Did I already blog that I got a new iPod?

Well, I did. Apple sent me a replacement. So good to have it back. I really didn't want to have to buy a new one. The FedEx guy said they do 600 apple returns a day. He didn't say whether that was Canada or North America but still, that's alot. great customer service though. Fedex picked it up on a Friday and I had a new one on my doorstep by Thursday. and the monday was a holiday! as good as that turnaround was, I don't want to have to use it again. hahah

Laters!

Detroit, you suck!!

My beloved Blackhawks were beat out of the playoffs last night by the Sweden Red Wings. ( I know they were eliminated on a (lucky) goal by a Canadian. that's not the point)  It's all my fault though. I was growing my playoff beard. Sometime before the Detroit series,  I trimmed up a couple spots that were out of hand. I messed with the beard. A big no-no. I am drafting my letter of apology the Blackhawks. I was growing (no pun intened) rather fond of my beard. Becky's sad that I don't look like a lumberjack anymore but she'll get over it.

This year was a vast improvement over last and they are only going to get better. I just hope they don't make any stupid moves over the summer. ( The Leafs will do plenty of that. hahahha) I say, send Campbell and a draft pick to Vancouver for the Sedins. Yah baby! Havlat has proven he CAN play a full season, so re-sign him. As much as I would like it, I don't think they can re-sign Habby and keep Huet around. Too much money in net.

Next year boys!!

Some cool history type stuff

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't how you like it, think about how things used to be.

 Here are some facts about the1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the clean water, then the other sons, the women and children. Last of all was the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs -thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying. It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor.

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. Apiece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a threshold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and not much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot overnight, then start over the next day. Sometimes the stewpot had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused the lead to leach onto the food, causing death by lead poisoning. This happened often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone  was "saved by the bell" And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

Educate someone else today.

 

 

i can't remember what I was gonna say

So I'll just say random things.

I was out doing some errands on the scooter today.  One lady asked me if it was electric. Another couple asked me a bunch of questions about it.

I can't wait for softball season to start!! It starts Sunday night but  I have to work. BLAST!!

We've got both girls booked in for swimming lessons this year. They are done by mid-July so we might book them in again for another session in August. Swimming lessons are SO important. I'll take them for as many as I can!

I love our reel mower!

I still need donations for the Relay for Life. Only 20 days left!

I got some whitening trays. Time to get rid of the pop/coffee/tea stains!

Going to see a band next Friday. Toxic Holocaust. It's gonna be a thrashin' good time!

That's it for now.

 

Grace's dentist visit #2

I took Grace to the dentist on Thursday for some fillings. I know, she's only 5 and she's getting fillings!! We kinda dropped the ball on early dental hygiene. We've started much earlier with Amelia. Anyway, she had 2 small ones filled. We did great again. Granted, I don't think he used any freezing. Which means no needle. The next one is bigger. It's half gone. She calls it her "pointy tooth". That one might be tougher. He may need to give her a needle. I am confident that he can do it with minimal protest from her. At least until the needle goes in. I'll bribe her with a trip to the Pirate Park and Reid's Dairy. She says to me today " Dad, the dentist put somethin in my tooth. When is he gonna take it out?" I told that he's not. It's a filling and it's there to protect your teeth. She seemed to be alright with that. We go back June 4 for the last one. And then I go June 10. It'll be the first time I've gone since 2000. I don't imagine it'll be my only visit this year.

I knew it!

Yesterday after we took the animals to the park, ( The dogs too) I stated digging out all the dandelions from the side yard while the girls played. About half way through I thought, " I am gonna regret this." Turns out I was right. Not because I miss the yellow on my lawn, but because my hamstrings are wicked sore. I think I'll just use the weedeater to cut down what the mower doesn't get.

For some reason, I have the itch to make the gardens around the house look nice. Weird, I know. To the point that I want to get some cedar mulch and put it in there to make it look nice, hold moisture and cut down the weeds. And the one part that is all grassy is driving me nuts everytime I see it. What is happening to me?

Goddammit!!!

I accidentally put my iPod through the washing machine yesterday. FUCK!

I'm gonna try and send it back and see if Apple will replace/repair it. I've only had it since Christmas. I really don't want to have to buy a new one. It would be like renting this one for $30/mo. I didn the same thing to a much cheaper mp3 player about a year ago. When will I learn not to leave it in my sweater!!

In the meantime, I am using my phone and a micro-SD card. Not the same. Plus, it will throw off my iTunes playcount.

Shit!!

Great gas mileage!! well....

We went for a drive to Ottawa on Sunday. Well, to IKEA. I filled the van with gas. When I pulled out of the gas station the DTE (Distence Til Empty) read 538 km. By the time we hit, oh about, Odessa, it read 561. It stayed there (562-563) until we got off the 401 onto the 416. Which was at least an hour and a half later. Say what? Now, I know Big Green ('94 Grand Caravan, 3.3L V6, 358,000km) is better on the highway than in town but, really? As soon as we started going up the 416 the DTE started dropping. As much as I would like to say that the van magically uses no gas on the 401, I can't back that up.

Sadly, this is what I believe happened. The DTE sensor reads how much gas is left in the tank and calculates based on current efficiency. It said that a full tank should take me 560km. Most (older) fuel sensors work on a ball system. The ball cannot go right to the bottom of the tank, nor the top. That's why you can still drive when the meter reads empty. The ball is down as far as it can go but there is still gas in the tank. It works the same at the top. The ball is up as far as it can go and you can still put more gas in. So, I was burning the gas that was "above the ball". And, as coincedence may have it, that gas was gone just as I got onto the 416. After that point the DTE went down as I had expected. I still drove Big Green to Ottawa (and around a bit, lost) and back to Napanee on about 2/3 of a tank. Roughly, 40L. Not that bad really.

I got a new lawn mower!

No gas. No electricity. Old school push reel mower. It works awesome!! I
only went back and forth once when I was BBQ-ing, but it was great. I can't
wait to do the whole yard tomorrow!! Canadian Tire has a sharpening kit for
$25 and Lee Valley has one. Not sure which way I am going yet, but the
blades are still sharp so I don't have to worry about it just yet. It feels
so good to make good environmental choices!! Speaking of which, I should be
starting to make the trek to work on my old school muscle powered bicycle
on Tuesday. On day shifts. Sometimes. I'd rather just bicycle around for an
hour on my off days. Don't have to work with tired legs, or bike home on
even more tired legs. Either way, it's time to start riding it! Especially
now that Grace wants to go for a bike rides every 5 minutes.

Because these kinds of things bother me

You know that commercial where the guy rents a truck from Enterprise so he can pick up wood to build his daughter a playhouse? Sure ya do. Dude coulda save himself some dough if he just had the hardware store/lumber yard just deliver it. Besides, if I could just build a playhouse from scratch, I'd probably already have a truck!

If I see one more Direct Buy commercial, I may just throw something at the TV.

If I ever met Sally Field, I'd yell "Boniva this!!" and snap her frail bones.

I had a really good beef the other day and I should have blogged it right away because now I forget.

Hey! Hulu.com!! Make the videos available in Canada already!! If you have some "evil plot to take over the world", ya might wanna branch out a bit!!

There's this high school kid that walk by my house all the time with his ipod. Singing away like he's king of the world. And he is really, really bad. If he was delayed, okay. Or even if he was alone, I'll let it slide. But he's with a bunch of friends! I don't know if he thinks he's funny, or if he is just a big frickin' idiot.

I can't remember the last time I actually listened to the radio other than in a store or waiting room or whatever. At home, never. In the car, if I don't have my ipod, a tape or a CD, I just turn it right off.  I hate radio.

I started writing this because I was bored. Now I am bored of writing it.

Grace went to the dentist!!

And she did far better than I ever could have expected. She was great!!  She was excited to go. She wasn't scared at all! She hopped right up in the chair and opened her mouth wide. They counted her teeth, poked at them a bit. Then she got x-rays. She let them put the little bite thing in before the xrays no problem. She held still. She liked the lead apron. Then they cleaned them up, scraped a bit too. She sais "ow" a couple times but she let them keep going. I am so unbelievably proud of her!! A great day to be a parent!! She picked a couple "prizes" from the treasure chest and we made an appointment to go back next week and have some cavities taken care of. That will  be a bigger test but I know she can do it!!

Take THAT Star Trek!!

National Anthem at 2010 Olympics

Our National Anthem - at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Please read and forward to as many Canadians you can think of - thank you
WE ARE PROUD CANADIANS
Bruce Allen is on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee and new Canadians
(specifically Hindi's/Indian's) want him fired for his recent comments
outlined below:
I am sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in
Hindi at the 2010 Olympics- enough is enough. Nowhere or at no other time
in our Nation's history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish,
Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because
of immigration. It was written in English, adapted into French, and should
be sung word for word the way it was written.

The news broadcasts even gave the Hindi version translation - which was not
even close to our National Anthem. I am not the least bit sorry if this
offends ANYONE, this is MY COUNTRY; My Grand Dad served in the military,
other family members also served, as well as my wife & I served a combined
total of 56 years between us. We made many sacrifices for our country and
do not feel we should feel obligated to allow invited people we've welcomed
with open arms to influence & change our society to better resemble the one
they chose to leave to come here!!! - IF YOU AGREE ABOUT THIS GREAT
COUNTRY, SPEAK UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
-- please pass this along .
I am not against immigration. In fact I believe we need more, my ancestors
were immigrants -- just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; a
place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the Rules AND
LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and LONG
LIVE CANADA!'

It's time we all get behind Bruce Allen, and scrap this Political
Correctness His comments were anything but racist, however, there are far
too many overly sensitive 'New Canadians' that are attempting to change
everything we hold dear.

ARE you PART OF THE PROBLEM ??? Think about this: If you don't want to
forward this for fear of offending someone, will we still be the Country of
Choice and Still be CANADA if we continue to make the changes forced on us
by the people from other countries who have come to live in CANADA because
it is the Country of Choice??????

Think about it!

IMMIGRANTS, NOT CANADIAN'S, MUST ADAPT.

It's Time for CANADIANS to speak up.. If you agree ? Pass this along; if
you don't agree?
Delete it and reap what you sew because of your complacency!

Official Lyrics of O Canada!
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

French Lyrics

O Canada!
Terre de nos aîeux,
Ton front est ceint
de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras
sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter
la croix! Ton histoire
est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur,
de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers
et nos droits.

after the weekend

We had a pretty eventful weekend so to speak. Friday night we sent the kids to Gramma and Grampa's for the night. Becky and I went to Chad and Kelly's for some adult time. We did adult things. Like drinking and such. And liberal use of the english language. We watched a couple movies. Bride Wars and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The former was alright for that kind of movie and the later wasn't bad either but it was rather late and I was having alot of trouble staying awake. I know I missed some of it.

Saturday we went to Tammy's for brunch with Chad and Kelly and then went out to a yard sale of sorts. It was all the stuff they cleared out of storage units when people didn't pay their bill. We got an assortment of stuff for dirt cheap. They said they'll be doing it all summer on the weekends. Cool. We picked up the girls and had a visit. I took a dip in the hot tub. Then we skipped into Kingston for a couple things.

Sunday we did the usual trip to the farm. I calf that Grace named Pretty (it was a pretty cow) licked my hand. Grace didn't want me to touch her with that hand. After that, Becky went to 90th birthday party for her great-aunt. She left us home because she didn't think it was going to be much a kids thing. Turns out, alot of her family was there that she hadn't seen in ages and they were all asking about the kids! Plus, her cousin had his daughter/son (I can't remember. I'm awful) there who is 3 and the girls could have played with her/him. Too late now! Later that evening I went to an amazing concert in Kingston (Kylesa/Intronaut. Read the show review at www.kingdomofnoise.blogspot.com) I got to interview a couple members of Kylesa. Awesome.I had a great time but my neck suffered for it. Not the worst case of self-induced whiplash I've had but it's not comfy.

Monday was pretty easy. Moved some more stuff around for the living room/studio swap. Fixed the wardrobe. Took a 3 hour nap. Made sausages and burgers on the BBQ and took the scooter to work. Easy night too. In the lab.