Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I took this past Monday as a vacation day so I could work on the deck. It's coming along, I should be able to (finally) put down the deck boards on the long weekend. It's been a bit of a hassle with all the rain, because I have to bring all the power tools inside (the mitre saw being the biggest), even if it's just threatening to rain. I mounted one of the speakers on Monday, and I'll hook it up on the weekend. Just bought some wiring supplies at Home Depot.

Craig and I went golfing (Craig's co-worker Lou joined us too) last Wednesday at Lakeview. We had a 3pm tee off, but at 2:45 it started pouring, constantly for an hour. Craig got us a pitcher of beer to wait it out, and by 4pm we were teeing off. It was amazing how fast the golf course drained. There was a slow group in front of us, which started bothering me and I shot a 52 on the front. They let us play through on 10, and then I got my game together and shot 45 on the back.

I had my best hockey game of the past year or so on Thursday. I got a goal and assist, and had a few really good chances to score, including in overtime. We ended up in a 3-3 tie. This is the most even the teams have been in hockey -- almost all our games go into overtime.

Well we're off to make dinner -- steak, corn on the cob, caesar salad. Mmmm good.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Happy Birthday to me!

It's been raining all day, so I've been lazing about most of the day. Had a massage at 2:30 (using my benefits), so I'm lazing and relaxed. Sketched out the stairs for the deck. I'm taking next Monday off, so I'll have two long weekends in a row to work on the deck. I got a new circle saw from Heather for my birthday which I was using yesterday. Can't go wrong with power tools as a birthday gift!

Heather and I went out for dinner last night at Table 17. It was really good. They've done an excellent job of decorating the place. I had the scallops appetizer and pork main; Heather had the pea soup and rabbit. The scallops were amazing, done perfectly and served with fresh peas, crisp bacon and a mild hollandaise sauce. We asked them to match a glass of wine with each, which went really really well. We both recommend the place.

On Friday night my high school friends took me out for dinner. We had dinner at The Citizen, and then went to Booze for a drink or two. (It's neat having all these places in our neighbourhood!) It was fun hanging out with my high school friends, we generally only get together for our birthdays and Christmas nowadays.

The bike lanes on Eastern are painted better now, with well-defined parking spaces and bikes lanes around. It all looks very organized and european. However it's still a dangerous start going westbound at Leslie. One car lane simply disappears across the intersection. They should really make the right hand lane a right-turn-only lane on the east side of Leslie. I agree with Tanya's comment that this has something to do with the proposed Walmart.

On Thursday was the annual soccer tournament at work for the United Way. Usually the IT team isn't very good. We generally go scoreless the entire tournament, but have the most fun and drink the most beers. However, this year we somehow made it all the way to the final, and lost 1-0 to Advertising. I was pretty tired after the final.

This past Wednesday Heather and I went out for dinner at B-side (the patio at Joy Bistro). It's under new management (not sure if this also means new owners). They had a live band (two guys with acoustic guitars), which went well with the warm summer night. They've upped the prices a bit (still reasonable) and no longer have Keith's on tap. It was really busy for a Wednesday night, with a lot of people turned away because of lack of seating.

Forgot to mention, I got ID'd the other day at the LCBO! I was a week short of being twice the drinking age :)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

It's my birthday week!

We had a Summerlicious dinner last night at Jaaadu with Trishia & Dave and Cindy & Joe. It was good, although I think I prefer Lahore Tikka (the restaurant perpetually under construction in Little India on Gerrard). For a nice change, we were allowed to eat a Summerlicious meal at a relaxed pace -- we were there for over three hours!

On Sunday night we played The Enemy at Ultimate and finally beat them! It's always fun playing them, it's VERY competitive but friendly. We won 19-16, but they're still up 2-1 this summer against us. The game took almost two hours, and Craig and I played most of the game. I was exhausted afterwards, and took an epson salt bath when I got home (the first time I've used the bathtub).

A couple weekends ago Heather and I had dinner at PicNic. It was really good. The Star gave them a bad review but I guess Corey Mintz just doesn't like Leslieville, or anyone who lives here, for whatever reason. He also gave Table 17 a bad review, so based on that, I think we'll really enjoy it. Heather and I are having dinner there this Saturday to celebrate my birthday.

The deck is coming along, a bit slowly. I think I may take a couple vacation days to work on it.

I noticed that Eastern Av now has bike lanes! Cool! They've taken away a lane of traffic in each direction and added bike lanes. The stupid part is that I was going westbound on Eastern from Loblaws, where there are two traffic lanes, and then suddenly across Leslie, the avenue loses a traffic lane without warning. The intersection is dangerous enough with the blind eastbound approach. The whole thing is an accident waiting to happen. I saw someone who looked like CrazyBikerChick taking pictures, I'm guessing she'll have a post about this too.

I've been out golfing a couple times over the last two weeks. The first time at Deerfield I stunk, but then last Monday at St Andrew Valley I shot a 95, with 4 pars and a birdie! I hitting my new hybrid club really well at St Andrew.

Heather and I saw WALL•E the past weekend. We both liked it. There's not much dialogue, but it still makes its point. I particularly liked that WALL•E makes an Apple OSX sound when he boots up.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

A pub (maybe) opening soon?

I'm working on the deck today, and just taking a break for lunch.  Walked up to Queen Pita to grab lunch, and noticed the place on the corner of Queen and Curzon (a little west of Tomi Kro's) is really coming along.  The interior is opened up (they've reused the old tin ceiling tiles on some walls and behind the bar whcih looks cool).  The exterior looks great now too -- the east wall has been cleaned to expose the original brick.  If it turns out to be a pub I think it may become our new favourite.

The patio at OkayOkay was packed with brunchers.  It looks nicer now that they've painted a mural on the wall and added umbrellas.

I messed up the bench a bit on the deck and so I'm in the middle of taking it apart to lower the back by an inch.  It's a pain but better now than looking at it in the future if I didn't do it right.

Well our pitas are almost ready.