A Few Quick Notes 622

-While it is unlikely that we will make it up to the low-twenties, as we did yesterday, we have every indication that today will be at least another passable Spring day - if a little overcast.

-To take advantage of yesterday's great weather Jeannette and I spent much of the morning walking around our neighbourhood and the downtown area.  First we made our way to the city-funded arts centre (which just happens to be a few blocks away from us) to visit a showing of local artists works.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to find anything we wanted to buy.

We then made our way up to one of our local coffee shops for some road coffees for our walk to the farmer's market.

Mainly as a justification to head out for a walk, rather than with intent to actually buy anything, we made our way over to the Regina Farmer's market.  Unfortunately, as is normally the case, it was something of a disappointment (and nothing like the Saskatoon Farmer's Market that we visited last Saturday) and we weren't even remotely tempted to buy anything.  As usual, there wasn't even any flour.  What's up with a farmer's market in Saskatchewan not selling flour?

Because the farmer's market is on the same street as the optician from whom I recently purchased glasses I then went to have my glasses adjusted.  For some reason my glasses have been slipping down my nose (a problem I have had with every pair of glasses I have ever owned).  While I think the adjustment helped I'm not sure if the problem has been altogether solved and I fear that I may have to start using my weird little rubber ear piece attachments.  Bummer (particularly, because it this problem that motivated me to buy new frames).

-After a little bit of early yard work (mostly some raking and sweeping) Jeannette talked me into having our first barbecue of the season.  Not surprisingly, it was quite pleasant.

A Few Quick Notes 620

-Though a little warmer today, for the past few days we have been waking up to rather frigid temperatures (in the -35 to -40 with wind chill range).  Fortunately, these temperatures have decreased rather dramatically as the days have progressed and, typically, by evening we're up to a comfortable -20ish.

-I'm 1/4 in this year's Roll Up the Rim to Win competition.  I suspect my only entries will be those I purchased while either traveling to and from Edmonton or while I was in Edmonton.  I'll be surprised if I even get a chance to move up to 1/5.

-With ever lengthening days it has been a treat to walk to and from work in full light this past week.  Of course, paired with the cold temperatures we've been having, the full sun and bright skies have been a little dissonant.

-Over the past few days Jeannette and I have been somewhat obsessively watching Orphan Black, a show staring Regina native Tatiana Maslany (who also happens to have been in the Newfoundland-filmed movie Grown Up Movie Star alongside one of Kirsten's school friends).  Of course, because there aren't all that many episodes currently in existence this will necessarily be a short-lived obsession.

-I'm thinking about trying to drag Jeannette out for a walk along the creek/river today.  Aside from the somewhat cool temperatures, it's a perfect day.

Cameron - 14
Neil - 0

No such thing as a free donut

Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to create a free donut (actually up to three free donuts).
 
Much to my surprise no one took me up on my offer to have me mail them up to three free donut rims.   Apparently, at least this is how I am interpreting things, I am not the only one not to be a big donut eater.

Maybe this reminder will shake things up?

A Few Quick Notes 574

-While today was beautiful, it was nothing like yesterday's mid-twenties masterpiece when we reached something approaching weather perfection.  It was a pleasure to have the chance to live through such a beautiful day.

-I guess I'm now 8 for 24 in this year's RUTRTW contest.  Unfortunately at least three of these wins have been for 'donuts,' and I have no idea what to do with the winning rims.   If someone wants them maybe I could mail them out all at once or one at a time depending on demand.  Anyway, if you think you might be interested in up to three free donut rims leave me a comment and I think about how to proceed.

-At least my record isn't 0 for 68, which how bad the RCMP's was when it came to picking Canadian politicians with connections to the USSR.  You can find the CBC's story on the topic here.

-The NDP leadership convention has not started.  And while I didn't pay too much attention to the first few months of the race, over the past few days I have been enjoying watching the final manoeuvres.  I will also be curious to see who is eventually selected to be the leader and how the preferential voting system ends up working out.

Today while thinking about convention coverage I thought to myself that I would 'watch it on Twitter,' and then realized that that is likely how I will follow the convention.  It's kind of amazing that reading a series of short updates is sufficiently engaging and informative that I would consider doing this.

A Few Quick Notes 573

-Holy cow, apparently it's 25 and sunny here in Wolfville.  If I wasn't currently being blasted by sun bright sunlight I might be inclined to think that such temperatures would be impossible at this time of the year.

-I guess I must now be 7 for 23 in this year's RUTRTW contest.  I wish I hadn't started reporting my record as I now feel a strange obligation to continue even though I can't imagine anybody cares.

-A few months ago Jeannette and I purchased a 2 pound bag of discount dried soy beans.  Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I tried cooking with formerly dried soy beans.  While they were fine texture wise, they ended up being sweeter (or something like that) than I expected.  Also, I don't think that they were the best choice for a bean curry, but at least I now know that.  Maybe they'd be better in soup?

-This morning for breakfast I decided to bake myself some banana bread.  Turns out that stuff always takes longer to bake than I remember.  In the end this turned out to be a pretty bad plan for breakfast.

A Few Quick Notes 572

-Much to my surprise we had a few hours of snow today.  Fortunately relatively warm temperatures meant that we didn't see much accumulation.

Fortunately for you, I was able to capture this non-accumulation through the power of time-lapse.




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-I must be 5 for 19, with a +/- of about three on the total number of cups, in this year's RUTRTW.  And to think that this represents only a fraction of my coffee consumption.

-I made a nice batch of breakfast Afghans today.  I am really quite fond of this recipe.

-This evening I started making some bread.  After about an hour of the bread not rising I realized that adding some yeast would probably help that out.  I think I fixed things, but they still aren't perfect.

-This whole Robocall things keeps on trucking along.  It seems that today's big news was that the CEO has now 'requested' to appear before a parliamentary committee and discuss the investigation.

A Few Quick Notes 570

-We are coming to the end of another beautiful day in Wolfville.  While official reports put the temperature at just a few degrees above zero, I'm pretty sure that it felt much closer to 10 degrees.  The sun being out really helped.

-I am now 5 for 17 in my quest for RUTRTW glory.  Unfortunately I already have two donut rims weighing my quest down, so prospect of my snagging that camping get-up seem pretty slim.

-I haven't done any baking today.  Thought you'd not want to know.

You might be more interested to know that I did 'mill' some of my own whole wheat flour today.

This very roughly milled stuff was created with the assistance of a coffee grinder.  In addition to getting this batch of 'flour,' I may have also learned that coffee grinders are not flour mills as my sense is that the grinder may now be dead.

A Few Quick Notes 568

-We had a pretty standard grey winter's day today.  I guess this is fine following yesterday's snowfall as it meant that we didn't have as much melting as we have had recently, and that is always nice.  Sadly, this melting is supposed to come tomorrow.

-I guess I must now be something like 4 for 14 in this year's RUTRTW contest.  I really think at some point I lost track of how many of these beverages I've purchased.  I do feel relatively certain that I have just four wins (three coffees/lattes and a 'donut').

-I've been intermittently following some of the 'Super Tuesday' coverage online.  My sense of things is that the results we are seeing mean that the whole issue won't likely be unresolved when we wake up tomorrow morning - though US presidential politics really aren't my speciality and I could be way off.

-It's just about 11:00 PM so I threw my loaf and a half of bread in the oven.  I guess I'll have freshish bread in the morning.

A Few Quick Notes 567

-Well, we seem to be in the midst of a rather mediocre day in Wolfville.  While it isn't particularly cold, it isn't particularly pleasant either.  The skies are grey and things are generally wet (though it may be the case that some blue is starting to break through).

-I think I must be something like 3 for 12 in the annual RUTRTW contest.  I suspect this count isn't quite right (at least on the consumption side - I know the winning side is accurate).   I continue not to really be trying very hard, and I don't plan on changing my approach any time soon.

What I have been thinking about in relation to this contest is that if there are 47 000 000ish prizes to be won, and the chances of winning are about 1 in 6 does that mean that there are close to 282 000 000 cups printed for this annual event?  And does that mean that, on average, each Canadian is consuming close to 10 participating beverages?  And if the average price of a participating beverage is $1.50 does that mean that over the course of the promotion they are selling something close to $423 000 000 of beverages?  The scale of this whole thing is hard to conceive, particularly when you think that they aren't the only place selling coffee during the event.  I wonder how much land is needed to grow this much coffee?

-Well this year's blog-off seemed to end with a whimper rather than a bang.  For some reason Neil didn't even manage to make a single post, which was definitely a disappointment.  If he continues with this approach to the blog-off I'm going to keep winning in this entirely unsatisfactory manner.  Maybe we will manage to convince him to participate next year?

-Maybe I should get back to work?

A Few Quick Notes 566

-Though at times chilly, today was another beautiful day.

-Being 1 for 6 in this year's RUTRTW contest, which is my current position, might be a good point to stop.  I guess this it is unlikely that I will stop at this point, but it's at least a good sign that I'm thinking about it, right?

-I tried to take a picture of myself today.

I think I was probably about 60% successful.

-This whole robocall thing keeps on chugging along.  What a bummer that this kind of thing happens.

-We now only have two and a bit days left in this blog-off thing and Neil is still yet to make an appearance.  What's up with that?

Cameron: 40
Neil: 0

A Few Quick Notes 562

-Though today was a cool day, it was also a beautiful day.  If only most winter days were like today nobody would have anything against winter.

-I guess RUTRTW started today.  I am already batting a big fat .000 at 0 for 1.  I don't think I am even going to joke about trying harder this year.  If anything I will try harder to make my own coffee.

-The bread I mentioned this morning is now done.

The taste and texture are pretty much what you might expect them to be in a bread with 12 grains.

-We had a somewhat pleasant sunset tonight in Wolfville.




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-While sitting in a reception area this afternoon I had the chance to catch parts of three day-time talk shows.  Maybe my sample size is limited, but I have no idea how anyone could watch that stuff.  Not only were all of the shows at least mildly exploitative, but they were just unpleasant and void of substance.

I guess I can feel a little more comfortable with my decision not to consume this kind of media.

Cameron: 30
Neil: 0

It's gone on long enough

For some reason when one moves up from fast food coffee chains to more expensive coffee houses certain differences are immediately apparent. At least as far as the coffee is concerned I see most of these changes as positive. For instance, I do like having some choice when it comes to roast or whether I would like an espresso-based beverage (not that this is a choice I often make). But, unfortunately, there is one coffee-based difference that seems common to many of these operations that I really dislike. For some reason, these places do not add milk or cream to the coffee before it is handed to the patron.

Maybe the most obvious reason for my dislike of this practice is that the pourers routinely leave room in the cup for milk or cream. As someone who takes my coffee black this means that I am being shorted coffee and not making up for it by taking advantage of the available (relatively more expensive) condiments. This is all the more galling as I’m paying more for the pleasure of being shorted coffee than I would pay for coffee at the cheaper fast food coffee places where I’ve never been shorted on coffee just because I like it black.

My second problem with this practice is more of a safety/spillage concern. So instead of handing me a to-go cup of coffee that is ready to consume, this places will hand me unlidded cups of hot coffee. I know that I am unlikely to spill this coffee on myself, but when I am handling multiple flimsy paper cups at the same time I do enjoy the comfort of a lid.

Of course getting a lid for the coffee is usually another issue. Instead of having the lids near the cash register they are usually near the milk, so that those adding milk can grab them when they have done. Of course, if you won’t want milk this means a trek to the milk stand. If a group ahead of you is at the milk stand you may have to wait or contend with other customers ineptly milking and lidding their coffee. Oh, and this area is usually a mess as people have been spilling milk and sugar since opening time. And as a black coffee drinker spilled milk and sugar are exactly what I want to deal with after I have just ordered a beverage without those ingredients.

And if I have ordered a beverage with those ingredients, which only happens when I am ordering for others, I don’t want to have to figure out how much milk or sugar are typically served with coffee. And even if I knew how much were desired, that I have to add the ingredients myself makes life more difficult when placing an order for a group, a process which is relatively straightforward at most fast food coffee shops. And if nothing else, isn’t service what we’re paying for at a place like this?

A final consideration, and though it doesn’t really impact me directly would seem to be of some significance to the milk in coffee segment of the population, is that when cold milk is added to hot coffee (rather than the other way around) more damage is done to the protein in the milk. Put another way, adding coffee to milk means that more of the nutritional benefits of the milk are be passed along to the consumer than if milk is added to coffee. Ironically, the fast food coffee chains typically do it the healthy way.

So given these concerns, and more that I haven’t dealt with, I don’t understand why this trend seems to be spreading. How has there not been a major outcry from the coffee consuming public to end these unsafe and unhealthy practices? This inferior service model must be stopped.

A Few Quick Notes 538

-We seem to be experiencing another overcast and cool, but dry, day in Wolfville. Though I am not a fan of particularly high temperatures, I really wouldn't mind it being a bit warmer than the low teens on most June afternoons.

-Maybe it was because I frequently vacationed in Michigan as a child, but Jack Kevorkian is definitely an individual I associate with my childhood (though not in as morbid a way as you might imagine). Anyway, I was somewhat surprised to hear that he recently died. I wonder if someone will try to fill his shoes?

-As some of you may know, as of this morning many Canada Post employees are striking. Much to my surprise, this development did not mean delays for packages that I was expecting from Newfoundland.

-I have been having a hard time motivating myself to get back to work in this post-comps period. Hopefully I can find a way to turn a corner in the very near future.

-For the few weeks leading up to my comps I was consuming far too much coffee. I suspect that I was frequently consuming upwards of 3 litres of coffee a day. My consumption was so high not because I wanted the caffeine, but mainly because I just like drinking warm beverages and I do my best to avoid tea during the day. Anyway, I am pretty sure that this rate of coffee consumption wasn't doing anything good for my mood, sleep quality, or rate of productivity. Fortunately, in the past few days I have seen a precipitous drop in my rate of coffee consumption. I just hope that I can keep it up and that I don't slip back in to this 3 litres a day trend (of course, I did just buy a few kilos of coffee beans).

A Few Quick Notes 533

-Today was a beautiful, though chilly, day.

-I am now up to 6 for 34 in this year's RUTRTW. I suspect that my last cup, which was a winner, will be my final cup for the the year, so, amazingly, I think I came in a little better than expected by the end.

-Yesterday Jeannette and I were walking downtown when we were handed Porter promotional items. Upon closer inspection we learned that what we had been handed were unassembled balsa planes. Today I decided to assemble my plane.



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-I have been doing a fair bit of grading today, I guess if I want to reach my daily goal I should head back to my stack of exams.

A Few Quick Notes 531

-We had the pleasure of having another beautiful day today. It seems that the first part of this week isn't supposed to be quite as nice as this weekend was.

-I am now 5 for 33 for this year's RUTRTW contest. Maybe not surprisingly, all of the 5 prizes have been been free coffees.

-This weekend I was again able to take advantage of the fact that our building has not yet increased the laundry prices as promised. I am quite happy that the promised price increase has not yet been implemented, though this impending doom of the price change is a little nerve-wracking.

-A few days ago it became clear that one of the two local grocery stores has stopped carrying pate. This seems a strange development as they had been carrying a number of varieties until a few weeks ago and because the other store is continuing to carry a number of varieties. What I can't figure out is why this change would have happened at this particular moment in time.

-A few days ago I saw a CBC story about a local sexual assault that had a pretty distrubing line.

The woman told police she recognized him as the same stranger who had touched her three times previously in similar incidents.

How is it that similar attacks have happened to the same woman three times?

-Gilles Duceppe seems to have requested a time change for the French language debate from Thursday to Wednesday because of a scheduling conflict - with a NHL hockey game.

Though I get the sense that at least a few of the other parties aren't opposed to such a change, I haven't heard if the change will actually be approved.

Update: Neil just informed me that the debate has in fact been changed and will now be taking place on Wednesday.

-Neil and I traded haircuts this afternoon.

A Few Quick Notes 530

-Today has been pretty beautiful so far, though the forecast is for things to take a turn for the worse later this afternoon.

-I am currently in the midst of drinking what may be my last RUTRTW for the season. I wonder if it will be a winner?

-Neil and I did make it, as planned, to our local Yuk Yuk's last night. Also as planned, we got to see Graham Clark perform. Before the show I even took the opportunity to introduce myself and compliment him on his work. As far as I could tell I may have been the only bumper in the audience?

-I am currently in the midst doing some laundry. Much to my surprise, the prices have still not been adjusted up to the $2 a load prices.

A Few Quick Notes 529

-We are in the midst of another beautiful day in Halifax. Amazingly, even though it has been sunny all day the puddle outside my window (which was featured in yesterday's video) has still not dried up.

-I am now down to a shameful 4 for 32 in this year's RUTRTW contest. I guess all of this year's Dal luck when to the girl who won a car the other day.

-I have been spending far too much time following a variety of Canadian politics types on Twitter. The problem is that as reporters are reporting on things from the field one can basically watch stories as they break and as the various parties respond to them. One can easily have an entire day sucked up without really accomplishing more than gaining a familiarity political brouhaha of the day.

-Last night Neil and I attended our final DAGS meeting of the year, and this was after we had already attended our union's AGM. Talk about a day full of large-scale meetings.

-Neil and I will be heading over to our local Yuk Yuk's tonight to see Graham Clark of Stop Podcasting Yourself fame. I am curious to know if I will be the only bumper/MaxFunster in the audience tonight?

Though Neil isn't much of a MaxFunster or a bumper, tonight's show will mean that he is something of a Stop Podcasting Yourself completist in that he will have seen both Dave and Graham perform live in Halifax. Presumably one of the few people in the world to have accomplished such a feat?

-I should either get back to work or start making dinner. Probably the latter in this instance.

A Few Quick Notes 527

-Though today started off being a fair bit above average it seems that things have now turned a little overcast. Hopefully this change in sky colour won't lead to a change in precipitation levels.

-I am now down to 4 for 31 in this year's RUTRTW contest. I have to say, my heart really isn't in it any more. I keep buying rims just expecting to to lose (and then become somewhat comforted by the fact that my prediction turned out to be correct). Maybe I will find a way to get my groove back for next year.

-My Ignatieff rally video seems to gotten a few views, and this is after I deleted the first version to replace it with a higher quality video. I suspect that things will level off shortly, at at least by the end of the campaign.

-Early this afternoon I picked up a few more essays to grade. I suspect that almost as soon as I finish grading these essays it will be time to grade final exams. I can't wait for that to start.

-Yesterday, while we were making our way to the rally, I happened to notice a sign promoting upcoming shows at our local comedy club. Much to my surprise, it seems that one of the hosts of Stop Podcasting Yourself, Graham Clark, will be appearing there this weekend. This is great. I hope to be able to attend the Thursday night show, though I am not quite sure who I will be able to convince to go with me.

A Few Quick Notes 525

-We had another beautiful day in Halifax.

-I will soon be adding another RUTRTW rim to my tally, but before unrolling the rim I will have to finish my coffee.

-Apparently Harper is scheduled to make a campaign stop in Halifax tomorrow. Of course, that this is to take place isn't particularly clear on the website. What little information I do have seems to suggest that this may be a media only event - a type of event that I think shouldn't exist.

-We will soon be watching the penultimate episode of Republic of Doyle for the season. Hopefully a Doyle Pitch or two will be written during the episode.

-In advance of the laundry price increase that is due to be implemented tomorrow we have all been doing laundry tonight. I think that we have all managed to do as much laundry as possible.

A Few Quick Notes 524

-Contrary to what is being reported by Environment Canada, we are actually working our way through another beautiful day in Halifax. Sadly, things are expected to take a turn towards the rain tomorrow.

-I am now down to 4 for 29 on this year's RUTRTW. So even if I pick up a win on my next cup I will average at best (or something like that).

-I went for my first post talk meal today. I am really pleased to have finally been invited to tag along with faculty members and the guest speaker for a post-talk meal. This seems like a strange rite of passage in the world of graduate studies, and I am glad to have finally achieved it. This invitation was particularly good as the speaker in question studies some things that interest me, so it was good to be introduced to her as I will likely be checking out more of her work in the future.

-The election is ongoing but I still haven't heard of any big public rallies that I might be able to attend to hear party leaders or candidates speak. It is almost as though this form of campaigning is a thing of the past. I would have imagined that making speeches to the public might be something that at least a few of the party leaders would be interested in.

-I should get back to transcribing. It would be nice to put in a few hours before getting down to studying, and if I want this to happen I have to get back to transcribing.