrating many birthdays with her in the future. I already have a few ideas for next year...

1If any of the parents of the children in Tannis' care happen to read this, understand that I am not talking about your child. YOUR child is the epitome of grace and manners. There is not a quieter or healthier child on the face of God's earth.

Recipe - Pumpkin Curry Pasta

2010-01-05T17:24:00.000-06:00

Had my mom coming over for dinner, and needed to come up with some unique gastroanomaly to serve. She's always bragging to me about how when she goes to my brother's place, they dine on these crazy delicious and adventuresome dishes like Hamster Cheeks in Brown Butter, or Roasted Goose wearing a sweater knit out of bacon.

A quick survey of the fridge comes up with an odd ingredient ... pumpkin. What can I do with you, my friend? I had once tasted a pumpkin ravioli that was very nice, but the supper hour was fast approaching and pasta takes too much time. Perhaps another style of pasta? Somewhere in the pantry is a bundle of squid ink spaghetti. But I quickly determined that the combination of blackish-gray spaghetti noodles with an orange sauce would become the grossest looking thing to ever grace a plate. I opt for mixing some cavatappi and ricotti noodles together as we have one serving of each of them remaining. Grabbing the 2 boxes of pasta and the coconut milk I needed for my sauce, I head to the cooktop to see what I can produce.

I dropped about 2 tablespoons of pumpkin into approximately 3/4 of a cup of coconut mik. I played with that ratio till I got the pumpkin intensity/color I was looking for. How to season this? Im not sure if it was due to the influence of the colour of the pumpkin, but my mind immediately jumped to curry. Problem is, aside from olives (more on this later) and beer, curry is the one thing that my wife doesn't like. I gave it much thought. I really tried to think of something else. But like a drunk reaching for his favorite bottle, it was muscule memory that guided my hand to the curry jar.

But I really didn't use much curry. Just enough to give it an essence of a land that, to the best of my knowledge, has never grown a pumpkin. Maybe a half teaspoon of medium yellow curry powder.

*taste*

Not bad. Needs a kick. How about some sort of spice? I remember a Thai green curry paste I had in the fridge. Yes! I put in a pea-sized granule, as I know this stuff has some legs to it. Perfect. Rootiness of the pumpkin, smoothness of the coconut, aroma of curry #1, and the heat from curry #2. But it needs something more...

Sweetness.

What do I use for that? Brown sugar? Molasses? What would my brother do? Hmm. He would have had sugar cane flown in from Hawaii the week before. My options are more regional. Honey! I grab the lavender honey and give the sauce enough to just round out the sweetness. I decide that I had best mix this together ahead of time and serve it "pasta salad" style. It was very nice. And even my wife had a small second helping! And I'm willing to bet that if I went home right now, that the leftover portion that we put in the fridge became her lunch.

I served it with tilapia fillets. I heated up the broiling pan ahead of time, dusted the fillets with a simple lemon pepper, brushed with olive oil, and did them in the oven. This preparation was fine for the family, but mom deserved something better. I decide to do a tapenede of sorts. Olives, lemon, olive oil, russian mustard, and cashews. I originally tweeted this recipe with pecans, I think. I am correcting myself now. I mashed this all together and put it on a couple of the fillets. Winner. It was delicious.

To round out the vegetable content, I sauteed young asparagus in olive oil I had flavored with garlic. Take that Kris!

It was nice to have the company of mom for a fun meal. Soon she'll be back in Regina. Maybe there's time for one more inventive supper...

Back to School

2009-12-05T20:34:00.001-06:00

Well, the snow is falling on my G-mail screen. I guess that means it's snowing outside. I suppose it's about time. This has been an excellent fall. I am definitely looking forward to having a white Christmas.

Just waiting outside the classroom for Linux Level 2. This is my first course at the main U of W campus. The William Ave. location was bought by RRCC, and U of W Continuing Education will eventually be housed where United Army Surplus used to sit. Until that site is built the Continuing Ed dudes, me included, have been crammed into the backwaters of the main campus. My first impression on walking in to my first class on Tuesday was, "I wonder where they put all the used toner cartridges that they used to store in this room?"

Spartan environment aside, it's good to be back at school. I'm looking forward to getting this diploma finished.

Why do I Geocache?

2009-11-24T16:52:00.001-06:00

I get asked this question fairly often. Sometimes I have trouble explaining why I spend the time and the gas money on finding plastic/metal containers for the sole reason of signing a logbook. It comes down to time. Given enough time I could relate a caching story from one of my finds that would paint the required picture and allow that person to see why I enjoy doing this so much.

Unfortunately, I sometimes find that my storytelling ability, or the story itself fails to convey my enthusiasm appropriately. More often than not, I am partially through describing one of my latest adventures when I notice that the interest level of my listener has diminished. The eyes glaze over, they just aren't getting my point. Or aren't interested in the activity. And that's fine.

There are also times, usually after a string of DNF's, or finding a number of less interesting "TFTC" type caches, that I question my own commitment to this activity. I have been far less active lately in finding geocaches. This has nothing to do with my enjoyment of it. I really do enjoy it. But I am finding that the quality of the (mostly urban) hides has diminished significantly in the past year or two. It seems that every cache I try to find within the city limits is either on, or ridiculously near, private property. Or it is undersized for the environment, or in a lousy, leaky container. But more than anything, it seems that quantity has taken the place of quality. Does there need to be a cache at every red-light camera? Every fire station? I think not. This lack of creativity sucks much of the enjoyment out of the sport for me. I'm not suggesting these caches shouldn't exist. Plenty of cachers find them and are happy for the numbers. I'm just saying that the game has changed, and I'm just not particularly fond of the direction it is headed. The spirit of geocaching is to find a container that holds trading items, coins, travel bugs as well as a logbook. Far too many urban hides contain a rolled up log strip and that is all. And they tend to be hidden in areas that can support a much larger container.

There seems to be much less consideration of the impact to the surrounding environment. The smaller the container, the more complex the search, and therefore the more damage to the surrounding area. There is also the issue of optics. People are not excited about strangers poking around in their back lanes, or along their fence line that backs on to a park space. I wish people would consider this when placing a cache. It's embarassing to be confronted by a nervous property owner because they think you're up to no good. And it does nothing to promote the sport as a fun family activity with a leaning towards environmental stewardship. Few kids enjoy finding nanos and micros with no chance of trading anything. And when you need to trample a patch of junipers or other greenery to find a film canister...well what's the point?

I left the city of Brandon after driving past 2 caches hidden on private property yesterday. I drove south on highway 10 with the intent to finally locate a cache I had been driving past for years: Grasshopper Glen. I had been told it was a beautiful area and well worth the search. The search itself once I got to the site was rather easy and the container was chock full of trading items. I look forward to bringing my family back here.

Getting to the site was a significant challenge for me due to not being familiar with the area. In the end, I was thankful for this because of the sights I saw, and the neat places I found. One such place was a network of horseback riding trails.

In one of my attempts to find the correct road in to the site I found this winding trail that led through a forest, and snaked down a steep hill. It was wide enough for the truck so I followed it. It opened up into this vast beautiful valley and a wide bend in the Souris river. It was just cold enough for the river to still have an insulating crust of ice. There was no wind at all. Not a breath. I turned off the engine, got out of the truck and looked around. I was in the middle of a valley that was about a kilometre wide. There was no apparent wildlife, although I suspect they were just out of sight, watching me as I made my way into their home and wandered around their living room.

The surrounding hills were high; at least by Manitoba standards. As I walked down to the edge of the water I was amazed at the deafening quiet. There was not a sound. As I mentioned, there was no wind to speak of, and this rendered the grounded leaves mute. At least until they were mashed under my feet as I walked. The surface ice offered no clue, audible or visual of the water that was rushing beneath it. I stood there for a very long time. It was like viewing a vast painting. The only noise that penetrated the silence was my own breathing. If I held my breath, I was completely overwhelmed by quiet.

It. Was. Awesome.

This story is why I love going geocaching. Even though the wrong trail led me no closer to the cache, it was that effort that made my entire day worthwhile. In the same amount of time it took me to find this one cache, I could have likely looked for 30 urban micros. But I guarantee that none of those finds would have inspiried me the way that this silent river valley did.

Pork Chop Glaze

2009-11-18T17:21:00.002-06:00

Just a recipe for a tasty after-grilling glaze for pork chops.

Juice box of apple juice (It's all I had)
2 tsp brown sugar or real Canadian maple syrup
1 tsp curry powder

Reduce over medium heat while chops are grilling. At the end, add a pat of butter and a tablespoon of corn starch slurry to thicken if desired. Pour over cooked chops while they rest after cooking.

Tub Drain

2009-10-27T22:58:00.000-06:00

This post is for posterity. I need to remember this event.
Tonight was designated bath night for Mitch. So after mapping out all of the events of the evening over Mexican chicken wraps and cleaning up the kitchen, I asked Brooke if she would fill the tub for Mitch.
I busied myself fixing a software issue of Tannis' while I listened to the tub fill up in the bathroom a floor above me. After about 4 minutes, Brooke comes to me and says that the tub is filling really slowly and the water is coming out of the tap "like, this much", showing me her fingers in pinch mode about an inch apart. Not knowing exactly how to convert that measure into fluid flow, I decide it is time to check it out. I ask her to wait one sec while I finish up.

Mitch takes this as his cue to go upstairs and take matters into his own hands. Brooke, feeling threatened by this, storms after him gargling his name as she does when she is mad at him. I hear much stomping and frustrated words and some door closing and harumphing. Time to inject some Dad into this situation.

So I go upstairs and take stock of the situation. Mitch has been banished to his room by his sister who, for some reason, has locked herself in the bathroom and has worked herself into quite a lather. I can hear her in there stomping around and opening and closing the cupboard doors.

I manage to make my way into the bathroom and am immediately confronted head-on by the seething ire of my once-shy little 9 year old daughter. "I don't have time for this! Do I have to deal with YOU too?"

What? Isn't that what I'M supposed to be saying?

I calmly (honestly, you can ask her) tell her she needs to go to her room. As she goes, I take stock of the situation...this time in text-based RPG style.

"You are in a bathroom. There are 7 different kinds of bubble bath on the counter. The tub is half full of cool water. The tap is still running. There is a dirty 7 year old boy at the door, fully clothed. You hear crying in a nearby room."

>Turn it off.

I don't understand.

>Turn off the water.

The water shuts off.

>Tell the boy to get undressed and get into the tub.

The water is too cold.

>Warm up the water

How would you like me to do that?

>Turn on the hot water tap

Hot water runs into the tub.

>Tell the boy to get into the tub and turn off the hot water when it is warm enough.

...etc.

So I go and calm the girl down by sitting in her room with her and speaking in calm monotone and playing Lego with her. This eventually placates her to the point of reasonable normalcy. After about 10 mins, I hear a sheepish "Dad?" from the bathroom.

I know what you are thinking. You've been waiting for it ever since you read that I sent the girl up to fill the tub up with water. My kids are alot of things, but they are not likely to sit in a tub and do nothing as it fills with water to the point of overflowing. So you can just erase that image from your mind right now.

The image you DO need in your mind is that of a naked, semi-moist, 7 year old boy perched on the edge of the tub gargoyle-style with a look on his face I can only describe as fear. Not red alert fear, but we are leaving yellow alert and crossing the line into orange.

"What's going on?"
"I don't wanna be in the tub anymore."
"Why not?" at the same time thinking, 'What's he got in his hand?'
"I found this in the drain.", he says, holding up a clump of Idon'tknowwhat. I should explain that our tub has a "hidden" stopper. You can still put fingers and toes into the strainer basket even with the stopper on. It's not as if we have massive tufts of hair making their way out of the drain around the edges of the rubber stopper.
I grab the offending thing, and dispatch it into the garbage.
"IT WAS TICKLING MY FOOT!"
"Dude, relax. It's no big deal it's just a little hair or something."
"And there's some sort of slippery lumps in the tub! What IS that?"
"Where?"
"I was sitting on them...there. I could feel them with my BUTT!"
"It's just some soap or something." I rub my hand over the whatthehellisthats on the bottom of the tub. Mini bath beads that weren't rinsed out properly. I tell the boy this but he is not satisfied.
Starting to laugh, he says, "I'm.having.a.shower."
This gets us both laughing so hard we can barely function as I drain the tub and start the shower.
I love being a dad.

Earn your right to complain..

2009-10-05T14:20:00.002-06:00

This Saturday, after an enjoyable bike ride in Assiniboine Park, I went home and picked up my son so we could clean up some trash in our neighborhood. There is a cache (Takin a Dip) near my house that is in an area that is covered in garbage. The source of the trash is the City of Winnipeg property adjacent to it. It seems that they have a couple of dumpsters on site, and have on occasion missed the dumpster when throwing out garbage. I have written an e-mail to the city about that. But that is not what I am stewing about today.

What irks me is the people who have either logged finds or DNF's on the cache have made a point of complaining about all of the garbage in the area, but have not done anything about cleaning it up. One person went so far as to demand that the cache be moved, or arrange to have someone go and clean up the space. OK. If you wish to point out that there is garbage in the area, fine. It is good advice for the next cachers. But PICK SOMETHING UP. Especially if you have kids with you. These are the lessons that kids need to learn. My kids will now pick up "safe" garbage even when we are not out caching. Safe, meaning that it isn't broken glass, or anything like that.

We were only able to clean up about 2 big bags before we ran out of time. And even though we didn't have the GPSr with us, Mitch managed to find the cache! He is awesome.

Twitter

2009-10-03T14:33:00.000-06:00

I'm on twitter (geolizardo). I feel a little dirtier. But I'm still not on Facebook...so that's something.
Did you know that you can follow just about anybody on Twitter? Now, whether or not you are following the ACTUAL person is anyones guess. But I submit to you that it would be more interesting to follow a fake celebrity than an actual one.
I learned that nearly all celebrities from politicians to porn stars use Twitter to further their own agenda.

Lift/Transfer Dummy- The Michael Meyers Model

2009-09-23T13:20:00.001-06:00

This is terrifying. One of the Personal Care Homes I work at had this in the multi purpose room. I assume they are using it as a training aid for some sort of care regimen. I can only hope it isn't mouth-to-mouth recessitation practices.

How creepy is this? There are not many ways that this could be made to be more disturbing, and still be allowed to be used in a care home setting. Paint stained coveralls, a longshoremans touque, and yes, that is duck tape wrapped around his head mafia-style. And is it just my eye, or does he appear to be reaching "down there" pleasuring himself to the thoughts of the first time he heard Jamie Lee Curtis' scream? Another ghastly feature of this fellow is his lack of feet. So it appears he was "hobbled" before he was aysphyxiated with duck tape.
I can only hope that this isn't a mandatory inservice for all staff. Because I definitely don't need to see any more of this guy.

Y - M - C - A!

2009-09-22T19:50:00.000-06:00

We have been visiting the YMCA now about 3 times a week. Mostly as a family, which has been very enjoyable. This past Sunday we started the kids in their swimming lessons at 1:30pm. Tannis and I thought it would be fun for us to sit in the hot tub/steam room while the kids were in their class, and since it was the last swimming class of the afternoon, join them for a play in the pool afterwards. Whee!
Unfortunately the hot tub had a sign on it that there had been a "fouling". I guess some processed pablum slipped out of a little swimmer. Fair enough, I decided to watch for the 30 mins the kids were in the lesson and then change out for playtime after that. But what do I see when I look in the hot tub...the sign has recently been removed and sitting there in the tub with a big grin, is my wife!
I question her motives for being the first swimmer in the hot tub after the fouling sign had been removed. She tells me that they were just adjusting the pH of the hot tub and don't have a "We're adjusting the pH" sign, so they use the fouling sign. I ask her how she knows that and she says that the other lady in the tub told her that. When I glance over to that lady, she shrugs and says, "well, probably".

O-kay.

It's been a couple of days, and so far no fecal-bourne illnesses, so I remain hopeful.
We had a great time in the pool, and Mitch decided that afterwards he is going to climb the rock wall. So off we go to shower and get changed.

I'll stop here to say that I really like the new disign at the Y. Lots of (free) lockers, nice big pool, waterslides (although I have NEVER seen the red one in operation..why?), all the new machines and extra parking. But they missed 2 things. There needs to be an entrance off the parking lot, and the showers suck.

Why must I bring my kid through the sausage factory when I leave the pool? It is impossible to make it from the pool to the lockers without walking past every shower head (pun intended). This is unneccessary. I'm not a prude. At all. But a shower is a shower and a hallway is a hallway. N'er the two shall meet.

And there is nowhere practical to hang a towel while you shower. They have these weird grab bars, that are too far away, and too small to be useful. When I tried to engage my wife in my rant later, she says, "Don't you have hooks on the back of your shower door?"

WHAT!?

Ugh. Well, there's no way they're going to change the men's showers to the extent of adding doors, but it sure would be nice to see some hooks. I'm starting to see why the Village People were motivated to sing about this place.

Review - George's Burgers and Subs - OPA!

2009-08-23T13:56:00.001-06:00

There it is. The Double Fat Boy. It has been a while since I have had one of these. I'm generally good for about two of these burgers within one 12 month period. I had one at VJ's back in May or June, and I decided to try one from Georges on this day in August.
I was out shopping and had some time too kill just after noon. And having missed breakfast, I was feeling rather hungry. I was about to head home when I decided to try a place I had never been, but oft considered.
I arrived at the right time. I was lucky to get a table right away as shortly after I sat down I noticed a lineup build that was still evident when I left 30 mins later. There is no possible way for this establishment to fit any more patrons into this restaurant. The challenge of a roundish dining room was met by the finest Greek engineers and I am certain that aside from messing with the fabric of space-time, there is no way another seat could be added. And it seemed oddly out of scale. It reminded me of those Fisher Price play houses that had rooms that were just big enough for the furniture, but that was it. No walking about allowed. Which I suppose is fine, as Fisher Price people only have that roundish base so you can stuff them into their various vehicles. No feet.
I was completely surrounded by the all too discernable coversations around me. The people next to me were new acquaintances. They met the night before at the bar and spent the night together. She was still wearing her bar clothes and what remained of her up-do. He was wearing fresh clothes, and a pretty obvious hickey.
The booth behind me was crammed full of at least 6 guys, one of which had brought his five year old daughter because "the wife was out shopping". These guys belonged here. Fixtures. They were talking about horsepower, hunting, drywall compound, and the waitresses ass. These were men. All of them divorced, save for the latecomer with the 5 year old. But, honestly, any guy that refers to his life partner, and the mother of his child as "the wife" is standing on the sidelines of the painful game of divorce. But I digress.
The menu here is no surprise. You will find the same fare at a dozen different places in the city. Notably Steve's on Ness, the Olympia on Portage, and Johnny's on Marion. I decide I will try the Double Fat Boy platter. It was awesome. I have always thought that even though shredded lettuce is a bit messier lettuce-wise, it prevents a more stain inducing condiment based mishap that can be caused by full leaves of lettuce. I couldn't finish the whole thing. I ended up leaving half of the fries, and a couple of bites of the burger. The whole thing came to 12 dollars including tip and an iced tea.
So there it is. You have just read an entire page only to find out that Greeks know how to make a decent Fat Boy Platter. Which is a fact you already knew. I'm sorry. Please direct all complaints to the comments link below.

Well, hello.

2009-08-14T14:06:00.001-06:00

This greeted me in the washroom this morning. I stared at it entirely too long. I just wanted to remember the stolen moment we shared. So I took a picture. And I put it on the internet. For all of you to judge me.

Review - Princess Grill

2009-08-01T19:49:00.002-06:00

I just got another response to my less than glowing (and far from official) review of the Lovey's BBQ restaurant. This has prompted me to consider that people are actually reading these musings so perhaps I should juxtapose my dissatisfaction with Lovey's with a thought stream about a restaurant I DO like.

Enter: the Princess Grill.

I don't know the history of this place, but I bet it's interesting. I saw a writeup in the Sun earlier this year, and thought I would try to make an effort to visit. Last week, I had some time, so I found myself a parking spot among the construction and went for breakfast.

The decor is clean and very basic. I like that in a breakfast place. I get nervous when there are hanging plants and doilies on the tables. You can count on your breakfast costing you a good dollar more just so you can have a plant near your table.

I was immediately greeted by a pretty, smiling face and given a menu and a coffee. I'm guessing Folgers. Hot and good. And served in one of those thick, white porcelain cups. Clear glass mugs are for the doily restaurant and giveaways at Domo.

I opted for the breakfast special: Sausage, Over Easy, and Brown toast. As I waited, I read the newspaper I brought. This proved to be a bit of a challenge. Note to future visitors, if you wish to read the paper, bring a headlamp, or sit closer to one of the many windows. I only had to wait about 10 minutes. Although I wish my eggs had shown up a couple minutes earlier. By the time the whole ensemble had made it to me, the eggs looked delicious, but they were rather cold.

The rest of the cast was excellent. The real potato hash browns were done nicely, and the sausages were split, but not overcooked. And the toast (hard to screw up toast) was hot and lightly buttered. I'd also like to note that the sausages were served on top of the potatoes. This is a nice presentation method.

One criticism I have about many breakfast joints, this one included, is the toast toppings and how they are offered. I dislike when the selection is decided for me and there is one jam packet placed on the plate with the toast. This was the case here. I would rather be given nothing and had to have asked for my preference than to have to appear to be dissatisfied with the selection given and ask for another. Some places have that top loading, bottom serving jam-a-rama deal that gives you ready access to 8 packets each of at least 6 flavors. This is the other side of the spectrum, and although appreciated, not necessarily required. A good middle road is the small bowl at the table with, say, a half dozen random packets in it. And as long as there is at least one peanut butter, and another non-marmalade choice, we're good.

Breakfast special including coffee came to slightly north of $7.00. Another 1.50 for the tip. I would have felt a bit better had the eggs been warm. But I will be back. I enjoyed it very much overall.

Good for you, Brad

2009-07-29T15:36:00.002-06:00

I have been following the Luann strip lazily for the past few years. It's a pretty effortless read. I liked the story line where the parents buy a neighbors house as a flip opportunity and their son ends up staying there, and his friend TJ nearly burns it down. Apparently for me: house fires=hilarity.

Anyhow, around that same time they introduced the Toni Daytona character as an unattainable target for Brad's affections. It has taken over a year (or more?) but they have finally "hooked up". On one hand, on behalf of all my semi-attractive brethren, I am happy for Brad's new relationship. But let's be serious. I think this would be somewhat more believable if Brad looked a little less like Bert. Or perhaps Toni should look a little more like Bert.

Beer Can Chicken

2009-06-22T22:18:00.003-06:00

This is by no means a cutting edge, or unique process. This is a method I had seen deployed numerous times on countless cooking shows. But I had never tried it myself.

Yesterday was the day. Father's Day. The day a man is required to grill the family dinner. At least that's the way it reads in the manual I follow. So this is that day I decide to try sodomizing a chicken carcass with a half a can of beer. That last sentence should make the results list of some rather spicy Google searches. Sorry, freak. No pictures here. Keep looking.

A simpler method, there could not be. You cover the chicken with your favorite rub, insert can, and place on a sacrificial baking sheet on the barbeque and keep the temperature slightly north of 300 degrees till it's done. Use indirect heat.

Trust me, it's amazing.

Rock Climbing

2009-06-18T09:57:00.006-06:00

So I come home last Monday and over dinner I ask Mitchell if he remembers being at the YMCA and the rock climbing wall they have there. He assures me he definitely DOES remember. The reason for this clarity of thought is because he was not allowed to climb the wall due to the fact that he was only 5 years old when we were there last. The rules are that you must be at least 6 years old and weigh 40 pounds or more.

So seeing that he is now able to meet both requirements of the rock climbing pre-requisites, I ask them both if they would like to go back to the "Y" to try rock climbing and maybe some swimming.

A more enthusiastic yes, I could not have asked for. At least from the Mitch side of the table. Brooke chewed on the idea, along with her dinner for a couple of minutes and asked "Is there anything else that we can do there?". I kind of expected this response from her as she is somewhat less adventurous than her brother. She derives pleasure from more cerebral pursuits. Although she does have the capacity to surprise. More on that later.

We decide to go on the following Monday. This is not very popular with my wife. She can't attend on Mondays because of TOPS. Oh well. We would be sure to tell her all about it when we got home.

The concept of "next Monday" is somewhat lost on Mitch. So the use of the calendar is immediately deployed to help him visualize when exactly "next Monday" was. Until then, he was all ready to finish his supper and run out the front door and sit in the van.

It took an entire week, but eventually the day came. I put Mitch to bed on Sunday night and reminded him (unnecessarily) of the upcoming day at the Y after supper tomorrow. He was well aware, to say the least. I reminded him that the trip was not automatic. That he had to be well behaved tomorrow for mom. And wake up and get dressed when he was told to. He assured me that wouldn't be a problem.

Monday morning was interesting. Usually it is difficult to get Mitch out of bed. Well all it took was one wake up call and the next thing I know, he's standing in my bedroom all dressed and announcing "Look, Dad, I'm ready to go to school!".

I got home around 5:20. We had to be there by 6:00, so we had a frenzied dinner of PB&J's and out the door we went.

We got there and Mitch got rigged out and took to the wall right away. Brooke was happy to play on the play structure and the exercise bike. It took Mitch about 25 minutes, but he eventually made it all the way to the top of the wall.

After that, he was eager to try the intermediate wall and moved over to do so. Then Brooke surprised me by saying she wanted to try climbing. Cool! So we got her outfitted and off she went. She did so good. She didn't have as much time to get used to the effort as Mitch did, so she didn't make it to the top. But next time, she will do even better.

We got into the pool for 7:00 and swam for a half hour before heading home. Right after the swim, we went in the steam room for a bit. Oh, man, I love steam rooms! I think come fall, we will likely join as a family. Now that the kids are a little older, there is sooo much for them to do there.

My 41st Birthday

2009-06-15T21:05:00.000-06:00

It was a great weekend!
My birthday was Saturday June 13th. I had a super day, or I should say, Weekend.

Last year was my big 4-0. My wife took it upon herself to plan an extravagant party at Westhawk Lake. She invited friends to come out to camp or just to party for the day and head home. So many of my friends were there and I had an awesome time. From flying the plane in Kenora, to losing most of my frontal body hair to the Jengafire on both evenings.

This year however, I gave strict instructions. No big parties. As a matter of fact, no parties that involved people outside of my immediate family. I was intent on taking it easy this year and have a nice relaxing day with my family. No frenzied activity. No entertaining. No stress. I love to have a party. And my friends are fantastic people that I rarely get to see. But this year was going to be a quiet one. I have spoken.

As far as a gift was concerned, I asked for nothing other than a day of my family's time on my birthday and as a special gift from my wife; a day of her time so we could take a geocaching road trip together. And, she agreed. Cool. Not like she had much choice. As I said before...I had spoken.

The day began the way most household birthdays do. Breakfast in bed with all of us crowding into our bed and trying not to spill anything. Then the kids presented me with their fantastic hand made projects. The pride and appreciation I feel when I recieve the artistic results of the solitary labor of one of my children is immeasurable. As I pour over the detail of their gifts I try to imagine what they might have been thinking while drawing/painting/stapling/glueing this particular object. I imagine them sitting their desks, faces barely an inch from the paper as they fastidiously colour with crayons and markers. Their bodies shaking in time with the fervent pistoning of their little arm. These are the gifts that matter. I definitely am not looking forward to the day when they discover the convenience of exchanging money for a pre-printed Hallmark sentiment that is shared among a few dozen recipinents, who, other than the card, have absolutely nothing in common. Of course I'll appreciate them. But I'll miss the other. Alot.

So after the cards come the gifts. I truly was expecting, and hoping for nothing. But as it turned out, I got some shower products from my kids, and a surprise from my wife.

I have never owned a leather jacket. I have never found a jacket that fits and was at a price that I could justify paying. I have periodically mused aloud at how I would like to have a nice leather coat. And I have shopped in the past, but I needed the eye of my wife for final approval. I mean, lets face it, I look amazing in any coat, but she's the one that will be looking at me. I want her to swoon just right.

Well it turns out that this is the birthday I got a leather jacket. And she shopped for it on her own. And it fit me. And it was perfect. The perfect gift for a guy who wanted nothing. Get him something he didn't know he wanted. Awesome.

After that, we just hung around for a bit at the house. Later we decided to go on a picnic. So we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and headed to Whittier Park to have a picnic and replace a geocache that I had removed while the water was high. After we did those things, we went for a 3 km walk around the Whittier and Lagimodiere Gaboury parks and walked back to the car through the streets of St Boniface. All in all, a pretty happy day.

Then we dropped off the kids at Grandma and Grampas and went to The Line Up for a yummy dinner. We had planned to go out for drinks later, but somehow that never happened. I had a great day.

Nice Hand Cream

2009-04-30T15:41:00.003-06:00

Double standards.

The world is full of them. I try not to get too excited about it. For the most part, I find them amusing. This one especially.

Today I found myself in another coworkers office sitting at their desk. This is not an uncommon occurrence as I am the IT guy. I spend WAY more time at other peoples desks than I do my own. I also spend alot of time watching a computer screen. Usually the prominent visual on that screen is the scrolling percentage counter of an installing application or ongoing process. That is, you see, my raison d'etre. I install and reconfigure stuff to make it work better.

In the cases where the caravan of pixels takes a longer time to populate than usual, I sometimes look around at the various items of personality that satisfies the users need of identity in the workplace. Where a lesser being would take the time to urinate in the corners and at various key locations within the space, we bring in pictures, juvenile artwork, Dilbert calendars, vases, etc. I particularly enjoy the pictures. Some are fairly benign. Simple poses at a favorite locale. All smiles, and no worries. While others are goofy or whimsical. There are also some people who don't take the time to scan the background of a picture to make sure the setting is appropriate. Exhibit 1- Four people sitting in a living room on a sofa. Sodas and beer on the coffee table in front of them. Everyone sporting exuberant grins and mild sunburns. However, if you looked in the corner of the picture, way up at the top, you would see the arched back of the owners dog, and his furry pucker dropping a "cigar" on the hallway carpet. Exhibit 2- A vacation photo. Based on the decor in the room, somewhere Mexican...perhaps Dominican. This is a boudoir photo. A picture of the boyfriend (thankfully fully clothed) laying on the King sized bed in the hotel room. All smiles, and no worries. Again, if you look in the background, on the nightstand, you can clearly see the telltale accordion-fold of a sizeable bandolier of condoms. And right next to the condoms? A vibrator.

But I digress.

The reason I thought to post today was the picture here. Comparatively this is a far more dressed down work space than usual. Nary a photo in sight. Although, the freaky, whimsical pencil is rather interesting.

Hand Cream. Swift and broad would be the judgement assessed on me for having hand cream figure so prominently at my desk. I mean, seriously, the mouse is less available than the hand cream. But girls don't have this issue. Had it been a whole cucumber, perhaps. But thankfully it wasn't.

Car Shopping

2009-04-07T21:03:00.004-06:00

Increasingly over the past few weeks it has become evident that it is time to retire my trusty companion, the Ford Taurus SE that I have been driving for the past 10 years or so. It was around December that I started to notice a shimmy in the steering that told me that the mechanic at Fountain Tire was not just pulling my leg when he said that I needed to replace my ball joints and tie rods. Being that I had just spent some 800 dollars fixing a far more critical issue, I couldn't bring myself to spend another thousand dollars replacing the front end of the car as well as all four tires.

So the shimmy has graduated to more of a shake. Like most other unfortunate palsy victims, some days are worse than others. On a particularly bad day, Tannis decided to take the car for a quick errand. Upon her return, she didn't even have both feet in the house before she announced, no DEMANDED, that we buy me a new car. And so it begins, the confusing, tiring and expensive (albeit exciting) search for a new vehicle.

I have enjoyed my relationship with Ford so far. We have had a Mercury Tracer, A 1994 Ford Probe, A 1996 Mustang GT, and a 1998 Ford Taurus. All good cars. Aside from a mishancled incident with the Probe, for which we were generously compensated with a fantastic deal on the lease of the Mustang. So I decided to first look over the Ford product line to see if they had any offerings that I would like. The first thing that jumped out at me was the Ford Escape.

I have been looking to get a slightly larger vehicle with more versatile cargo space. The security of the trunk on the Taurus is fine, but it has just become an overstocked catch-all.

MythTV is Awesome

2009-03-20T14:38:00.003-06:00

My TV recorder has nothing to do with Bill Gates. I am using a package called Mythbuntu. It combines MythTV, a TiVo-like software package, with Ubuntu, a non-geek friendly version of Linux.

Before that, I started with a Toshiba DVD PVR a few years back. It has an 80 gig hard drive and is pretty user friendly. Problem was, the DVD drive died so I was unable to archive anything I wanted to save. And with an 80 gig drive, that filled up pretty fast. Now they come with much larger drives, but the market is drying up because all of the service providers (Shaw, MTS, etc) offer their own devices. But you will never get content off of those things to a DVD due to the Digital Rights Management bull****.

So that’s why I settled on this MythTV solution. Being based in Linux, it’s free. But for the same reason, it is not for the technically faint-of-heart. Mr. Gates does offer his own solution that gets bundled with most (or all?) versions of Vista called Media Centre. I have seen a demo of it and it looks kind of cool. It seems to have many of the features of the MythTV solution.

Here is a YouTube video that explains it pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-yNCqj_MXs

Most of the videos on YouTube have the user demonstrating it on their computer. What I did was put the computer beside my TV. My PC has S-video out so I ran a cable from the PC to the TV. Then I connected the audio out from the PC as well. Similar to what you would do with a DVD player.

To use MythTV or Microsoft’s Media Centre, you need to have a TV capture card in your PC. Either HD or Standard, whatever your signal is. That card actually comes with a universal remote control. So now my kids can operate this thing pretty well. They have their shows recording and are able to watch and delete the stuff in their “category”.

Because this thing is a PC on a network, I can access the shows from anywhere in my house on my notebook. And I can also see the system from outside the house via the web.

The system can be run on an older computer, but I added a couple of HD’s to bring my storage up to 1 Terabyte. The only thing I need to pay for is a subscription to the listings service that gives me 2 weeks of program guide information over the web. But at 20 bucks a year, it’s worth it.

****Edit****
I have had people ask me for a cost breakdown/materials list. Although this will vary from person to person, here is mine:

1 Computer (~$200). Or at least a VM.

I have a dedicated P4 2.66 GHz with 768MB RAM. I installed two 500GB hard drives ($200) giving me the better part of a Terabyte of storage. You can get a great one used from a place like Coreys computing.

1 Video Capture Card with tuner. (~$100.00)

I bought a Hauppage 150. This seems to be the standard card that everyone uses. There is a version of the same card that has 2 tuners. This allows recording of two channels simultaneously, or recording of one channel while watching another. If I had this to do over again, I would buy that one. But for most peoples needs, the single tuner model is sufficient. You need to ensure that you are using the right card for the service you are paying for (HD vs Standard Definition)

1 Video card with S-video Out (~125.00)

This is optional. You only need this if you are outputting your recordings to a TV for viewing.

That covers the basics. Other than this, you need:

A subscription to Schedules Direct (20.00/annually). This is a service that pushes the TV Guide schedule information to your MythTV PC via the Internets

An internet connection wherever you are putting this thing. I had to run a line from my switch to the TV. This allows the system to automatically gather schedule information. Also, you can get access to your system from other PC's in your house, or remotely. You just need to configure your gateway properly.

Although the Hauppage Capture card comes with a functional remote control, I found it limited in the way it controlled the other devices, so I had to purchase a Logitech Universal remote (~160.00). This turned out to be the best thing by far. This thing is fully programmable and you can even set up macros to make it even easier.

"C"....NO...."A"

2009-03-10T14:23:00.002-06:00

I have started to age.

I know. "We all age, you idiot". I get the regular aging. What I mean is the aging where you start to become your parents. Or at least you start to develop the habits of people the age of your parents.

I have begun to enjoy crossword puzzles, sudoku, and those cryptoquip things in the paper. I have become the dad who sits at the kitchen table on a Saturday and does the crossword puzzle. I'm OK with it. And the fact that I am aging has nothing to do with this particular post.

Often when I am doing one of these puzzles, I run across the clue "Mom's Sister", or "Grandma's Daughter". The answer is, of course, "aunt". But I have found that more often than not, I have already solved the last three letters using other clues.

"Honey, can you think of a four letter word for 'Mom's Sister' that ends in 'unt'?"

I'm just sayin'.

My Tribe

2009-03-10T13:58:00.003-06:00

A number of years ago, before we had kids, Tannis and I got mildly addicted to Warcraft. Not World of Warcraft, the online epic. Just the original Warcraft. It was a simple little game you could play as a human or an orc. You would build homes, barracks, farms, etc and go about building your empire and conquering neighboring civilizations.

When I say mildly addicted, I may be selling it a little lightly. It had become the topic of conversation in every phone call during the day with each other. When I picked her up from work, we would talk strategy till we got home and could turn on the computer. It was stupid, really. There wan't much to the game. It was just so addictive. We eventually kicked the habit and stayed off the smack until Tannis started playing The Sims 2. But don't get me started on that.

Recently I was looking for puzzle type adventure games. My searches led me to http://grubbygames.com/. I downloaded a couple of trial games that were OK. Then I tried My Tribe. This dumb little game is even more simplistic than Warcraft was. Which seemingly makes it even more addictive. And if that wasn't enough, the game simulates operation while you are not playing it. So now, you can close the game, turn off the computer, go to bed, and wake up the next morning to find your Tribe members have starved to death.

There is no currency, but you need to gather wood, food and stone. These are your basic raw materials. You can also expect the odd piece of flotsam from your ship to show up while you are playing. It may contain food, or items to help you build or research new technologies. On that note, one of the structures you get to build is a science lab. Here you get to research things and conduct chemical experiments with the various elements you find on the island.

Producing offspring is as easy as picking up one of your tribe members and dropping them on a member of the opposite sex. They will then trundle off into an available hut, and emerge seconds later with an infant. You don't have to care for the children. As a matter of fact, you can't do anything with them till they become adults. They do nothing other than wander around.

I have not yet introduced Tannis to this game. I really want to, but if she gets addicted, she'll blame me. Perhaps soon.

Quote of the Day

2009-03-01T12:59:00.002-06:00

iGoogle advises me that Matt Groening had this to say:

Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come.

I'm not saying I agree with this necessarily. But it is funny. And I just watched Ice Age 2 last night. So the image if that acorn-manic weasel-thing is fresh in my mind.

Did MY Parents do This at 40?

2009-02-27T09:57:00.002-06:00

You know those times that you are helping your kids through a tough time and you use the "I have been there, too" story to relate to them. And they nod thoughtfully trying to imagine you in the same stuation they are in, and then realizing to themselves that you are full of shit because there is NO WAY you could POSSIBLY understand what its like to have pants that don't fit right and how the little adjustable straps on the waistband are SUPER scratchy...etc...etc. I mean, sure, in my day the pants didn't have adjustable waistbands like they do now. We had belts. Or our moms would "let them out" or "take them in" to suit our everchanging bodies. Pants weren't made of smooth denim and soft cotton in the 70's. They were made of iron and polyester. You want to talk about uncomfortable, don't get me started. But they were very durable. Try adjusting a seam or sewing a gather in some of the jeans nowadays. Not as easy. Snip one wrong thread, and *poof* the trousers evaporate into a pile of threads. Maybe not that bad, but you get my drift: I know of uncomfortable pants.

Do we ever stop dismissing the possibility that our parents "have been down that road before"? I find myself wondering this more and more lately. Although it is not from my kids' perspective, it's from MY perspective.

I don't know what the 1975 equivalent of Rockband is. Pong? OK. Pong was first introduced around 1975. And we were the first family on our street to have one. And I loved playing it. Did I ever play it with my parents? Not a chance. Now I suppose it is possible that once I was snuggled in my bed at night, my parents would Pong it up for a few hours, but I find that doubtful. But I never witnessed them actually playing it themselves.

Yet, whenever I get the chance, I am jamming with the kids to "You Shook Me All Night Long" on the AC/DC trackpack. Now, I'm sure a social scientist would argue that the pervasive nature of various forms of technology over the past few decades has contributed to the acceptance of technology by the elder generations so my metaphor just doesn't hold up in the wash, unlike my Sears Toughskins corduroy pants (you like how I brought that around? -- me too).

I am now starting to get the eye-rolling from my daughter once in a while. "Daaaaaaaaaad!" Attempting, as young girls are prone to do, to sway her fathers judgement by whining and rolling her eyes and doing that "tsk-awwww" thing. My son, for the time being, still thinks I am the smartest guy alive.

Coffee Shop Rant

2009-02-23T11:47:00.001-06:00

I am really trying to support the little guy.

There is a coffee shop near our house called the Pastry Castle. It used to be something else..Java Somethingorother. That place went under because the woman running the place had no idea how to run a business. The coffee was fine, but the treats were boring. She kept trying to change the menu items, but it never really made it. The only time I thought she had a good idea was when she started advertising live music a couple of nights a week. That is the crowd she was trying to pull in. And it might have worked if they had stuck with it for a while.

But the location is such that it is inconvenient to find. You have to actually be looking for the place. It is completely surrounded by other restaurants so attracting the lunch crowd would be a tough gig. I say go after the coffee crowd. The only Starbucks in the area is in the Safeway. And we all KNOW that those aren't REAL Starbucks. And Tim Horton's is always packed, but that just means that people don't have a real alternative.Another thing this place could have going for it is the free(ish) MTS Wireless Internet. I added the 'ish' because you have to have an MTS user ID from an existing service in order to log in.

That in itself isn't the issue. The issue with this service offering is the reason why I am typing this entry while I am offline even though I am well within the range of the access point. They have a 2.4 GHz wireless phone. Every time they answer said phone, I have my connection severed. Is this the last straw? No. I will continue to patronize this place despite the apparent frivolity of my efforts. I'm quite sure that within the next few months I will be sitting here, drinking my latte produced by the NEW owner/barrista of my neighborhood coffee shop. And hopefully at some point in the future, the stars will align and I will finally have a neat little neighborhood coffee shop to patronize.

Who Does This to Their Cat?

2009-02-22T20:08:00.003-06:00

I really don't know what to say about this. When I looked at this picture on the original website the ad content to the left of the image was promoting a "cat lovers network". That made me laugh just as hard as the original picture.

Note the evidence of a black eye in frame #4. How hard do you have to smack a cat to give it a visible black eye? I bet the artist could shed some light on that. I also enjoy the disembodied leg in a boot that appears in frames 1 and 6.

Nice to see that the instructions recommend using the more humane canister vaccuum as opposed to just running the upright unit back and forth over Fluffy McMeowington.

Not a Bad Day

2009-02-18T13:10:00.002-06:00

You know those times when you get called in to move computers and then show up to find out that not just computers are moving, but new desks were installed as well?And the new desk is an antique made from the deck of Noah's Ark. Never designed to have a computer. The mere suggestion of a hole being drilled to accomodate a cable is met with gasps and fainting. And of course the desk is placed in the centre of the room like a power and ethernet-less island refuge.Ever have those days?
Well, today was not one of those days for me. I showed up to see a desk and computer moved into an office just waiting for me to plug them in to a plug and network port I had so efficiently installed years ago when this was still a storage room. Although the network port was on the opposite side of the office, I was able to find a 25' patch cable. How often does THAT happen?!Today is shaping up. Maybe I won't need to get as drunk as usual tonight.

Restaurant Review - Lovey's BBQ

2009-02-17T17:55:00.003-06:00

Whenever I am driving down Marion, I would always notice the new (and only) Southern BBQ place in Winnipeg, Lovey's BBQ. Always thinking to drop in and pick up some pulled pork, or some ribs, I just never did. I would always be driving home for supper after work, and there would usually already be a supper plan, so my desire for delicious BBQ meat would go unfulfilled.
Finally, one night last week, I had my wits about me enough to call ahead to Tannis to arrange that I pick up some wood smoked bovine and ovine delicacies. As well as enough slaw and beans to make sure our intestines didn't shut down completely.

I was impressed by the decor. It is not at all spectacular, but exactly what I would expect from a BBQ joint. Sheet metal siding wainscotted walls, chalk menus on the walls, pictures of other similarly named and and annointed BBQ establishments that were obviosly taken by the owner during his fact finding tour prior to opening his own joint, and the requisite effigies of the source of the raw materials...pigs.

Although it was the supper hour, I had my order taken quickly. After looking over the various choices (ribs, chicken, brisket, sides) the proprietor and I decided that the 3 meat combo would be the best bet. For 30.00, I had 6 ribs, about a half pound of pulled pork (or option brisket), a half BBQ'd chicken, a couple small squares of corn bread (option was bannock), fries, beans, and some slaw. There was another potato option, I think mashed, but I can't remember.
While I waited, I wandered around the restaurant looking at the various photographs and kitcsh that festooned the walls. My final read was the restaurant reviews by the Press and the Sun. In my opinion, Marion Warhaft is inconsistent with my tastes, and the girl that does the review in the Sun must be either poisoned or clubbed by the waiter before she does a bad review. But as I read these reviews, especially the Free Press one, I noticed how...well...shitty it was. Even though, as I said, Marion and myself are often at odds, I was hoping for something more encouraging from her review. You see, BBQ is basic, primal food. Most of the menu items are prepared well in advance of serving. So, it's not as if you have the same order freshness management concerns as, say, Oriental takeout. Most of the items in my order were put on the smoke 3-10 HOURS before I ever darkened the door of Lovey's. So it would seem to me at least that so long as you have solid proven recipies for the preparation of these dishes, you're golden.

Not so.

I'll truncate the pliagiarism of Ms. Warhaft's review to say it was non-complimentary on most every count. Not to be discouraged, when my order was ready, I excitedly grabbed my two sacks of meat and sauce and headed for the car. I felt my biggest challenge now was getting the works home without eating half of it on the way.

I somehow managed to make it in the house with the original fold still in place on my paper sacks. The family wouln't be home for an hour, so I decided now was the time to sample the wares at their freshest. The following are my findings in the order of their ingestion:

1) Corn Bread - It was definitely NOT my intention to sample the corn bread first, but I had little choice. It was packed on top of the menu item I was originally going for, but more on that later. As I lifted it up, it crumbled to pieces. I caught as much as I could, but it got pretty messy. I decided that the best place to store the remaining pieces was in my mouth. The taste was too spicy for my palate. I was hoping for a sweeter product. Instead, I got savoury. And dry. Like a dusty corn fart.

2) Chicken - Looked wonderful. The texture was good. Nice and tender with a slight crust. The meat was well seasoned, not at all salty, and the smoke flavour had made it all the way through. I did note, however, that this was not the meatiest of birds. Perhaps she was raised on the corn bread, and like me, never developed a taste for it.

3) Fries - Wanting to cleanse my palate of my first meat sample of the night, I decided to dig in to one of the side dishes. What do you want me to say here? They're fries. Real ones, made from potatoes. Good.

4) Pulled Pork - It is pretty damn hard to screw up pulled pork. And they didn't. It was good. I prefer mine a little less pulled than what I got. It would be nice if a few half-inch sized pieces were in there. They would stay a bit moister. But the flavour was very nice.

5) Beans - More palate cleansing. Although after trying a forkfull of these, I was regretting not having chosen to lick the dog. These beans were barely a step below crunchy. And the flavour was far too intense. This was evidently a new batch. Perhaps a few more hours in the crock and some molasses. Yes. That is all I will say about that.

6) Slaw - In an effort to get past my relationship with the beans, I jumped right in bed with her best friend. This is one dish that could have used a bit more flavor. Salt. Corriander. Malt vinegar. Something. But pretty good.

7) Ribs - Cue the trumpets! I left the ribs till last in the hopes that...well...they were yummy. Flavour - good. Texture - poor. Value - meh. I prefer my ribs to be able to be removed from the bone. And if you need to err on one side or the other, a slightly overcooked rack is better than a tough one. And considering the tenacity with which these sinewy morsels were clinging to the bone, I was left wondering if this animal, too was raised on the aforementioned cornbread.

So that covers it. Overall, the value would have been OK if the food had been a bit better. It's not BAD food. But ... ok here's the deal: If you're going to run a BBQ restauant, you really only need to do one thing right...BBQ. Everything else is details. And my ribs are better. It's hard for me to see past that. Maybe I should look at opening my own place...naw, people are to critical. ;)

Valentine's Party - Follow up

2009-02-15T19:06:00.002-06:00

Someone took a grapefruit

Wore it like a hat

I saw someone under my kitchen table

Talking to my old tom cat

They were talking about hockey

The cat was talking back

Long about then every-thing went black

Wasn't that a party

That is what I was expecting. And I'm pretty sure I'm thankful that none of that took place. The only activity under the kitchen table was retrieving dropped candies from the ice-cream sundae making.

We shipped Mitch off to Doug and Lor's place. That was a very good idea. He would have gone nuts. After an hour or so, I was kinda wishing I had gone with him. Not that the party wasn't fun, but it was a GIRL party. I felt rather out of place.

Supper was fun. We made pizza dough and had a ham pizza and a cheese pizza. Tannis and I made a more deluxe artichoke, ham, feta, mushroom pizza. That was tasty.

I can't say much more about the party goings-on. I did the 23 skidoo up to my bedroom after supper to watch a movie - Mirrors. Kiefer Sutherland rocks. I have really got to catch up on my "24" episodes.

Brooke's "friend who was almost not invited" showed up. Along with a bunch of medications one of which is to "help with the night terrors". Um...what? 8 girls sleeping on the floor of the family room in sleeping bags one of which is prone to something called "night terrors"?

Turns out she is a very sweet girl. I'm sure she has her issues. Hence the meds. But from where I sat, everything looked peachy. She was certainly more well adjusted than the twins. Holy mackerel! These girls, or at least one of them, are Brooke's best friends at school. And they are complete maniacs. They seem to have developed a desire to stand and scream right in your face. They also have this maniacal laugh that chills me even now.

Quite to my surprise everyone was asleep by about midnight, despite the accellerated sugar intake. And there appeared to be no issues through the night. At least none that I am aware of. If someone crapped in the corner beacause they couldn't find the bathroom in the middle of the night, the dog must have found it.

The next morning was pancakes and bacon. It was a big hit with everyone. Shortly thereafter appreciative parents started picking up their kids and before long, life was back to normal.

This could be an annual thing for the next two or three years. I think it would be fun for the kids and rewarding for Brooke socially.

Brooke's Valentine's Day Party

2009-02-11T14:18:00.003-06:00

My daughter is having a valentines day High School Musical sleepover party this Saturday. She is inviting a bunch (read: all) of her female classmates over on Saturday for pizza and...well, as little girls do...screaming.
Until last night, not every one of Brooke's female classmates was on the invite list. I found out that one of the girls in the class was not invited. Hmmmm.....Now I'm not a proponent of the "blanket invitation" method of inviting your entire class to each one of your birthday parties. I think that's ridiculous. But to have a girl party, and to invite ALL but ONE girl in the class....well, that's just gonna give someone a complex.
So I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this. So I sat down with Brooke to help her do her Valentine's cards and ask some leading questions.

"Why did you decide to not invite her to your party?"
"Because she's mean to me"

"What, does she say mean things to you?"
"Yeah. LOTS."

"Are you mean to her? Do you say things back?"
"No. I tell her to stop."

"Is she mean to the other kids in the class."
"Sort of, but mostly to me."

"Do the other kids join in, you know, back her up?"
"No. I like them, and they like me. It's just her."

Turns out that this little kid is quite a bitch to my darling girl. After further probing, I have found out that she has also kicked Brooke in the stomach on a couple of occasions. This simply will not do. After making sure that she understanded that she needs to involve a teacher when this happens, I talked to Brooke about how, although fighting is wrong, defending herself is completely necessary. At that point I remembered that Brooke is taking Tae Kwon Do. So I elaborated on what I meant by "defending yourself". I don't need to come home one day to find out Brooke has ripped out some kid's jugular. Move out of the way, use your low blocks, whatever. She'll probably take one shot, and then after she sees that you can handle yourself, she'll back down. If she doesn't, well, she was asking for whatever she gets.

After much consternation, she decided to invite her to the party. Brooke decided it would be the right thing to do. I told her I was proud of her. I also told her that if this girl gets out of hand at the party, she would be escorted home. That seemed to appease her.

Tannis promptly called the mom, and left an awkward message in Yoda-speak. When the mom called back, she confided in Tannis that she was surprised that her daughter didn't get invited to more parties. Go figure. Tannis told the mom what Brooke had said. So I guess we will see if things get better. Sure hope so. In any event, the kid is coming to the party, so I guess we'll see.

Recipe - Molten Chocolate Cake

2009-02-10T22:47:00.000-06:00

I have stolen this somewhat from Michael Smith. But, I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog, along with the rest of the world. So I should be safe posting it here.

4 oz Chocolate (Whatever your taste. I like 70% myself)
1/2 stick of butter
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
2 tsp sugar (white or brown)
1/4 cup of flour
2 eggs

Oven to 350.
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler or microwave. Be careful if you use the microwave. Don't overheat it. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the Vanilla, maple syrup, and sugar.
fold in the chocolate and flour. Don't worry about using all of the flour. The mixture should remain pudding-like.
If you have ramekins, great. Otherwise, you can use coffee mugs. To prep these, coat them with some melted butter. I use a pastry brush. Then sprinkle in some white sugar and shake it around to coat the butter. Divide mixture into your prepped vessels. You can get 2 tall cakes or three squat ones.
Place ramekins (or mugs) on a baking sheet and place on a middle rack. After 15 mins, they should be done. A toothpick inserted to the CENTRE of the cake will come out gooey. but what you want to do is pit a tooth pic into the top 3rd of the cake. It should be clean.
Turn out cakes onto serving plates. Add some ice cream and renew your gym membership.

Vacation!

2008-11-25T20:42:00.003-06:00

Well, here it is. I am taking my first 2 week vacation ever. I have never been in a position to take 2 consecutive weeks off of work. When I was younger, it never occurred to me and I took my holidays whenever I could. A day here and a day there. Then I started working in computer sales. Then I was terrified to take even a single day off. You're so worried that the second you spent any time off the sales floor, one of the customers you had spoken to previously would come in and be "scooped" by another salesperson. I remember Boxing Days where I considered wearing a catheter to prevent having a return customer (we called them "be backs", as in "I'll be back after I talk to my wife") stolen by another salesperson. Now that I think back, I remember how much of my fantasy time was spent thinking about the busload of "be backs" that I was waiting for.

I was particularly worried about 2 other salespeople; Terry and a girl we called "B.R.".

Terry was an exceptional salesman. Extremely aggressive and very smooth. A formidable combination. On a slow day with no customers, we would all hang out together and wait for the next customer. As we watch the next few people come into the department, I would often be shocked by Terry's choice of "prospect". He would often pick the most unlikely of candidates. Like guys carrying motorcycle helmets. Now I'm not saying that a guy who rides a motorcycle is not likely to own a computer. I'm just saying that the likelihood of him taking one home on the back of a motorcycle is fairly remote.

But Terry had vision. See, these biker types are a loyal demographic. Not only would he have harvested a good client and likely made the sale eventually, bikers tend to be a tight knit group. Once you have a trust with one biker, you have an assumed trust with ALL bikers. And as far as carrying the computer home? Well guess what a biker drives in the winter? That's right...a half ton. You can fit a LOT of computers in a half ton.

Terry was often fond of Hutterites. If you think bikers are loyal, try Hutterites. I bet you there are STILL Waldners and Geisbrechts pulling up to Future Shop looking for Terry. And one more thing; Hutterites drive 5-Tons. You can get a poop load of computers in a 5-Ton!

B.R. on the other hand had a different advantage. Tits. Now before you get all "high and mighty" let me say that she was also a good salesperson. But not great. Just good. But combine that with the other...fugeddaboutit. Don't forget, this was computer sales...in the early 90's. The typical client was, shall we say, not likely to avoid the salesperson with tits. So this worked for her. And I'm fine with that.

After that, I went to my current position where I was, and still am, the only on-site IT support in the province. It was simply impossible to expect to relax on holidays. Something was always broken. Always something to fix. Eventually over the past 10 years I have gone from taking NO time off (the first 5 years), to taking a day or two (the next 3 years), and then finally taking as much as 4 days at a time(the past year and a half).

I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Even though I can't go away anywhere, I hope I am able to get some R&R. It is getting overwhelming at work. I am constantly thinking of tasks that need to be done and priorizing helpdesk tickets. It will be nice to finally take a break from that. Today I went Geocaching for a couple of hours and then I went to Clay's office and set up RAS for them. That was fun.

Then I came home and made glazed salmon and shrimp canneloni with salad for the family. It was good. Tomorrow I will be heading to Home Depot to price out light fixture parts for the kitchen. Maybe more Geocaching....we'll see.

Nano-insanity

2008-10-30T08:55:00.000-06:00

October the 28th in the Year of our Lord 2008 is officially recorded as the day I went a little bit insane. Or a little bit more insane.

It was on this day I decided to tackle all of the available ICU traditional nano-caches put out by "Eye of Sauron" (probably not his/her real name). Some 30 caches were placed at the base of the lights for the red light cameras all across the city. There was one disabled one, and one that hadn't been found for a while (even ertyu dnf'd a couple of times, and THAT's saying something). I ignored the disabled one, and gave a good effort at the other. Although I feel no guilt for not finding it, as EoS disabled it as well shortly after my efforts.

To make up for the 2 missed caches, I found 2 other ICU caches that were unpublishable due to proximity issues. So, I feel I'm ahead of the game. Mostly because it's MY game, and I tend to make up rules as I need to so I stay ahead of it.

I surprised myself by having a pretty good time doing these caches. I usually don't like nano hides because they often require alot of conspicuous searching. This tends to arouse the attention of people who may become motivated enough to look for whatever it was I may have been looking for and therefore compromizing the hiding spot, or the cache itself. Except for a few exceptions, the caches were is the same basic locations for all of the hides. There were a few that had lost their magnet and as a result had been relegated to cave-dweller status in a nook in the shroud. But for the most part, all caches could be found by a blind person provided his hand were to be guided to the correct pole. (There is a hilarious off-colour joke lurking in that last sentence, but it is to far in the shadows for me to extract).

It took me till nearly midnight to complete all of the caches, but I was only grabbing them quickly between work episodes during the day. And then I went home to make supper, and hit the road with the kids to grab a couple, then went out again later to grab the rest.

My original intent was to cookie-cut my logs. I felt this was the same spirit in which the caches were placed. But as with all things caching-wise, I ended up enjoying myself and wanted to tell my story at a couple of the ides anyhow. So I devised this hybrid log where I stated my mission for the day at the top, and then each cache got a personal note below.

So, thanks for the nano-adventure, EoS. I had more fun on this journey than I thought. One word of advice...silicone the magnet into the container. You'd have less lost magnets.

Test Video

2008-08-07T13:08:00.003-06:00

This is from about 5 years ago. Brooke singing the ABC's and eating toast. She is truly multi-talented. I just wanted to try posting video to see how it looks. Verdict: Looks Good!

1000 Geocaches....now what?

2008-05-24T12:21:00.004-06:00

So I went out and found my 1000th geocache with my family in Stony Mountain a few weeks ago. I thought for a while about what cache should carry the honor of being my 1000th find. Initially I thought I would re-visit the first cache I had ever attempted, Reynold's Ponds. But due to the weather, and other factors, I chose to take the family with me to this comparatively easy location.

It is also a cache owned by one of my friends, Jacques. I have always wanted to go out caching with him, only my spider...er...lizard-sense tingles like crazy every time I consider it. You see, when the folks at the Energizer battery company were trying to come up with a theme to their new advertising campaign back in the early 80's it was Jacques' unending enthusiasm and unstoppable contant motion that they based their bunny character on.

So, I must say, I am a little scared to venture into the wilds with this guy. I am not sure exactly why...I just am.

School...my future? Or just a Supertramp song?

2008-03-02T12:16:00.000-06:00

I have decided to look into school. Actually getting an edumacation. Great idea. At least I'm still young. Pardon? What's that? I'm 40? ... Well that's still young...isn't it? For a rock, I suppose.

I have always felt unfulfilled as a result of not having pursued an education. Although my life's path has led me to my current situation. So all things considered, I'm glad I didn't go to school. But the time has definitely come to repair my unfulfilled psyche and perhaps better my life in the process.

Shouldn't be too difficult. I mean, I will be taking courses the subjects of which consist of my current day-to-day activites. I just need to fill in the gaps. Perhaps I will learn how to write better sentences than the second one in this paragraph. Good one, Chaucer.

What prompted this sudden thirst for knowledge, you ask? Well lately the voice of some of the policies and communications from head office have led me to believe that perhaps my job may be getting phased out. Outsourced? Me? Shit! Upon further investigation it seems that my instincts are likely incorrect. Marion tells me that there is no plan at all to minimize support in the field. Quite the opposite, she says. But I still can't shake that feeling.

Within the next week or two I will darken the door of academia to research my options as well as the time and money commitments required to get me some fancy book learnin'. I hope that some organization will offer me a flexible scedule as well as the opportunity to challenge a few of the exams. After all, I have been DOING the work for 15 years. I just need the paper saying that I have done it once.

I am very excited about this. It's kinda scary, but it will be good. And perhaps I will be motivated to change my job to a company that offers me a vertical career path. As I can't do any more for this company than I already have.

Stay tuned.

I Have a Crazy Friend Named Charles

2008-02-26T13:42:00.002-06:00

I got an e-mail this past weekend from burchil (aka-Charles) asking me if I wanted to go caching. Charles noted that I had been leading a very busy life lately and thought he would invite me out to walk around with him in the snow and de-stress a bit. Nice.

Some background on Charles: He has the superhuman ability to ride his bicycle in any weather, to any destination, at any time. He can snowshoe at a brisk 5KM/h through knee-deep powder, against the wind for at least 40 mins without pausing. He has canoed in all but one month of the year, I believe. And in Manitoba, that's saying something.

I have been out with Charles on a couple of other occasions and have had a fantastic time. I have never had concerns as to whether or not I would be at risk. I always felt that if there was ever an issue with fatigue, or if I was ever injured, Charles would simply load my body on his back and jog back to the car, or perhaps to the nearest hospital.

The cache my good buddy had chosen as the subject of our adventure is MuStash's Elk Island Cache.

4/5 Difficulty - 5/5 Terrain

20 (!) KM round trip

Cliff climbing involved

And the map on the cache page shows the starting point for our journey is some 200m off the shore in the icy waters of Lake Winnipeg. Yes, I realize that that is just a Google map, and the actual location is likely bone dry. But consider it an omen. One more tick in the "cons" list of whether or not I shoud attempt this cache, or perhaps advise my friend Charles that I have come down with some rare illness that prevents me from walking any farther than 5 km without going indoors for a while.

Well, as luck would have it, we are going to be busy for the next few weekends anyhow, so it looks like my geocaching adventures will be a bit more urban. At least for the time being.

Where to? North, I say!

2008-01-09T14:09:00.003-06:00

My good friend, and fellow caching reptile, TurdleEggs, and I went and visited a couple of caches yesterday. It sure was nice to get out and get some exercise. We tackled a few caches in the North end of the city until it got too dark to be very enjoyable. And it was a school night after all. If anybody needs their beauty sleep, it's TurdleEggs. :)

I learned of some parallels in the earlier years of our lives on this trip. Odd how that happens. Seems every time I go out with this guy I learn something new about him. We swapped stories about our upbringing. Told him of my being raised by my grandparents and my step-fathers illness. He told me about his parents and some about his sister. I think she's a lawyer, or perhaps collects ocelots...who listens? :)

I have decided I need to do more winter caching. The exercise felt good.

Walking With Dinosaurs

2007-12-02T15:47:00.001-06:00

Mitchell and I went to go see Walking with Dinosaurs at the MTS Centre on Saturday. Wow What a show! I was totally blown away. When you first walk in and the lights are bright, you are struck by how boring the setup looks. There is a whole lot of bare concrete floor and in the centre are these odd painted plywood polygons.
But when the show begins, the lights dim and the floor becomes lit by a textured light that makes it appear as the arena floor has been transformed into a mossy carpet. Combine this visual with the effective aural stimulation of small amphibian and bird noises and the setting is complete.
As the show progresses through the various eras (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, etc) the lighting changes as well to represent the changing biosphere. The plywood polygons represent various props. Mostly they act as a landscape to make the field less stark. But they also represent the shifting of the continental shelf from the original Pangea to the separated continents as they are today.
The whole show is narrated from the floor by an Indiana Jones-y kinda fellow. The dialog is clear and understandable by most everyone. I'm sure even Mitch, at 5 years old, was able to grasp alot of the points.
The creatures were really awesome. The smaller ones were portrayed by costumed actors, while the larger creatures were moved about on self propelled carts. Yet, if you didn't focus too much on the cart, the image was quite believable. The hulking Stegosaurus, and the huge Brachiosaur pair whose head seemed to almost make contact with the arena roof, were very impressive at staving off attack by the ferocious Albertosaur. But the obvious hero of the show was the T-rex. The momma T-rex and her baby were very loud and quite entertaning trading roars at the audience. All in all a very entertaining show.
I found out later that Mitchell had trouble visually digesting the "dinos on wheels" concept. So that took a little bit of the magic out of the show for him. Oh well. 21st century kid. They're pretty jaded by the CGI effects. But until someone actually develops a working holodeck, or a time machine, this is the best show I could imagine.

European Tour - Postponed

2007-11-19T14:23:00.000-06:00

I thought I should update my progress on my guitar playing. Back in June, I got a nice new guitar for my birthday from my loving wife. Well, I can play it as well, or perhaps slightly better than I could play when I was in my musical peak in high school. I have picked up on a couple of tutorial websites which, while good, have not yet coaxed me to visit them while I am holding my guitar.

I do have aspirations to pick it up again, however. I have fun with it, and it would be fun to be able to play some songs around the campfire. It would likely thrill Tannis that I had actually made the effort to put some wind into the sails of the family music schooner. Brooke is taking piano lessons and doing quite well. And next year, we will probably get Mitch in there as well.

But for now, concert dates are not confirmed. Stay tuned.

The Oasis has Landed

2007-11-11T19:24:00.001-06:00

As I type this, my wonderful wife is having the time of her life. The long-discussed, often-fretted Oasis has begun its maiden voyage. We worked hard this morning getting everything ready. Setting up the projector, taping down cables, sound check, writing...and subsequently re-writing the PowerPoint presentation ad infinitum. Well, it seems to have paid off. It sounds great, and from where I am sitting, everything looks and sounds great.

I am very proud of her efforts. I hope she gets the buy-in from the congregation she seeks. It would be nice to offer a service that caters to the musically inclined new-agers.

There has been a large pause in the sound, so I think I'll go out and see if they need any help.

What a day!

2007-10-18T14:46:00.001-06:00

Hope you are having a good day. I spent the morning at the regional conference. It was great to be having to answer as many questions as possible while setting up the a/v systems in 2 rooms.

Now I am at the Waverley giving advice to a user who has the mannerisms of a budgie and the attention span of a strobe light.

I hope we have some scotch left.

Camping in Blue Lake

2007-09-12T20:47:00.002-06:00

Blue Lake is awesome! We went with the Young(?) Couples Group from FGUC to Vermillion Bay Ontario. It is about 80KM East of Kenora. This is truly a jewel.

There was a large group camping area that had a nearly new picnic shelter and washroom building. And it ran alongside the lake, so we basically had our own private beach as well.

Being that it was later in the season, we had some cooler temperatures than on past trips, but al in all, it was a really great time. There were 8 or so families, and just about 25 people. The layout threw off Tannis and I as we are not used to having such an expansive campsite. Kitchen tent and sleeping tent have never been so far apart! But we tore down the kitchen tent after a day or so due to the wind and made do in the kitchen shelter on site.

We took a canoe out for an afternoon tour around the lake. Mitch hates canoeing. 100M from shore and he wants to go back. He's so worried about the thing tipping. Dude. You're wearing a life jacket that would keep us all afloat. Relax. I tried to keep him interested by dripping water from the paddles onto his legs. He wasn't buying it. I think he got a bit too much sun on that journey, though, cuz he was a bit pissy that evening. Brooke seemed pleased enough.

I had one of those parental "ping" moments watching Brooke play with some of the other girls. They had gone off on their own to some little piece of bush beside the lake to, well...be girls. They established territory in their place on the Canadian Shield. They had a bathroom...no, two bathrooms. One for pee, and one for, well, you get it. They had a stump that the one who was talking would stand on and the rest would have to listen. There was a kitchen, and I think a living room. When I asked about the absense of the bedroom, I was told that there was NO WAY they wanted to be out here in the dark.

We went out to do a few geocaches on one of the days. It was totally fun. We did a few caches, built an anukshuk, and got some snacks. These pictures are at Wanapigow falls. There was a cache nearby, so we couldn't resist the view. Tannis was wearing the worlds worst caching shoes, so she had to be extra careful. I think we ended up finding 5 or 6 caches. So It was a productive day by anyone's measure.

We all went to Fort Vermillion to do some miniature golfing on one of the nights. Great time. Everyone had a blast. The mini golf course groundskeepers were 8 and 3 years old. But they kept a tidy course. It seems that family issues may be forcing the privately run Fort Vermillion to close. I hope not. That place is a treasure.

We ended up staying an extra night after everyone else left. The last day we spent there was kinds gross and dreary. I approached Tannis to suggest we go into Vermillion Bay to get some ice cream or hot chocolate and shop around in the general store. She beats me to the punch and says "Wanna go do that other geocache on the trail behind the fort?" Why, yes. Yes I do! I love her.

That hike turned out to be the highlight of my weekend. It is less than 2 KM, but it is absolutely beautiful. Instead of turning back on the trail and returning the way we came, we did the entire trail loop and I am so glad we did. That is a beautiful piece of the world. Loved it.

On the day we packed up, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was nice and warm. Would have rather had this weather on the previous day, but you take what you can get.

Facebook

2007-08-17T21:52:00.001-06:00

I have at least a dozen friends on Facebook. Which is pretty remarkable considering I don't even have a profile. I could go back and count I suppose, but if memory serves, I have gotten approximately 10 e-mails inviting me to join the Facebook community. I will say here that I will never belong to Facebook.

It's nothing personal, and for those of you with Facebook accounts who are finally able to get in touch with the kid you once swapped sandwiches with in grade three...well good for you. Seriously. If that is what your life was missing then great. Facebook is a perfect vehicle for you.

Are there people from my past I would like to know about? You bet. Do I care enough to have people "poking" me or, and I hope this never happens, "super poke" me? Do I care enough about how so-and-so's divorce/tour in Afganistan/liposuction/trip to the mall/quadruple bypass/haircut/gender reassignment went that I need to publish my every action on a public website where it can be viewed by all?

I prefer to live in the now. That's just me. People aren't accepting that though. They ask, and I tell them Facebook is not for me. Then they defend. Like they are not happy to accept my answer as I have accepted theirs. I am amazed at what people are willing to put out there. Shit that would never be divulged in person, or for that matter, on any other web page.

Let's say that your bank suggested that as part of your online banking you could put pictures of all of your stuff, children, family pets etc. You know, for fun. When you log in, you could put your mood, or current status. "Scott is trading in small cap assets." No. You would balk. I don't get it. And to have each and every activity I perform be tagged, dated and published. Not my idea of fun.

"But you blog", they say. Yes. I blog. I choose what is said, done, read. And if I choose to look at another person's blog and write a comment, the fact that I have done this is not posted on my blog. Nice and simple. I can not have a mini personal profile done of me by someone who looks at what I have typed or clicked on over the past week. That is my comfort level. It is safe here in my box. And I like it.

Back from Vacation!

2007-08-07T12:33:00.002-06:00

We have spent the past week at Luther Village just past Rushing River, Ontario. Awesome. The weather was perfect (if not a little too hot the first few days). The kids had a great time talking part in the morning programs and the beach was the agenda for most of the afternoons.

We spent the week with Don and Michelle and their brood. They had a cabin on the beach, while we camped in the ball field at the top of the hill. This was nice as we had a place for the kids to change and play indoors if the sun got too hot. It didn't hurt that they had a fridge for us to use when our ice packs needed re-freezing, or our drinks needed chilling.

Michelle's sister showed up from BC for the last couple of days. It was kinda funny as I didn't know she was there until she plopped down next to me at the picnic table. As she and Michelle are very close in general looks, I just turned to her and said "Hello". Then in my head, I'm like "WTF? Did Michelle just go and pluck her eyebrows? And then go to the gym?" Thank God Michelle's Dad was there to make the introductions. Renee is a fun person. A little mannish...ok, ALOT mannish. But that's fine for her. If I were making a team on Survivor, I would likely pick her.

I placed a geocache there on the Bog Walk. The view at the end is awesome. You can see for about 60 KM. Well worth the hike. It is only 800m or so, but much of it is on a pretty steep grade, so I don't expect alot of finders. It was a last minute cache, so we had to buy the container on one of our trips into Kenora and I had to hand write the stash note. The camp owner seemed enthusiastic about the cache, so we'll see how it goes.

We prepared all of our own meals there. That turned out to be a huge cost saver. Even though we had to do dishes every time we ate, it still worked out to be the best idea. I don't mind cleaning and cooking. And thankfully, Tannis managed the laundry and the (constant) cooler re-organization. I think the only casualty was a bag or two of perogies. And that was actually my fault. I sure am lucky to have her.

The kids slept great. Brooke only got up once. And it wasn't a big deal. She just came and watched us play cards and went back to bed on her own a few minutes later. With all of the sun and swimming, we all slept like logs most nights. There was one night that Tannis had trouble getting to sleep over the noisy neighbors, but othere than that. All was good.

The last night was capped off by having the Swiston-Armstrongs up to our campsite for a good old-fashioned cookout. It went great! Burgers, dogs, bacon, fried onions, beans...and paralyzers. I think I have a new favorite drink. Although, I think I need to lay off the liquor for a while and let my body de-toxify. That was a little excessive.
After the meal, the kids had fun with sparklers and then everyone had s'mores. Yummy.

It was overall a really nice time. Unlike camping trips in the past when we are ready to go home before it is time, we could have stayed another night. But we did have a concert to go to on Monday. Everyone, except the driver, had a nap on the way home in the van. We got home to find our house still standing (always a good sign).

Unfortunately, while we were gone, Toshya's grandfather passed away. He was 739 years old, and they had been expecting it for well over a year, but he was a really nice person and will definitely be missed.

Found my Username! W00T!

2007-08-07T12:28:00.001-06:00

I am sooo happy. I have been unable to use this blog for ages cuz I lost my username somehow. Every week or so I have been trying to log in using various username and password combinations to no avail. Finally today...Success!

I totally attribute this victory to last weeks holidays. My newly relaxed state of mind has allowed me to recover memories that were previously lost!

W00T! I found my blog!

2007-06-20T19:01:00.000-06:00

I had lost the login ID to this blog a couple of months ago. Depression ran thick, and I was forced to record my ridiculously average adventures on paper (ewwwww!) and finally another blog until now.
I will move my posts from blog deux over here, and update things. I guess I should backdate this post too. Maybe even delete it. Which begs the question...why am I writing this? Christ, I'm pathetic.

Spontaneous Caching Extravaganza

2007-06-16T21:56:00.001-06:00

A certain unproductive Turdle lured me out of the office to head to the south end of the city to do some caching this afternoon. Had a great time finding a half dozen caches or so before heading to Boston Pizza for a yummy Popeye pizza.

Two members of the original Hungry? caching group where on hand to make an attempt at the queen's reprise Huh? cache.

In consistent form, we were unable to find the cache in a very deja vu moment. So after crawling around on the grass like a couple of drunk sailors that had lost their last condom, we shot another album cover worthy photo, this time without the drummer.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-06-14T12:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my 39th birthday. I had a great time. It was just the family. We went out on a "surprise" trip to Second Encore music and I got myself a new guitar! Very cool. I am looking forward to being able to play a couple of tunes before too long.

After that, we went out for dinner. Finding the Olive Garden full to capacity, we ventured on to Moxies at the MTS Centre. And boy am I glad we did.

Long story short, the manager turned a 110.00 bill into about 60.00. and then gave us a 50.00 gift card!! Was the service bad, you ask? Why, no! It was fine. But apparently the manager didn't think so. We didn't even complain.

So in my current inventory of restaurant gift certificates, I have a 50.00 Keg certificate, a 50.00 Bellissimos certificate, and now a 50.00 Moxie's certificate. Cool!

Too Many Pokes...

2007-06-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

I have been given a few "gentle" reminders that I have not been a good blog updater. So I will try harder to please the masses.

Concubines-r-Us!

2007-03-29T14:17:00.001-06:00

Tannis and I were invited by our friends Tim and Karen to a bellydancing show at the Marlborough Inn. This was one of those days where you have no control over what is going on. There was so much potential for a fun night here, but unfortunately it never panned out.
As always it is nice to see friends and meet people. But unfortunately it sometimes has to happen at locations you hate being. Like running into an old friend at the proctologist, I suppose.
The evening started nicely enough. My wife looked fantastic, we had a babysitter, there was promise of adventure.
Unfortunately the evening left little opportunity for table talk as it was mostly wall to wall dancers. So once seated and the show underway, you didn't communicate much until you were leaving some 3 hours later.
That's right...3 hours of Indian music. It was like a coast to coast cab ride. The MC was horrible. I was ready to go across the room and kill her. But unfortunately I was being blinded by the asshole photographer. The dude was taking double flash photos every 20 seconds. And he was sitting directly across the room from me. Grrr.
It would have been nice to have been able to visit a bit more with Tim and Karen, etc. But that never worked out. As I understand it, Karen was none too impressed with the execution of the show either. Too bad, seeing as she made the effort to invite so many friends and family there.
The best part of the night was going out for a drink with Tannis afterwards at the Yellow Dog Pub. Nice little neighborhood joint right behind the Burton Cummings theatre. I hope to go back there for a meal some time. Tannis and I finished the evening with a nice drink before we went home.

Recipe-White wine sauce

2007-03-21T00:51:00.002-06:00

Here is a simple creamy white wine sauce that has had good reviews. I haven't tried it yet, but will post it here so I don't lose it:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine the cream, wine, flour, salt and parsley. Stir all together bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened.

Reviews say that the sauce is a little bland. So I think I'll add some basil or garlic.

En Suite...tout finis!!

2007-03-15T00:59:00.001-06:00

Yay! The en suite is finished! And it looks fantastic. I took as much time as I could while Tannis was away visiting Angie to work on it. The kids kept themselves pretty busy, and they seemed to enjoy the outings to Rona...all 48 of them.

I made an executive decision on the toilet. It is a low profile unit with a real sexy look. Yes, you heard me. I just used "sexy" to describe a toilet. Tannis was initially concerned it might gag on some larger ...erm... deliveries. But I have put it through vigorous field testing and it has passed with flying colours.

I also changed the wall colour to a darker shade. This also turned out to be a good decision. I find it to be a very calming colour. It really looks nice against the white fixtures as well as the darker cabinets. Painted the bases and casings a shiny white and boy, does it look good.

Had some trouble with the sink drain, though. That was a tough one. Leaks were coming from the old plumbing, not the new stuff I just put in. It either happened when I tried to unsolder it, or when I cut the old plumbing to remove it. We finally had Andy, the housekeeper who was once a plumber, come in and fix it up. Being so close to the wall, I had alot of trouble figuring out how to fix it. Andy took care of it though. Except when he left, he was in such a hurry, he forgot to tighten the compression fittings, so it leaked like crazy! Tannis greeted me with the news of the leaks when I got home from work, but when I found it was just the compression fittings needed tightening, I was pretty relieved.

Now everything is together and looks great. Now to take care of the basement. It was a mess before I started the bathroom...

Abandoned

2007-03-09T14:52:00.001-06:00

...not really. Tannis has gone to B.C. to visit Angie, Chris , and their son. I have forgotten his name, so I'll call him Felix.
This will hopefully be a good trip for Tannis. She could definitely use the break. On her way there she stopped in Calgary to visit her sister for a dose of abuse and judgement. That should be fun.
I have been going like mad on the bathroom renovation. I would like to get it done before she returns, but I know I am kidding myself. Won't be long now. Ready for paint! Woohoo!

MBGA 2nd Birthday Event

2007-03-06T17:31:00.000-06:00

Had a fun night at the latest MBGA Pub night. This one was at Tavern United. Methinks we are going to run out of pubs soon. No matter. We can set our sights on taverns, bars, lounges, speakeasies, cabarets, and any other watering holes that will take our business.
One of the highlights of the night was a pre-celebration drink served up by Q! A unpretentious mead. Not without its charm...sort of like Q! himself.
Sadly the service left a bit to be desired. I have heard stories of inuit hunters who will stand motionless for 12 hours straight on the unsheltered ice braving the elements in the hopes of seeing the telltale bubbles of a seal coming up for air. These guys have nothing on Burchil. Burchil was wishing he had packed some trail mix to tide him over while he waited for his nachos.
There were a couple of unfortunate no-shows, but all in all, the event was very well attended. Especially for a Monday night. Looking forward to the next one.

Renovations....YAY

2007-03-02T16:55:00.001-06:00

Currently I am trying to renovate the en suite. En suite is French for 'shitty little bathroom'. I had no idea how much we relied on this thing. Every morning I find myself making extra trips from our bedroom to the main bathroom because I forgot some portion of my ablutionary regimen.
It is going to be awesome. Tannis has surprised me with her choice of fixtures...pleasantly surprised. Nice dark wood with white fitures. Combined with a mocha coloured paint on the walls and we should have a pretty nice room soon.
Brooke and Mitch were really helpful in the work. Not because they worked really hard and made my job easier. But because they had fun using my hammer to smash the old drywall and pull out nails. Mitch even replaced the door handle almost single-handedly. Soon I'll get Brooke going on the plumbing. Woohoo!
I really wanted to either fix or replace the floor. But it is in pretty good shape. And Tan says she'll fix up the grout. So maybe it'll be ok after all.

COLD!

2007-02-05T14:53:00.001-06:00

We are currently suffering through a serious cold snap. It hasn't gone above -22 in a week and a half. brrrr.
Went to a geocaching party on Friday at the Elephant and Castle. These pub nights are a hoot. It was nice to have it there, as there was alot less noise. The Kings Head last month was huge fun, but it would have been nicer to be able to hear what was going on.
I got to meet Manitoba Merv. The local version of Punxatawney Phil, the verminesque meteorologist. Usually I can get rather starstruck around celebrities, but I felt comfortable enough to stuff my hand inside him within 10 seconds of being introduced. He seemed receptive. I forecast 6 weeks of lovesickness for that poor rodent.
I bought a new playstation this past weekend. No, not the PS3. I am not quite that crazy. I just wanted to replace the old broken PS2 so I could play Ratchet, and Sly, and Jak. And what did I see when I visited the store? A new Sly Cooper game! Well, allllll riiiight! So far I like it, it even has a 3D option for some of the levels. I just don't know if I'm ready to have my wife make fun of me for playing video games AND wearing 3D glasses.

Snowshoe Marathon

2007-01-28T15:19:00.001-06:00

Went on a fantastic walk with Charles and Tim in la Barriere Park the other day. We stopped at 6 caches and I was able to log 4 new finds. That was great. Glad we had Charles along as he had to do most of the climbing.
Altogether, we hiked nearly 10KM and the temperature hovered around -16 degrees. Comfortable for me, but the Turdle worked up quite a lather. And Charles...well he was a vision with his snotcicle beard. That guy is amazing, It was like he didn't even feel the cold.

Mitch's Nails

2007-01-10T20:07:00.001-06:00

Wow, three blog posts in one day. I am truly in need of serious help. I am not at home because I am still here at work. I am struggling through my mileage claims and cell phone claims. I have got to get these done.
I miss my kids. If you guys ever do get to read this, I just want you to know: I wanted to be around more. I really did. I hope you grow up normal. I hope Mitch stops acting like a puppy. Either that or he had better learn to fight, cuz he will definitely be a target.
On New Years Eve Mitch and Brooke stayed over at Doug and Lorraines so that Tannis and I could ...well...fight. When we dropped them off we asked that Doug perhaps spend some time doing boyish things with Mitch as there was only him with Girl-aPalooza going on.
I would have been happy with him simply sitting and watching TV the whole time, I just didn't want him to spend the entire time being a baby or a puppy. I know Brooke loves him dearly, but she has got to learn that he is not one of her toys.
So we get there in the morning to pick them up and we are showed my son's newly painted fingernails AND toenails. Nice. I'm sorry, I thought I had mentioned that I wanted my son to have a normal boyish (if not neutral) time. Not have him subjected to having his fingers and toes painted. An act I am certain he only agreed to so that he could be part of the play group. He has such a kind heart. I know he has little idea of gender lines and painting his nails and toes will not make him gay. However, I submit that it also will not do much to develop his masculinity either. Whatever.
We both explained to him that boys don't paint their nails and he understood and was fine with us removing it. Thank God. TurdleEggs and Stuntman were coming over that night. I definitely don't need that stress.

Head Office - bleh

2007-01-10T19:43:00.001-06:00

CHS has issues. They are the staffing office I take care of. When I first started helping them, they had their database on the local server. Everything worked fine. Nice and fast.
A year and a half ago, head office decided to put CHS's database on their server in Cambridge and have all of the users connect via Citrix to a remote session.
It hasn't worked properly since.
I have replaced every single computer in the building including the server. I know that doesn't make much of a difference when it comes to remote Citrix sessions, but it sure is nice to have new computers. :)
Josephine, the accountant, downloads a file through Citrix to her computer every 2 weeks. The file is around 2 MB. It should take about 15-20 seconds. It takes 4 hours sometimes. You see Citrix is not designed to transfer files. That capability is severely throttled to allow for fast access for the desktop sessions.
Head office has decided to send me a VPN router to speed this up. What they don't get is that we wil still be using Citrix to connect to HCMS. That is why things are slow. Not that it really matters. I can't seem to connect to the bloody citrix server to begin with. Perfect.

Hackers Suck - Part 2

2007-01-10T19:39:00.001-06:00

So I just finished fixing the server that I was working on when I wrote the rant below, when...*ring*. My friends at Kildonan PCH are calling me wiht the same issues! ARGH! I have begun the restore and I hope it will be back up and running tomorrow. This time I won't be wasting my time trying to un-infect the thing. Why? I have all of the data backed up, I had might as well just reload the OS and re-share everything.

Hackers Suck

2007-01-03T12:08:00.001-06:00

I wish my job was about happy, productive things. Like installing, training, testing... Instead much of my time is taken up by fixing the crap that bored teenagers decide to infect my systems with.

It's all I can do to keep up with the misadventure of the users. Let alone the focussed, malicious, self-aware attacks levelled upon my poor systems by these zit faced, dog fellating, children.

When I say misadventure, I'm talking about the "click on this e-card" and "send this to everyone on earth" idiots who, with uninhibited zeal, trustingly click on every link mailed to them, and then dutifully forward that mail to everyone on their contact list so that other unsuspecting IT guys can stay late at work fixing it and have less time with their kids. These are typically also the users who have the screensaver packs installed, which, when loaded, phone "home" with all of the browsing habits and IP information of the computer from which it was sent.

Then there is the slightly higher functioning idiot. These are the users who install those helpful programs that are the mainstays of an unproductive workplace. Yahoo Messenger, MSN, ICQ, any any one of a dozen other chat programs. These dandy jewels are very proficient at opening their own ports on the firewall using that helpful PnP option. Now the zipperheads can share those ridiculous e-cards and hoaxes in real time without having to wait for my e-mail server to pass its enormous e-turd of useless communications.

Now we visit the desk of the enigmatic, unaware, unbridled, uber-idiot. Trojan-riddled screensavers will simply whet the appetite, and the installation of the chat programs merely feeds the beast of experimentation. More often than not, this user had the highest legitimate requirement for a fast, stable internet connection. As I indicated above, however, this user is a bit of an enigma in that they are the ones who seem to go out of their way to throttle the available bandwidth to the point where they have turned a Niagara Falls-like data pipe into the constricted urethra of a 90 year old housefly.

iTunes, Limewire, Bearshare, you name it. These ever-present data stream hogs are lying there beside the clock in the system tray devouring any available unsuspecting bandwidth that may wander by. Downloading entire albums to listen to one song, warehousing movies and songs in their shared folder, unwittingly sharing it with all of the internet's great unwashed masses. And, yes, somewhere in Islamabagtaipeichewanistan, there is a young man quietly uploading a trojan horse to that shared folder. The payload of which makes a punch in the balls look like a hug from a super-model. Hackers Suck.

I love the Internet

2007-01-02T16:14:00.001-06:00

http://www.crystalpro.com/worst/index.html

This is fantastic.

Mini-Caching Event/Marathon

2007-01-02T14:15:00.001-06:00

Tim, Karen, Roger, and Gail came over last nite for a dinner party. We had some lasagne and naan with a salad. Pretty pedestrian fare for the Hewitt house. It worked out OK though as it allowed me more time to visit. Not that I really needed it. It seemed that our guests enjoyed our company as they stayed for 6 hours! Not that I mind, actually. Quite the opposite, I was just surprised. Usually a dinner party is a 2-3 hour thing. If I had known it would have been that well enjoyed, I would have planned another activity. Finally a party where we could have finished a game of Trivial Pursuit, or Monopoly.

After we closed the door when they left, Tannis and I looked at each other; puzzled. "What the hell was that?" It sure was nice to visit without being rushed, but seriously! We are so used to friends who come over with their kids of the same age and leave around 8:15 so they can get them in bed. We were both just tickled to have finally reached that eschilon in life where we are able to party a bit later. Thanks Roger, Gail, Tim and Karen. Thanks for helping us grow up.

The kids were real performers all night, climbing all over our guests. Brooke was taking surveys and Mitch was climbing on Roger like he was a jungle gym.

It appears I need more booze. We had an immediate lack of vodka, and it seems Roger likes whisky. Who knew? I had him pegged for a beer guy. Also, the gin seems to be missing. I'll have to rectify this.

Christmas day update

2006-12-28T01:10:00.001-06:00

It wasn't a Playstation 3. But I DID get a sweet pair of new snowshoes, nice wine glasses, and tickets to the Christina Aguilera concert in March. I get to go with Tannis and Toshya. I think it will be huge fun. Partly for the campiness of the whole concert idea, and partly to watch one VERY sexy chick. It should be cool to watch toshya lose her mind.

Had my grandparents over for breakfast along with Sheri, Sandi, and Kris. I made that breakfast pizza thing again. I love that. Hollandaise sauce is sooo yummy.

Tannis seemed pleased with her gifts although I still question why I buy her kitchen-y stuff for Christmas. Oh well, she really liked the mixer and the vaccuum.

Brooke was a little disappointed that she didn't get a giant Barbie from Santa. Mitch, on the other hand was pleased as hell with the Love 'n Licks puppy he got. Oh well. I guess disappointment is part of the game.

All tolled, a very good Christmas. We are looking forward to the Regina visit. I can't wait to spend some time away with the family.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-25T02:34:00.001-06:00

Here it is. The big moment. The kids are snuggled in their beds waiting for the morning. We had a nice dinner at Bruce and Theresa's with my side of the family. Gayleen's group was represented by Sheri as the rest of them are in Africa visiting Danny. It was a really nice visit. The kids played their asses off. I didn't see them hardly all night. We tried a gift exchange this year that saw each person show up having brought a present and pulling a number to pick gifts under the tree. It worked well as swiping gifts from another person was kept to a minimum by the rule that the holder of the gift was allowed to refuse to have the gift 'swiped'.

It was really nice to visit with Sandi and also with the rest of the family. It was a little odd not having Gayleen there, but not nearly as awkward as it will be tomorrow at Tannis' parents without Sandra and Nash there. This is their first Christmas in Calgary. Should be interesting.

Tannis has been hinting all month that she went a little overboard on my gift. I have a feeling that it isn't a Playstation 3. It seems it isn't yet available, so I will be getting part of it and a picture of the rest. I got her a jewellry box and Mitch got her a cake pan and Brooke got her a vacuum. I also bought the mixer she has been wanting. I know it's not much of a gift, but whatever. It will probably be a huge hit. I was so stoked last year with the "girls day out" that I bought her and Tosh, but that never really happened.

I think her and I actually ended up using the Moxie's gift certificate.

The kids left some art for Santa to take with him when he leaves. After some discussion, Tannis and I decided that Santa would leave them a note thanking them for the gift and reminding them to be good.

I hope it's a hit.

I must sleep now. We are in for a big day tomorrow. I hope the kids have fun. God, I love them.

Merry Christmas.

600 Caches!

2006-12-20T15:18:00.001-06:00

I found my 600th Geocache today. I was planning on finding a different geocache for my 600th. It was a Christmas themed cache that once you found it, you had to do a good deed. These good deeds were all contained in the cache and you were to select one when you got there. Count on 1Queenand 4Jokers to come up with cool cache ideas.

As I was driving to work, my Blackberry buzzed with the new cache e-mail. And it was right on the way to work. And ertyu has a job so I had a really good chance at a First-to-Find. Decision made. It showed that the cache was in Assiniboine Forest. So I parked the car in the lot on Corydon and as I was walking away, who pulls in, but TurdleEggs. Cool!

It was a great sunny day, -2C, and I was out caching with a good friend and finding my 600th cache. Ok, so it wasn't a day out with my family, but it was a good time nevertheless.

Death to Alison Wong

2006-12-20T15:04:00.001-06:00

I really do like my job. Primarily I work at undoing the misadventures of the computer users. Very little of what I do has anything to do with progressive or productive things. Like the mechanics that worked on the first cars, who really wanted to make things better or faster, I am stuck repairing the machine that is little understood by its user.

Today I find myself at the desk of Alison Wong. She decided to click a link in an e-mail from someone she didn't know that was apparently a greeting card. Well, it wasn't. It was some sort of worm. It was so invasive that I have decided to re-image the hard drive. And while I'm at it, create something out of play-doh.

Christmas is coming

2006-12-20T14:41:00.001-06:00

Last night was fun. It was Brooke's Grade 1 Christmas ... er Holiday Pageant. No sense offending anyone. We had a section on Kwanzaa. I counted 2 black kids on the stage. Now, I have no problem with equality, but come on. I submit that these kids have never even celebrated it in the past.
Kwanzaa is 39 years old. That's right, 39 years. The significant holiday of african americans is one year older than I am. I am not disagreeing with the principles of Kwanzaa. They are 7 noble principles that everyone could benefit from following. Kwanzaa is a North American tradition that was invented by Ron Karenga. He was the leader of the United Slaves Organization. He was also convicted of the wrongful imprisonment and abuse of 2 women. Also African American. I encourage you to read up on this, it may shed some light.
I wished I could have seen Brooke a bit better, she was up on the stage tucked behind a few other kids. I enjoyed watching her perform. I always do. The concert was fairly short. Which was a good thing. Mitch crashed practically before it even started. Grandma enjoyed holding him while he slept. She said it was a treat.
Grandpa Mogg was there too. Grandma Mogg was at bingo.

First mobile blog entry

2006-12-12T17:42:00.001-06:00

If I can make this work it would make life a but easier, and allow me to edit my blog on the blackberry.

No notebook, no cry

2006-11-24T01:24:00.001-06:00

My computer seems to have bitten the dust. I was typing on it the other night, and bam...it shut off. Called HP and he walked me through a bunch of fixes that I had already tried. I listened very carefully to his instructions and responded to his questions very courteously. Funny part is, I was not trying these procedures or following his directions. I was having a coffee and driving the car. I think he caught on after a while, but didn't seem to care.

He arranged to send me an empty box and I agreed to put my computer in it and send it back to him. 6-8 business days and I will be getting my fixed computer back.

Today we all went shopping for groceries at Safeway. Tannis took Mitchell and I took Brooke. Tannis managed to full an entire cart with everything we will need for the next 10 years in the same time it took me to fill my basket with the items we would require for our dinner that night. I definitely enjoy the journey more than she does. Brooke was marginally helpful. She picked out a marinated vegetable salad that, although it looks tasty, probably tastes like shit. She also picked out some Bugles, and cinnamon and brown sugar Eggos. Those two choices are classic Brooke. I think she chose the veggies first so that I would agree to the other two later.

We had grilled paninis and caesar salad. Then we cleaned the house. Except for Mitchell...he cried. And then he fell down the stairs. And then cried some more. I chose this time to yell at him. I gave him the whole "Stop being a suck" and "I'll give you something to cry about" speech. I could just bend and let him suck out and go to bed. But I want him to learn early that if there is a job that needs to get done, you get it done. Then you do what you want.

Brooke, surprisingly, was a cleaning machine. So much so that Tannis saw it fit to reward her with a Skittle or two. Mitch saw this and wasn't impressed. So he cleaned up a few things and then asked for a skittle of his own. The answer he got was not what he expected. We explaned to him that you don't do chores for the reward. You do chores for ... well, because you HAVE to. I explained that Brooke got a candy because she worked hard right from the beginning and didn't make a fuss or have to be reminded to keep cleaning. This was quite unpopular with Mitch. But I was firm. I gave him a hug, told him I loved him, and reminded him that when we clean up in the future he needs to help out more without causing a fuss. Or I will kill him.

Grey Cup 2006

2006-11-20T02:50:00.001-06:00

Today was a busy day. Mom is sick, Brooke is sick (but getting better). She has this persistent cough for the last 4 weeks. It is getting a bit looser now, and tonight she is hardly coughing at all. I hope she is done with this cold. I hope I don't get it.

Tannis has been sleeping much of the day. She seems to have borrowed some of Brooke's germs. I took the kids shopping at 11 this morning, but being Sunday, I forgot the stores didn't open till noon. So we went out for breakfast at the Southdale restaraunt. Yucky Eggs Benedict, and the kids had french toast (Brooke), and bacon and eggs (Mitch). I felt sorry for the waitress. It was ridiculously busy and there was not enough staff. Add to that that she was 6 months pregnant, and well, you have a pretty grim picture. I left her a 5 dollar tip. I hope she doesn't use it to buy crack.

We were shopping for toilet paper and garbage bags, items that had eluded our grasp on the past couple of outings. Why is it that if you forget to buy something, it is the most crucial thing possible. Anyhow, we managed to get the vital items. I was also intent on making some cool tapas for our Grey Cup Party this evening. I knew of the dinner that was being prepared for us...casserole. So I wanted to have a backup plan of edible food. The day before we had bought some cool crackers shaped like cups at Millers Meats. I decided to fill those with shrimp dip and top them with a thin slice of medium-rare steak - YUM! Second was the chicken skewers with a thai peanut sauce. And lastly, potato skins. But not just any potato skins, these were made with little new potatoes. LOTS of fussy work scooping them out, but with a bit of cheese and bacon, they were well worth the effort.

We had a nice time watching the game. One really nifty part was when the Snowbirds flew over after the National Anthem. Right after they flew over the stadium, they flew right over the house. It was neat!

The kids played under grandmas very watchful eye while Tannis slept on the couch and I watched the Lions win over the Alouettes. Pretty dull game overall, but it was nice to sit and watch a whole game. I only get to do that once or twice a year.

The tapas were a big hit, and the casserole (lazy lasagna - from a recipe) wasn't. Who puts corn in lazy lasagna...I mean really.

We loaded everybody up as soon as we could because grandma was kicking us out. It was a nice night out.

2006-11-20T02:29:00.001-06:00

Here it is...the diary I will keep. It seems likely that I would use this method as opposed to paper. I had another blog going, but there is a constant problem with the account, so I will just use this one. Being run by Google, I have a little bit of confidence that I won't have the same problems.
At this point, 'blogs' are only popular with teenagers, news services, geeks, and those annoying people who send you those 'family update' Christmas letters every year. Now they have the ability to annoy you full time!
I started this to record some daily observations that, unless recorded, will get bumped out of my head and forgotten forever. It is mainly for my kids to read when they grow up. Perhaps they will find it amusing, insightful, or God forbid, educational.
Brooke is 6 years old, Mitchell is 4. They are the best kids ever. When I imagined what my adult life would be like, this is exactly it. I knew I would have 2 kids, I knew they would be close in age, and I was absolutely positive they would be perfect.
I couldn't be more proud. Brooke is working very hard to learn how to read. She will do fine. She is working through level 6 right now. She will read a line, slow as you please, and then go back and read it through so she can understand the story.
Mitchell is desparately trying to fit in with the whole reading and writing thing. "How do you spell that, dad?" And he spells it...or should I say copies it, as he is not sure what baffling shape he should make to make the letters. He is sooo smart, and funny too. His thoughtful disposition is sure to serve him well as he matures. He looks a bit like me.