The weather is finally warming up to spring temperatures. Every year (well, two so far), I've taken a picture of the maple tree that I planted on Heater's birthday in 2009. I looked back at the picture from last year, and the tree was full of leaves. This year they're still just buds. Our irises and tulips have yet to appear.
Thursday was the first nice day since we returned from vacation, so I drove up to Humber Nurseries. I bought some perennial grasses for the front planters, which we're hoping will look good right through winter. The nursery folks said I need to transfer them to the ground over winter for them to survive (I'm guessing otherwise they'll die from the cold?); but I'm going to leave them in and see what happens. We need to replace our front door (it's the original door from the house), so maybe the draft of warm air escaping will keep the grasses alive :)
Most of the potted perennials in the backyard made it through the winter. The clematis also survived -- we weren't sure if it would, as it's planted in the ground surrounded by limestone screening (which is basic (as opposed to acidic)). Also, one of our neighbours (Walter) have a nice elephant ear plant that is spreading too much, and he's offered a cutting (or whatever it would be called). I had planted one years ago in the front yard, but it died in the sun and dryness. I'm hoping by potting it in the shady backyard it may live.
I've been looking for a job primarily through LinkedIn. I signed up for a premium account for $30 / month, just to see if it's worthwhile. It lets me see who's visited my profile and some other features. It's almost like a dating site, except I'm trying to meet companies :)
I also signed up to become an Apple iOS developer (which means I can develop and distribute iPhone and iPad apps). I did most of my computer science assignments in C, so it's not too big a deal to learn Objective C. Apple has some nice tutorials for free on the web. I dug up my old "C programming language" text book by Kernighan and Ritchie (it should be a Penguin Classic!) to brush up on my C. I did pay the $100 to Apple so I can actually distribute the app (which is sort of the point, I just want to become familiar with the process). Soon enough I'll be writing my "Hello World" app for practice.
Also on the career side, I'm trying to get my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. I have the prerequisite qualifications; I need to submit them and have them approved, and then write a 200 multiple choice test. It won't make too much of a difference to my experience, but seeing as I have the time I might as well get the letters after my name.
On Wednesday I went out for wings with Marissa, Tony and Bernice, at a bar in Bloor West (Whelan's Gate). It was a nice little pub, they had buck-a-shuck oysters (malpeques) (the 1st Wed every month), and the wings were pretty good. Bloor and Keele is central between the four of us, although it's still a 45 minute trip from our house by transit. I just missed the bus transfer coming back so walked home from Pape Station.
We tried fish from the new fishmonger in our neighbourhood, Hooked. They had a feature story in the Star last week, including a pickerel recipe, which turned out pretty good. We had it with a side of arugula and new potatoes, and a petit syrah.
Rack of lamb was on sale at Loblaws yesterday (about $7 per full rack!) so you can guess what we're having for dinner tonight. We normally have lamb loin, so it will be an experiment in barbecuing. I better get started though.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Heather and I are back from a six week trip to South America. We were originally going for three weeks but extended it to six. We've been back for a couple weeks now, Heather's finishing her dissertation and I've started looking for a job.
My resume is up-to-date and I've sent it out to a few places so far. (If anyone has a VP IT role available, please feel free to let me know!)
Sports is in between seasons. Summer hockey has started up already, but Ultimate doesn't start for a couple weeks. I'm playing Ultimate on Sundays and Tuesdays, and hockey on Thursdays.
I've started looking into home automation again. A while back I was thinking of buying an Arduino. However I've had second thoughts about using the Arduino as the gateway to connect devices. I think it will be better if each device connected using wifi (or maybe Bluetooth, in any case, some standard wireless protocol).
I surfed for a wifi temperature monitor, but just found products targeted at businesses, with data centres or other things to monitor, priced at business prices ($450 and up). Then found this wifi thermostat at Home Depot for $99(!), unfortunately just in the US. So Lloyd bought it for me, my parents will bring it back shortly. The company has just released APIs so I can write my own app to control it.
Well I have to get ready for hockey.
My resume is up-to-date and I've sent it out to a few places so far. (If anyone has a VP IT role available, please feel free to let me know!)
Sports is in between seasons. Summer hockey has started up already, but Ultimate doesn't start for a couple weeks. I'm playing Ultimate on Sundays and Tuesdays, and hockey on Thursdays.
I've started looking into home automation again. A while back I was thinking of buying an Arduino. However I've had second thoughts about using the Arduino as the gateway to connect devices. I think it will be better if each device connected using wifi (or maybe Bluetooth, in any case, some standard wireless protocol).
I surfed for a wifi temperature monitor, but just found products targeted at businesses, with data centres or other things to monitor, priced at business prices ($450 and up). Then found this wifi thermostat at Home Depot for $99(!), unfortunately just in the US. So Lloyd bought it for me, my parents will bring it back shortly. The company has just released APIs so I can write my own app to control it.
Well I have to get ready for hockey.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Most people already likely know that I'm no longer with the Star. I took a buyout package on January 27th, and now have a bit of time to figure out what I'm going to do next.
In the short term, there's been good-bye lunches and getting ready for our trip to Chile, and getting financial and career stuff in order for when I get back.
In the meantime I've also set up my Top 100 Travel Sites, a la Hillman's Wonders (I've been to 58 on his list).
In the short term, there's been good-bye lunches and getting ready for our trip to Chile, and getting financial and career stuff in order for when I get back.
In the meantime I've also set up my Top 100 Travel Sites, a la Hillman's Wonders (I've been to 58 on his list).
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010 Book List
Alexandre Dumas 2010.08.26
John Ruskin 2010.08.28
Victor Hugo 2010.11.03
Sunday, December 19, 2010
We're almost set for Christmas. Maricar got us our tree again, this time a little skinnier and it fits the house much better. Mom and Dad came over last weekend and we decorated the tree. Heather and I get each other a tree ornament every year, and we now have enough to make the tree look somewhat filled in with them (it's our 6th Christmas together).
Yesterday we went shopping in our neighborhood. We didn't end up crossing anything off our Christmas lists, but we did find a couple things for the house -- a big antique iron pot that fits nicely on the top of the linen cabinet in the bathroom, and another glass milk jug. I bought two old milk crates years ago that we use as end tables in the bedroom. They hold six milk jugs each, and I've only been able to find half so far. We got both at Highway 11 on Queen E, which has pretty good stuff at reasonable prices.
My sports team didn't do very well last week, going 0-3. On Sunday we ended up with no guy subs, against The Spinners. We were actually up by a point with 15 minutes to go, and then ran out of steam and eventually lost. On Tuesday we were up 7-1 and then lost. We also lost 1-0 this week in hockey. The good thing is the teams in our leagues this season are fairly even, so almost all the games are competitive where anyone can win.
Yesterday we went shopping in our neighborhood. We didn't end up crossing anything off our Christmas lists, but we did find a couple things for the house -- a big antique iron pot that fits nicely on the top of the linen cabinet in the bathroom, and another glass milk jug. I bought two old milk crates years ago that we use as end tables in the bedroom. They hold six milk jugs each, and I've only been able to find half so far. We got both at Highway 11 on Queen E, which has pretty good stuff at reasonable prices.
My sports team didn't do very well last week, going 0-3. On Sunday we ended up with no guy subs, against The Spinners. We were actually up by a point with 15 minutes to go, and then ran out of steam and eventually lost. On Tuesday we were up 7-1 and then lost. We also lost 1-0 this week in hockey. The good thing is the teams in our leagues this season are fairly even, so almost all the games are competitive where anyone can win.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
We had steak for dinner on Friday, and had leftovers. So yesterday I made a Dagwood Bumstead sandwich, which turned out really good.
Heather and I decided on Chile for our next trip. The main goal is to do the W trek in Torres del Paine. It's become quite a popular trek, with limited accommodation, so we've actually had to plan and make reservations ahead of time. After the trek we'll travel around Patagonia and then up the coast of Chile back to Santiago.
The fall and winter Sunday Ultimate seasons overlap this year, so we have two games today. The fall game is at 2pm, outdoors at Downsview. It's the finals, against Ultimate Warriors who are a really good team. It's the last outdoor game of the year. Then later tonight we have a speedpoint game at Lamport, in the bubble.
I finally got in a hockey game on Thursday. I had pulled a muscle in my back a few weeks ago and so missed a couple games, and the schedule in November has been awful -- 11:30pm, 6:15pm, 11:15pm and a bye. We've been getting a lot of skaters out this season, usually 12 - 14, which means three sets of wingers and less ice time. I missed a tic-tac-toe play in the 2nd period, the puck went off the heel of my stick and then got caught up in my skates. Oh well.
We're getting yet another coffee shop in the neighbourhood, Bobette and Belle, where Hogar Home Decor used to be. From the signage that's up in the windows, it looks like it's more about artisinal pastries. It's a lot of square footage for a bakery / coffee shop.
We had 41 kids for Hallowe'en this year, which is about the same as previous years. There's a lot of families with babies in Leslieville, so in a few years I can see the number going up.
I swept up the leaves in the backyard yesterday, four bags worth. There's still lots of leaves on the trees. Hopefully the leaves will all be down and we'll have a sunny stretch before the first snowfall. A few years ago, it snowed just before everyone did the final raking, and it was a mess all winter with leaves clogging the drains.
Well I should get ready for Ultimate.
Heather and I decided on Chile for our next trip. The main goal is to do the W trek in Torres del Paine. It's become quite a popular trek, with limited accommodation, so we've actually had to plan and make reservations ahead of time. After the trek we'll travel around Patagonia and then up the coast of Chile back to Santiago.
The fall and winter Sunday Ultimate seasons overlap this year, so we have two games today. The fall game is at 2pm, outdoors at Downsview. It's the finals, against Ultimate Warriors who are a really good team. It's the last outdoor game of the year. Then later tonight we have a speedpoint game at Lamport, in the bubble.
I finally got in a hockey game on Thursday. I had pulled a muscle in my back a few weeks ago and so missed a couple games, and the schedule in November has been awful -- 11:30pm, 6:15pm, 11:15pm and a bye. We've been getting a lot of skaters out this season, usually 12 - 14, which means three sets of wingers and less ice time. I missed a tic-tac-toe play in the 2nd period, the puck went off the heel of my stick and then got caught up in my skates. Oh well.
We're getting yet another coffee shop in the neighbourhood, Bobette and Belle, where Hogar Home Decor used to be. From the signage that's up in the windows, it looks like it's more about artisinal pastries. It's a lot of square footage for a bakery / coffee shop.
We had 41 kids for Hallowe'en this year, which is about the same as previous years. There's a lot of families with babies in Leslieville, so in a few years I can see the number going up.
I swept up the leaves in the backyard yesterday, four bags worth. There's still lots of leaves on the trees. Hopefully the leaves will all be down and we'll have a sunny stretch before the first snowfall. A few years ago, it snowed just before everyone did the final raking, and it was a mess all winter with leaves clogging the drains.
Well I should get ready for Ultimate.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The condo on the southeast corner of Queen and Pape is coming along. This pic is from a couple weeks ago:
I finished the flagstone around the car at the start of October. I didn't leave much room to actually park the car, there's only about eight inches on each side of the wheels. I'm making a 6-point turn every time I park (I always reverse in). I want to put little curbs (3"x5"x8' ties), which will leave even less room. At some point next spring I think I will re-layout the passenger side, but make it 16" wide (it's about 24" now). It will depend on how good I get at backing in over the winter.
Hockey started up again, and I managed to pull a back muscle on the last shift of the game a couple weeks ago. Last week was a bye and I skipped tonight's game, but I'll be back next week.
We finally lost a game on Sunday Ultimate last week. We were down 6-1, then came back to tie it at 11-11, but eventually lost 14-12. We dropped too many passes that we normally catch.
We lost the championship on Tuesday (a few days after I pulled my back). We had two full lines of guys. The other line had a 10-minute point, and then a 15-minute point, which used up most of the clock (we have the field for 55 minutes, but by the time people warm up, we play for about 45 minutes). We ended up losing 8-6. Craig and I were only on the field for maybe 10 minutes. I much prefer having fewer players (in fact no subs for outdoors), but then it's more work for Trishia as captain to find subs for the games that someone can't make it. I can't wait until indoors starts, because we'll be playing speed point and get much more exercise.
I did more research on home automation. I think I'm going to buy an Arduino. The first application will be an outdoor thermometer, ideally hooked up to my iPhone. This will mean setting up the communication between the external thermometer to the Arduino, hooking that up to the LAN, and then writing an iPhone app to display the temperature. If that all works, then I can move to more complicated stuff like running the furnace. Eventualy it would be cool if I can connect the thermostat to my alarm clock, so that the house warms up depending on what time I'm waking up the next day. Anyways that's my little winter project.
Well I should go start dinner. We're having asparagus stuffed chicken with white wine shallot sauce, with new potatoes. Mmmm good.
I finished the flagstone around the car at the start of October. I didn't leave much room to actually park the car, there's only about eight inches on each side of the wheels. I'm making a 6-point turn every time I park (I always reverse in). I want to put little curbs (3"x5"x8' ties), which will leave even less room. At some point next spring I think I will re-layout the passenger side, but make it 16" wide (it's about 24" now). It will depend on how good I get at backing in over the winter.
Hockey started up again, and I managed to pull a back muscle on the last shift of the game a couple weeks ago. Last week was a bye and I skipped tonight's game, but I'll be back next week.
We finally lost a game on Sunday Ultimate last week. We were down 6-1, then came back to tie it at 11-11, but eventually lost 14-12. We dropped too many passes that we normally catch.
We lost the championship on Tuesday (a few days after I pulled my back). We had two full lines of guys. The other line had a 10-minute point, and then a 15-minute point, which used up most of the clock (we have the field for 55 minutes, but by the time people warm up, we play for about 45 minutes). We ended up losing 8-6. Craig and I were only on the field for maybe 10 minutes. I much prefer having fewer players (in fact no subs for outdoors), but then it's more work for Trishia as captain to find subs for the games that someone can't make it. I can't wait until indoors starts, because we'll be playing speed point and get much more exercise.
I did more research on home automation. I think I'm going to buy an Arduino. The first application will be an outdoor thermometer, ideally hooked up to my iPhone. This will mean setting up the communication between the external thermometer to the Arduino, hooking that up to the LAN, and then writing an iPhone app to display the temperature. If that all works, then I can move to more complicated stuff like running the furnace. Eventualy it would be cool if I can connect the thermostat to my alarm clock, so that the house warms up depending on what time I'm waking up the next day. Anyways that's my little winter project.
Well I should go start dinner. We're having asparagus stuffed chicken with white wine shallot sauce, with new potatoes. Mmmm good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)