It was also new snow tire day

Just as the installer was finishing with our new garage door, I was making my way north to our snow tire installation appointment.

This winter, our third in Regina and our third with this car, we decided to switch from the all-season tires that came with the car to dedicated snow tires.  Though we hadn't had issues with the tires over the past two winters, we were assuming that as the tires aged/wore they would be less effective in Regina's winter conditions.

Pleasantly, the installation process was quick (even though the vendor, apparently, hadn't properly booked our appointment and then had to squeeze us in).  Conveniently, it was also the case that it was snowing on the afternoon of our appointment so I had the pleasure of driving on our old tires to the appointment and then our new tires from the appointment.

Almost as soon as I started driving on the new tires I could feel the difference.

Of course, since the tires were installed we've hardly had any new snow (and for the past few days it has even been above zero).

Things that go crash in the night

At about 2:00 AM on Monday morning (AKA Sunday night) Jeannette and I were startled from sleep by a loud noise.  While both of us were immediately awoken there was some disagreement about the source of the sound.

I was of the opinion that the sound was that of something falling outside, though I couldn't imagine what that could possibly be given what I know of the area surrounding our bedroom window.  Jeannette, alternatively, was of the opinion that the sound was that of a car crash.

Being the attentive husband that I am (and also being interested in the source of the sound) I went to our bedroom window to see if I could see what had happened.

Just as I arrived I saw and heard a car speeding away.  Because it was dark all I could see of the car were its tail lights and general shape (probably a hatch back).  And the area from which the car was departing did not appear particularly disturbed.

As I couldn't determine the source of the noise and as nothing more appeared to be afoot we tried to return to sleep.  After a period of time we were successful.

By the next morning I'd inadvertently managed to put the whole incident out of my head.  Instead of dwelling on the strange events of the night before I made coffee, ate breakfast, showered, and prepared for work.  

It was only as I was starting my walk to work that I was reminded of the events of the previous night because of the presence of a police car, a neighbour sweeping up smashed car debris, and a newly totalled car.  Apparently Jeannette had been right to place the sound as a car crash.

Though the neighbour sweeping the debris lives much closer to the site of the accident she had not actually heard the event the previous evening so by speaking to the police officer I was at least able to provide an approximate time and semi-description of the vehicle.  Based on my exchanges with our neighbour and the police officer I also got the sense that the neighbours whose car had been hit had also managed to sleep through the event and hadn't learned anything was amiss until just a few minutes before I came on the scene.  I also learned that, perhaps not surprisingly, that this looked like the work of a drunk driver.

Despite the fact that this was a fair bit more excitement than our quiet neighbourhood is used to, I haven't heard much discussion of the event.  I am starting to think that most people slept through the original event and then weren't out on the street early enough to see the police presence and car removal.

This event taken with our own car troubles last weekend are leaving me with the impression that we might be best not to park on the street unless its absolutely unavoidable.

It happened again

For the second time this year our car, this time while the car was parked, has been hit by a driver backing up a much larger vehicle.

In this case, fortunately, the damage is relatively minimal and doesn't impact the operation of the car.  It seems that the driver of the other vehicle backed his trailer hitch into a plastic grill under our bummer and which was then hooked on as he pulled forward.  As far as I can tell, the damage seems limited to this single piece of plastic.

Of course, the really amusing part about the whole event is that truck was being operated by our neighbour's adult son.  So after he told me about the damage he had to go in and tell his mother, which probably gave him a flashback to his teenage years.

Life always seems to have a way of bringing one back into contact with large bureaucracies (in this case the our insurance company).

A Few Quick Notes 598

-So after several months without rain and clouds grey skies and rain have finally returned to Regina.  For the better part of the past few weeks we've had at least grey skies for part of most days and somewhat regular rain.  The upside of this weather is that on Thursday night I got to see my first double rainbow, the downside is that it's almost always not quite as warm or sunny as I was expecting it to be at this time of year in Regina.

-Despite the grey skies, cool temperatures, and plentiful rain the plants we planted in our garden a few weeks ago are mostly growing.  Sure, most of them would probably be doing a fair bit better with a few more hours of sun a day and soil that at least occasionally is a little drier, but that hasn't meant that most of them haven't continued to grow - if somewhat slowly.

Not surprisingly, the radishes are furthest along.  And had this weekend not been as rainy as it was we would have even planted a second and third row so that we can start to have a stead stream of radishes. The peas and beans are also doing well, though, again, more sun would surely help.  

The plants that seem to be growing particularly slowly are our pepper and corn plants.  The corn plants seem not to have managed to make it beyond about three inches while the pepper plants don't seem to be any taller than they were when we moved them from indoors to the garden.

In any event, the fact that most of these plants are even alive seems kind of remarkable given the incredible number of weeds and the high clay content of the soil.  I suspect that not weeds be an annual battle, but so will the soil.  Who would have guessed that in a province known for agriculture that the soil is mostly just clay?  In Newfoundland it's always a challenge to put a shovel into the ground because of the rocks - here the rock-free clay is just to dense and goopy for one's shovel.

-A friend of mine from library school is coming into Regina for a conference tonight and I've offered to give her a ride from the airport to where she's staying.  Not only am I looking forward to catching up after about five years, having someone else in the car finally provided me with the motivation I needed to finally get around to giving the car a quick vacuum and clean for the first time since we've owned it.  Not surprisingly, the back was a fair bit cleaner than the front.

-Now that our balcony rail has been in place for a week we've started thinking about our next project.  As some discussion we finally settled on re-roofing our garage.  Yesterday I picked up most of the supplies, though I still have to snag some flashing.  So whenever the skies clear and the rain stops we'll have to start on this project.  I'm a little worried that this is going to be a bit of a nasty project - but at least at the end we'll hopefully have a garage that doesn't leak quite as much as our garage does currently.

Oh, and then once we're done with the roof we'll have to move on to re-siding it.  Hooray!  

Fortunately, I think we've got the game plan for this more or less figured out - though that doesn't mean that there won't be surprises when we finally get around to it in a few weeks.

Road Trip - 1

Sorry, a few days ago I listened to an interview with Tom Green on WTF so I have a few of his classic film titles rolling around my head.

Down to more pressing business, now that Jeannette and I have a new car we're going to break it in by taking a long-weekend road trip to Calgary to visit some of Jeannette's extended family.

Though we won't leaving for a few hours, this will be my last chance to post from my computer as will be leaving half-way through the work day directly from my place of work.  Of course, assuming all goes well and this 3G stuff works as it's supposed to in the open prairie, I hope to make at least a few quick updates from the road.

In case you're curious, I'm definitely a little bummed that we likely won't quite make it to the Rockies - I guess I'll just have to settle for the Ikea.

Cameron - 16
Neil - 0

More business

Despite the fact that today is supposedly my 'day off,' we've been 'on the go' since 8:00 AM this morning.

First we had early morning eye appointments at 8:20.  While we both had good eye exams, completing various tests, waiting for eye drops to kick in, and frame shopping all meant that we didn't leave until about three hours after we arrived.

We then had to go to the bank for an appointment.  Of course, because nothing is as simple as it should be, what I thought would take 10 minutes actually took 45 minutes.  On the upside, I think that I won't have to go back for another account switching appointment until March.  So at least that's good.

After that we had to head to the outskirts of town to have the car we purchased in August officially written off because of a relatively minor fender-bender.  Again, this took longer than we were expecting - but at least it's done.  Hopefully we're just about through with dealing with a super-low speed accident in which we were not at fault that took place over a month ago.

Next I dropped Jeannette off at home ran out to get a months-overdue haircut.  Fortunately, I was able to walk into the barbershop and sit down and have my haircut immediately.  By the time I was done at least two guys were waiting.

Now that I'm back I've been dealing with desk-based administrative errands.  Unfortunately, two of the people I've tried to contact have been unable to take my call so the situations remain unresolved.  Gross.

Anyway, we also have a few shopping errands to run later today.  So assuming all goes as planned we'll have spent close to a full work day fully on the go on my day off.  Yum.

Cameron - 4
Neil - 0

We've been busy

So part of the reason posts have been so infrequent over the past few weeks is that I've been incredibly busy (the rest of the reason has to do with me not really knowing what I should post about these days).

Much of the reason for the business has to do with two major purchases that Jeannette and I are just in the midst of finalizing.

The first major purchase Jeannette and I are in the midst of finalizing is that of a new house.  Not surprisingly, the purchase decision was preceded by a number of visits to prospective houses as well as trips around potential neighbourhoods.  Once we settled on a house there were back and forth communications with our realtor as well as various inspections that had to be arranged (one of which lead to some extra plumbing work) before the deal could be finalized.  Since the deal has been finalized (though we still do have to transfer the deed and all of that finicky legal stuff) we've had to continue to make house arrangement, plan for the move, consider paint and furniture, and deal with utility and insurance considerations.  All in all, it's been a fair bit of work and generally quite tiring (though may not quite as tiring as a mid-winter possession date).

While we were working our way through the aforementioned house purchase we had the pleasure of being backed into while driving slowing (I'm guessing we were only going about 5 kph) through a mall parking lot.  The accident has lead to us making several trips and calls to insurance company representatives and auto body shops.  It's definitely been much more of an ordeal than I initially expected.

Of course, one thing that soon became clear in the midst of this process is that we weren't interested in having anyone spend several hundred dollars more than the price we paid for the car just to fix one of the car's doors. Fortunately we think that we've finally managed to have the vehicle declared a write-off, though the final confirmation of this fact has been slow to come.  Maybe tomorrow? Please?

And in the midst this entire process we realized that we really couldn't avoid buying a new vehicle.  At first we considered not junker used cars but then soon realized that for only a little more we could have a new car.  So we then suddenly entered the new car market and soon settled on a model (it had the upside of being on the lot and available for a quick pick-up).  And then a few days after that we had a brand new car.  I can't tell you how much we've both appreciated having heated seats and a seat that effectively accommodates our disparate heights.

So somehow in the middle of our house buying process we managed to start and complete a car buying process (and two complete registration and insurance acquisition process - but that's a story I really don't have the energy to tell on what has already been a three-post day).  So we're now both completely exhausted and quite aware that this likely won't let up at any point between now and dementia.

Cameron - 3
Neil - 0

My dream car?

I'm not exactly sure why, but I love that I've seen a few Chevette's since we've been in Regina.  The presence of these cars have lead me on a real nostalgia kick because I don't think I'd seen such a car for close to 20 years (as they've been out of production in North America since 1987).

Anyway, I'm quite pleased to be living in a place with at least a handful of Chevette's kicking about for my viewing pleasure.

Oh, and I'm definitely starting to think that if I ever try to get some kind of 'vintage' car that it would have to be a Chevette.  Who knows, maybe I can pick one up on the cheap before they really become popular as collectors' items?

With (a) great car comes (a) great responsibility (to go on road trips)

A few weeks ago, long before we'd even thought about acquiring a car, my friend Nicole mentioned that at the end of August she would be in Montreal for a few days.  At the time the distance, though it is only 200 km, seemed almost unimaginably far.  And while I hadn't completely written off the idea of somehow making it to Montreal for a visit, it certainly seemed a little unlikely.

Of course once we had our car in hand travelling the 200 km to Montreal didn't seem so challenging (and what better way spend time with a new car than by taking it out for an extended test drive?).

So with the transportation issue out of the way I now just had to play catch up and get the dates of Nicole's visit.  Amazingly, after what seemed like just a few minutes I got a response back from Nicole indicating that she'd just arrived that day.  Within a few emails we'd arranged to meet for lunch the following day.

Though we had to deal with a few construction related delays while making our way out of Ottawa, the trip went relatively smoothly (though had our air conditioning been working it would have been even more pleasant).  The only noteworthy aspect of the trip, which was remarkably straight forward, was the traffic.  Though I haven't made the drive before it seemed that there was a fair bit of traffic for a Saturday morning in August (though this feeling may just be because I'm still unfamiliar with the traffic patterns).

In just about two hours from our time of departure we were in the Mile End neighbourhood of Montreal.  Despite the fact that I hadn't spent much time in the area there were a few names and locations that were familiar.

After a short stroll around the surrounding area we made our way meet Nicole (it being a hot and sunny day we were looking forward to not only our rendezvous but also the restaurant's shade and water).

It was really great to catch up on post-library school goings on a hear a little about life in New Zealand.

After a very pleasant lunch and chat we made our way over to my old stomping grounds.  I was able to show Jeannette where I used to live, work, and shop.  Unfortunately because of one-way streets and an unfamiliarity with streets from the perspective of a driver the trip to this part of town took a fair bit longer than it should have.

Despite the fact that I tend to think that I don't really miss Montreal all that much it was really nice to see the place again after about four years.  Despite the fact that there have been quite a number of changes in my absence, there are a remarkable number of similarities.  Maybe now that we're only a two hour drive away I'll have the chance to head back a little more frequently now.

Isn't life exciting?

On Wednesday afternoon I received a call informing me that my recently ordered table was ready to be picked up on Thursday.  Much to my surprise, despite the fact that the store is closing and the table was suspiciously cheap, the call about the table's availability came right on time.

At about the same time I also received a call informing me the used 2000 Toyota Echo that Jeannette arranged to buy would also be available on Thursday.

Talk about synergy.

Now we could use the car to pick up the table, or at least that was the plan that was rapidly forming in my head.

On Thursday we bussed out to the car pick-up site and were back on the road within minutes.  Not surprisingly, our destination was the table pick-up site.  Of course, because it's construction season and because the loading dock is tucked away beneath a bridge getting to the pick-up point (even though it's only about 3 blocks from our apartment) took the better part of a half an hour.  Then, once we were finally on site, we found that the table was too wide to fit in either the back seat or the trunk.

So before we were back to the original table pick up plan - my hand-truck.

Of course the loading dock guys were amused to see that after the failed car-based load I came back with an even smaller means of conveyance.  Anyway, even if it looked a little funny, I made it back to the apartment with the table on the hand-truck in much less time than I spent driving around in circles trying to find the right one-way access point to the loading dock.

(I guess I somehow managed to spend more time and effort on the table pick up than I did on the new car details.  It's nice to know that even with the acquisition of a new vehicle I'm still not car (R)obsessed.)

The Badness

This afternoon Jeannette and I were walking along the Halifax waterfront boardwalk when we heard two women ask their friend to take their picture in front of The Badness. At first, like the woman who had been asked to take the photo, we had no idea what The Badness was or why these women would want their picture taken with it. Fortunately, within a few seconds the two women made their way to The Badness for their photo.

It turns out that The Badness was a Corvette with the vanity license plate "BADNESS." This car, with its amazing license plate, drew our attention to the fact that we were surrounded by Corvettes, many of which had rather amazing license plates. As it happened, unbeknownst to us, we managed to walk into some kind of Maritimes Corvette show. I would guess that there were about 50 Corvettes of various vintages.

Of course, there is The Badness, the original and still the best.



But we shouldn't forget the ever impressive "COBRA 1,"



or the car that is always ready to rock, "RDY2RCK,"



or the car that is always ready, "4ACTION,"



and last but not least, the car that brings to mind the manliest of the plants, "HERBS."



What a car show.