I had plans to set the flagstone today but it's drizzling right now so I'm waiting for the afternoon. It's easier to level out the limestone screening when it's dry.
So the next home automation that I'm looking at is hooking up the thermostat, so that it can be controlled remotely. I surfed briefly and there's a lot more options today than there were a couple years ago. There's three components: temperature sensor, electromechanical controller, and a console. The options I looked at all include a fancy console, which I prefer that they didn't. I already have a remote console (also called an iPhone), so all I really need is the temperature sensor(s), and the controller (which ideally can be separate devices, communicating over the LAN). Anyways I'm going to search a bit more to see if these exist.
(There's a pretty cool page on a "killer app for IPv6", which I think only Lloyd may find funny).
There was finally some more construction activity on the condo on the southeast corner of Queen and Pape. Looks like they just poured some more cement, but at least the project's not completely stopped.
The little bugs that come around every fall have been back for a week. It makes it a pain to barbecue, which we use about three times a week. We try to just use the front door (for some reason the bugs only fly in from the back door), which for barbecuing means we're carrying our food around the alley to the back to cook, and then back around to the front. It's supposed to go down to 3C overnight this weekend, so maybe that will kill them off. I think though that it needs to drop to freezing to get rid of them.
It was a nice day yesterday so I took the afternoon off and went golfing with Craig at Lakeview. My short game was okay but not great, and I ended up with a 99. I've stopped using my driver (hitting with my hybrid off the tee) and I've been much more consistent in getting to the green. So now my score just depends on my chipping and putting.
A couple rivets had popped out of the bottom of my skates (which hold the blade to the boot), so I left them at the pro shop at the arena last week. Unfortunately the pro shop didn't work on them, so when I showed up on Thursday to pick them up before the game, they were still sitting there, and I missed the game. I'm going to give the arena a call on Monday to complain.
Tonight's Helen's and Nick's 40th birthday party. Helen plays on my Ultimate teams, and her and Nick (and their kids Sarah and Noah) live just up in Riverdale, about a 10 minute walk from us. It should be fun.
Anyways it looks like it may have stopped drizzling outside.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
We went for dim sum last week, except our usual place on Gerrard had a big "closed" sign on the front window. So we stood hopelessly in front of the restaurant, when a man and his son walked by, and informed us that the place was closed for renovations, and that there was another dim sum place just down the street, which was pretty good. Which was the exact thing I suppose we were hoping would happen.
We tried the recommeded place, and it turned out really good, in fact better than our usual place. We went there again for dinner tonight because we couldn't decide on what to make, and it was great for dinner too. Who'd have thought. I can't remember the name of the place though. It's a bit west of Boulton on Gerrard, although that's not a very specific description for Chinatown.
A new bar opened up last week, called The Avro, on Queen St E, in the old Bergstrom place. We went for a quick beer to check the place out. It's pretty cozy, a nice place to drop in for a beer. I think it will do well.
The fall Ultimate seasons have started. So far we're doing well, we haven't lost a game yet. Most of the games are at Lamport, which makes it convenient to get to the games. The fall season is pretty short -- it's done in four more weeks, because then the domes go up on the fields for winter. I prefer indoors because it's speed point, which is a better workout.
I cleaned up the backyard where the car is parked, to put down flagstone around the back and side of the parking spot. It was getting a bit like a jungle on the passenger side. There were two old birch stumps that I had picked up at Kirk's years ago, which I had intended to turn into stools or side tables. We didn't like the look of them, and so they sat beside the parking spot for the last couple years. So I put them up on Craigslist for free. Some guy came and picked them up, along with four patio stones that came with the house. So this weekend I weeded and put down landscaping fabric, a few bags of limestone screening, and then Heather and I did the jigsaw puzzle of flagstone pieces. I still have to set the stones, which hopefully I can do next week if the weather is good.
Before pic:
We tried the recommeded place, and it turned out really good, in fact better than our usual place. We went there again for dinner tonight because we couldn't decide on what to make, and it was great for dinner too. Who'd have thought. I can't remember the name of the place though. It's a bit west of Boulton on Gerrard, although that's not a very specific description for Chinatown.
A new bar opened up last week, called The Avro, on Queen St E, in the old Bergstrom place. We went for a quick beer to check the place out. It's pretty cozy, a nice place to drop in for a beer. I think it will do well.
The fall Ultimate seasons have started. So far we're doing well, we haven't lost a game yet. Most of the games are at Lamport, which makes it convenient to get to the games. The fall season is pretty short -- it's done in four more weeks, because then the domes go up on the fields for winter. I prefer indoors because it's speed point, which is a better workout.
I cleaned up the backyard where the car is parked, to put down flagstone around the back and side of the parking spot. It was getting a bit like a jungle on the passenger side. There were two old birch stumps that I had picked up at Kirk's years ago, which I had intended to turn into stools or side tables. We didn't like the look of them, and so they sat beside the parking spot for the last couple years. So I put them up on Craigslist for free. Some guy came and picked them up, along with four patio stones that came with the house. So this weekend I weeded and put down landscaping fabric, a few bags of limestone screening, and then Heather and I did the jigsaw puzzle of flagstone pieces. I still have to set the stones, which hopefully I can do next week if the weather is good.
Before pic:
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Monday, September 06, 2010
It was a busy August! Maricar and Robin were married on August 14, (we were invited to both the wedding and reception on the Saturday, and the picnic on the Sunday). Shelley and Geron were married the next weekend, on August 21, in Thorold. Around the same time, Nalini and family were in town to visit. And then my high school friends and I went on a Carnival cruise, from Miami to the Bahamas and back, to celebrate our 40th birthdays, from August 26 - 30.
The cruise was okay. I'm not much of a cruise person, but it fit our schedules, and it was another country for me. Luckily for us we didn't get much rain, with a hurricane and tropical storm in the area.
I finally finished a book this year. I had been struggling through Jane Jacobs, and finally stopped that and started on The Three Musketeers. This is the first book I've read as a digital book, on Stanza on my iPhone. It's more convenient to hold the iPhone when in bed (considering the size of some of the books I've read recently). Also it's self-lit, so I don't need to have a light on. The only annoyance is that I prefer to read it in landscape mode, but when I'm lying on my side the iPhone is turned 90* from horizontal and the iPhone wants to flip to portrait. You can freeze the orientation in iOS4, but only in portrait mode. When I get an iPad I don't think it will be an issue, because then I'll be reading in potrait mode.
Our barbecue was looking a bit run-down, so I spray painted it today and it looks much better. I bought a can of heat-resistant spray paint at Home Depot for about $7 and gave it a couple coats this afternoon. Unfortunately I broke the thermometer trying to take it off, so now I need to replace it. Last month I replaced the grill and heat wave, from the friendly folks at Broilmate (I think it cost about $40, including delivery). The barbecue still works, so I don't want to buy a new one yet.
Stephane and Sab are coming over for dinner so I suppose I should start preparing the food. We're having grilled pork chops with quinoa.
The cruise was okay. I'm not much of a cruise person, but it fit our schedules, and it was another country for me. Luckily for us we didn't get much rain, with a hurricane and tropical storm in the area.
I finally finished a book this year. I had been struggling through Jane Jacobs, and finally stopped that and started on The Three Musketeers. This is the first book I've read as a digital book, on Stanza on my iPhone. It's more convenient to hold the iPhone when in bed (considering the size of some of the books I've read recently). Also it's self-lit, so I don't need to have a light on. The only annoyance is that I prefer to read it in landscape mode, but when I'm lying on my side the iPhone is turned 90* from horizontal and the iPhone wants to flip to portrait. You can freeze the orientation in iOS4, but only in portrait mode. When I get an iPad I don't think it will be an issue, because then I'll be reading in potrait mode.
Our barbecue was looking a bit run-down, so I spray painted it today and it looks much better. I bought a can of heat-resistant spray paint at Home Depot for about $7 and gave it a couple coats this afternoon. Unfortunately I broke the thermometer trying to take it off, so now I need to replace it. Last month I replaced the grill and heat wave, from the friendly folks at Broilmate (I think it cost about $40, including delivery). The barbecue still works, so I don't want to buy a new one yet.
Stephane and Sab are coming over for dinner so I suppose I should start preparing the food. We're having grilled pork chops with quinoa.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Here's what the living room looks like now:
As you can see, we still need a big piece of art on the wall above the monitor. Also in the pic is the painting that Adnan's wife, Snjezana, painted for Heather. The TV stand that the monitor is on will at some point be replaced with a smaller stand. For now it also contains my old (big) tuner, connected to my old (big) Cerwin Vega speakers. Both are circa 1988, and sound as good as when I first bought them, but in a 12' wide house, they take up a lot of space. At some point we'll replace those with something smaller, but for now it works. You can see the wireless keyboard and mouse (it's the white rectangles). The mouse is optical and doesn't work on the glass top of the coffee table. Unfortunately a couple days after I bought the mouse, Apple came out with their new trackpad, which would fix that problem.
The old TV used to be where the black armchair is now, and the black armchair was in the pathway from the front door. So now there's better flow through the room, because you don't have to dodge around the chair. You would be surprised at how often one can stub their toe in the dark checking that the front door is locked before heading upstairs for the night.
As you can see, we still need a big piece of art on the wall above the monitor. Also in the pic is the painting that Adnan's wife, Snjezana, painted for Heather. The TV stand that the monitor is on will at some point be replaced with a smaller stand. For now it also contains my old (big) tuner, connected to my old (big) Cerwin Vega speakers. Both are circa 1988, and sound as good as when I first bought them, but in a 12' wide house, they take up a lot of space. At some point we'll replace those with something smaller, but for now it works. You can see the wireless keyboard and mouse (it's the white rectangles). The mouse is optical and doesn't work on the glass top of the coffee table. Unfortunately a couple days after I bought the mouse, Apple came out with their new trackpad, which would fix that problem.
The old TV used to be where the black armchair is now, and the black armchair was in the pathway from the front door. So now there's better flow through the room, because you don't have to dodge around the chair. You would be surprised at how often one can stub their toe in the dark checking that the front door is locked before heading upstairs for the night.
Monday, August 02, 2010
It's the Simcoe Day long weekend and the weather is beautiful.
So we've been cable-TV-free for the last couple weeks, and it's working out pretty good. Right now the HD antenna is upstairs in the office, and we get nine channels (all GTA-based). At some point I'll put the antenna on the roof, but then I need to worry about lightning and surge protection and all that, so for now the office it is.
The best part is that we got rid of my big old Sony Trinitron from the 90's, which allowed us to rearrange the living room furniture. The living room now has much better flow. Maybe even better feng shui, although I'm not that knowledgeable about feng shui.
I gave away the old TV for free on craigslist. The asking price for similar TVs was $1 to $200 (I don't know who would pay $200 for an old TV, when I bought a brand new 24" LCD monitor for less). We decided just to price it as free, to get rid of it. Within minutes I had five replies. I gave it to the first person to reply, who picked it up the next day. I also gave them Heather's old DVD player.
As part of the living room makeover, we also put up a collage of framed art from my travels that were sitting in boxes in the basement. On their own they were too small for our walls, but as a collage they work. It nicely fills in the wall between the front door and front window.
...
For my 40th birthday, Heather made reservations at Ruby Watchco, a new-ish restaurant in Leslieville. We had both wanted to go there since it opened. They only have one set menu which changes every day (if you click on the link you'll see the menu for the current day). The interior design is really great, very much our style. We weren't as impressed with the food, it was really good, but too rich to our taste. I also felt the food too busy -- all the ingredients overpowered the main part of the course. Unfortunately on my birthday the main was chicken -- it was done perfectly, but I just can't get too excited about chicken (unless it's chicken wings after Ultimate). Overall none of the courses made us go "wow". But we were happy we checked the place out. We might go back, but it would depend on the menu being served that day.
Heather also bought me a t-shirt from Dorly Designs that says "Bacon makes me happy". We had dropped in to check out the new store in June, and I really liked the t-shirts.
The facelift of our Shoppers is moving along. They've expanded to take over most of the parking lot, and have added a 2nd floor. It fits in much better with the rest of the street now. Before, there was too much empty space and it broke up the continuity along Queen E. Already on Carlaw there's a new restaurant planning to open opposite the Shoppers. The Shoppers people also used brick on the exterior which again fits in nicely with the rest of the street.
...
I went out golfing at Deerfield with Chris, Doaner and Craig on the day before my birthday. I left my driver in the bag (actually didn't even bother bringing it to the course), and just used my hybrid off the tee. (I need to take lessons before I use my driver on the course). Anyways, I had five straight pars on the front, a record for me, on holes 2-6; unfortunately double-bogeyed the other four holes, for a 42 and a bogey-free front. Ended up with a 92, one of my better rounds in a while. I also beat Doaner for the first time ever.
This Wednesday Craig and I are golfing at Lakeview with a couple guys from hockey, Scott and Marc. Hopefully I'll still be hitting my hybrid straight.
...
With all the hot weather this summer, I've been looking at how to shade the sun coming in from the skylight. Eventually I want to get some sort of smart window but for now I'm going low-tech, with just a linen covering that can be put on hooks with a long pole:
It might make more sense to see it when it's completed.
Tonight we're having an experimental dinner. There was a bottle of wine at the LCBO that said it went well with chicken with olives, almonds and paprika. So I bought a couple chicken breasts, (bone-in with skin), and I'm going to stuff them with the olives etc and then barbecue. The side is a salad of navy beans and wilted spinach, with cured chorizo sausage. I think it the meal may be a bit on the dry side, so I may need a chicken broth-based sauce of some sort.
Well that's it for now.
So we've been cable-TV-free for the last couple weeks, and it's working out pretty good. Right now the HD antenna is upstairs in the office, and we get nine channels (all GTA-based). At some point I'll put the antenna on the roof, but then I need to worry about lightning and surge protection and all that, so for now the office it is.
The best part is that we got rid of my big old Sony Trinitron from the 90's, which allowed us to rearrange the living room furniture. The living room now has much better flow. Maybe even better feng shui, although I'm not that knowledgeable about feng shui.
I gave away the old TV for free on craigslist. The asking price for similar TVs was $1 to $200 (I don't know who would pay $200 for an old TV, when I bought a brand new 24" LCD monitor for less). We decided just to price it as free, to get rid of it. Within minutes I had five replies. I gave it to the first person to reply, who picked it up the next day. I also gave them Heather's old DVD player.
As part of the living room makeover, we also put up a collage of framed art from my travels that were sitting in boxes in the basement. On their own they were too small for our walls, but as a collage they work. It nicely fills in the wall between the front door and front window.
...
For my 40th birthday, Heather made reservations at Ruby Watchco, a new-ish restaurant in Leslieville. We had both wanted to go there since it opened. They only have one set menu which changes every day (if you click on the link you'll see the menu for the current day). The interior design is really great, very much our style. We weren't as impressed with the food, it was really good, but too rich to our taste. I also felt the food too busy -- all the ingredients overpowered the main part of the course. Unfortunately on my birthday the main was chicken -- it was done perfectly, but I just can't get too excited about chicken (unless it's chicken wings after Ultimate). Overall none of the courses made us go "wow". But we were happy we checked the place out. We might go back, but it would depend on the menu being served that day.
Heather also bought me a t-shirt from Dorly Designs that says "Bacon makes me happy". We had dropped in to check out the new store in June, and I really liked the t-shirts.
The facelift of our Shoppers is moving along. They've expanded to take over most of the parking lot, and have added a 2nd floor. It fits in much better with the rest of the street now. Before, there was too much empty space and it broke up the continuity along Queen E. Already on Carlaw there's a new restaurant planning to open opposite the Shoppers. The Shoppers people also used brick on the exterior which again fits in nicely with the rest of the street.
...
I went out golfing at Deerfield with Chris, Doaner and Craig on the day before my birthday. I left my driver in the bag (actually didn't even bother bringing it to the course), and just used my hybrid off the tee. (I need to take lessons before I use my driver on the course). Anyways, I had five straight pars on the front, a record for me, on holes 2-6; unfortunately double-bogeyed the other four holes, for a 42 and a bogey-free front. Ended up with a 92, one of my better rounds in a while. I also beat Doaner for the first time ever.
This Wednesday Craig and I are golfing at Lakeview with a couple guys from hockey, Scott and Marc. Hopefully I'll still be hitting my hybrid straight.
...
With all the hot weather this summer, I've been looking at how to shade the sun coming in from the skylight. Eventually I want to get some sort of smart window but for now I'm going low-tech, with just a linen covering that can be put on hooks with a long pole:
It might make more sense to see it when it's completed.
Tonight we're having an experimental dinner. There was a bottle of wine at the LCBO that said it went well with chicken with olives, almonds and paprika. So I bought a couple chicken breasts, (bone-in with skin), and I'm going to stuff them with the olives etc and then barbecue. The side is a salad of navy beans and wilted spinach, with cured chorizo sausage. I think it the meal may be a bit on the dry side, so I may need a chicken broth-based sauce of some sort.
Well that's it for now.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Heather's laptop is nearing its end and so she's been using the MacBook. Fortunately with lockbox.com all her dissertation is synced locally on her laptop and the MacBook (as well as in the cloud) so it was pretty seamless for her to keep on working.
We're replacing her dead laptop with a Mac Mini. I also ordered a Dell 24" LCD monitor, which will become our TV, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The total cost was a little less than a Windows laptop.
Oh yah, so I finally cancelled cable, and we're switching to an HD antenna. Rogers makes you wait (pay) for a 30 day period if you want to cancel your cable, so we have it until July 21st. It wasn't that hard to convince their call centre that we didn't want cable. I just told them we don't watch tv, and I don't think they have a script for that. They tried to offer us cheaper cable, but I just repeated that we don't watch tv. A week later they called us at home, and Heather said the same thing, an it appears Rogers has now given up. We're still keeping our Internet through Rogers, there's no additional cost to have just Internet services. We were paying $70 / month for the cable portion of our Rogers bill, so it's quite a savings.
We bought a Channel Master 4-bay antenna, and the HD HomeRun tuner, which connects into our home network. So now we can watch TV from any computer (well right now, the computer) on the network, even over WiFi. When I get the Mac Mini, I'm going to install eyeTV, which is basically a PVR for the Mac. The antenna, tuner and software will end up costing about $250, so in less than four months it will pay off.
Which means we'll finally say goodbye to my old 27" Sony Trinitron TV. I don't know how to dispose of TVs, as this is the first TV I've ever owned (it's from the 90's). I suppose toronto.ca will have info.
Which also means we'll have more room in the living room, yay! The new monitor (when it arrives) will have to go somewhere, but it will take up far less room. Also the DVD player can go, and Rogers will pick up the cable box. The MacMini will be the radio (via iTunes), DVD player, TV, and Internet. Digital convergence is happening, right in our living room! And I'll be able to control most of it remotely from my iPhone, so there's no single-use remotes cluttering up the coffee table. All of the hardware (except the monitor) will be in the basement, with the wireless keyboard and mouse upstairs. It will all be neat and orderly, just how I like it :)
...
We won the Sunday Spring Ultimate championship yesterday, 18-11 over The Spinners. The game was originally scheduled in mid-June (when it was actually spring) but we were rained out. So we played at 5:30, in the heat and sun. We had our normal Sunday game right after at 7pm, so it was a long afternoon. Fortunately we had lots of water and oranges and so we were okay. We won the 2nd game too, 19-6, but it was just a regular season game. Our Ultimate teams have been doing really well over the last few months.
Well I should get ready for bed.
We're replacing her dead laptop with a Mac Mini. I also ordered a Dell 24" LCD monitor, which will become our TV, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The total cost was a little less than a Windows laptop.
Oh yah, so I finally cancelled cable, and we're switching to an HD antenna. Rogers makes you wait (pay) for a 30 day period if you want to cancel your cable, so we have it until July 21st. It wasn't that hard to convince their call centre that we didn't want cable. I just told them we don't watch tv, and I don't think they have a script for that. They tried to offer us cheaper cable, but I just repeated that we don't watch tv. A week later they called us at home, and Heather said the same thing, an it appears Rogers has now given up. We're still keeping our Internet through Rogers, there's no additional cost to have just Internet services. We were paying $70 / month for the cable portion of our Rogers bill, so it's quite a savings.
We bought a Channel Master 4-bay antenna, and the HD HomeRun tuner, which connects into our home network. So now we can watch TV from any computer (well right now, the computer) on the network, even over WiFi. When I get the Mac Mini, I'm going to install eyeTV, which is basically a PVR for the Mac. The antenna, tuner and software will end up costing about $250, so in less than four months it will pay off.
Which means we'll finally say goodbye to my old 27" Sony Trinitron TV. I don't know how to dispose of TVs, as this is the first TV I've ever owned (it's from the 90's). I suppose toronto.ca will have info.
Which also means we'll have more room in the living room, yay! The new monitor (when it arrives) will have to go somewhere, but it will take up far less room. Also the DVD player can go, and Rogers will pick up the cable box. The MacMini will be the radio (via iTunes), DVD player, TV, and Internet. Digital convergence is happening, right in our living room! And I'll be able to control most of it remotely from my iPhone, so there's no single-use remotes cluttering up the coffee table. All of the hardware (except the monitor) will be in the basement, with the wireless keyboard and mouse upstairs. It will all be neat and orderly, just how I like it :)
...
We won the Sunday Spring Ultimate championship yesterday, 18-11 over The Spinners. The game was originally scheduled in mid-June (when it was actually spring) but we were rained out. So we played at 5:30, in the heat and sun. We had our normal Sunday game right after at 7pm, so it was a long afternoon. Fortunately we had lots of water and oranges and so we were okay. We won the 2nd game too, 19-6, but it was just a regular season game. Our Ultimate teams have been doing really well over the last few months.
Well I should get ready for bed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)