-The weather has taken a turn for the worse today. Just as I was head to work it started to rain, though not all that heavily. As the day has progressed things have really not gotten any better. It seems we are in for more of the same for the next few days.
-On Monday evening I had to mow the lawn at house at which I had been house-sitting. I really should have done this a few days ago, but I didn't.
Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the mower owned by the owners of the house. It seems that just before I arrived they loaned it to some friends. Though they left a phone number I wasn't able to reach these individuals.
In the end I borrowed my parents mower and transported it in the back of their car. Almost as soon as I arrived I could see that the mower wasn't doing a particularly good job of cutting. Once I moved to the backyard with its taller grass this deficiency became quite apparent.
At first I assumed that the poor cutting was because I had let the grass grow too long. It seems that this may have only been part of the problem. My father later informed me that the blade was also on the dull side and likely contributed to knocking down rather than cutting effect I was achieving.
Anyway, as soon as the grass gets a chance to stand up again it will have to be cut, which is frustrating as I did try to do a good job.
-Soon after the mowing debacle I went over to my new house-sitting house for a tour. Everything went quite well and I think that the experience should be positive. What I think will be the most consequential difference is that at the new place I won't have to take walk a dog, nor will I have to let a dog out to pee in the middle of the night.
-On the same evening I kept missing Neil's phone calls. It seems that he found out about an Air Canada seat sale and was interested in booking our tickets to return to St. John's at Christmas.
Eventually we were able to talk for a few minutes and I gave him the go ahead to book my ticket. When I checked my email later in the evening I found that he had booked tickets for the three of us.
-I was thinking that it would probably seem a little odd if I opened up a can of non-alcoholic beer with my lunch at work.
-As I was walking home from work earlier this week I noticed that they were cutting the plants that were growing in the field across from the Confederation building. When I took the dog for a walk later in the day I was able get a better sense for the extent of the operation, which was quite substantial.
Even with my previous reconnaissance missions I was somewhat surprised the next afternoon to find that the cuttings had been bailed and that a number of bails were sitting throughout the field. Presumably these will be used as some kind of forage, though I am not sure who gets to sell the goods.
When I passed through the field today I noticed that the bails had been covered in plastic and stacked on a truck. I imagine that by tomorrow afternoon that there will be very little evidence of bails and wildflowers that were both there earlier in the week.
-Earlier this evening I baked a Texas sheet cake for a co-worker's retirement get-together. As I know that she likes all things chocolate I am hoping that the cake will be well received. It seems that the event will be taking place tomorrow morning, only hours before this person will be done for good.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Weekend started on Thursday and didn't end until Monday morning
Thursday
On Thursday evening, after running a few errands and completing a few
house-sitting related tasks, I made my way over to Bitters to co-host
the weekly trivia night. Though there weren't all that many people
there when I arrived the place began to fill up over the next hour.
Just after 9:00 my co-host arrived and we soon started to get down to
business. Unfortunately, the PA had not been set up so we were forced
to shout to reach the members of the eleven teams that were competing.
This task was made even more difficult because of the design of the
facility, which clearly not designed with acoustics in mind.
My first round was a general current events round, mainly because I
was having trouble coming up with good categories. For the final
question I asked who had recently won the Bellagio Cup IV. As it
turned out Mike Watson was in attendance giving the question a
slightly different feel than I had expected. I was then able to give
the answer by pointing at Mike as he walked by. Sadly, I think that
most people didn't quite understand what was going on or the
significance of the win.
Friday
Because of a co-worker's impending retirement a number of us went out
for lunch. My co-worker requested that we go to the buffet at the
Fairmont. While I was initially somewhat hesitant about the
destination, and worried that the food wouldn't be to my liking, my
fears were eliminated almost as soon as I saw the dish listing.
Though I didn't know it, Friday is jig's dinner day at this particular
establishment. This meant that I was able to have a set of dishes
that I would otherwise almost never get a chance to eat.
While I did have some of the available salt beef, I didn't
particularly load up on this dish. I was a little more generous with
the fish and brewis (salt cod and hard tack), and certainly more
generous with the pease pudding (a particular favourite of mine). I
found it strange, though apparently I shouldn't have, these dishes
(and a few I haven't mentioned) were accompanied by roast turkey.
Though I didn't go back for seconds, or even take advantage of the
desert selection, I was pleased with the meal and very satisfied with
the company. I got the sense that people had a very good time and
really enjoyed the food.
Eventually we went back to work. Not surprisingly, everyone was a
little more sluggish in the afternoon than we were when we departed.
That evening, after dealing with a few of my house-sitting
responsibilities and a few other errands I started to prepare myself
to head over to a party that was being thrown to celebrate Mike
Watson's recent WPT win.
Upon leaving the house (on bike) I rode up to the liquor store at the
end of Elizabeth Avenue. Once inside I picked up three cans of
imported beer. My selections were largely influenced by price, though
I did decide to stay away from some of the super strong beers and all
of the North American beers. In the end I ended up with three 500 ml
German beers, all in the $3.00 range. The total price was less than
$10.00, which was several dollars cheaper than a six-pack of domestic
beer.
I then started bike ride to party location, which was almost at the
other end of Elizabeth. As soon as I arrived I found everyone in the
back yard. Soon after taking a drink of water I decided to tap into
one of my beer. Sadly, I managed to forget that a bike ride might
shake up the beers a little. The beer successfully spurted out of the
can and all over my hands. Fortunately the explosion was controlled
and not that much beer was lost.
Almost as soon as I arrived I was able to congratulate Watson (though
I had already done this when I saw him at trivia on Thursday).
Eventually I settled into a spot at the picnic table and began talking
with a few people I hadn't seen in a while. I learned that one of
them will be at a wedding I will be attending in August.
Once the flies came out we moved from the picnic table to the kitchen.
Eventually we were all gathered in the kitchen for a 'surprise.' It
turned out that the surprise was several bottles of high-end
champagne. After a few photos with the bottles and once everyone had
a drop there was a toast of sorts and an outpouring of energy.
As the night progressed people moved between the kitchen, the living
room, and the back porch. I spent much of my time on the back porch,
likely because it was a little cooler.
At one point while I was outside I ran into Ed and he encouraged me to
attend his band's show on Sunday evening. When I told him that I had
to work he informed me that the start time had been selected to allow
those working 9:00-5:00 to attend. He also indicated that he would
send me an additional reminder (as I suggested that I would likely not
remember otherwise).
As the hour approached 2:00 people began to make a move for downtown.
I am not such a big fan of such manoeuvres, nor did I have any
interest in going downtown, so I just stayed at the party. On the
other hand, the mass exodus was a good indication that it was getting
late. As I wanted to get at least a few hours of sleep I decided to
head out.
The only unpleasant part of the bike ride home was that the bolt
holding my seat to the seat post had become lose, allowing the seat to
slip back into a somewhat uncomfortable position. The nice thing
about ride home was that much of it was downhill, making things go
more quickly than on the way to the party.
Saturday
Recently my parents I spoke about a place called Mistaken Point, a
great place to view very old fossils. Over the years my parents and
sister have visited several times. During this conversation it came
out that I had not yet had a chance to visit the site.
During dinner on Friday we made plans to take a trip to the site on
Saturday morning. The site, which is near Trepassey, takes a some
number of hours to reach. It was decided that we would try to be on
the road by 10:00 if we wanted to be back at a reasonable hour. The
early start was the reason for my desire to get some sleep the
previous night.
When I arrived at my parent's house on Saturday morning I found no
signs of life. When I eventually made my way upstairs at 9:30 I found
that they were just getting out of bed. Amazingly, we managed to pull
things together and head out just before 10:00.
After a quick stop for coffee and tea we made our way to the highway
(not of the divided sort) and to the Southern part of the Avalon.
Almost as soon as we left the St. John's area we encountered dense
fog. In many instances it was hard for us to see much beyond the
shoulder of the road, and in almost all circumstances we were
prevented from seeing the scenery that we were passing. Fortunately,
fog really suits the barrens, and that is where we were.
Though we passed through a few communities we didn't stop until we
reached the beach at Point La Haye. Though we stopped at a beach
area, it was actually the peat bog that attracted us to the region.
Where the peat bog meets the beach one can see a cross-section of the
peat. One of the more impressive sights is seeing cross-section of
the almost immediate transition from peat bog to standard soil.
Within a foot or so the transition is complete.
My father and I took a few photos of ourselves next to the peat wall
as well as on the bog. We also found a few rather impressive plants
both on the bog and on the beach next to the bog.
After the brief visit to the peat bog we continued on our journey. At
some point in time not all that long after leaving the peat bog my
mother requested that we stop so that she could use the toilet.
Fortunately we found tourist information centre after only a few
minutes.
As we were approaching the centre we noticed all kinds of people
fishing on the shore. We then realized that they were participating
in the cod food fishery. Our question then was "what is the boat
limit if you don't have a boat?" We also noticed a few people in
boats just off of the shore. In most instances they seemed to be
casting their lines towards shore, at locations that they surely could
have hit from shore.
Once we reached the tourist centre my mother left the car to find the
facilities and I left to try and take photos of the food fishery
participants. As my father waited in the car he saw three local boys
come out of the tourist centre with ice cream cones. Shortly after
their exit a man in an SUV pulled in. The dog in the SUV stuck its
head out of one of the windows and two of the young boys proceeded to
offer it a chance to sample their ice cream.
Not only does it seem strange that two boys would share their ice
cream with dog, it seems particularly strange that they would do it
with what appeared to be the dog of a stranger. Anyways, this story
gave us quite a few laughs as we returned to the road.
At some point while we were driving through the barrens my parents
reminded me that we were in caribou territory and that I be on the
look out. After a not particularly long or vigilant search my father
pointed out a set of three caribou on the side of the road. We parked
the car and got out to take pictures of them. The heavy fog and our
relative photo taking ineptitude prevented us from getting any really
great photos of these animals (even thought they weren't all that far
away).
Eventually we reached Trepassey and decided to stop for lunch. Our
destination was a hotel/restaurant that my parents, sister, and
grandmother had visited some number of years ago. After a brief
examination of the menu, as well as an examination of the plates of
other customers, we decided to all go for one form or another of
deep-fried seafood. My mother and I went with fish and chips while my
father went for the seafood platter (which included cod, cod tongues,
scallops, and shrimp).
When my food arrived I was shocked to find that not only did it come
with coleslaw but also with a portion of boiled vegetables and a
tomato slice as garnish. Unfortunately, the coleslaw was not in a
separate dish and managed to leak and contaminate many of my fries and
some of my cod. Fortunately I was able to make a few side deals with
my contaminated food so very little of it was wasted.
Once we finished lunch it wasn't all that long until we were on the
gravel road that would lead us to Mistaken Point. While I knew that
this would be a several kilometre trip I wasn't expecting to take as
long as it did.
Eventually we made it to the parking area. Almost as soon as we
started down the path we encountered a few individuals who were making
their way back from the fossils. They informed us that the river we
would have to ford was not particularly high and certainly crossable.
As we continued on our way we encountered a wide range of plants. We
were continually guessing which of the plants my botanist aunt would
find the most intriguing (though I am not sure if we ever reached a
conclusion). Eventually we came across a few bakeapple plants, which
is the only type of plant I was really looking forward to seeing on
this trip. Unfortunately, while many were bearing fruit, none of the
fruit was yet ripe. In several spots we found these plants to be
quite plentiful.
Once we reached the stream my father immediately crossed at the
narrowest point by jumping from one bank to the other. I quickly
started looking for a route that would entail at least a little bit of
hoping from rock to rock. Almost as soon as I found such a route it
became clear that my mother would need a similar route because of her
bum ankle.
After ditching my pack on the far side of the river I made my way back
to help my mother. Rock by rock we made our way across. The crossing
was without incident.
Not all that long after crossing the river we reached a fork in the
paths. My natural inclination would have been to keep to the left,
though now that I look back on things I am not so sure why I thought
this. My parents thought that they recalled that we actually needed
to keep right. Their suspicion was proven correct almost immediately
as we soon saw the fence surrounding the site through the fog.
Basically as soon as you stand on the rocks you can see the fossils.
With just a little searching a number of varieties can be spotted.
What may have actually been more impressive, or at least equally
impressive, is that it was quite easy to see that this had been ocean
bed. The ripples in a sea bed that are caused by the movement of the
water were quite visible. Somehow the former sea bed that we were
standing on had been covered (I presume this happened quickly) and
then moved and thrust upwards so that it now juts out from the ocean.
It was quite disheartening to see that some number of fossils (which
are older than those found at Burgess Shale) had been forcibly
removed, leaving a pock-marked former ocean bed. What was most
frustrating about these thefts is that they were likely unsuccessful.
Based on the rock holes, I can't imagine that many people were able to
actually remove intact specimens.
On the way back we spotted a number of caribous tracks along the path.
Shortly after discussing the possibility of seeing caribou on the
path I mentioned that there were some directly in front of us. Upon
closer inspection it turned out that instead of caribou these animals
were actually cows. I think we were all quite surprised to see three
cows grazing in the wilderness far from a farm.
As soon as we made it back to the car we started our return journey.
Fortunately, as I was somewhat sort on sleep I was able to sleep for
much of the ride back to St. John's. I eventually woke up for good
just as we were on the outskirts of town.
That evening, after taking care of a few house-sitting related duties,
I got together with my friend Greg. After stopping by the store for
some beer we picked up Nikita and made our way to the video store to
rend a video.
After a few minutes of indecision we settled on a movie that I hadn't
seen before. As we couldn't find a copy of the film, a popular comedy
from a year or two ago, we asked a staff member. After a quick search
the individual was kind enough to inform us that the movie had been
checked out and that the last previously viewed copy had been sold
earlier than evening. We decided that we would go to the competitor
across the street.
Almost as soon as we reached the competitor's store we realized that
it wasn't likely that they would have it either. In this case the
staff member came to the appropriate section and stared at a shelf
full of DVDs for a while before reaching the conclusion that they
didnt' have it. In the end we settled for another film with the same
star.
Once at the house Greg and Nikita had some pizza and drinks while I
stuck to beer (though I consumed only a very limited quantity).
Though it wasn't the movie that we wanted to see, and while it had a
few weak points, it did manage to make us laugh in a number of
instances.
Sunday
While I was able to sleep in a little on Sunday I did have a few
things to take care of. One of the first things that I did was head
back out to the pet store to buy more dog food. It turns out that a
five pound bag doesn't last all that long for a greyhound.
I was pleased to find that the store was open and that they did have
something that I was able to buy. As far as I can tell the main
difference between what I bought the first time and the second time
was the kibble size. The second bag had pellets that were much
smaller (though this doesn't seem to bother the dog).
Instead of heading back to the house-sitting house, I made my way to
my parent's house. Once there I started to bake bread. This was
necessary as we were just about out of the last batch of bread.
Things progressed quickly on the bread-making front. As usual the
process was marked by a complete unwillingness on my part to measure
any of the ingredients. Actually this lead to a slightly larger batch
because I started with more liquid than usual.
By mid-afternoon the bread making process had drawn to a close and I
was left with 8 loaves of bread and 5 mini-loaves. My hope is that
this will be enough to last until I leave for Halifax at the end of
August, though it is more likely that I will have to make one last
batch.
In the evening I made my way to the Ship to see the Dardanelles play
as I had promised Ed I would. It should also be noted that Ed sent me
an additional reminder as he promised he would.
When I arrived at the bar I didn't really know anyone other than Ed
and another member of the band. I spoke to them for a while before
taking a seat at the bar.
As I was driving, and therefore not on the sauce, I ordered a water
and a cranberry juice. While I normally wouldn't order juice I am
somewhat aware of the dynamics of bar work and thought it would be
prudent of me to order something with a cost.
Shortly after the band started a number friends arrived and I joined
them by the pool table. While standing around the pool table Colin
and I became quite engaged in a conversation about the nature of being
offended and whether or not being offended is a choice or an instinct.
While we agreed to disagree I think we both had a great time during
the discussion.
I guess I should say that I really enjoyed the band. Not only were
there no electronic instruments (that is not to say their was no
electronic amplification though), most of the content was exclusively
instrumental. I think it is safe to say that I would recommend this
group.
As it was a work night I had to leave before the show was over, though
I did stay much longer than I intended. My recollection is that it
wasn't until just after midnight that I left (but that could have been
the time it was when I made it home). Anyway, I certainly didn't make
it bed until some time after mid-night (early Monday morning).
The weekend was certainly much more action packed than my typical weekend.
Monday, July 28, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 203
-So far today has been pretty nice. I woke up to find clear skies and
tolerable temperatures. The only problem with the weather so far is
that the humidity is a little higher than one might want (but at least
the temperature isn't in the 30s).
tolerable temperatures. The only problem with the weather so far is
that the humidity is a little higher than one might want (but at least
the temperature isn't in the 30s).
-On the 30th one house-sitting job will come to an end and another
will start. I will go from caring for a dog, a cat, and several fish
to caring for two cats. I really hope that the new cats will be a
little more respectful of my desire to have uninterrupted sleep
sessions than the current cat is. As much as I am not a fan of
picking up dog droppings, I do think that I will miss having a reason
to go on a walk every evening (and I know that without a explicit need
it won't happen).
-Amicus was down for some period of time this morning. This is at
least the second time this summer that I have encountered such
problems. I have not found an explanation for the service outage in
either instance.
-My beans seem to be doing well, though they aren't as tall as I might
like (maybe they are 'Tuckamore beans'). A few days ago my mother
transplanted a few of the plants to fill in the bed and also to allow
a more appropriate amount of space for each plant.
Though things seem to be going well I fear that if the rate of growth
that we are presently experiencing continues I won't have a chance to
consume any of the beans before I leave. I guess this isn't the end
of the world.
-The blackcurrants in our backyard are almost ripe. The raspberries
on my walk home from work are also almost ripe.
Cuil seems to be not so cool
This morning I read an article in the Globe and Mail about a new
search engine named Cuil. The article suggested that Cuil has been
designed to go head to head with Google. It supposed strength is the
number of pages that it indexes, a number it claims is larger than the
number indexed by Google. Unfortunately, the few searches that I
performed all worked better in Google. Not only did Cuil fail to
return results for certain terms when results were retrieved the
ranking system didn't particularly work for me.
search engine named Cuil. The article suggested that Cuil has been
designed to go head to head with Google. It supposed strength is the
number of pages that it indexes, a number it claims is larger than the
number indexed by Google. Unfortunately, the few searches that I
performed all worked better in Google. Not only did Cuil fail to
return results for certain terms when results were retrieved the
ranking system didn't particularly work for me.
The layout of the results is another problem. While it is trying to
be innovative, Cuil's non-standard approach to the organization or
search results is actually more difficult to navigate and scan
quickly. Instead of arranging the results vertically, allowing on to
scan the page in a straight line, Cuil users need to zig-zag back and
forth across the Cuil results page in a fashion similar to that of
scanning the pages of a dictionary. Furthermore, the non-linear
presentation doesn't make it particularly clear which results are to
be the most highly ranked (does one read it like a dictionary or a
catalogue). Sadly the only visual modification that the site allows
is for the user to choose whether they want the results displayed in
two or three columns.
Another particularly noticeable omission is that Cuil doesn't offer
advanced searching or searching hints. While I presume that Cuil does
have some operators (at least 'and,' 'or,' and 'not') these aren't
explained or apparent. Furthermore, Cuil doesn't seem to provide a
stable help section. Of the two or three times that I have tried to
access this content I was only successful once.
While some of these things may be worked out as the service ages and
the designers get a better sense of what users want, I am not sure
that I am presently inclined to recommend Cuil's use (a further
inducement for me to not recommend its use is that it doesn't fully
index this blog, though it has been getting better as the day has been
progressing).
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 202
-After a brief interlude comprised of rain and fog we seem to be back to more palatable weather. Actually, what is particularly nice about the weather presently is that it is sunny without being oppressively hot or humid. Unfortunately, this is not forecast to carry over to the weekend.
-While walking the house-sitting dog today I was again shocked. Somehow the dog managed to defecate three times during a half-hour walk. Fortunately I had enough bags to clean up each time, though at the end I was really started to run low.
-On a related note, it seems that the world food shortage is affecting the availability of dog food as well. The type of dog food that the dog normally consumes is out of stock and may not be available for another three months. I am really not sure how long the 5 pound bag of food that I purchased yesterday will last, or what I will do if it runs out before I have finished with my house-sitting duties.
-For the first time in at least a year I will be hosting trivia at Bitters. While I have been meaning to do this for some period of time only when I found a potential co-host and didn't have a Ultimate game on a Thursday was I able to actually make plans to do it. Hopefully our questions will be well received.
-It seems that the replacement nut and bolt that I purchased for my bike may not actually be doing as good a job as I had hoped they would. My seat seems to wiggle up and down while I ride. Each time I ride I hope that my seat doesn't fall off at some point during my trip.
Though I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, I am pretty sure that I will need to buy a new seat and seat post.
-Last night I attended my friend Darryl's bachelor party. While we didn't have any strippers and the drinking was kept to a responsible level we did manage to keep the discussions in the gutter. For the few hours that I was there I able to laugh at and recount stories on a range of blue topics.
The only downside of the party, at least from my perspective, was that I wasn't able to have any beer because I had to drive home.
-While walking the house-sitting dog today I was again shocked. Somehow the dog managed to defecate three times during a half-hour walk. Fortunately I had enough bags to clean up each time, though at the end I was really started to run low.
-On a related note, it seems that the world food shortage is affecting the availability of dog food as well. The type of dog food that the dog normally consumes is out of stock and may not be available for another three months. I am really not sure how long the 5 pound bag of food that I purchased yesterday will last, or what I will do if it runs out before I have finished with my house-sitting duties.
-For the first time in at least a year I will be hosting trivia at Bitters. While I have been meaning to do this for some period of time only when I found a potential co-host and didn't have a Ultimate game on a Thursday was I able to actually make plans to do it. Hopefully our questions will be well received.
-It seems that the replacement nut and bolt that I purchased for my bike may not actually be doing as good a job as I had hoped they would. My seat seems to wiggle up and down while I ride. Each time I ride I hope that my seat doesn't fall off at some point during my trip.
Though I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, I am pretty sure that I will need to buy a new seat and seat post.
-Last night I attended my friend Darryl's bachelor party. While we didn't have any strippers and the drinking was kept to a responsible level we did manage to keep the discussions in the gutter. For the few hours that I was there I able to laugh at and recount stories on a range of blue topics.
The only downside of the party, at least from my perspective, was that I wasn't able to have any beer because I had to drive home.
Monday, July 21, 2008
What a waste
So after a very pleasant evening with a few friends I decided to pick up a six-pack on my way home. My plan was to have a pleasant bear or two while sending an email or two, or maybe browsing the internet.
After braving the rain and the slick roads I made it back to the house-sitting house with my six-pack of Dominion in hand. As soon as I entered the house I began thinking about how I would drop off my coat and the beer so that I could let the dog out to urinate. Soon after entering the kitchen I began to execute the plan I had only moments ago formulated.
The jacket went on the counter, as did the beer. Unfortunately the beer did stay on the counter like the jacket, instead the beer and the box ended up on the ground. Almost as soon as the beer hit the floor glass and beer began seeping across the floor. Somehow the animals sense the severity of the situation and stayed out of my way as I made my way to the back hall to find the cleaning products.
Fortunately, because of several other mishaps, I was able to put my hands on the cleaning products and mop quite quickly. I was also able to locate a bucket, though I don't imagine that it is the same one that they use for mopping, and get the clean-up operation underway quite quickly.
Once I removed the four intact bottles from the wreckage I was able to pick up much of the broken glass just by discarding the beer box. The remaining large chunks I was able to pick up and place in another box. The final pieces of glass, mostly of the splinter size, I was able to wipe up with toilet paper (I still haven't been able to find the paper towel).
Soon after I had cleaned up the glass shards I decided that I might as well just mop the rest of the kitchen floor, which I did. I also took the opportunity to do some mopping in the adjoining rooms, which I had been meaning to do but had not had the motivation.
Anyway, as must as this was a waste of beer and a pain, it turned out to be manageable and not quite as bad as it could have been. Most importantly the cat and dog somehow sense that I really would not appreciate their presence in the mess area and then proceeded to stay away for the duration of the clean-up.
After braving the rain and the slick roads I made it back to the house-sitting house with my six-pack of Dominion in hand. As soon as I entered the house I began thinking about how I would drop off my coat and the beer so that I could let the dog out to urinate. Soon after entering the kitchen I began to execute the plan I had only moments ago formulated.
The jacket went on the counter, as did the beer. Unfortunately the beer did stay on the counter like the jacket, instead the beer and the box ended up on the ground. Almost as soon as the beer hit the floor glass and beer began seeping across the floor. Somehow the animals sense the severity of the situation and stayed out of my way as I made my way to the back hall to find the cleaning products.
Fortunately, because of several other mishaps, I was able to put my hands on the cleaning products and mop quite quickly. I was also able to locate a bucket, though I don't imagine that it is the same one that they use for mopping, and get the clean-up operation underway quite quickly.
Once I removed the four intact bottles from the wreckage I was able to pick up much of the broken glass just by discarding the beer box. The remaining large chunks I was able to pick up and place in another box. The final pieces of glass, mostly of the splinter size, I was able to wipe up with toilet paper (I still haven't been able to find the paper towel).
Soon after I had cleaned up the glass shards I decided that I might as well just mop the rest of the kitchen floor, which I did. I also took the opportunity to do some mopping in the adjoining rooms, which I had been meaning to do but had not had the motivation.
Anyway, as must as this was a waste of beer and a pain, it turned out to be manageable and not quite as bad as it could have been. Most importantly the cat and dog somehow sense that I really would not appreciate their presence in the mess area and then proceeded to stay away for the duration of the clean-up.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 201
-Though it was rainy an overcast much of yesterday, today thing seem to be back on track. The skies are clear and blue, and the temperatures seem to be acceptable, though maybe a little high.
-Michael Watson managed to hold on to his chip lead and win the Bellagio Cup IV for $1.67 million. There are a few pictures circulating of Watson posing with a large stack of bills (presumably $1.67 million) his WPT bracelet, and the winning hand.
-Yesterday I attended a 'pool party' in the CBS area. Because of the rain and overcast skies the pool component of the event was just rained out. Instead we stayed inside. Eventually the Wii performance games were brought out.
While it was somewhat impressive to see these games, I don't quite think that I have been made a Wii convert yet, or a karaoke game convert.
-It seems that the dog was a little under the weather yesterday. At one point mid-afternoon it puked on the living room rug, and was thinking about doing it a second time when I herded it outside. In the following hours it seemed to be a little under the weather. By about midnight I had the sense that it was back to normal. This has also been my feeling today, it seems that the puking, or what caused the puking, did not have a long term effect.
-My bike seat is a little lose. If I don't want to lose my newly acquired nut and bolt I will have to tighten things up in the very near future. Actually this is a simple project that I should really try to take care of this afternoon.
-Michael Watson managed to hold on to his chip lead and win the Bellagio Cup IV for $1.67 million. There are a few pictures circulating of Watson posing with a large stack of bills (presumably $1.67 million) his WPT bracelet, and the winning hand.
-Yesterday I attended a 'pool party' in the CBS area. Because of the rain and overcast skies the pool component of the event was just rained out. Instead we stayed inside. Eventually the Wii performance games were brought out.
While it was somewhat impressive to see these games, I don't quite think that I have been made a Wii convert yet, or a karaoke game convert.
-It seems that the dog was a little under the weather yesterday. At one point mid-afternoon it puked on the living room rug, and was thinking about doing it a second time when I herded it outside. In the following hours it seemed to be a little under the weather. By about midnight I had the sense that it was back to normal. This has also been my feeling today, it seems that the puking, or what caused the puking, did not have a long term effect.
-My bike seat is a little lose. If I don't want to lose my newly acquired nut and bolt I will have to tighten things up in the very near future. Actually this is a simple project that I should really try to take care of this afternoon.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 200
-Though the day started off with patches of gray skies things seemed to have cleared up nicely. Actually, I imagine that the temperature and humidity have really reason as the day has progressed. Hopefully by the time I am ready to leave work things will have returned to a more acceptable level.
-My brother, father, and I have been actively watching Michael Watson's progress at the Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas. As of last night all but six of the players have been eliminated (Watson was the chip leader). Today's play will determine the winner of the tournament. This event is to be filmed and may eventually end up being aired in some format.
As always, regular updates are available through World Poker Tour Live Updates.
As things stand right now Watson is still the chip leader with only 5 players left.
-This morning I decided to head to the bathroom to brush my hair after my shower. As I entered the room I sensed something was a little off. I was quickly able to determine what was wrong with the scene. It seems that there was a turd of some sort sitting on the edge of the bathroom sink.
Though I didn't see the placement of this turd, I am pretty sure that it came from the cat. My presumption, though this may be an over-reaction, is that this was intentional on the part of the cat. I assume that it was upset at me for something (such as not letting it come into the bedroom this morning) so it found a way to take out its anger on me.
Assuming this is the case, that the cat has some grudge against me, I am in a bit of a tight spot. I can't try to discipline the cat (as I don't know how to do that), nor I can I simply ignore the cat. It seems that my best approach is to actually try to endear myself to the cat so that it won't be tempted to do such things in the future (though how I am to go about doing this I have no idea). If this approach doesn't work I guess I will be cleaning up cat feces for the better part of the next two weeks.
-A few days ago I purchased a small stove-top espresso maker. I was thinking that a jolt from espresso in the morning would help wake me up more quickly and allow me to be more productive at work. Unfortunately, it seems that the espresso that comes from this machine doesn't have quite the same bite as the stuff I used to make at Thomson House.
-Yesterday while walking the greyhound through a field we both spotted a hare on the path about 30 feet ahead of us. Almost simultaneously we both decided to run for it. Amazingly, I don't think that I slowed the dog down by all that much, but I guess with a leash in play is hard to really know how much of an impact I had.
-My brother, father, and I have been actively watching Michael Watson's progress at the Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas. As of last night all but six of the players have been eliminated (Watson was the chip leader). Today's play will determine the winner of the tournament. This event is to be filmed and may eventually end up being aired in some format.
As always, regular updates are available through World Poker Tour Live Updates.
As things stand right now Watson is still the chip leader with only 5 players left.
-This morning I decided to head to the bathroom to brush my hair after my shower. As I entered the room I sensed something was a little off. I was quickly able to determine what was wrong with the scene. It seems that there was a turd of some sort sitting on the edge of the bathroom sink.
Though I didn't see the placement of this turd, I am pretty sure that it came from the cat. My presumption, though this may be an over-reaction, is that this was intentional on the part of the cat. I assume that it was upset at me for something (such as not letting it come into the bedroom this morning) so it found a way to take out its anger on me.
Assuming this is the case, that the cat has some grudge against me, I am in a bit of a tight spot. I can't try to discipline the cat (as I don't know how to do that), nor I can I simply ignore the cat. It seems that my best approach is to actually try to endear myself to the cat so that it won't be tempted to do such things in the future (though how I am to go about doing this I have no idea). If this approach doesn't work I guess I will be cleaning up cat feces for the better part of the next two weeks.
-A few days ago I purchased a small stove-top espresso maker. I was thinking that a jolt from espresso in the morning would help wake me up more quickly and allow me to be more productive at work. Unfortunately, it seems that the espresso that comes from this machine doesn't have quite the same bite as the stuff I used to make at Thomson House.
-Yesterday while walking the greyhound through a field we both spotted a hare on the path about 30 feet ahead of us. Almost simultaneously we both decided to run for it. Amazingly, I don't think that I slowed the dog down by all that much, but I guess with a leash in play is hard to really know how much of an impact I had.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Watson Still in the Bellagio Cup
From the time of its re-commencement earlier this afternoon the Bellagio Cup has been shedding players at a rather fantastic rate. Michael Watson is still playing and approaching the very big payouts (with the winner taking over $1.5 million).
Live updates are still available at the World Poker Tour Live Blog.
Live updates are still available at the World Poker Tour Live Blog.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Watson and the Bellagio Cup
It seems that Michael Watson is in the money on day three at the Bellagio Cup. As I write this there are only 72 players remaining, all whom will be making at least a few thousand on top of their initial buy-in.
If you are interested in semi-frequent updates they are available through the World Poker Tour Live Blog.
If you are interested in semi-frequent updates they are available through the World Poker Tour Live Blog.
A Few Quick Notes 199
-Rain has been threatening all day, but aside from a few drops and some mist it has not followed through. The up side has been slightly cooler temperatures (though not cool enough for me to arrive at work not dripping sweat).
-My beans are continuing to do well. It seems that many of the newer plants are showing well formed leaves. Actually, they are doing so well that I will likely have to thin or transplant some of the plants. Transplanting would be the best option as it would allow the space to be more completely used.
-My team played a good ultimate game yesterday. Not only did we win, but we played a team that was enjoyable to play. On top of this, the close score meant that both teams had to keep trying until the end of the game.
We have another game on Thursday. Hopefully this one will go well.
-Yesterday I was able to buy a bolt to attach my bike seat to my seat post. So for it seems to be working nicely, though I think I should tighten thing sup a little just to make sure that nothing moves while I ride.
-While running several errands in the last few days I have noticed that there are an inadequate number of bike racks in town. This is particularly surprising in the downtown area as I would think that with the parking problems as they are we would want to encourage people to ride their bikes instead of driving.
-My beans are continuing to do well. It seems that many of the newer plants are showing well formed leaves. Actually, they are doing so well that I will likely have to thin or transplant some of the plants. Transplanting would be the best option as it would allow the space to be more completely used.
-My team played a good ultimate game yesterday. Not only did we win, but we played a team that was enjoyable to play. On top of this, the close score meant that both teams had to keep trying until the end of the game.
We have another game on Thursday. Hopefully this one will go well.
-Yesterday I was able to buy a bolt to attach my bike seat to my seat post. So for it seems to be working nicely, though I think I should tighten thing sup a little just to make sure that nothing moves while I ride.
-While running several errands in the last few days I have noticed that there are an inadequate number of bike racks in town. This is particularly surprising in the downtown area as I would think that with the parking problems as they are we would want to encourage people to ride their bikes instead of driving.
Due to philosophical differences
Over the past several days I have heard several reports about coaches leaving professional sporting teams because of 'philosophical differences' with the top brass.
I like to imagine that at some point in the recent past that management and the coach had a knock down, drag out argument about their own personal philosophical stances. I imagine that management wanted to follow a path based on Hegelian dialectics while the coach was more interested in making decisions based on his understanding of Hobbes's 'state of nature' (because life is "nasty, brutish, and short").
A more likely scenario than the one described above is that management wants a team that wins more of its games than it loses, while the coach's actions during the previous season would seem to suggest that he is more into losing than winning. While this is certainly a difference, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a 'philosophical difference.'
I like to imagine that at some point in the recent past that management and the coach had a knock down, drag out argument about their own personal philosophical stances. I imagine that management wanted to follow a path based on Hegelian dialectics while the coach was more interested in making decisions based on his understanding of Hobbes's 'state of nature' (because life is "nasty, brutish, and short").
A more likely scenario than the one described above is that management wants a team that wins more of its games than it loses, while the coach's actions during the previous season would seem to suggest that he is more into losing than winning. While this is certainly a difference, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a 'philosophical difference.'
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 198
-Starting yesterday temperatures dropped by a few degrees, something that was a rather pleasant surprise. A more pleasant surprise today is that even though the sun is out and the skies are clear the temperature is still quite reasonable. Today is one of the nicest days that we have had this summer.
-The beans I planted last weekend are really starting to do quite well. Manny more plants are visible now than were visible yesterday morning. Actually, a surprisingly large number of plants first showed themselves between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon.
Amazingly, the new plants, particularly the green and yellow beans, are almost as large as the few plants that actually sprouted from the first batch. The scarlet runner beans, while not particularly large, are a bit bigger than the new plants, though I am not sure that this lead will be maintained for a long time.
-Today I was able to harvest a second batch of rhubarb. Again I will use this to make rhubarb crumble, the only rhubarb dish that I eat, for desert.
In a few days I hope to be able to pick some of the black currants that are growing in the back yard. I think that two smaller bushes that my mother started a number of years ago will finally produce currants this year (though not as many as they will produce in years to come).
-As I have been riding my bike between my permanent residence and the house at which I am house-sitting I have already noticed an increase in my endurance and speed. Hopefully the trend will continue in this direction. Maybe if things go particularly well I will be able to transfer such gains with me when I move to Halifax (though this would mean that I would need to buy a bike once I arrive).
-While riding my bike this morning my left foot slipped off of the pedal. The pedal then scrapped along my shin. While this didn't draw much blood there are a number of rather remarkable bumps and I presume that in a few days I will have some colourful bruises. I have taken this slippage as a sign that I needed to change the pedals on my bike to slip-resistant studded pedals (a change I have already made). While I have been contemplating this change for a number of days it seems that only injury was enough motivation to actually get me to make the change.
A little later on the in the ride as I was riding on Elizabeth Avenue approaching Churchill Square I felt my seat go. Something snapped and the seat bucked up and hit me in the groin. Fortunately I was able to maintain control of the bike and catch the seat with my thighs.
Once I was able to stop I found that the bolt that had been holding the seat to the seat post snapped. While I was in a fair bit of discomfort for a few minutes I am glad that the equipment failure didn't cause a crash and that I was able to keep the seat. Hopefully I will be able to get a replacement bolt on Monday.
-While walking my house-sitting dog today I just about blew chunks. Reaching down with a bag on my hand to retrieve its droppings was just about more than I could handle. Fortunately I was able to hold it together and complete the necessary but unpleasant task.
-Despite my best intentions and greatest efforts I just wasn't able to sleep in this morning. Life seemed to be conspiring against my desire to sleep. I guess this was good as it allowed me to take care of a few errands that would otherwise have remained undone for the next several days.
-The beans I planted last weekend are really starting to do quite well. Manny more plants are visible now than were visible yesterday morning. Actually, a surprisingly large number of plants first showed themselves between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon.
Amazingly, the new plants, particularly the green and yellow beans, are almost as large as the few plants that actually sprouted from the first batch. The scarlet runner beans, while not particularly large, are a bit bigger than the new plants, though I am not sure that this lead will be maintained for a long time.
-Today I was able to harvest a second batch of rhubarb. Again I will use this to make rhubarb crumble, the only rhubarb dish that I eat, for desert.
In a few days I hope to be able to pick some of the black currants that are growing in the back yard. I think that two smaller bushes that my mother started a number of years ago will finally produce currants this year (though not as many as they will produce in years to come).
-As I have been riding my bike between my permanent residence and the house at which I am house-sitting I have already noticed an increase in my endurance and speed. Hopefully the trend will continue in this direction. Maybe if things go particularly well I will be able to transfer such gains with me when I move to Halifax (though this would mean that I would need to buy a bike once I arrive).
-While riding my bike this morning my left foot slipped off of the pedal. The pedal then scrapped along my shin. While this didn't draw much blood there are a number of rather remarkable bumps and I presume that in a few days I will have some colourful bruises. I have taken this slippage as a sign that I needed to change the pedals on my bike to slip-resistant studded pedals (a change I have already made). While I have been contemplating this change for a number of days it seems that only injury was enough motivation to actually get me to make the change.
A little later on the in the ride as I was riding on Elizabeth Avenue approaching Churchill Square I felt my seat go. Something snapped and the seat bucked up and hit me in the groin. Fortunately I was able to maintain control of the bike and catch the seat with my thighs.
Once I was able to stop I found that the bolt that had been holding the seat to the seat post snapped. While I was in a fair bit of discomfort for a few minutes I am glad that the equipment failure didn't cause a crash and that I was able to keep the seat. Hopefully I will be able to get a replacement bolt on Monday.
-While walking my house-sitting dog today I just about blew chunks. Reaching down with a bag on my hand to retrieve its droppings was just about more than I could handle. Fortunately I was able to hold it together and complete the necessary but unpleasant task.
-Despite my best intentions and greatest efforts I just wasn't able to sleep in this morning. Life seemed to be conspiring against my desire to sleep. I guess this was good as it allowed me to take care of a few errands that would otherwise have remained undone for the next several days.
Da Hard Sauce
A few days ago I was in da kitchen when me sister walks in. Just about as soon as she comes trough da doors she asks "b'ys, what's da hard sauce?"
Being as I am, b'y, I turns around without tinking and says "b'y, dats what I gives yer mudder all da time, da hard sauce."
B'y jeez, b'y, dats all I gives anyone des days, nutting but da hard sauce.
Being as I am, b'y, I turns around without tinking and says "b'y, dats what I gives yer mudder all da time, da hard sauce."
B'y jeez, b'y, dats all I gives anyone des days, nutting but da hard sauce.
Friday, July 11, 2008
A Few Quick Note 197
-It seems that the weather has finally taken a turn for the worse. I woke up this morning to find overcast skies and rain. While the rain finished up by about the time I made it to work, the skies have remained overcast all day. The particularly unpleasant part of the day is that it has been very muggy, so much so that I feel as though I haven't stopped sweating.
-My Frisbee was handed another loss at Frisbee last night. For the first time this season we had relatively high wind during the game. I didn't play particularly well in these conditions (though I can't blame everything on the wind). Hopefully we will turn things around at our two games next week.
-The cat, dog, and fish that I am taking care of while house-sitting seem to generally be doing well.
Actually, I think that I am starting to notice some behaviour patterns. It seems that the dog gets up early in the morning (between 4:30 and 5:30) to urinate. Aside from this trip outside it seems to sleep through the night. The cat seems to make noise at some point in the night, though with a lesser degree of regularity. After making noise, the purpose of which I haven't been able to figure out, the cat seems to go to bed (sometimes in the bathroom sink).
-I don't have work on Monday because of Orangeman's Day. A Catholic friend of mine was very disgusted to learn that many of the research facilities that he planned on visiting on Monday will be closed. I am sure the originators of the celebration would be pleased to know that even hundreds of years later they are still rubbing their victory in and inconveniencing Catholics.
-Neil has spent about a week in his new apartment and still not sent me any photos of the place even though several days before he moved in I requested that he do so. As this will eventually also be my place of residence I am very interested in seeing what it looks like.
-As I mentioned a few days ago, last weekend I planted a new set of bean seeds. Just this afternoon I noticed that about ten of these seeds have started to sprout. Hopefully in the coming days more will become visible.
Though I am not too optimistic that this will actually, I really would like to get at least a meal or two of these beans in before I leave for Halifax. I guess my only comfort is that even I don't get to eat them someone else will in my absence.
-My Frisbee was handed another loss at Frisbee last night. For the first time this season we had relatively high wind during the game. I didn't play particularly well in these conditions (though I can't blame everything on the wind). Hopefully we will turn things around at our two games next week.
-The cat, dog, and fish that I am taking care of while house-sitting seem to generally be doing well.
Actually, I think that I am starting to notice some behaviour patterns. It seems that the dog gets up early in the morning (between 4:30 and 5:30) to urinate. Aside from this trip outside it seems to sleep through the night. The cat seems to make noise at some point in the night, though with a lesser degree of regularity. After making noise, the purpose of which I haven't been able to figure out, the cat seems to go to bed (sometimes in the bathroom sink).
-I don't have work on Monday because of Orangeman's Day. A Catholic friend of mine was very disgusted to learn that many of the research facilities that he planned on visiting on Monday will be closed. I am sure the originators of the celebration would be pleased to know that even hundreds of years later they are still rubbing their victory in and inconveniencing Catholics.
-Neil has spent about a week in his new apartment and still not sent me any photos of the place even though several days before he moved in I requested that he do so. As this will eventually also be my place of residence I am very interested in seeing what it looks like.
-As I mentioned a few days ago, last weekend I planted a new set of bean seeds. Just this afternoon I noticed that about ten of these seeds have started to sprout. Hopefully in the coming days more will become visible.
Though I am not too optimistic that this will actually, I really would like to get at least a meal or two of these beans in before I leave for Halifax. I guess my only comfort is that even I don't get to eat them someone else will in my absence.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 196
-It seems that today can be added to the nice weather streak. Some seem to even be hoping that such weather will make it all the way to the weekend.
Actually, I might go so far as to say that the weather is a little too warm. I know that I was really sweating by the time I made it to work this morning.
-The more I encounter them the more I realize that I am not a particularly big fan of the special Canadian subclasses that have been made to work like LCC subclasses. I can't say that my complaint is a fuller treatment of Canadian subjects, as this is something that is definitely needed in the LCC system. It must be my unrelenting attempt to stay within the lines (or rules) as they have been set out by some governing authority, in this case the Library of Congress. It may also because I haven't obtained copies of the Canadian subclasses so I don't ever know what is going on when I see them. I think it also may have to do with the concept of maintaining a pure LCC system, something that seems strangely attractive.
-Yesterday I was able to pick up my diploma from the post office. Fortunately McGill didn't make any spelling or capitalization mistakes in my name. I guess I now have to figure out what I want to do with it, which will probably be not much of anything.
-Last night at my house-sitting gig the cat and dog were antagonizing each other all night long, or, actually, only the portion of the night during which I was trying sleep. I would guess that their bickering cost me several hours of sleep, which was a bit of a blow and has certainly affected how I am feeling today.
On my walk with the dog today I learned that its stamina isn't quite what I would have expected for a greyhound. On really needs to take it slow otherwise the dog will overheat.
-It seems that my father and I may be taking our spraying show on the road. That friend that was helping us a few days ago is interested in having us spray his trees tonight. Hopefully we get going soon otherwise it will be dark before we finish.
Actually, I might go so far as to say that the weather is a little too warm. I know that I was really sweating by the time I made it to work this morning.
-The more I encounter them the more I realize that I am not a particularly big fan of the special Canadian subclasses that have been made to work like LCC subclasses. I can't say that my complaint is a fuller treatment of Canadian subjects, as this is something that is definitely needed in the LCC system. It must be my unrelenting attempt to stay within the lines (or rules) as they have been set out by some governing authority, in this case the Library of Congress. It may also because I haven't obtained copies of the Canadian subclasses so I don't ever know what is going on when I see them. I think it also may have to do with the concept of maintaining a pure LCC system, something that seems strangely attractive.
-Yesterday I was able to pick up my diploma from the post office. Fortunately McGill didn't make any spelling or capitalization mistakes in my name. I guess I now have to figure out what I want to do with it, which will probably be not much of anything.
-Last night at my house-sitting gig the cat and dog were antagonizing each other all night long, or, actually, only the portion of the night during which I was trying sleep. I would guess that their bickering cost me several hours of sleep, which was a bit of a blow and has certainly affected how I am feeling today.
On my walk with the dog today I learned that its stamina isn't quite what I would have expected for a greyhound. On really needs to take it slow otherwise the dog will overheat.
-It seems that my father and I may be taking our spraying show on the road. That friend that was helping us a few days ago is interested in having us spray his trees tonight. Hopefully we get going soon otherwise it will be dark before we finish.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 195
-Just like the past few days, today's weather is quite passable. It seems that we have clear skies and low winds. The only complaint might be that it is on the hot side (but that may just be because I am sensitive to such things).
-On Saturday I purchased a new pair of sunglasses, so far I am quite please with my purchase. The last pair broke when I was trying to straighten one of the arms.
-After about a month and a half I finally got around to re-planting my bean patch. Due to cold weather and a lack of sun my first set of beans didn't really take off. Hopefully the better weather will allow this round of seeds to flourish (even if I won't be here to reap the benefits).
-It seems that construction season is now in full swing. Not only is Prince Philip Parkway somewhat obstructed because of construction projects, my own street (one that is not a main thoroughfare) is having some rather major patch work done. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon as the construction crews making walking to work a little more difficult than it should be.
-Today while doing some cataloging I came across a third LCC cataloging joke (the first being that the Bible is in subclass BS; the second that subclass VD is used for things relating to Naval Seamen). It seems that LCC puts French Canadian literature in the subclass PQ. Maybe it is just me that finds this funny.
-This morning I started started a house sitting gig. Almost as soon as I walked in the house I found that one of the fish was dead. Fortunately the net was conveniently located and I was able to scoop it out and flush it without too much trouble. Luckily the owners were aware of the problems with the tank (and doing their best to rectify them) before I arrived so I won't be overly criticized for the death of this goldfish. I just hope that remaining fish are able to hold on.
When I make it back to the house this evening I will have to feed the fish, cat, and dog, and take the dog for a walk. I am hoping that this last task won't be too trying as I am not particularly familiar with dog walking.
-It turns out that not a big fan of the P subclasses that are used for the classification of literature. I feel that there are far too many tables and not that in the end the whole system isn't all that much better than just arranging the books alphabetically by author (and then sub-arranging them by title or date), as this is basically what occurs in many sections any way (but only after works by authors from different countries have been segregated from one another).
-On Saturday I purchased a new pair of sunglasses, so far I am quite please with my purchase. The last pair broke when I was trying to straighten one of the arms.
-After about a month and a half I finally got around to re-planting my bean patch. Due to cold weather and a lack of sun my first set of beans didn't really take off. Hopefully the better weather will allow this round of seeds to flourish (even if I won't be here to reap the benefits).
-It seems that construction season is now in full swing. Not only is Prince Philip Parkway somewhat obstructed because of construction projects, my own street (one that is not a main thoroughfare) is having some rather major patch work done. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon as the construction crews making walking to work a little more difficult than it should be.
-Today while doing some cataloging I came across a third LCC cataloging joke (the first being that the Bible is in subclass BS; the second that subclass VD is used for things relating to Naval Seamen). It seems that LCC puts French Canadian literature in the subclass PQ. Maybe it is just me that finds this funny.
-This morning I started started a house sitting gig. Almost as soon as I walked in the house I found that one of the fish was dead. Fortunately the net was conveniently located and I was able to scoop it out and flush it without too much trouble. Luckily the owners were aware of the problems with the tank (and doing their best to rectify them) before I arrived so I won't be overly criticized for the death of this goldfish. I just hope that remaining fish are able to hold on.
When I make it back to the house this evening I will have to feed the fish, cat, and dog, and take the dog for a walk. I am hoping that this last task won't be too trying as I am not particularly familiar with dog walking.
-It turns out that not a big fan of the P subclasses that are used for the classification of literature. I feel that there are far too many tables and not that in the end the whole system isn't all that much better than just arranging the books alphabetically by author (and then sub-arranging them by title or date), as this is basically what occurs in many sections any way (but only after works by authors from different countries have been segregated from one another).
Monday, July 07, 2008
Whales and Worms
Almost as soon as I returned home from work I learned that my mother had been planning on the three of us having dinner at Cape Spear. She hoped that we would be able to see some of the whales that CBC reported were there the day before.
After a few preparations (I had to make my sandwich among other things) we were ready to head out, that is after we picked up my father.
Soon enough we were making our way through Shea Heights and then along the final stretch to Cape Spear. Almost as soon as we pulled into the driveway we noticed that there was a CBC satellite truck and a fairly large number of cars.
As we made our way from the parking lot to the shore we noticed a fairly large number of groups eating picnic dinners, and many more just looking for whales. On our walk down we heard from a number of people that there were whales, but that they were around the headland.
Just about as soon as we moved to the far side of Cape Spear the temperature dropped and the wind became much colder. We eventually found a rock with a good view to sit on and eat our dinner.
Soon after we started eating my parents noticed a blow in the distance. Within a few minutes we started to see animals breaching in water a little nearer to shore. Eventually, typically after a few breaches, we saw what looked like mouths coming out of the water open. Presumably, the whales were eating capelin, or some other fish, that they had herded or stunned with their breaching.
Soon after we finished our meal we started to make our way back across Cape Spear. Soon after we entered the warmer part of the outcropping my parents ran into a couple that they recognized. As we were standing talking to the couple a number of whales became visible. These whales, which happened to be humpbacks, eventually came quite close to the shore, so close that we were able to see the white sections of their fins.
The couple also clued us into why CBC had been at Cape Spear. Instead of reporting on the presence of whales and sight-seers, it seems that they were there to report on a rescue that had just taken place. The story, as we heard it from this couple, was that a guy from Ontario (I think that was the province that they suggested), who claimed to be an experienced mountaineer, decided to climb down the a cliff but then realized that he couldn't get back up. A friend called for a rescue on his cell phone. The rescue crew then had to rappel down the side of the cliff to rescue the stranded expert. Apparently the entire process took about an hour and a half, all remnants of which were gone by the time we arrived. (CBC presents things a little differently in their version of the story).
Though several of the whales were still being quite active we had to make our way back to St. John's to get to the second exciting activity of the night: spraying for elm span worms.
Almost as soon as we returned home my father and I changed into spraying clothes (otherwise known as work clothes) and prepared our equipment. The main complication is that the spray has to be mixed in a buck and then syphoned to the power washer. If one is not careful the hose can fall out of the bucket or the bucket can run dry, both of which would cause the syphon to become non-functional.
Fortunately, just as we were about to start spraying some friends showed up. While one of them talked to my mother the other was able to help my father and I with the spraying process. While the friend was there to help I climbed up on the roof of the shed and then the roof of the house to hit some of the higher sections of a few of the trees.
Eventually our friends and my mother left. They were going to see the house that had recently been purchased and as of today come into the possession of our friends. This meant that we went from a three person operation to a two person operation, causing a noticeable effect on our efficiency.
Eventually we worked our way through our yard and the neighbours' yards, climbing to roofs when needed or just spraying from the ground when there wasn't a roof that would allow us to get a better angle.
At one point, while I was standing on the front porch roof, a woman stopped to ask if we could be hired. While my father indicated that we were just doing our own place he did suggest that if her husband was interested that we could help him do his own spraying. So I guess we should be hearing from him in a day or so and will possibly have to suit up sometime soon afterwards.
Just as the sun was starting to set we ran out of our bacterial soup, thus halting our spraying program for the evening. Actually, I think that we basically achieved all that we could have hoped. What was particularly impressive about the entire operation was that almost as soon as we started spraying a given tree the worms began to vacate the trees. In some cases several hundred worms began to dangle from certain trees, many times in places were leaf damage wasn't even particularly visible (yet). Presumably, if we had left the spraying much longer many of the trees would be well on their way to having serious leaf damage, something that can't be good for long term tree health.
After a few preparations (I had to make my sandwich among other things) we were ready to head out, that is after we picked up my father.
Soon enough we were making our way through Shea Heights and then along the final stretch to Cape Spear. Almost as soon as we pulled into the driveway we noticed that there was a CBC satellite truck and a fairly large number of cars.
As we made our way from the parking lot to the shore we noticed a fairly large number of groups eating picnic dinners, and many more just looking for whales. On our walk down we heard from a number of people that there were whales, but that they were around the headland.
Just about as soon as we moved to the far side of Cape Spear the temperature dropped and the wind became much colder. We eventually found a rock with a good view to sit on and eat our dinner.
Soon after we started eating my parents noticed a blow in the distance. Within a few minutes we started to see animals breaching in water a little nearer to shore. Eventually, typically after a few breaches, we saw what looked like mouths coming out of the water open. Presumably, the whales were eating capelin, or some other fish, that they had herded or stunned with their breaching.
Soon after we finished our meal we started to make our way back across Cape Spear. Soon after we entered the warmer part of the outcropping my parents ran into a couple that they recognized. As we were standing talking to the couple a number of whales became visible. These whales, which happened to be humpbacks, eventually came quite close to the shore, so close that we were able to see the white sections of their fins.
The couple also clued us into why CBC had been at Cape Spear. Instead of reporting on the presence of whales and sight-seers, it seems that they were there to report on a rescue that had just taken place. The story, as we heard it from this couple, was that a guy from Ontario (I think that was the province that they suggested), who claimed to be an experienced mountaineer, decided to climb down the a cliff but then realized that he couldn't get back up. A friend called for a rescue on his cell phone. The rescue crew then had to rappel down the side of the cliff to rescue the stranded expert. Apparently the entire process took about an hour and a half, all remnants of which were gone by the time we arrived. (CBC presents things a little differently in their version of the story).
Though several of the whales were still being quite active we had to make our way back to St. John's to get to the second exciting activity of the night: spraying for elm span worms.
Almost as soon as we returned home my father and I changed into spraying clothes (otherwise known as work clothes) and prepared our equipment. The main complication is that the spray has to be mixed in a buck and then syphoned to the power washer. If one is not careful the hose can fall out of the bucket or the bucket can run dry, both of which would cause the syphon to become non-functional.
Fortunately, just as we were about to start spraying some friends showed up. While one of them talked to my mother the other was able to help my father and I with the spraying process. While the friend was there to help I climbed up on the roof of the shed and then the roof of the house to hit some of the higher sections of a few of the trees.
Eventually our friends and my mother left. They were going to see the house that had recently been purchased and as of today come into the possession of our friends. This meant that we went from a three person operation to a two person operation, causing a noticeable effect on our efficiency.
Eventually we worked our way through our yard and the neighbours' yards, climbing to roofs when needed or just spraying from the ground when there wasn't a roof that would allow us to get a better angle.
At one point, while I was standing on the front porch roof, a woman stopped to ask if we could be hired. While my father indicated that we were just doing our own place he did suggest that if her husband was interested that we could help him do his own spraying. So I guess we should be hearing from him in a day or so and will possibly have to suit up sometime soon afterwards.
Just as the sun was starting to set we ran out of our bacterial soup, thus halting our spraying program for the evening. Actually, I think that we basically achieved all that we could have hoped. What was particularly impressive about the entire operation was that almost as soon as we started spraying a given tree the worms began to vacate the trees. In some cases several hundred worms began to dangle from certain trees, many times in places were leaf damage wasn't even particularly visible (yet). Presumably, if we had left the spraying much longer many of the trees would be well on their way to having serious leaf damage, something that can't be good for long term tree health.
Friday, July 04, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 194
-Today has been another nice day. The skies are clear and the temperature is above 5.
-Something I didn't mention in the last post is that our team received our jerseys just before our ultimate game yesterday. While one might think that this should be good, I am not really so sure.
Unlike in past years when I had solid colour jerseys, this year my team has camouflage jerseys. Not only are our jerseys the only multi-colour jerseys, they are also the only ones that are tank-tops (which doesn't happen to my favourite shirt style). Even more frustrating is that the cut is a little strange, possibly just the regular t-shirt cut, but without the arms, instead of a specially designed tank-top design.
My impression of the jerseys so far is that they look and feel as though we are running around with garbage bags instead of shirts. Hopefully as I become more familiar with the item it will become more comfortable, and that I be so self-conscious about wearing a camouflage tank-top.
-A few years ago I started to use the comment function available in some OPACs whenever I see cataloging decisions I don't agree with. While I occasionally remember to go back and check and see that some of my suggestions are taken I always wonder who it is that gets the pleasure of going through these comments, and how many such comments come up in the run of a day.
-It looks as though I will be having steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. I am pretty sure that I could handle such a meal several times a week.
-Today I started working on some trivia questions. The plan is that I will try to host trivia at Bitters on a night I don't also have ultimate, which seem to be few and far between. Hopefully my rounds will come together in the next few days
-Something I didn't mention in the last post is that our team received our jerseys just before our ultimate game yesterday. While one might think that this should be good, I am not really so sure.
Unlike in past years when I had solid colour jerseys, this year my team has camouflage jerseys. Not only are our jerseys the only multi-colour jerseys, they are also the only ones that are tank-tops (which doesn't happen to my favourite shirt style). Even more frustrating is that the cut is a little strange, possibly just the regular t-shirt cut, but without the arms, instead of a specially designed tank-top design.
My impression of the jerseys so far is that they look and feel as though we are running around with garbage bags instead of shirts. Hopefully as I become more familiar with the item it will become more comfortable, and that I be so self-conscious about wearing a camouflage tank-top.
-A few years ago I started to use the comment function available in some OPACs whenever I see cataloging decisions I don't agree with. While I occasionally remember to go back and check and see that some of my suggestions are taken I always wonder who it is that gets the pleasure of going through these comments, and how many such comments come up in the run of a day.
-It looks as though I will be having steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. I am pretty sure that I could handle such a meal several times a week.
-Today I started working on some trivia questions. The plan is that I will try to host trivia at Bitters on a night I don't also have ultimate, which seem to be few and far between. Hopefully my rounds will come together in the next few days
Thursday, July 03, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 193
-Aside from a few rain drops, today has been a rather nice day. Possibly even more important than the quality of the weather today is that fine weather has been predicted for the next few days (a prediction that I hope comes true).
-Today when searching by ISBN in Amicus I had 5 records returned for a single ISBN. While it is likely that this is not the record in this category, it is a much larger number than I would have expected. One would hope that only a single record would be returned for most ISBNs.
-It is possible that I have secured a house-sitting gig for the latter part of July. If this works out it would tie in nicely with my early August house-sitting obligation.
-I really dislike serials that under-go name changes. Not only have such changes caused me to have nightmares but they are also a bit of a pain to catalogue and I can't imagine that many people are able to follow the changes.
-We had a frisbee game. We all seemed to play much better this time around. In the end we managed to hang on to the lead long enough to secure the win.
-A few of us went to Bitters for trivia. Unfortunately, we didn't do all that well, but better than at least two teams. We were particularly hammered by a comic book category on which we scored zero.
-This year I have seen a number of very large ants. I don't recall seeing such creatures in past year. I wonder if Newfoundland has a new invasive species.
-Today when searching by ISBN in Amicus I had 5 records returned for a single ISBN. While it is likely that this is not the record in this category, it is a much larger number than I would have expected. One would hope that only a single record would be returned for most ISBNs.
-It is possible that I have secured a house-sitting gig for the latter part of July. If this works out it would tie in nicely with my early August house-sitting obligation.
-I really dislike serials that under-go name changes. Not only have such changes caused me to have nightmares but they are also a bit of a pain to catalogue and I can't imagine that many people are able to follow the changes.
-We had a frisbee game. We all seemed to play much better this time around. In the end we managed to hang on to the lead long enough to secure the win.
-A few of us went to Bitters for trivia. Unfortunately, we didn't do all that well, but better than at least two teams. We were particularly hammered by a comic book category on which we scored zero.
-This year I have seen a number of very large ants. I don't recall seeing such creatures in past year. I wonder if Newfoundland has a new invasive species.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 192
-Today has been another nice day. Amazingly, the higher temperatures did not make my walk to work particularly unpleasant.
-While yesterday was both Memorial Day (until noon, and in Newfoundland and Labrador only) and Canada Day I didn't participate in any of the available activities. Instead of an active member of the community I stayed at home and kept to myself, and eventually got around to chopping up several pounds worth of vegetables.
-The celery that I am eating right now is not particularly good. Neither the flavour or texture meet my exacting standards.
-Instead of book marking or remembering the URL for the Amicus, each day I go to Google and search for it.
When I first started doing this some number of years ago I learned that the first hit was actually for a union in the UK, rather than the Canadian union catalogue. Eventually I trained myself to go to the correct link (though it took a fair bit of time).
At some point in time, though I don't really know when, this union was dropped to a lower position by Google.
Just today I unfortunately found that the union has once again been returned to the prime position for the 'Amicus' search. Maybe I will have to try and post the link in a few places to get my preferred Amicus back in the prime spot.
-In the coming days Neil will be moving to a new apartment. This is particularly important to me because as of late August this will be my new apartment. Hopefully the move will go well and the transition to the new apartment will be smooth and painless.
As I was able to send many of my goods to Halifax when I left Montreal many of my belongings will be in the apartment when I arrive. Furthermore, the plan is to have Neil and Rebecca unpack all of the communal type objects and put them away, thus preventing a major re-arrangement of items once I arrive.
-Will I get my diploma? This is something that I have been wondering about since I missed my graduation ceremony about a month ago. I would have thought that McGill would have just mailed it to me, but I guess that hasn't happened yet. Maybe if I don't see any action on this front I will have to look into the matter.
-While yesterday was both Memorial Day (until noon, and in Newfoundland and Labrador only) and Canada Day I didn't participate in any of the available activities. Instead of an active member of the community I stayed at home and kept to myself, and eventually got around to chopping up several pounds worth of vegetables.
-The celery that I am eating right now is not particularly good. Neither the flavour or texture meet my exacting standards.
-Instead of book marking or remembering the URL for the Amicus, each day I go to Google and search for it.
When I first started doing this some number of years ago I learned that the first hit was actually for a union in the UK, rather than the Canadian union catalogue. Eventually I trained myself to go to the correct link (though it took a fair bit of time).
At some point in time, though I don't really know when, this union was dropped to a lower position by Google.
Just today I unfortunately found that the union has once again been returned to the prime position for the 'Amicus' search. Maybe I will have to try and post the link in a few places to get my preferred Amicus back in the prime spot.
-In the coming days Neil will be moving to a new apartment. This is particularly important to me because as of late August this will be my new apartment. Hopefully the move will go well and the transition to the new apartment will be smooth and painless.
As I was able to send many of my goods to Halifax when I left Montreal many of my belongings will be in the apartment when I arrive. Furthermore, the plan is to have Neil and Rebecca unpack all of the communal type objects and put them away, thus preventing a major re-arrangement of items once I arrive.
-Will I get my diploma? This is something that I have been wondering about since I missed my graduation ceremony about a month ago. I would have thought that McGill would have just mailed it to me, but I guess that hasn't happened yet. Maybe if I don't see any action on this front I will have to look into the matter.
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