Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 Book list

Op Center: Balance of Power
Tom Clancy 2007.06.08

Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe 2007.06.08

Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic
Tom Holland 2007.06.07

Shogun
James Clavell 2007.06.01

The Black Tulip
Alexandre Dumas 2007.04.20

The Odyssey
Homer 2007.03.30

The Iliad
Homer 2007.01.30

Sunday, December 30, 2007

So I've realized that one of the reasons I don't blog as much now is that I feel I have to have enough time to catch up from the previous entry.  So I'm going to start writing more about what's currently going on, abetted by my Blackberry.

We're home again from our trip to Ottawa, and are cooking up mussels with tomatoes, onions and celery.  I used white cooking wine (last time I was out and used some sort of gourmet vinegar to a not-so-good effect).

Sunday, December 16, 2007

It was a very snowy day in Toronto. I like walking in snowstorms, so we bundled up and walked over to Loblaws to buy groceries. I took a few pics along the way. Here's some of the stores near us -- Eye Spy, Wild Thyme, B&B Fish & Chips, Six Shooters, ok ok.



(one sec, I have to start our stew for dinner...)

It's snowed over a foot today. There's barely enough room to put the snow piles! The last time I remember this much snow was when Mel Lastman called in the army in January 2000.

I was thinking of getting snow tires this fall, but didn't, because most winters we have maybe 1 or 2 days that you need snow tires in Toronto. So far we've had 3 days this winter, and it's not even officially winter yet!

The VPC Christmas party was yesterday, at the Hilton in Vaughan. It had already started snowing when we went to the party. Good thing I decided not to drink, and drive back last night (other people at the party stayed at the Hilton). The roads were bad last night, but they were even worse this morning. The party was pretty good. It changed venues from italian place it's been at in previous years. The venue and sound system was better, but the food was definitely better at the last place. Last year we had the porcini risotto and veal picatta that we liked so much, we looked up recipes and now have it on a regular basis. This year was standard banquet hall food -- well-done steaks and chicken breast, with over-cooked vegetables. However, the party is still one of the better work parties I attend.

I've been playing around with my Blackberry quite a bit. It's really cool. It's pretty intuitive to use. Bought a 1GB micro SD card yesterday, so now I can download pics and songs. The GPS is really cool. I wonder if I can use it to track my next vacation? There seem to be a milion and one things you can do with it.

Well dinner is almost ready...

Monday, December 10, 2007

Well I got a BlackBerry 8800 for work (took forever for my cell phone number to be transferred from Telus to Bell).  I've had it for only 6 hours and already I don't see how I could be without one.
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