A tale of two storms

It seems that yesterday two of Canada's most important cities, Regina and St. John's, were hit with crippling snow storms.  Of course, these storms were quite different.

In St. John's/much of Newfoundland a very substantial snowfall was accompanied by strong winds and sizeable drifts.  Not surprisingly, many people throughout the province lost power - and there are apparently many who are still without power.

Of course, maybe the worst aspect of the St. John's storm (aside from the mass power outage and crippling snowfall) is the fact that for the past 24 hours the temperature hasn't been below freezing.  So all of this freshly fallen snow is in the process of melting or at least turning into slush.  Yum (especially if the forecast about lower temperatures later in the week comes to pass).

Not surprisingly, the way things played out in Regina has been a little different.

First of all, we had less snow and less wind (so our drifting wasn't nearly as bad).  On the other hand, I suspect we've had a touch less ploughing of side streets and we had side streets that already had inches of ice build-up so many side streets are almost impassable and will likely remain in a similar condition for at least the next few days.  Oh, and instead of the temperatures dropping to something that might allow melting of the snow the temperatures have dropped substantially.  It seems that a windchill of -29 is as high as it has been in the past 24 hours (when I was walking around in this weather it seemed cold but in retrospect I timed my walk during the warmest part of the day).

Anyway, while if I had to choose one of these two storms I'd likely choose the Regina storm it will, nonetheless, likely be with us a little longer than the already melting snowfall that recently befell St. John's.

These always seemed risky to me

For years the tradition has been that members of the Stanley Cup winning NHL team each get to have the cup for a day. That each player has such control over the cup for a period of time has always seemed a little strange to me given the symbolic importance of the item being lent to a bunch of professional athletes in their twenties and thirties.

Anyway, earlier today in St. John's when the cup fell from a table and was visibly dented my sense of apprehension was somewhat confirmed. Anyway, feel free to check out the Telegram's video here. I am sure that by the end of the day this will be all over the internets.

That narrative changed quickly

About a week ago I posted about former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams' attempts to arrange for an AHL team for St. John's. At the time the province's refusal to provide a $500 000 subsidy seemed likely to sink the proposal.

Amazingly, about a week later Williams seemed to have come up with a new deal that would see the team re-locate to St. John's without the public money.

Is it just me or was that turnaround fast?

Also, is Danny Williams not the guy who criticized the current provincial government for not taking the time to properly analyze the proposal? I get the sense that he is not drawing attention to the fact that it seems that he didn't really take that much time to run the numbers in the first place if just a week ago the project was only possible with public money and now it is not.

I am curious to see how many more curious developments are associated with this story as the final details relating to the re-location of the team are settled.

A Few Quick Notes 526

-After several hours of overcast skies this morning we have finally made the transition to rain/snow and high winds. Though we don't yet have a storm warning, other parts of the Maritimes have been warned about a snowstorm that is due to hit this weekend. So even if we don't get 30 cm of snow, it does look as though we will be getting something unpleasant this weekend.

-On a related note, it seems that there is an Ultimate tournament taking place this weekend that should be made pretty unfun by this weather. Actually, the likelihood of similar weather was exactly why I chose not to play in the same tournament last year. Anyway, I really hope that things aren't too unpleasant for those playing.

-After a little dilly-dallying this morning I finally got around to sending an email to Elections Canada about their less than function special ballot application webpage. Of course after sending the email I was taken to a page where it was suggested that I shouldn't expect a particularly prompt response. I guess I just hope that they change their system before too many people are discouraged from voting.

-As I was walking to an appointment this morning I came across this car.

I guess it must be an April Fool's day joke but I really don't get it.

-At first I thought a story from St. John's about the Village Mall booting Metrobus from their parking lot was an April Fool's Day joke as well, but this one seems to be real. This is definitely going to be a bummer for a number of bus riders and will again hit the people who can least afford to be hit.

My favourite part of the story was the part at the end when they talked about decreasing ridership. I wonder if the decreasing ridership might have anything to do with a decreasing quality of the service? My experience with Metrobus over the years has been that they have consistently made bus routes less useful and changed route structures so that trips to and from the same places take longer than they used to. No wonder fewer people ride the bus under these circumstances.

A Few Quick Notes 490

-It is currently raining, as it has been for much of my trip. Though we did see some sun this afternoon, today, like every other day since I have been home, has seen at least some rain. This has been one of the worst stretches of weather I have seen in quite some time.

-We went bowling tonight. While my father and I pulled respectable scores together in the last frame or two of play of the first game, we all managed to solidly break 100 in our second game. The only unfortunate part of this, at least as far as I was concerned, is that I managed to score fewer points in the second game than in the first.

While we were bowling the gentlemen in the lane next to us, who arrived just as we were arriving, (who was a good bowler) was seemingly there just to practice. He quickly played two 250+ games and then took off. In total he was probably there for less than 30 minutes. While he was there he seemed to even do things like set up splits and then finish them off. The whole thing was rather odd.

-Jeannette and I will soon be heading back to Halifax. It seems that they have been having similar weather there, so I don't imagine we have missed much.

-For the past day or two I have been engaged in re-listening to the recent Radiolab episode entitled Wild Talk.



[Embedded audio]

This episodes explores communication, or language, that has been found in certain animal species, or across species. Most importantly, it seems to give some credence to my skepticism of the claim that was made by my professor in my intro linguistics class that language is only to be found among humans.

A Few Quick Notes 489

-Today, like yesterday, has been incredibly unpleasant. Not only have we had relatively heavy rain for most of the past two days, but we have also had strong winds and temperatures just above freezing. The worst part is that it seems that we shouldn't expect much change for the foreseeable future.

-I have recently been engaging in some Christmas shopping and hope to do a little more today. Hopefully the stores I still need to visit won't be too packed when I head out to go shopping later today.

-Yesterday evening Jeannette and I quickly drove through some of the MUN campus. Because of the weather and the fact that it was after sunset we weren't able to actually see that much of the campus. So I was a quite surprised today to see that the university is presently in the midst of finally constructing a long-needed multi-storey parking structure in what once was a parking lot. A few more such structures wouldn't go astray.

Hopefully I will get to see a bit more of campus before I return to Halifax. In particular, I wouldn't mind seeing the Political Science wing of the Science building or the new residences.

-At some point in the very near future my mother and I are going to need to start doing some Christmas baking. I suspect that tomorrow will have to be the day, though as of right now we don't seem to have made any such plans.

I am a little worried

A few months ago I heard about something called Empire Avenue. At the time, and maybe even now, I didn't really know what the objective of the site/business was, though I did have the sense that it had something to do with social networking and advertising. What I did know was that the company/venture had strong ties to Newfoundland (as is indicated by its name - a street in St. John's).

While at first I was just aware of this operation's existence, I eventually checked out their website and even their blog. One of the most surprising things that I learned while on their website is that my former roommate, early Montifax reader, Rhodes scholar, and all around good guy Nithum is involved with the project on the research and analytics side of things. Obviously, this news made me somewhat more interested in the project (and hopeful for its eventual success).

As intrigued and pleased as I was to see Nithum's involvement I still limited my involvement with the site to a subscription to their blog. I completely ignored the chance to participate at the early beta testing phases.

Empire Avenue is now several months into the beta testing phase and has opened its doors to the public (meaning that membership is no longer as restricted as it was when they first opened). As a regular reader of their blog posts I was aware of this change, though for some time I seemingly did nothing with this information.

Yesterday, for some reason, though I really don't know what it is, I finally decided to sign up for an account. Much to my surprise, I soon learned that Neil already had an account, which he seems to have had for some number of months. Seems as though we both now engaging in a form of competitive social networking (which still seems a little strange to me).

I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but Empire Avenue is basically like a stock market, but instead of buying stock in companies with real money users buy 'shares' of people or companies with the site's artificial currency. This, of course, is tied in with user's social networking content. Things like users' overall wealth and share price are then determined by the combination of a number of these factors. If you think of it like a game, which I guess is encouraged, then you might think of one possible goal being to achieve a high share price while another goal might be to amass wealth (which may eventually be exchangeable for real-world rewards/discounts)

Edit: So getting to the title of this post, the thing I am worried about is too much spending time on this site. Even though I have only been a member for about 24 hours I can see that it could be quite addictive, particularly when competing against a particular person or set of people. I guess the only good news is that I know that I won't have the patience to really throw myself into this as some might, though there are a number of dynamics that I really do like.

A Few Quick Notes 393

-We are in the midst of another rather chilly day here in Halifax, though, fortunately, we are not really within striking distance of frostbite (so my shorts wearing will be able to continue unabated for another day). For better or worse it seems that we might be in for a little snow in the coming days, though presumably not as much as they have recently had in St. John's.

-There is some news that I may need to scoop Neil on if he doesn't get his act in gear. This is his official warning that if he doesn't act soon I may be forced to reveal an apartment related development that should really be his to reveal.

-Some friends of ours, one of whom is a regular reader [maybe our first shout out?] and is briefly visiting from Toronto, stopped by for a while last night. While we originally planned on slipping in a few games of Settlers we ended up engaging in more traditional forms of socializing instead (you know, drinking non-alcoholic beer and crapping on professional graduate degree programs). Eventually, like all good social gatherings of the 21st century, things devolved into a stream of funny YouTube videos (particularly focusing on documentaries with characters so incredible that they seem unreal and movies of a similar nature).

-Yesterday, after months of dilly-dallying, I finally got around to making pasta. It turns out that process was much more labour intensive than I expected and it involved a little more drying/waiting time that I originally expected (though fortunately a friend warned me about some of this a few days ago).



After the drying, as can be seen in the photo above, I moved on to the boiling phase of the process. Unfortunately, I over interpreted the instructions about a short cooking length and pretty drastically undercooked the pasta. While it was edible, it really was a little harder than any of us would have liked.

-I should get down to work.

Blog-off Score

Neil: 0
Cameron: 16

Return to Halifax

After about two weeks in St. John's Neil, Rebecca, and I returned to Halifax today. Our early morning flight meant that we had to wake up at about 4:00 AM, which meant that none of us had much time for sleep.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, though I arrived in different car than Neil and Rebecca. Through a strange piece of luck (for me) I somehow managed to end up at the beginning of a new check in line and consequently had my bags processed quite quickly. Neil and Rebecca, who weren't quite as lucky in the line department, were also ready to move on to the next stage of the process.

The security line was a little longer than the check in line, though even this line wasn't too long. What was most impressive about the security process was how quickly I moved through the metal detectors and x-rays, there was basically no lost time (though I was asked if I had liquids or gels about 2 more times than made sense).

Not to longer after we made it through security we all decided to make food and/or beverage purchases at the cafeteria. Amazingly, the amount of time we spent standing in line to place our order was probably more time than the combined amount of time that I had to spend in the other two lines.

When Neil was eventually able to place his order, which included a toasted bagel, he was told that they didn't have any bagels. This was a little surprising as bagels were visible in the display case. A moment later the employee indicated that they were just 'joking,' and that they did actually have bagels.

The plane ride itself was rather uneventful. Unfortunately, I think that the 20 ounces of coffee and can of energy drink that I consumed before the flight largely prevented me from sleeping on the flight even though I had had only about 1.5 hours of sleep the night before.

Shortly after deplaning and picking up our luggage we made our way out to grab a cab. We made our way to the only remaining cab, whose driver eventually determined that he wouldn't be able to fit all six of our suitcases in his cab and thus was unable to take us. He indicated that he would request that a van be sent for us. After going into the airport to make the call, he told us that a van had been requested but that it would likely take "a while."

After waiting for a few minutes Neil came to the realization that part of the problem was likely that most of the cab drivers (particularly the drivers of vans) had likely worked until the middle of the night on New Year's night. This likely explained why there were so few cabs at the airport and why a van would take "a while."

While waiting for the van we discussed various options other than a cab to make it back to Halifax. Unfortunately none of them seemed particularly tempting or particularly expeditious.

Just as Neil and I were in the midst of such a round of discussions the cab driver came over to talk to us and suggested that we might consider renting a car. He even offered to call an acquaintance at one of the few open rental companies to try to grease the wheels for us.

So within in a few minutes of the cab driver's suggestion we were on our way back to Halifax in a rental car, which turned out to be less than the cab ride would have been. Even once we take gas into account I think that this will be the cheaper than a cab ride (with tip) would have been.

Once back in Halifax with a ride (and unlimited kilometers) we decided to do a little cruising. We eventually settled on having breakfast in Clayton Park and then doing a quick drive-by on the Bayers Lake shopping district. Not surprisingly, most of the stores and businesses were not open today, which was a little disappointing as this is likely the last time we will have car access for the next few months.

By about noon we had finally made it back to the apartment and had time to unpack most of our belongings (some of which were previously owned, others of which we acquired while in St. John's). All three of us then decided to go for afternoon naps, which I think were necessary as none of had even close to 4 hours of sleep.

Though we don't have too many specific plans for our first night back in town, we are thinking that we might head out to catch a movie at Bayers Lake (which would be quite an inconvenience without a car). As of tomorrow we will have to try to get back on something of a regular schedule, which should be assisted by a few commitments that we each have in the coming days.

A Few Quick Notes 382

-After several days of temperatures just above freezing we have moved just a little below into temperatures just below freezing. Not surprisingly, the rain of a few days ago has now turned into something approximating flurries. My understanding of the forecast is that we should be having some combination of these to types of weather tomorrow.

-A few days ago we had a family photo session. My father wanted the photos to be taken as we had not had proper family photos take for some time and as the family had grown by one (Rebecca) since the last time we had such photos taken. Though I was a little skeptical at first, my father's decision to have the photos taken in a board room at MUN was likely a good one (I will be a little more certain once we get the photos back from the photographer). Amazingly we were able to move through about 10 different personnel configurations in much less than an hour (the whole process, which involved some set up and two locations took just over an hour).

-The night before, to celebrate Kirsten's birthday, our family, along with some family friends, went bowling. A fringe benefit of going when we did was that we were able to wear our new matching bowling shirts. While we looked pretty amazing, the shirts that Neil and I were wearing were a little too tight (which threw off our second game).



On a personal note, I think I scored a personal best with 195 in the first game.

-I think that there were a few more things that at various points during the past few days I was meaning to write about that I have now forgotten. While a few may have been moderately interesting, I think that for the most part they don't really merit mention, so I guess you might say that I am doing you one last favour for 2009.

A Few Quick Notes 381

-The relatively sub-par weather seems to keep on going. We have now had temperatures around zero and a few flurries most days since I have been home. Fortunately, the rainy spells have been relatively brief, or at least periods of time when I have not had to leave the house.

-We are presently still in the midst of our Christmas celebrations. On Christmas morning we examined the contents of our stockings, had breakfast, and, eventually, had dinner. While we opened a few gifts after dinner, we left quite a few under the tree. Both yesterday and today we have also opened a few gifts. I imagine that maybe by the 29th or 30th we might have finished the gift opening process.

It should be noted that as Kirsten's birthday falls in the midst of this date range things will likely slow down a little (though as far as Kirsten is concerned they will pick up).

-So far I have opened quite a number of matching shirts, maybe more than I have ever received before. My father, brother, and I all received Newfoundland beer shirts; I got a Dominion Ale shirt, Neil got an India Beer shirt, and my father got a Jockey Club shirt. All of us received matching bowling shirts from my uncle. And then Neil, my uncle, and I received matching flannel shirts. I imagine that this will be it for the matching shirts, though I could be mistaken.

-My understanding is that the aforementioned Jockey Club will soon be, or has been, discontinued.

-I have even managed to do some socializing.

A Few Quick Notes 380

-The most noticeable change in the weather between yesterday and today is that it is now a few degrees colder and we have had a few periods of flurries. The forecast is suggesting that we might have a little more of the same, though I am glad to see that they are predicting flurries both tonight and tomorrow.

-Earlier this evening we conducted our annual Christmas Eve gift exchange (each of us opens one gift). Kirsten gave me a pair of pajama pants that she made a few days ago. They are really quite impressive (and even include drawstring and elastic). Kirsten opened the Monty Python Fluxx game that I gave her, allowing us to have something to do for a portion of the evening.

-My Uncle and I made a brief trip to the airport this evening to see if we could track down his missing suitcase. Much to our surprise there was almost no one at the airport, and certainly not anyone who was in a position to help us with our problem.

-For dinner tonight we had a very tasty leg of lamb, along with a few other side dishes. One of my favourite of the other dishes was one of the loaves of bread that we baked yesterday.

-It seems that I will have to get up a little on the early side tomorrow morning to participate in the various Christmas festivities that have been planned. Hopefully things will slow down enough in the afternoon that I will be able to take a nap for at least an hour or two.

-A few days ago I started reading a book called Freakonomics. While I have found several sections of the book to be rather thought-provoking and informative, I feel that a few other sections are a little thin (though they are always entertaining). If I get a chance I may try to provide a more in-depth critique of the work once I finish reading it (which shouldn't take me too much longer).

-The party I attended last night was really great. Not only did I get a chance to see a few people I hadn't seen in over a year, I was also able to meet a few new people. Apparently Neil liked the party so much that he fell asleep there (only to wake up to take a cab home at 5:00 AM).

-Merry Christmas.

A Few Quick Notes 379

-It seems that for the past few days it has been hovering around, or just above, zero celsius. One of the most noticeable results is that much of the snow that was on the ground when we arrived has now melted and been replaced with greenish grass. The unpleasant side of this is that it has been quite grey and overcast since we returned home. There has certainly not been a day that I would consider calling nice.

-My uncle flew in from Newark last night. Unfortunately, his flight was delayed by about three hours and one of his bags lost in transit. Sadly it seems that this is pretty standard for this airline on this flight. My father said that he recently read that this particular flight had a 0 out of 5 rating in terms of being on time.

The only good news is that given my Uncle's familiarity with the flight he was able to pack so that his carry-on bag had many of his essentials.

-It seems that Neil, Rebecca, and I will be going to a Christmas party/Housewarming at a childhood friend's new house. Other parties thrown by this friend and his wife have tended to be quite incredible. Unfortunately, I feel a little out of the partying mood, so I am looking forward to attending less than I should be.

-My sister and Uncle, with a little help from me, placed the Christmas tree in the Christmas tree stand. As of right now it is still undecorated. I presume that decorating won't happen until tomorrow afternoon, though it is possible that some could take place in the morning.

-I should probably get going. There are a few things I should attend to before I head out to the aforementioned party.

A Few Quick Notes 378

-We are in the midst of a period of rather nasty weather in St. John's. For the past few days things have been generally wet and overcast, with intermittent periods of snow, just to mix things up a little. Unfortunately, it does not look as though things are really going to get much better in the immediate future.

-Last night, with my friend Greg, I made my triumphant return to George Street. We started things off at Trapper John's, where Greg's younger brother playing. Before things got started we were standing at the bar when I noticed that our high school chemistry teacher was standing just a few feet away (she didn't look as though she was in the mood to talk to former students) We then made our way over to The Martini Bar, an establishment that is typically too upscale for me, to see a friend who was doing the band's sound. Eventually, or once things began to wrap up at The Martini Bar, we made our way back to Trapper John's to catch the end of the band's show. Just before the band finished up Greg realized that we were just feet away from another former teacher of ours from junior high. Though we hadn't seen this guy in almost 15 years he immediately remembered both how he knew us and also our names. I was quite impressed.

Probably at about 3:00 we decided to head out. While I was fine with walking, some others in our party were interested in taking a cab, so we decided to take a cab. Not surprisingly, trying to get a cab as all of the bars cleared out did not turn out to be a particularly easy task. The process was complicated by us going to multiple strange locations. Fortunately we were able to eventually get a cab and make our way home.

While nothing particularly spectacular happened, I had a great time (though I don't know how many more similar nights I will be able to handle this trip).

-This afternoon Kirsten, Neil, Rebecca, and I all went to a former co-worker's house for brunch. We had traditional dishes like bacon and sausage, but also a great grits dish. The afternoon was really quite fun. I think Kirsten really liked playing with their small dog.

-Later this afternoon, maybe it might even be safe to say that it was early evening, Neil, Rebecca and I decided to try to do some Christmas shopping at da Mall. Unfortunately, not only was the place maggoty, but none of us really found anything that we were interested in buying. In general, though this is not meant to reflect negatively on my companions, it was a pretty unpleasant trip.

-Yesterday evening, after putting in quite a few hours, I was finally able to finish my exam grading. Already I feel more relaxed and able to enjoy things. I am particularly looking forward to tomorrow as I will be able to sleep in without guilt and then spend the better part of the day resting, relaxing, and reading (at least that is my plan).

Halifax to St. John's: 2009 Holiday Season

Yesterday, after almost a year's absence, I finally returned to St. John's and Newfoundland for a brief Christmastime visit. Aside from the many more phone calls than would be the case in Halifax it has been quite nice to be home.

When we left yesterday we started our trip with a cab to the airport. Three things were quite memorable about the cab ride. The first was the the cab was much colder than most cabs. While I didn't find this to be a problem, it did really stand out. Secondly, both Neil and I likely fell asleep for some portion of the ride out (Neil was in the back with Rebecca and I was in the front). Apparently we both feel asleep at approximately the same time and then woke up at about the same time. Rebecca was observant enough to notice that my quick glance down as I was waking up was to check for drool. I really hoped that I hadn't drooled on the seatbelt while I was sleeping (and I hadn't).

Once we got to the airport we made our way to the Porter check-in area. Unfortunately we encountered an employee who was new to the position, and thus rather slow and cumbersome. Anyway, without too many problems we managed to check our bags, pick up two free newspapers, and be on our way.

Once we had checked in we made a brief detour to the arrivals section of the airport to visit the ATM. While in the general area Rebecca and Neil spotted a fresh cotton candy vending machine and decided to go for it. While I was a little bit skeptical about the whole thing, I was glad to see the machine in operation (and that it wasn't my money that had initiated the process).



[Embedded Video]

As you can see, the machine seems to have really done its job well. I think that we were all surprised that it was a full-sized cotton candy serving for much less than one might pay at fair/street food booth. So if you see one of these you should feel comfortable that they do have the capacity to pump out real, fresh cotton candy.

Eventually we made our way through security with few problems, though they did change the regulations again so the plan that Neil and I had regarding our computers and thin neoprene sleeves was foiled. Anyway, none of us were wanded, which is really the most important thing.

Almost as soon as we were through security we noticed that our flight was delayed, something that we were surprised that the check-in desk staff didn't mention. Furthermore, based on information available on the arrivals and departures screens, it was clear that something was amiss, there was no way that our plane could arrive and then depart in the expected time frame.

We decided that with our extra time we would head to one of the restaurants in the secure area. We ended up sitting in the VLT zone. So not only where we about to watch drunken travelers pound down $6 singles, we were also able to watch many more people pump money into VLTs. What was amazing about the experience is that most of the machines were in use for the entire period of time that we were there. Only occasionally would a machine free up, and then it would be snapped up by another customer.

While watching the VLTers we ate our rather sub-par food and sent out a few rather detail sparse emails. Eventually, after maybe an hour and a half, we decided to move our operation to a coffee establishment so that we could access a larger table.

Once settled with our beverages and donuts all three of us attempted to do some school-related work. Rebecca was doing some course prep for a course see will be teaching in the Winter, I was trying to do some overdue grading, and Neil was doing some computer based stuff (and some reading). Not surprisingly, we weren't particularly productive in this setting. After only a few exams I packed it in.

Eventually we made our way to the waiting area for our flight. Amazingly, the airline was still insisting that the plane would be leaving at originally re-scheduled time, even though it was clear that the plane we were to be catching still had not landed and was really even likely to be that close.

When the plane eventually did land we were able to board quite quickly, and after a quick trip to the de-icing station we were off. Only once the plan started moving did those of us in row 7 (Rebecca, Neil, me, and a guy named Justin) realized that we were sitting right next to the propellors. This was somewhat of an intimidating and loud position to find one's self.

Fortunately, I had a very pleasant chat with Justin, a St. Mary's University student from Newfoundland. Sitting next to him made the flight go much more quickly and pleasantly than it would have otherwise.

We eventually landed in St. John's, a few hours later than expected, we found that it was raining quite heavily and windy (not exactly my favourite December weather). Fortunately, the car wasn't too far away and we were soon on the road.

The other fortunate thing is that my mother had prepared dinner so we didn't have to wait a particularly long time to get food after we had returned.

Though I have managed to really stretch this post to several hundred words, it was generally a pretty uneventful, pleasant trip.

A Few Quick Notes 253

-Today has been pretty consistently mediocre. The temperature has hovered at about zero with a little snow falling at periods during the day. The only downside is that it is likely pretty icy at the moment. The plus side is that the weather has likely made it pretty safe as far as personal fireworks are concerned.

-A few days ago Neil and I played in a one-day Ultimate tournament hosted by the NLUA. Though I still feel as though a truck hit me, the event was great. I ended up playing four games while Neil, by making it to the final, ended up playing five.

-Though I am not a huge fan of fan of New Year’s Eve, it seems that I will be spending a few hours with friends. Hopefully this will be a pretty low-key event.

-A few minutes ago I was racing to get this post down because I thought that I had something to say. Then, almost as soon as I was ready to type, I completely forgot why I was so antsy to post (the ‘great’ idea completely gone from my mind).

-Neil, Rebecca and I will be back in Halifax in a few days. While this means the beginning of eight months of hell for me, I am kind of looking forward to getting back to work. I guess it might be fun to see how I feel about this in a few minutes.

Tonight I ended up listening to a few minutes of an As It Happens New Years’ quiz. At some point during the quiz they ended up playing the new Hockey Night in Canada theme. In some ways I was glad to hear this as I was curious to see what they would chose to use to replace the previous, and iconic, theme. It seems that they went something that almost seemed to be designed to be forgettable. The joke that some of the contestants made was that even though they had only heard it a few seconds ago they could not even remember how it went. I am of a similar sentiment (though I am not sure the old theme was worth several million dollars).

A Few Quick Notes 252

-It really seems to have turned to Winter in St. John's. I woke up to find high winds and snow. Unfortunately, my only morning commitment of the trip meant that I had to drive in near-white-out conditions.

Amazingly, the weather has gotten a little worse as the temperature is now above zero so the snow is turning to slush. The only good weather news of the day is that the predicted rain wasn't as plentiful as expected. The bad news is that the wind is expected to remain relatively high and the temperatures are expected to drop, meaning that the slush will turn to ice.

-As it snowed today I got my first chance to use the snowblower this year. As I only use it once or twice a year I still haven't figured out my style or technique and basically have to re-learn everything about the process every year. The nice thing is, even with my inefficient style, it is still faster and easier than shoveling. Maybe if it snows again I will have a chance to refine my approach, but it is possible that I will be battling Neil and my uncle for snowblower access (as they both also have only limited snowblower access).

-A few nights ago Greg and I hung out for a few hours. After heading to the local bookstore we went to a bar where one of his co-worker's was to be performing. After chatting to the band and having a beer and still seeing no signs of the show starting any time soon (one of the guitarists still wasn't there) we decided to head on to the bar where one of Greg's co-worker's was doing sound.

Almost as soon as we arrived it became clear that the band performing was pretty far away from good (which may explain why they were playing at a bar way out on Torbay road). Anyway, hanging out for a while the guy doing sound mentioned that he was hungry. After a few quick negotiations it was decided that we would head out and pick him up a fish sandwich at the nearby fast food joint.

As soon as Greg and I pulled into the lot we noticed that that there was quite a line for the drive-thru, but because the restaurant section wasn't open we joined the line. After waiting about ten minutes we were finally able to place our order. We then waited another few minutes to proceed to the window where we were to pay for our food. When we finally reached this window we were informed that they didn't have any more fish. This left us in a tricky spot as the individual for whom we were ordering food was a vegetarian and the restaurant didn't have any other acceptable main courses. After a few minutes of discussion we settled on a two patty burger with the patties on the side.

When we eventually made it back to the bar with the food the recipient wasn't particular pleased with the outcome of our trip. His initial reaction was to reject the 'burger' and focus on the fries and drink. After a few minutes he cracked and ended up chowing down on the bun, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sauce that comprised the meat-free burger. Greg and I each had one of the patties, which weren't particularly good on their own.

-A few posts ago I mentioned that one of my contributions was featured on the podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself. It seems that I have extended my streak by having a photo I submitted featured on their blog and mentioned on the most recent episode of the show. If you check out the blog, the photo, also posted below, is the one I submitted. I still can't believe that such a sign exists.



-I had the pleasure of getting my teeth cleaned today. It seems that this is starting to become a Christmas tradition for me, which is a slightly better tradition than getting my teeth knocked out or catching a seasonal malady.

-I am not sure what is causing it, but I have been very unproductive and unmotivated since having returned to St. John's. You may have noticed that this has resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of blog posts (which is problematic because they are so highly anticipated by our readers) and my general crankiness. Though I don't know the cause of these problems I am starting to wonder if they are related to the drop in coffee consumption that came with the change in location. Maybe if I increased my coffee consumption to my pre-departure levels everything would be fine. I guess I might as well try as I don't have much to lose at this point.

-As we received a relatively positive response from our last Montifax live-blogging experience I am tempted to try and either live-blog Christmas or some other event, maybe if I go for coffee at some wifi coffee shop. Anyway, be on the look out for a very exciting seasonal live-blogging event from your good friends at Montifax.

A Few Quick Notes 251

-Things took a slight turn for the worse weather-wise here in St. John's. Not only do we now have several centimeters of snow on the ground, but the temperature has also fallen several degrees below zero. I guess this is kind of what I wanted, full-fledged winter weather, none of that rain and near-freezing stuff that we had been having when I arrived.

-Yesterday I managed to wake up in the morning and move ahead with my plan to bake some bread. I ended up baking ten full sized loaves and five mini-loaves. So far I have been quite pleased with the product. The only problem is that we don't have enough freezer space to store the bread so we are giving it away pretty quickly. Consequently, this may mean that I will have to bake another batch if I want to leave my parents with a few loaves before heading home.

-A few days ago Neil suggested that we go bowling, so we ended up going last night. Six of us ended up making to Holliday Lanes for two games. What struck me about the games was the number of marks that we seemed to be bowling. Dave or Neil even managed a turkey, and the other one was within a strike of a turkey.

At one point I went up and bowled a strike only to learn that I had done it on Neil's turn. Obviously he had no interest in getting it fixed. Fortunately, I was able to follow up with a strike on my turn, otherwise I would have been pretty upset with myself.

-A few months ago I started listening to the podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself (a comedy podcast from Vancouver). Of late I have started making a few comments on their blog and sending emails. I was pleased to see that one of my suggestions from the blog comments ended up making this week's show. I am kind of curious to see if the picture I submitted makes the cut.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

When I arrived in St. John's a few days ago the temperature was above freezing and there was no snow on the ground. The situation wasn't quite the same when I woke up this morning.

While I was standing on the porch taking pictures of the snow I noticed that there was a guy walking down the street with a shopping cart. It didn't seem like the best time to be walking around with a shopping cart, and it wasn't apparent why he was making such a trip.

It has been such a long time

Neil, Rebecca and I managed to make our way back from Halifax to St. John's on Tuesday.

A few weeks before our departure from Halifax we realized that with three of us traveling it would be as cheap to take a taxi to the airport as it would be for all three of us pay bus fares. Anyway, it turned out that that is what we did when the appropriate time arrived.

The taxi worked out quite nicely and we were able to make it to the airport in no time. It seems that leaving at about 9:00 AM is a pretty good time to leave as there is very little traffic heading out of time at that time of day.

Because our taxi ride only took about 30 minutes were arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Almost immediately after checking in and going through security we purchased some drinks and snacks and secured a table. Almost as soon as we were seated we proceeded to break out the cards and play a game of hearts. Within about a hand it was clear that I was playing poorly and taking far too many points. Not surprisingly, I was smoked in no time.

After our game of hearts we moved to the area near our gate and staked out a few seats. Soon after arriving in the new location Neil and I decided to play another card game. After a few suggestions we came up with War. As we were about to start we decided to modify the game by adding some elements from Cribbage, making the game Cribbage war.

Some of the modifications included that if the sum of the cards was 15 the win would go to the person who played the lower card and if two suited cards were played, and one of them was the jack, the trick was won by the jack. Eventually we modified even these rules so that jacks would only win if the cards were suited and we gave the winner the option to decline the cards (so you didn't have to take the 2 that you took with your 3). The other modification that we added, based on cribbage, was to have aces be low, so there value dropped rather significantly.

Anyway, even with these rules in place the game was still rather slow and tedious. We managed to keep the game going for the rest of our wait in the waiting area, through the pre-departure time on the the plane, during take-off, and through about half of the flight (before Neil eventually won). We then played again and I won (this second game was much shorter).

Playing war for about two hours really made things go quite quickly. Almost before I knew it we were in St. John's and waiting for our luggage. Though the luggage area was maggoty with travelers it didn't take us too long to get our bags. Almost as soon as we had our bags in hand we found Rebecca's Father and made our way to his car. Within another 10 minutes or so we were home.

As we returned home I was surprised to find my mother and father waiting for us. Almost as soon we were through the front door my mother asked if we would like some soup and muffins. As I hadn't eaten all day (as is frequently my practice when traveling) I was quite grateful to have such ready access to food. Furthermore, the food was really quite tasty. The soup was homemade chicken rice soup and the partridgeberry muffins were still warm (and seemed to have extra fruit).

Since my arrival I haven't been as productive as I might have liked, though I can't say that I am too surprised. Coming home for Christmas doesn't seem to be a time for great productivity, though I do really need to take care of a few things in the coming days.