-Today is another less than stellar Spring day in St. John’s. This morning started with flurries and temperatures in the range of zero. Gradually the day warmed up a little, though still stay well away from double digits. At one point the clouds actually left and we had something approaching sun. Maybe in a few weeks we will actually have leaves.
-While moving some boxes at work today I managed to do something that I have never done before, which is to catch my back pocket on a door handle. Somehow as I was backing through the door I managed to have to handle enter my back left pocket. As I continued to move backwards I managed to have the handle punch a hole in my pants and allow me to be hooked to the door. Classy moves.
-As the Frisbee season approaches the number of Frisbee related emails have started to once again increase. While I seem to be getting a few this year it comes no where near the record that was set in my first year.
The process of selecting the team name sparked a flurry of emails. An early suggestion of ‘Nth Team’ gain early support but failed to maintain several of its original supporters. After several non-starters Combustible Huckstables was agreed upon. Fortunately I did not enter this debate to the extent I was thinking about at one early stage.
-Trivia seems to be taking up a pretty large part of my social life. On Tuesdays I have been going to the Rose and Thistle while Thursdays are for Bitters. Unfortunately all of this practice has not been paying off in recent weeks. For two weeks in a row at Bitters my team has mis-trumped and at the Rose and Thistle we keep getting the fifty-fifties wrong. Clearly more practice is needed.
-It seems that we are just about out of that batch of bread I made a few days ago. Hopefully I will get a chance to make a replacement batch on either Saturday or Sunday. Maybe this time I will up the batch size with hopes of the resulting bread sticking around a little longer.
-Last night I played an almost wheat-less five player game of Settlers. This resource scarcity really slowed down game play. At one part in the game I felt as though I did not get any production for about 20-30 min. My game wasn’t helped by the fact that I doubled up on 4s and 5s, an ill-advised move at the best of time (unless the 4s are due).
-If memory serves me correctly, I think that I spent a few hours looking through press releases today. The goal of the exercise was to locate press releases indicating the release of the report of a judicial inquiry. Fortunately most of these reports are accompanied by such press releases. The unfortunate side of things is that the collection of press releases that I was manually browsing is not complete, and it must be browsed manually with the assistance of a comprehensive index. Hopefully I only have a few volumes at the most to look through tomorrow.
-While at the CLA conference a few days ago I noticed that one of my main roles was not the provision of information, but to direct people to other who could do a better job of providing accurate information. This status was somewhat confirmed by the presence of an “Ask Me” ribbon that was attached to my volunteer badge.
To me this seemed pretty much like the traditional ‘See’ reference from the library world. Maybe next year they might be able to introduce a little bit of library humour and convert the ‘Ask Me’ ribbon into a ‘See Reference’ ribbon.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Comments on CLA Conference 2007
For a few days this week the Canadian Library Association (CLA) held their annual conference in St. John’s. While I was not fortunate enough to attend the event as a full-fledged I was able to be a volunteer, a position that allowed me to get a pretty broad sense of the conference (though there were certainly elements that I missed out on, namely the socials and receptions). As I was kicking around the conference facilities a few things struck me:
-So far it has been my experience that many library students wear cardigans, both males and females. It was not my experience than conference-attending librarians wear cardigans.
-Librarians are attracted to what they perceive as free food. The trade show was seemingly stormed each time lunch or snacks were made available to delegates. It was nice to see that many of these food eaters were responsible and wanted to properly dispose of all of their garbage.
-Free trade show giveaways are greatly appreciated. While acting as a trade show greeter (AKA badge checker) I saw people walk out with bags full of items though they had only been collecting these items for a few minutes. I myself picked up about a bag and a half of items and I was less aggressive than some individuals.
-Of all the demographic groups that would reasonably be represented at this conference it seemed to me that the young male group was the most underrepresented. During the conference I saw only a handful of males who looked to be under thirty.
-The quality of presentation really ranged. One that I saw was great, while another completely failed to keep my attention. The amount of time given to these presenters also ranged, and unfortunately the best presentation had only an hour while one of the more painful ones had an hour and a half.
-For some reason many of the presentations were done in a pseudo-panel form. I was never quite able to figure this out. To me it seemed that just having individuals, or people working on a particular project, might have made more sense. This combining of related, but not directly related, presentations just did not work for me.
-While a few library students did attend the conference, the number seemed quite small. This issue was to be dealt with by a resolution that was to be presented at CLA AGM on Saturday (obviously I did not attend).
-On the whole I would recommend that library students attend this or an equivalent conference at some point during their library school period of time.
-So far it has been my experience that many library students wear cardigans, both males and females. It was not my experience than conference-attending librarians wear cardigans.
-Librarians are attracted to what they perceive as free food. The trade show was seemingly stormed each time lunch or snacks were made available to delegates. It was nice to see that many of these food eaters were responsible and wanted to properly dispose of all of their garbage.
-Free trade show giveaways are greatly appreciated. While acting as a trade show greeter (AKA badge checker) I saw people walk out with bags full of items though they had only been collecting these items for a few minutes. I myself picked up about a bag and a half of items and I was less aggressive than some individuals.
-Of all the demographic groups that would reasonably be represented at this conference it seemed to me that the young male group was the most underrepresented. During the conference I saw only a handful of males who looked to be under thirty.
-The quality of presentation really ranged. One that I saw was great, while another completely failed to keep my attention. The amount of time given to these presenters also ranged, and unfortunately the best presentation had only an hour while one of the more painful ones had an hour and a half.
-For some reason many of the presentations were done in a pseudo-panel form. I was never quite able to figure this out. To me it seemed that just having individuals, or people working on a particular project, might have made more sense. This combining of related, but not directly related, presentations just did not work for me.
-While a few library students did attend the conference, the number seemed quite small. This issue was to be dealt with by a resolution that was to be presented at CLA AGM on Saturday (obviously I did not attend).
-On the whole I would recommend that library students attend this or an equivalent conference at some point during their library school period of time.
A Few Quick Notes 99
-Today is another overcast day in St. John’s. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have forecast rain, but it wouldn’t be the first time that this form of precipitation turned up unannounced. This grey weather is really starting to get to me, stretches of sun for more than about 1.5 days would be quite nice. Also leaves would be nice, though I do like visibility afforded by bare branches.
-The bread that I made last Sunday is still around. Actually, since then I have eaten almost only bread and bread products. I keep meaning to eat a more balanced diet but it just doesn’t happen. Maybe once I run out of bread this switch will occur.
-For the first time in about 8 months I played ultimate. It was great. While I was definitely out of shape, something that caused my speed to be greatly diminished, I was pleased to see that I hadn’t forgotten how to throw the disc. While many of the rules started to come back to me as we played, I definitely should brush up on the rules before the season starts.
-Last night I played four games of Settlers. Peter won all four games, many times while having no serious competition. Hopefully I will be able to have a slightly better record the next time I play.
-Yesterday we seemed to produce an almost unbelievable number of dirty dishes. Just in dinner preparation we seem to have filled the dishwasher, which is particularly impressive as we cooked much of the meal on the barbeque. We then dirtied a pretty large number of plates and drinking vessels during the meal. This problem was worsened by the existence of a desert, causing another round of plates to be dirtied.
As this house is equipped with a dishwasher we tend to fill it up and then store additional dishes until the dishwasher can once again be loaded. In situations as previously described this can be problematic. This problem is then worsened by the tendency of the dishwasher to take upwards of 3 hours to wash relatively clean plates.
-Just moments ago I saw my first dandelion of the season. I imagine that they will really be taking off over the next few weeks.
-On Friday night we received a new lawn mower. While we don’t have a huge lawn this new mower should really be an improvement. Amazingly, it actually looks as though we could move the lawn right now if we really wanted to.
-The bread that I made last Sunday is still around. Actually, since then I have eaten almost only bread and bread products. I keep meaning to eat a more balanced diet but it just doesn’t happen. Maybe once I run out of bread this switch will occur.
-For the first time in about 8 months I played ultimate. It was great. While I was definitely out of shape, something that caused my speed to be greatly diminished, I was pleased to see that I hadn’t forgotten how to throw the disc. While many of the rules started to come back to me as we played, I definitely should brush up on the rules before the season starts.
-Last night I played four games of Settlers. Peter won all four games, many times while having no serious competition. Hopefully I will be able to have a slightly better record the next time I play.
-Yesterday we seemed to produce an almost unbelievable number of dirty dishes. Just in dinner preparation we seem to have filled the dishwasher, which is particularly impressive as we cooked much of the meal on the barbeque. We then dirtied a pretty large number of plates and drinking vessels during the meal. This problem was worsened by the existence of a desert, causing another round of plates to be dirtied.
As this house is equipped with a dishwasher we tend to fill it up and then store additional dishes until the dishwasher can once again be loaded. In situations as previously described this can be problematic. This problem is then worsened by the tendency of the dishwasher to take upwards of 3 hours to wash relatively clean plates.
-Just moments ago I saw my first dandelion of the season. I imagine that they will really be taking off over the next few weeks.
-On Friday night we received a new lawn mower. While we don’t have a huge lawn this new mower should really be an improvement. Amazingly, it actually looks as though we could move the lawn right now if we really wanted to.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Bread Baking – A Multi-media experience (AKA A Vanity Project)
As regular readers may recall, several days or weeks ago I indicated that I was interested in baking some bread. At the time I was stopped because we did not have enough freezer space to store the number of loaves I hoped to bake.
Shortly after I awoke this morning my mother reminded me of my relatively long standing desire to bake a few loaves of bread. As today is a holiday, the freezer is partly empty, and I did not have all that much else to do it seemed like a good time to proceed with my mission.
After quickly consulting a few recipes I decided that I would try to make about 6 loaves, give or take a few handfuls of dough.
The first problem I encountered was that we had run out of milk. Fortunately, we had some powdered milk, a product with which I am not all that familiar. Eventually I was able to rope my mother into preparing the powdered milk as I was not sure how best to prepare it.
Eventually the milk was prepared and things were under way. The milk was in a large stainless steel bowl, to which I added the butter, and then placed on the stove to heat. After about a half hour I added some brown sugar. Shortly thereafter the mixture had reached an appropriate temperature and was removed from the heat source.
To this hot mixture I added cornmeal, oat meal, and ‘wheatlets.’ Approximately two cups of molasses were also added to this soupy mixture. From there I added about ten cups of flour.
During this adding of dry ingredients I also added some yeast to some warm sugar water.
It was my hope that by adding these dry ingredients the mixture would be cool enough for me to add the yeast mixture without it instantly dying (a problem I have encountered in the past). Unfortunately, even with a dozen cups of flour my dough was still pretty hot and it didn’t seem to be cooling all that much by just sitting on the counter. I eventually realized that I could float the bowl in a sink full of cold water.
All the while this was transpiring my yeast was bubbling away, all the way out of my pint glass and on to the counter. As soon as this was noticed the pint glass was placed in a bowl so that they over flow would be caught so that it too could be added to the dough. This mixture kept bubbling away, gradually bubbling over and out of the glass and into the bowl.
After maybe a half an hour in the cold water bath the dough was cool enough that the yeast could be added. Soon enough the yeast was fully integrated in the doughy mixture and more flour had been added. After a few more cups of flour things were looking to be on track. Soon enough I was kneading the final cups of flour into the dough with my lard covered hands.
Once the final kneading was complete I covered the side of the bowl with lard, covered the dough, and placed it in a warmed oven. The dough stayed in the oven for about two hours, an hour or so longer than I had hoped. For some reason the dough took a very long time to rise. Maybe I had knocked some of the effectiveness out of the yeast by allowing it to bubble for so long?
Anyway, things were obviously functional and I was able to start the second round of kneading. With one quick punch I caused the dough to deflate. After a few minutes of kneading I encouraged my sister to take a turn. We then traded back and I finished off the kneading. As this final battering of the dough was occurring Kirsten was greasing up the bread pans so that they would be ready for use.
.
Soon enough I started to place the dough in the bread pans to rise for the second time. It quickly became evident that I had a little more dough than I had originally expected. In the end I managed to have enough for 6 regular sized loaves and 2 small loaves. Once filled, the pans were given time to allow the dough to expand into their every crevice through the miracle of yeast.
Eventually, the bread rose once again and the dough was ready to be placed in the oven, the antepenultimate step on its journey. While in the oven, the bread continued to expand, growing into an even larger mass of goodness.
Soon enough the first batch was out of the oven and the final loaves were made to take their place.
Several hours after starting the loaves of bread eventually began to take their places on cooling racks on the counter, where the entire process started several hours earlier.
If all goes according to plan, some of this bread will be consumed today and over the next few days, while the rest of it will be stored in the freezer for long term consumption.
Shortly after I awoke this morning my mother reminded me of my relatively long standing desire to bake a few loaves of bread. As today is a holiday, the freezer is partly empty, and I did not have all that much else to do it seemed like a good time to proceed with my mission.
After quickly consulting a few recipes I decided that I would try to make about 6 loaves, give or take a few handfuls of dough.The first problem I encountered was that we had run out of milk. Fortunately, we had some powdered milk, a product with which I am not all that familiar. Eventually I was able to rope my mother into preparing the powdered milk as I was not sure how best to prepare it.
Eventually the milk was prepared and things were under way. The milk was in a large stainless steel bowl, to which I added the butter, and then placed on the stove to heat. After about a half hour I added some brown sugar. Shortly thereafter the mixture had reached an appropriate temperature and was removed from the heat source.
To this hot mixture I added cornmeal, oat meal, and ‘wheatlets.’ Approximately two cups of molasses were also added to this soupy mixture. From there I added about ten cups of flour.
During this adding of dry ingredients I also added some yeast to some warm sugar water.It was my hope that by adding these dry ingredients the mixture would be cool enough for me to add the yeast mixture without it instantly dying (a problem I have encountered in the past). Unfortunately, even with a dozen cups of flour my dough was still pretty hot and it didn’t seem to be cooling all that much by just sitting on the counter. I eventually realized that I could float the bowl in a sink full of cold water.
All the while this was transpiring my yeast was bubbling away, all the way out of my pint glass and on to the counter. As soon as this was noticed the pint glass was placed in a bowl so that they over flow would be caught so that it too could be added to the dough. This mixture kept bubbling away, gradually bubbling over and out of the glass and into the bowl.
After maybe a half an hour in the cold water bath the dough was cool enough that the yeast could be added. Soon enough the yeast was fully integrated in the doughy mixture and more flour had been added. After a few more cups of flour things were looking to be on track. Soon enough I was kneading the final cups of flour into the dough with my lard covered hands.
Once the final kneading was complete I covered the side of the bowl with lard, covered the dough, and placed it in a warmed oven. The dough stayed in the oven for about two hours, an hour or so longer than I had hoped. For some reason the dough took a very long time to rise. Maybe I had knocked some of the effectiveness out of the yeast by allowing it to bubble for so long?
Anyway, things were obviously functional and I was able to start the second round of kneading. With one quick punch I caused the dough to deflate. After a few minutes of kneading I encouraged my sister to take a turn. We then traded back and I finished off the kneading. As this final battering of the dough was occurring Kirsten was greasing up the bread pans so that they would be ready for use.
.
Soon enough I started to place the dough in the bread pans to rise for the second time. It quickly became evident that I had a little more dough than I had originally expected. In the end I managed to have enough for 6 regular sized loaves and 2 small loaves. Once filled, the pans were given time to allow the dough to expand into their every crevice through the miracle of yeast.
Eventually, the bread rose once again and the dough was ready to be placed in the oven, the antepenultimate step on its journey. While in the oven, the bread continued to expand, growing into an even larger mass of goodness.
Soon enough the first batch was out of the oven and the final loaves were made to take their place.
Several hours after starting the loaves of bread eventually began to take their places on cooling racks on the counter, where the entire process started several hours earlier.
If all goes according to plan, some of this bread will be consumed today and over the next few days, while the rest of it will be stored in the freezer for long term consumption.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 98
-Today was a pretty functional day in St. John’s. While it was overcast all day, the temperature was in the 20 degree range, and the wind died down in the afternoon. While I kept expecting rain, it did not come. Hopefully the trend will remain the same or improve tomorrow.
-As today was quite reasonable I was able to break out my unicycle and go for a ride. My main ride of the day was about 1.5 km. Later in the day I likely went on a 1 km ride. Hopefully in the next few days I will extend the range of my rides. 3 km shouldn’t really be that much of a problem, though it is a different than biking as you are peddling constantly.
Aside from just riding forwards, I also worked on my ability to idle and ride backwards. Unfortunately, I did not see too much improvement in either of these skills. In both instances I was only able to do either of the skills for a few seconds, and with little consistency.
-Yesterday while downtown buying fair trade coffee I decided to check out the price of herbal tea. It seems that Celestial Seasonings tea is at least $1.00 and may be as much as $1.70 more. I knew I was being ripped off here, but I didn’t know that it was by at least 20%.
-As today was quite reasonable I was able to break out my unicycle and go for a ride. My main ride of the day was about 1.5 km. Later in the day I likely went on a 1 km ride. Hopefully in the next few days I will extend the range of my rides. 3 km shouldn’t really be that much of a problem, though it is a different than biking as you are peddling constantly.
Aside from just riding forwards, I also worked on my ability to idle and ride backwards. Unfortunately, I did not see too much improvement in either of these skills. In both instances I was only able to do either of the skills for a few seconds, and with little consistency.
-Yesterday while downtown buying fair trade coffee I decided to check out the price of herbal tea. It seems that Celestial Seasonings tea is at least $1.00 and may be as much as $1.70 more. I knew I was being ripped off here, but I didn’t know that it was by at least 20%.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 97
-Today has been quite an unusual day for St. John’s. At the moment it is about 20 degrees, overcast, and humid. All in all, it is not what I would call an ideal day. On top of this, it is supposed to rain later this afternoon.
-This morning I got up at about 9:30. Basically my first action was to find my sister and see if she wanted to head out on a few errands with me. As she was up and not doing all that much of consequence when I found her, she seemed keen to head out for a while.
In just a few minutes we were both ready to go. Though she warned me that it was warm outside, I will admit that I had a hard time believing her, mainly based on the look of the sky. As it turned out, she was correct, a warm and sticky day was clearly ahead of us both.
Our first stop was the local Tim Horton’s where I purchased my typical x-large black coffee (double cupped) and Kirsten ordered a small Iced Cappuccino. Both of us were as satisfied as expected with our purchases, though my lasted for a longer period of time than hers.
The next stop was Monty’s, where I purchased my copy of the Saturday Globe and Mail. As usual, I had my money out and ready to pay. I am not really sure if this is appreciated, but it is something that I try to do when I buy my Saturday papers.
We then set out for Georgetown Bakery. We managed to cross through the Valley without incident, and then continue up the other side and past the brewery, also without incident. I was a little disappointed that the smell of the brewing process was more limited than usual. Soon enough we arrived a Georgetown Bakery.
As we entered I was surprised to see that the shop was almost empty, something that is uncommon on Saturday mornings. I also soon noticed that they were out of bagels, the reason for our trip. Kirsten was encouraged to ask when they might have more bagels. She was told that it would just be a few minutes. We decided to wait it out.
After just a few minutes our mechanic arrived. After speaking to him for just a moment they brought the bagels out. Amazingly, during this process the store basically filled up and the line became well formed. Some nice older ladies let us go in front of them as we had been there before them, and soon we were in a position to order. As usual, I ordered a dozen sesame bagels.
As we exited the bakery with our purchase Kirsten immediately noticed how fresh our bagels were. At one point she actually complained that they were too warm to carry, though she didn’t seem to have too much of a problem eating one moments later. We continued to eat these bagels as we walked back home. By the time we made it back six of the twelve bagels had been consumed. Before 3:00 PM this afternoon all twelve had been demolished, six of them ending up in my stomach.
-I have spent a little bit of time working on the creation of a thesaurus. This is a much more daunting task that I had originally envisaged. I am really not sure if I am up to it. So far I have just been working on a section relating to games and noticing how much labour it is going to take. I guess when I am able to compile a few more terms and their relationships I might be able to grasp how long I should expect to get something that will be minimally functional as a broad set of terms. Please feel free to submit subject areas that should be covered, and how these areas might fit together in a hierarchical manner (if that is possible).
-The CLA conference is next week. It turns out that the Canadian Association of Research Libraries is also having a conference here at the same time. This place will be overrun with librarians. I wonder what people with think with this infusion of buns and cardigans.
-If we end up getting leaves this year, I worry that we will also end up getting another elm spanworm infestation.
For the last number of years these worms (also locally known as inch worms or leaf rollers) have managed to eat/destroy the leaves on almost every tree in certain sections of town. Aside from looking as though some form of defoliant has been applied, these worms end up hanging down and getting caught in one’s hair, making sidewalks unusable for some number of weeks during each infestation. In some instances people have claimed to hear the worms eating at night, the leaves slowly falling apart.
A few weeks after the initial infestation the city is then overrun with the final form of the elm spanworm, disturbingly white moths. These pure white moths flock to lights by the hundred each night. At some point during their short lives they seem to find the time to lay eggs, setting the stage for the next year’s infestation.
-My judicial/industrial inquiry project is starting to take shape. While this is generally satisfying, it is a little bit odd to spend my days reading about the gritty details of tragic deaths. I guess without reading these documents I wouldn’t know that it isn’t such a hot idea to have a bar on the fourth floor of a building and then have escalators as part of the standard exit route (as some people might manage fall off and die).
-While I won’t be going camping this weekend, I am looking forward to it being a long weekend. The fact that snow isn’t in the forecast (though we do have rain) is nice. Maybe by the end of the weekend there will even be some evidence that the trees are actually still alive and about to bear leaves.
-Still no word on the ILL request that I submitted a few weeks ago at the Public Library. Unfortunately this lack of success does not surprise me (which is not something that is meant as a negative reflection on the library system). Hopefully I will get this book before I leave at the end of the summer.
-This morning I got up at about 9:30. Basically my first action was to find my sister and see if she wanted to head out on a few errands with me. As she was up and not doing all that much of consequence when I found her, she seemed keen to head out for a while.
In just a few minutes we were both ready to go. Though she warned me that it was warm outside, I will admit that I had a hard time believing her, mainly based on the look of the sky. As it turned out, she was correct, a warm and sticky day was clearly ahead of us both.
Our first stop was the local Tim Horton’s where I purchased my typical x-large black coffee (double cupped) and Kirsten ordered a small Iced Cappuccino. Both of us were as satisfied as expected with our purchases, though my lasted for a longer period of time than hers.
The next stop was Monty’s, where I purchased my copy of the Saturday Globe and Mail. As usual, I had my money out and ready to pay. I am not really sure if this is appreciated, but it is something that I try to do when I buy my Saturday papers.
We then set out for Georgetown Bakery. We managed to cross through the Valley without incident, and then continue up the other side and past the brewery, also without incident. I was a little disappointed that the smell of the brewing process was more limited than usual. Soon enough we arrived a Georgetown Bakery.
As we entered I was surprised to see that the shop was almost empty, something that is uncommon on Saturday mornings. I also soon noticed that they were out of bagels, the reason for our trip. Kirsten was encouraged to ask when they might have more bagels. She was told that it would just be a few minutes. We decided to wait it out.
After just a few minutes our mechanic arrived. After speaking to him for just a moment they brought the bagels out. Amazingly, during this process the store basically filled up and the line became well formed. Some nice older ladies let us go in front of them as we had been there before them, and soon we were in a position to order. As usual, I ordered a dozen sesame bagels.
As we exited the bakery with our purchase Kirsten immediately noticed how fresh our bagels were. At one point she actually complained that they were too warm to carry, though she didn’t seem to have too much of a problem eating one moments later. We continued to eat these bagels as we walked back home. By the time we made it back six of the twelve bagels had been consumed. Before 3:00 PM this afternoon all twelve had been demolished, six of them ending up in my stomach.
-I have spent a little bit of time working on the creation of a thesaurus. This is a much more daunting task that I had originally envisaged. I am really not sure if I am up to it. So far I have just been working on a section relating to games and noticing how much labour it is going to take. I guess when I am able to compile a few more terms and their relationships I might be able to grasp how long I should expect to get something that will be minimally functional as a broad set of terms. Please feel free to submit subject areas that should be covered, and how these areas might fit together in a hierarchical manner (if that is possible).
-The CLA conference is next week. It turns out that the Canadian Association of Research Libraries is also having a conference here at the same time. This place will be overrun with librarians. I wonder what people with think with this infusion of buns and cardigans.
-If we end up getting leaves this year, I worry that we will also end up getting another elm spanworm infestation.
For the last number of years these worms (also locally known as inch worms or leaf rollers) have managed to eat/destroy the leaves on almost every tree in certain sections of town. Aside from looking as though some form of defoliant has been applied, these worms end up hanging down and getting caught in one’s hair, making sidewalks unusable for some number of weeks during each infestation. In some instances people have claimed to hear the worms eating at night, the leaves slowly falling apart.
A few weeks after the initial infestation the city is then overrun with the final form of the elm spanworm, disturbingly white moths. These pure white moths flock to lights by the hundred each night. At some point during their short lives they seem to find the time to lay eggs, setting the stage for the next year’s infestation.
-My judicial/industrial inquiry project is starting to take shape. While this is generally satisfying, it is a little bit odd to spend my days reading about the gritty details of tragic deaths. I guess without reading these documents I wouldn’t know that it isn’t such a hot idea to have a bar on the fourth floor of a building and then have escalators as part of the standard exit route (as some people might manage fall off and die).
-While I won’t be going camping this weekend, I am looking forward to it being a long weekend. The fact that snow isn’t in the forecast (though we do have rain) is nice. Maybe by the end of the weekend there will even be some evidence that the trees are actually still alive and about to bear leaves.
-Still no word on the ILL request that I submitted a few weeks ago at the Public Library. Unfortunately this lack of success does not surprise me (which is not something that is meant as a negative reflection on the library system). Hopefully I will get this book before I leave at the end of the summer.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 96
-Today turned out to be a pretty a semi-typical Newfoundland day. When I went to work in the morning it was quite overcast and damp. This type of weather continued for some number of hours. Without my noticing the day somehow actually became quite nice by the time I left work. Though it was only about 10 degrees we didn’t have any wind to make it feel much cooler. This is particularly nice as there have rumblings of snow in recent forecasts. The strange thing is that we still don’t have any leaves on the trees, though as of the past few days some have started to show buds.
-Today was garbage day in my part of town. Under normal circumstance one might not think that this is worth noting, but for the past year or so a by-law has been in effect which has been forcing people to cover their garbage with the aim of preventing birds from tearing the garbage bags apart. Based on my non-random sample, most people seem to be using nets of one description or another. What is funny about this concept is that most of the nets I walk past on every garbage day come no where close to actually covering all of the garbage bags. If entire bags aren’t exposed, most lawns will have a least a section of a bag or two exposed. Compliance seems on to the letter of the law and certainly not to the spirit.
-Once again I went to the Rose and Thistle for their weekly trivia night, though this time with Dougal and Peter. While we did not win outright we did manage to tie the tie-breaker and split the prize. Amazingly, we still had some of our original winnings left at the end of the night.
-The CLA conference should be starting next week in St. John’s. We will be swamped with librarians. Unfortunately, only a few (or maybe just one) will be making the trip.
-For the past few days I have been eating grapefruit every morning. This is somewhat strange because I typically don’t eat all that much fruit. What is even stranger is that when we didn’t have any grapefruit this morning I definitely felt as though something was missing. Fortunately, some grapefruit was purchased this afternoon. I keep thinking that I should make up for this morning’s missed grapefruit by having one shortly.
-Occasionally on my way to work I stop at the local Tim Horton’s to pick a coffee to drink on my way to work. For some reason on at least two days this week (the only two days I have checked) the line has been extended past the door. In the number of years I have walked by this Tim Horton’s I have never seen this even once, and now I have seen it twice in one week. The only fortunate thing about this Tim Horton’s is that they seem particularly efficient when it comes to serving customers. One thing that seems to help them along is that they are very good at remembering the orders of regular customers and preparing them before the order is even placed.
-Today was garbage day in my part of town. Under normal circumstance one might not think that this is worth noting, but for the past year or so a by-law has been in effect which has been forcing people to cover their garbage with the aim of preventing birds from tearing the garbage bags apart. Based on my non-random sample, most people seem to be using nets of one description or another. What is funny about this concept is that most of the nets I walk past on every garbage day come no where close to actually covering all of the garbage bags. If entire bags aren’t exposed, most lawns will have a least a section of a bag or two exposed. Compliance seems on to the letter of the law and certainly not to the spirit.
-Once again I went to the Rose and Thistle for their weekly trivia night, though this time with Dougal and Peter. While we did not win outright we did manage to tie the tie-breaker and split the prize. Amazingly, we still had some of our original winnings left at the end of the night.
-The CLA conference should be starting next week in St. John’s. We will be swamped with librarians. Unfortunately, only a few (or maybe just one) will be making the trip.
-For the past few days I have been eating grapefruit every morning. This is somewhat strange because I typically don’t eat all that much fruit. What is even stranger is that when we didn’t have any grapefruit this morning I definitely felt as though something was missing. Fortunately, some grapefruit was purchased this afternoon. I keep thinking that I should make up for this morning’s missed grapefruit by having one shortly.
-Occasionally on my way to work I stop at the local Tim Horton’s to pick a coffee to drink on my way to work. For some reason on at least two days this week (the only two days I have checked) the line has been extended past the door. In the number of years I have walked by this Tim Horton’s I have never seen this even once, and now I have seen it twice in one week. The only fortunate thing about this Tim Horton’s is that they seem particularly efficient when it comes to serving customers. One thing that seems to help them along is that they are very good at remembering the orders of regular customers and preparing them before the order is even placed.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Trips to the Northeast Avalon
For a few years I have been aware of my incredible lack of personal knowledge of the towns and geography of Newfoundland. Unfortunately, aside from glancing at maps occasionally it has been hard for me to find ways to rectify this problem.
One obvious solution seems to be to visit some of these towns. Unfortunately, this has frequently been difficult for me to do. As my family has only ever had one car, the idea of me taking the car for an extended cross-island trip is usually out of the picture. Furthermore, the idea of just driving great distances for no tangible reason has been discouraged on both environmental and financial grounds.
So when I had unlimited access to the car these past few days it seem an appropriate time to try and get out of St. John's, if even only by a few kilometers.
The weekend before last, my friend Peter and I cruised on over to Petty Harbour, a small town near St. John's. For some reason I was of the long-standing belief that I had never visited Petty Harbour. Upon arrival I came to the conclusion that I had in fact visited Petty Harbour, though it must have been before the age of 10. As Peter had transcribed headstones in cemeteries there we ended up with a visit that was slightly slanted towards gravesites. Anyway, it turns out that there are three cemeteries in Petty Harbour, all of which have very different feels.
This past weekend Peter and I continued our journeys, this time heading to the North of St. John's. Our first stop was the Torbay cemetery. While there we saw the monument for Father Troy (a big figure in Torbay) and the monument for the three Torbay rowers who drowned during a race at the Royal St. John's Regatta.
From Torbay we drove up to Flatrock. While we did not stop to visit a cemetery in Flatrock (mainly because we didn't see one) we were able to stop and visit the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. It seems that during his 1984 visit Pope John Paul II paid a visit to this site. This visit was of such consequence that there is now a stone marking the very spot where the Pope knelt to pray.
From Flatrock we continued on to Pouch Cove (pronounced ‘pooch’). As it turned out this visit was really just a drive by. The somewhat heavy rain in part motivated this weak excuse for a trip to Pouch Cove.
From Pouch Cove drove North along a dirt road for what seemed like a half an hour. While driving along this road we passed over all kinds potholes and rocks. We also managed to see about 7 or 8 hares while driving along this route.
Eventually we arrived in what I assume was Biscayan Cove, something that seemed to be an abandoned fishing village. We did find an operational lighthouse with helipad. Strangely, this odd complex looked more like a bunker than a traditional lighthouse.
From Biscayan Cove the decision was made to return to St. John’s as the weather was not really ideal for touring. Additionally, the lack of food from which we were both suffering was getting to us.
Amazingly the next day the sun was out and the sky blue. I called Peter and suggested that we pick up where we left off and head to Bauline.
Upon entering Bauline we immediately located the cemetery. While in the cemetery we noted that the names LeGrow and King were particularly common. The next stop was the wharf. We then noticed that there were all kinds of crab legs on the bottom of the harbour. This is something I still can’t quite figure out, as there isn’t a plant in Bauline. Out a little further than the crab legs there seemed to be another batch of foreign objects. At first I couldn’t quite make anything out, though eventually I came to the conclusion that some of the things that I was seeing were rib cages. This led me to the presumption that what I was looking at were seal carcasses (I kind of hope that is what I was looking at based on all of the available options).
The huge rocks that formed the breakwater also proved to be an interesting place to explore. Aside from the pleasure derived from hoping from rock to rock, it was impressive to find evidence that these massive rocks actually moved on a pretty regular basis. In many cases it was possible to see pieced of driftwood trapped between rocks that must have each weighed several thousand pounds.
Hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to see a few more communities in the region. Though I will still be an “uncultured townie” I will least have seen a little more of the province than before.
One obvious solution seems to be to visit some of these towns. Unfortunately, this has frequently been difficult for me to do. As my family has only ever had one car, the idea of me taking the car for an extended cross-island trip is usually out of the picture. Furthermore, the idea of just driving great distances for no tangible reason has been discouraged on both environmental and financial grounds.
So when I had unlimited access to the car these past few days it seem an appropriate time to try and get out of St. John's, if even only by a few kilometers.
The weekend before last, my friend Peter and I cruised on over to Petty Harbour, a small town near St. John's. For some reason I was of the long-standing belief that I had never visited Petty Harbour. Upon arrival I came to the conclusion that I had in fact visited Petty Harbour, though it must have been before the age of 10. As Peter had transcribed headstones in cemeteries there we ended up with a visit that was slightly slanted towards gravesites. Anyway, it turns out that there are three cemeteries in Petty Harbour, all of which have very different feels.
This past weekend Peter and I continued our journeys, this time heading to the North of St. John's. Our first stop was the Torbay cemetery. While there we saw the monument for Father Troy (a big figure in Torbay) and the monument for the three Torbay rowers who drowned during a race at the Royal St. John's Regatta.
From Torbay we drove up to Flatrock. While we did not stop to visit a cemetery in Flatrock (mainly because we didn't see one) we were able to stop and visit the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. It seems that during his 1984 visit Pope John Paul II paid a visit to this site. This visit was of such consequence that there is now a stone marking the very spot where the Pope knelt to pray.
From Flatrock we continued on to Pouch Cove (pronounced ‘pooch’). As it turned out this visit was really just a drive by. The somewhat heavy rain in part motivated this weak excuse for a trip to Pouch Cove.
From Pouch Cove drove North along a dirt road for what seemed like a half an hour. While driving along this road we passed over all kinds potholes and rocks. We also managed to see about 7 or 8 hares while driving along this route.
Eventually we arrived in what I assume was Biscayan Cove, something that seemed to be an abandoned fishing village. We did find an operational lighthouse with helipad. Strangely, this odd complex looked more like a bunker than a traditional lighthouse.
From Biscayan Cove the decision was made to return to St. John’s as the weather was not really ideal for touring. Additionally, the lack of food from which we were both suffering was getting to us.
Amazingly the next day the sun was out and the sky blue. I called Peter and suggested that we pick up where we left off and head to Bauline.
Upon entering Bauline we immediately located the cemetery. While in the cemetery we noted that the names LeGrow and King were particularly common. The next stop was the wharf. We then noticed that there were all kinds of crab legs on the bottom of the harbour. This is something I still can’t quite figure out, as there isn’t a plant in Bauline. Out a little further than the crab legs there seemed to be another batch of foreign objects. At first I couldn’t quite make anything out, though eventually I came to the conclusion that some of the things that I was seeing were rib cages. This led me to the presumption that what I was looking at were seal carcasses (I kind of hope that is what I was looking at based on all of the available options).
The huge rocks that formed the breakwater also proved to be an interesting place to explore. Aside from the pleasure derived from hoping from rock to rock, it was impressive to find evidence that these massive rocks actually moved on a pretty regular basis. In many cases it was possible to see pieced of driftwood trapped between rocks that must have each weighed several thousand pounds.
Hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to see a few more communities in the region. Though I will still be an “uncultured townie” I will least have seen a little more of the province than before.
Friday, May 11, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 95
-Today was wonderful. It was clear with blue skies from the time I awoke until now. On top of that, the temperature was quite reasonable. While not hot, it was warm enough for me to eat my dinner sitting on a patio. Unfortunately, I am not sure if the weather will hold all weekend, though I hope it will.
-Last Friday a few people came over to play Settlers. We managed a relatively quick 6 player, though at the moment I can’t remember who won (though I know that it was not me). Afterwards the remaining four of us decided to play a game of Seafarers (a modification of the base Settlers game). As I was somewhat out of practice with the set up it took a few minutes.
After this delay we were underway, though with a bit of a slow start. For some reason all four of us continued to fail to acquire valuable resources. For about three hours all of us were sitting there not really doing much. The only thing that was happening was that Peter was occasionally getting screwed by sevens (he was never able to do anything with his brick and sheep).
Somehow, after about three hours the end clearly began to approach, though I had managed to build only about one settlement and no cities. Peter finally put us out of our misery and won.
-Since my return it has been my plan to bake bread. I keep thinking that I have all kinds of time in the evenings and I am not doing all that much of consequence, so it seemed like baking bread would be the thing to do.
So, last weekend I thought that I would finally get down to the bread baking. I had the place to myself. It seemed a perfect time to go ahead with my plan. Unfortunately, only then did I realize that my plans for making a huge batch of bread were reliant on having freezer storage space, something that I did not have.
Back to store bought for me (though fortunately it has largely been purchased from Georgetown).
-On Monday night I saw my second Joel Hynes performance and my first Joel Hynes one man show. As some of you may know, Mr. Hynes seems to be from the Southern Shore, Calvert if I remember correctly. This one man show is presented from the point of view of an individual who killed a woman in his small home town on the Southern Shore.
I was generally pleased with the show, though I was surprised that Mr. Hynes did not take more advantage of the stage. At times it seemed as though he had been standing in the same place for 20 minutes, just speaking. Additionally, one or two of the relationships might have been fleshed out, because as they were they did not add all that much.
-Sorry for the infrequencies of my posts recently. Though I don’t have all that much on my plate it seems hard for me to find the few minutes to sit down and take care of my Montifax business. To a large extent I attribute this to my lack of proper working space in my room. As it is right now, my room is filled with children’s books and extra furniture. These unwanted additions make even finding or storing clothing more complicated that usual, they make working in my room almost impossible. The cause of this material backlog was supposed to be taken care of this week, though of course this did not happen. So for some indeterminate amount of time I will have to live with all kinds of extra crap clogging up my room and workspace.
-Last Friday a few people came over to play Settlers. We managed a relatively quick 6 player, though at the moment I can’t remember who won (though I know that it was not me). Afterwards the remaining four of us decided to play a game of Seafarers (a modification of the base Settlers game). As I was somewhat out of practice with the set up it took a few minutes.
After this delay we were underway, though with a bit of a slow start. For some reason all four of us continued to fail to acquire valuable resources. For about three hours all of us were sitting there not really doing much. The only thing that was happening was that Peter was occasionally getting screwed by sevens (he was never able to do anything with his brick and sheep).
Somehow, after about three hours the end clearly began to approach, though I had managed to build only about one settlement and no cities. Peter finally put us out of our misery and won.
-Since my return it has been my plan to bake bread. I keep thinking that I have all kinds of time in the evenings and I am not doing all that much of consequence, so it seemed like baking bread would be the thing to do.
So, last weekend I thought that I would finally get down to the bread baking. I had the place to myself. It seemed a perfect time to go ahead with my plan. Unfortunately, only then did I realize that my plans for making a huge batch of bread were reliant on having freezer storage space, something that I did not have.
Back to store bought for me (though fortunately it has largely been purchased from Georgetown).
-On Monday night I saw my second Joel Hynes performance and my first Joel Hynes one man show. As some of you may know, Mr. Hynes seems to be from the Southern Shore, Calvert if I remember correctly. This one man show is presented from the point of view of an individual who killed a woman in his small home town on the Southern Shore.
I was generally pleased with the show, though I was surprised that Mr. Hynes did not take more advantage of the stage. At times it seemed as though he had been standing in the same place for 20 minutes, just speaking. Additionally, one or two of the relationships might have been fleshed out, because as they were they did not add all that much.
-Sorry for the infrequencies of my posts recently. Though I don’t have all that much on my plate it seems hard for me to find the few minutes to sit down and take care of my Montifax business. To a large extent I attribute this to my lack of proper working space in my room. As it is right now, my room is filled with children’s books and extra furniture. These unwanted additions make even finding or storing clothing more complicated that usual, they make working in my room almost impossible. The cause of this material backlog was supposed to be taken care of this week, though of course this did not happen. So for some indeterminate amount of time I will have to live with all kinds of extra crap clogging up my room and workspace.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 94
-Today is another overcast day in St. John’s, though I feel as though I can at least sense the existence of the sun of the hills. Maybe things will clear later this afternoon, as has happened a few times this week. This lack of sun is starting to bother me. On top of all of this, the temperature and wind have ensured that going outside will be a less than pleasant experience.
-This morning I was able to purchase some very fresh bagels from Georgetown Bakery. They were actually so fresh that they were not available when I placed my original order, and only when I was getting ready to pay were they made available for sale. While running several errands I managed to eat about 4 them. I think I have now consumed about six of them, and am thinking about having another.
-Last night I finally saw The Kremlin, on the eve of Marx’s birthday. For several years I have heard about this group and their entertaining stage shows. As they don’t seem to perform as a group as regular these days (I have heard that one of the members no longer lives here) I thought that I would take advantage of last night’s show. Unfortunately, I did not realize that their performance would be preceded by the performance of two other acts, the first of which did not start until after 12:15 (even though the start time was advertised as 11:00 PM). I guess I should make it clear that my problem was not with the other groups, but that I was not expecting them and the delay that their presence meant for the headlining act. Eventually The Kremlin did take the stage, though without the borscht or dancers that I had been expecting. I did not even see Prince Igor’s chains. On the other hand, I can see why they are a popular and entertaining group with a strong following.
It seems I am getting too old for these late nights. I want my shows to start before mid-night so that I can be at home and in bed by the respectable hour of 3:00 AM. Unfortunately, St. John’s seems to be going in the opposite direction, I am sure that shows are now starting later than ever. Someone should take it to the extreme, start a show so late that it is 9:00 or 10 :00 PM the next day.
-Still nothing on my ILL request. I wonder if they will be able to find the book. I am thinking that I might want to also request another book, if that is allowed. Hopefully this other book will be a little easier to locate, especially since it was published and released in North America, unlike my first request.
-I am thinking about going to Petty Harbour today. Though I must have been there at some point in my life, I can’t quite figure out when or why. It seems that this is a place I should have visited and know. Hopefully my trip will go well and I will learn about another part of Newfoundland. Maybe I will try to visit a few other communities in the next few days and get out of my townie bubble. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I will have time to make it off of the Avalon, something that I really should do at some point soon.
-This morning I was able to purchase some very fresh bagels from Georgetown Bakery. They were actually so fresh that they were not available when I placed my original order, and only when I was getting ready to pay were they made available for sale. While running several errands I managed to eat about 4 them. I think I have now consumed about six of them, and am thinking about having another.
-Last night I finally saw The Kremlin, on the eve of Marx’s birthday. For several years I have heard about this group and their entertaining stage shows. As they don’t seem to perform as a group as regular these days (I have heard that one of the members no longer lives here) I thought that I would take advantage of last night’s show. Unfortunately, I did not realize that their performance would be preceded by the performance of two other acts, the first of which did not start until after 12:15 (even though the start time was advertised as 11:00 PM). I guess I should make it clear that my problem was not with the other groups, but that I was not expecting them and the delay that their presence meant for the headlining act. Eventually The Kremlin did take the stage, though without the borscht or dancers that I had been expecting. I did not even see Prince Igor’s chains. On the other hand, I can see why they are a popular and entertaining group with a strong following.
It seems I am getting too old for these late nights. I want my shows to start before mid-night so that I can be at home and in bed by the respectable hour of 3:00 AM. Unfortunately, St. John’s seems to be going in the opposite direction, I am sure that shows are now starting later than ever. Someone should take it to the extreme, start a show so late that it is 9:00 or 10 :00 PM the next day.
-Still nothing on my ILL request. I wonder if they will be able to find the book. I am thinking that I might want to also request another book, if that is allowed. Hopefully this other book will be a little easier to locate, especially since it was published and released in North America, unlike my first request.
-I am thinking about going to Petty Harbour today. Though I must have been there at some point in my life, I can’t quite figure out when or why. It seems that this is a place I should have visited and know. Hopefully my trip will go well and I will learn about another part of Newfoundland. Maybe I will try to visit a few other communities in the next few days and get out of my townie bubble. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I will have time to make it off of the Avalon, something that I really should do at some point soon.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Bye bye glasses
A couple of weeks ago I was playing squash and my glasses didn't feel right as they were sitting on face. They seemed bent, but I was sure I hadn't done anything to knock them out of shape. Over the next few days I realized that my frames were structurally weakened where the frame attaches to the lense (I have rimless glasses). About two days ago I decided I was going to have to take immediate action, as my frames were getting noticably weaker every day, and I was afraid they were going to break.
Finally, I called my optometrist in St. John's to confirm that the warranty on my frames had passed and that I could have my prescription sent to me. My plan was then to go spectacle shopping this morning. That however, didn't work out. Not for any good reason though, I just slept in. So the plan became to go this afternoon. I have been making some calls around to enquire about racquetball/squash glasses to get as a 2nd pair free. Between two of the calls, my glasses actually broke. My glasses are currently very close to pinch-nez glasses.
Anyway, here I go to get new glasses. Based on my previous record, I'll be letting you know about how it turns out in about a month.
Finally, I called my optometrist in St. John's to confirm that the warranty on my frames had passed and that I could have my prescription sent to me. My plan was then to go spectacle shopping this morning. That however, didn't work out. Not for any good reason though, I just slept in. So the plan became to go this afternoon. I have been making some calls around to enquire about racquetball/squash glasses to get as a 2nd pair free. Between two of the calls, my glasses actually broke. My glasses are currently very close to pinch-nez glasses.
Anyway, here I go to get new glasses. Based on my previous record, I'll be letting you know about how it turns out in about a month.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 93
-Today was another overcast day in St. John’s, though sun did manage to make its existence known for a few minutes this afternoon. It seems that just about every day since I have been back in St. John’s has been overcast and cool. Maybe by the time I leave things will have started to turn around and back again.
-Tonight was “analog payment” night for Frisbee. As of right now I have guaranteed myself a spot but I have not signed up with a particular team or person. I guess in a few weeks (hopefully less than that) I will be able to figure out how this is all going to work out for the summer.
-Bitters no longer sells Strongbow or Newcastle Brown Ale. I was told that these products are no longer distributed in Newfoundland. This was very disappointing news as they were my two favourite beverages (along with that old stand-by water) at Bitters. In many ways I am not surprised, if one can only rarely find Newcastle on tap in the UK, why should one expected to find it all over the place in St. John’s. I just hope that they still have it at Thomson House when I get back.
-I still have heard nothing about the ILL request that I placed yesterday at the public library. What is taking these slackers so long? I know there wasn’t a location listed with the Amicus record, but still, a full 24 hours and nothing? I haven’t been there in a decade and then this is how they treat me on the first transaction after my return.
-For those of you that are interested, there will be a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Mary O’Keeffe on harpsichord tomorrow night at the MUN School of Muisc. Tickets are $10 for suckers and $5 for students and seniors. My understanding is that things are to start at about 8:00. And no, I was not paid for this plug.
-Tonight was “analog payment” night for Frisbee. As of right now I have guaranteed myself a spot but I have not signed up with a particular team or person. I guess in a few weeks (hopefully less than that) I will be able to figure out how this is all going to work out for the summer.
-Bitters no longer sells Strongbow or Newcastle Brown Ale. I was told that these products are no longer distributed in Newfoundland. This was very disappointing news as they were my two favourite beverages (along with that old stand-by water) at Bitters. In many ways I am not surprised, if one can only rarely find Newcastle on tap in the UK, why should one expected to find it all over the place in St. John’s. I just hope that they still have it at Thomson House when I get back.
-I still have heard nothing about the ILL request that I placed yesterday at the public library. What is taking these slackers so long? I know there wasn’t a location listed with the Amicus record, but still, a full 24 hours and nothing? I haven’t been there in a decade and then this is how they treat me on the first transaction after my return.
-For those of you that are interested, there will be a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Mary O’Keeffe on harpsichord tomorrow night at the MUN School of Muisc. Tickets are $10 for suckers and $5 for students and seniors. My understanding is that things are to start at about 8:00. And no, I was not paid for this plug.
Rose and Thistle Trivia
So me and de b’ys goes down to the da Rose and Thistle for a bit ‘a trivia last night. When we walks in tru da door der ain’t really dat many people dere. So we goes and has a seat. Eventually a couple a more people comes in, dough I wouldn’t a said it was dat full, even by da end.
Peter says “what can I get ya” and I says “QV.” So in a minute he is back wit da drinks, but I got a QV light cause de b’ys is out most a de others. Jayus, b’ys, was on da go wit dat?
So we sits wit our drinks, talking and such when Mike comes in. I is right quick to notice dat he seems some dry for walking down town from da university in da rain. Turns out he got a ride. Jayus b’y, sum lucky.
So eventually de place is ready and we goes. 30 question in two rounds a fit-teen each. Soon we sees dat de questions is all over da place. We got nature, and movies, and botany, and inventions, all mixed in wit one another. So anyway, tings is ok. We guesses a few and knows a few more. Sure enough were done de first fit-teen practicly before she even started.
At da break we goes and gets drinks, dough I forget to use da batroom. We gets back and da tree of is talking for a while, waitin for da second round.
Da missus comes back from a smoke and we goes, another quick fit-teen. Same ting dis time, we knows some and we has ta guess d’others. So da missus finishes and den gives us a sec to get de last guesses in. Soon enough she’s der at da table wantin our score sheet. So we recapitulates and gives it to her, but not witout a bit a sauce.
After dat she starts to read out the de answers and we marks our sheet. Tings is going pretty good from da beginning. We sees dat we got some dat de others don’t, and we got de ones day dey do. Tings is looking good for me and de b’ys. When she’s done we tries to count our score, but she hardly gave us time. Peter came up with 20, but I saw dat we had more den dat, sos I counts her again. Soon enough I know I done a crap job, but da missus is on me back for de score. I says 22, dough I knows it might be wrong. After I says dat Mike counts and we sees dat we actually go 21. Anyway, da missus is up der counting our score too and she gets 21.
Anyway, 21 was de top score so we won. Me and de b’ys, winning Rose and Thistle trivia de first time we tries. Sure, we must be some smart. De prize is $50 bar tab, dough I can’t say day “me and da b’ys got loaded drunk” as I had to work.
Anyway, me and da b’ys ‘ill be der next week wanting da win.
Peter says “what can I get ya” and I says “QV.” So in a minute he is back wit da drinks, but I got a QV light cause de b’ys is out most a de others. Jayus, b’ys, was on da go wit dat?
So we sits wit our drinks, talking and such when Mike comes in. I is right quick to notice dat he seems some dry for walking down town from da university in da rain. Turns out he got a ride. Jayus b’y, sum lucky.
So eventually de place is ready and we goes. 30 question in two rounds a fit-teen each. Soon we sees dat de questions is all over da place. We got nature, and movies, and botany, and inventions, all mixed in wit one another. So anyway, tings is ok. We guesses a few and knows a few more. Sure enough were done de first fit-teen practicly before she even started.
At da break we goes and gets drinks, dough I forget to use da batroom. We gets back and da tree of is talking for a while, waitin for da second round.
Da missus comes back from a smoke and we goes, another quick fit-teen. Same ting dis time, we knows some and we has ta guess d’others. So da missus finishes and den gives us a sec to get de last guesses in. Soon enough she’s der at da table wantin our score sheet. So we recapitulates and gives it to her, but not witout a bit a sauce.
After dat she starts to read out the de answers and we marks our sheet. Tings is going pretty good from da beginning. We sees dat we got some dat de others don’t, and we got de ones day dey do. Tings is looking good for me and de b’ys. When she’s done we tries to count our score, but she hardly gave us time. Peter came up with 20, but I saw dat we had more den dat, sos I counts her again. Soon enough I know I done a crap job, but da missus is on me back for de score. I says 22, dough I knows it might be wrong. After I says dat Mike counts and we sees dat we actually go 21. Anyway, da missus is up der counting our score too and she gets 21.
Anyway, 21 was de top score so we won. Me and de b’ys, winning Rose and Thistle trivia de first time we tries. Sure, we must be some smart. De prize is $50 bar tab, dough I can’t say day “me and da b’ys got loaded drunk” as I had to work.
Anyway, me and da b’ys ‘ill be der next week wanting da win.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)