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 621

-After very cool temperatures just a few days ago, we've moved into a sunny warm patch.  Yesterday, and hopefully again today, we'll see temperatures above zero and plenty of melting.  Assuming this trend continues as forecast we should see plenty of melting over the next few days.

-Jeannette and I had an incredibly productive and pleasant day yesterday.  We began by walking over to the first Farmer's Market of the season.  Unfortunately, we were going to buy some lentils and barley and that vendor was absent.  From there we made our way to the pet food store and then the downtown shopping district.

After grabbing lunch and taking care of a little downtown shopping we realized that we were just feet and minutes away from a free Regina Symphony Orchestra chamber ensemble concert at the public library.  Amazingly, though we arrived only a few minutes before they were to begin we had a great selection of seats to choose from (within just a few minutes after our arrival almost all of the available seats were taken).

After the concert we spoke with a member of Jeannette's book club and her friend who was visiting from Winnipeg.  Not only were we able to pick up a little inside information about hot Winnipeg restaurants, we learned a little more about the free concert series at the library.

Once we returned home we hopped in the car and made our way out for an afternoon drive.  In our continuing attempt to at least visit many of the towns surrounding Regina we made our way through Pense and Belle Plaine.  Unfortunately, the melting snow and muddy streets likely meant that we weren't seeing these towns at their best.

-Hopefully we will head out for a walk along the creek later this afternoon.

-Because I'm a sucker for this kind of thing I'm watching the Manitoba NDP leadership convention as being streamed by CBC.  Yesterday I followed the Newfoundland NDP convention via Twitter.  I think I'd probably watch/follow almost any delegated convention occurring in Canada - they really make for exciting viewing (whether or not you like the party involved).

-Not having a dishwasher is a real bummer.  It seems that we constantly have a sink full of dirty dishes to do - no matter how many sinks full of dishes I've already done.  Definitely a bummer.

Glasses fix

For about 20 years I have been wearing glasses.  For almost 20 years glasses have been sliding down my nose and falling off of my face.  This has been the case with every pair of glasses I've owned (strip on sports goggles excepted).  It's been infuriating (though, still, I've never even considered contact lenses).

Though I'm not sure that it's actually the case, the problem seems to have gotten much worse with my current pair of glasses.  I think a conservative estimate might be that I adjust my glasses on my face hundreds of times a day.  In many cases the adjustment may constitute catching and repositioning my glasses as they literally fall from my face while engaged in low-impact tasks like dish washing.  Even just sitting a desk typing may be enough to dislodge my glasses.

According to experts in the field (AKA opticians I've consulted) it is possible to have glasses that don't fall off of one's face constantly.  Apparently it's all in how the glasses are fitted.  I'm not sure how much I believe this.

Recently, in the hundred plus adjustments a day era, I mentioned this problem to Jeannette.  She responded by telling me about some rubber attachments her brother used to use.

Before long I found similar products online for a very reasonable price and decided to give them a shot.

I've now had my new rubber attachments in place for the past 2.5 days.  One thing that is immediately apparent is that my glasses are not falling from my face - which is exactly what I hoped.  Unfortunately, now that my glasses are always almost strapped on to my head via my ears I've begun to feel the attachments rubbing behind my ears.  Hopefully after a few days of regular use this will no longer be an issue.  In any event, I'm inclined to think that a some behind-the-ear discomfort might be worth not having to adjust my glasses hundreds of times a day.

Cameron - 5

Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 607

-Well, as forecast the past few days have been pretty chilly.  While we haven't approached the -52 (with wind chill) we had a few weeks ago, that fact that each morning has been below -35 with wind chill hasn't been great.  Is it bad that I'm quite looking forward to the -10 that is preliminarily in the forecast for next Wednesday?

-Earlier this week Jeannette returned from a brief trip to Kelowna with an overnight jaunt down to Seattle.  While it wasn't exactly hot in either of these locations, I think Jeannette appreciated the break from the consistent -20 that we've been experiencing.  I'm starting to think that making a habit of a break at least a few days long each winter might not be a bad idea.  I'm not sure that it's necessary to go somewhere beachy - just somewhere that's close to the freezing point.

-I've got the day off tomorrow which means that I should probably head to the local building supply store to pick up some supplies to fix our drier.  I'm hoping that I'll only need a single, inexpensive metal tube to make everything right.  Of course, if this fix doesn't work I have no idea what to do except hope that the problem will fix itself.

-A few weeks ago while at work I mentioned that Jeannette and I are thinking about getting a freezer for our basement.  I'm quite glad I did as one of my co-workers immediately offered her truck to transport the freezer from the store to our house an another has been keeping her eye out for freezer options while in appliance stores.  I'm hoping that these actions will mean that we end up with a perfect freezer, rather than the freezer we could get home.

Cameron - 4
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 602

-Though cloudy, today wasn't a particularly cool day.  Since our sudden and unexpectedly resilient snowfall of a few days ago I expect full-blown winter to arrive with each dawn.  When I leave the house and discover winter hasn't yet arrived I'm both pleased and disappointed.

-The arrival of winter would be even more welcome if our fireplace was fully functional.  At the moment the chimney is in need of a serious cleaning.  Until we have it cleaned we won't be able to determine if it's safe to use, and if not how much work might be required to make it so.  While I'd really like to have a fully functional fireplace this is likely something that will have to wait until at least next year.

-We went on a somewhat lengthy shopping trip this afternoon.  As usual, once we're out on our weekend shopping trips we keep remembering additional items that we've been meaning to buy.  Also, at least this normally happens, we tend to forget a handful of items necessitating future trips.  Fortunately, the items that we forgot today weren't so important that we'll have to head out today or even tomorrow.

-My 'smart' phone, or at least its operating system, has been behaving somewhat erratically for the past few weeks.  It seems that the major update has really negatively impacted the operational capacity of the phone - despite the fact that this was presumably exactly the opposite of what the developers intended with the new update.  Anyway, it's definitely been a frustrating way to waste a few hours.

-Now that we're a few weeks into fall the sun has started setting not long after I return home from work.  While this is to be expected, the transition has been happening a little more quickly than I expected.  It won't be long before my walks to and from work will occur mostly in the dark.

-A few days ago I combined a few ingredients and made some pea soup.  I'm continually amazed at how simple, yet tasty, pea soup can be.  Maybe even more impressive, is that the stuff seems to keep getting better in the following days.

-Turns out homeownership is definitely time-consuming.  This weekend I had the pleasure of spending a fair bit of time installing a single board above one of our basement windows.  Not only will this board be used to hang a blind, it will also improve our house's security as it will also prevent one of our windows from easily being pushed in from the outside.  While I'm not pleased at how long this project took, I am pleased with the results.

Big day at the house

So today was definitely a big day in our new house, at least as far as cold hard cash is concerned.

First of all, we finally had an electrician install a few extra electrical outlets.  Having just one outlet in the master bedroom and no outlets in the bathroom wasn't a situation we're really enjoying.  We ended up with five new outlets.  Of course, the downside of this kind of work is that it definitely isn't free.

Then, while I was at home for lunch, I noticed that the frozen corn I was retrieving from the freezer wasn't as cold or as hard as I expected.  I soon learned that everything in the freezer wasn't as cold as I expected.  Then I started to find that the food in the fridge wasn't all that cold either.  So our fridge blew.

Tonight we went fridge shopping and picked up a new fridge (the upside being that this new fridge should be more energy efficient.

Anyway, definitely a memorable day.

They must be losing money

About ten years ago, back when I used to live in New York, I occasionally ordered items from a catalogue company. These guys sold quite a variety of goods, but probably would be understood to specialize in hunting and military surplus materials (not items that I tend to buy frequently).

Anyway, what is impressive about this company is not that they sell comically large magazines or cases of thousands of bullets, but after than ten years since my last purchase they are still sending me print catalogues. Maybe even more impressive is that they somehow managed to wangle my Newfoundland address even though I only would have had any of my purchases sent to my New York address. Because it's not worth following up this may just have to remain a mystery for the ages.

Cameron - 5
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

A Few Quick Notes 595

-Though it was -10 tonight both Jeannette and I were commenting the day's warmth.  Sure, we both still wore jackets when we went to the grocery store, but I'm not sure either of us zipped them up.

-So, it seems that maybe at least a little residential snow clearing occurs in Regina.

When I came home from work I noticed that a few inches of packed snow had been removed from the roads near our apartment. Of course, these streets still have a few inches of packed down snow on them, and in at least one case the dreaded ruts are already beginning to re-appear.

-As I returned home from work I reminded Jeannette that this morning she expressed an interest in a return visit to a local grocery store this evening.  Of course, we could both remember that Jeannette asked to go to the store but neither of us could remember why she wanted to go.  Throughout our visit, though to no avail, we both kept trying to recall the original reason for our trip.

Not surprisingly, just a little while after we returned home Jeannette remembered that she wanted a new pillow.  Woops.

I guess we'll be heading back tomorrow.

-Today Neil sent me a link about oxalate content in certain foods that lead me to additional material on the same topic.  The real bummer of the whole excursion out onto the fast lane of the information super highway was that I learned that just about everything seems to have kidney stone causing oxalates.

Well, at least I still have water with lemon, right?

Kidney stones are the worst.

-But at least the days are getting longer?

A Few Quick Notes 590

-After a few relatively pleasant low-humidity days we seem to have transitioned back into that muggy weather that Ottawa does so well.  It's been so muggy and humid that I'm almost starting to think that the appearance of rain may be helping by cooling things off.

-I guess quite a number of university students started classes today.  Maybe that is why it was a little quieter last night?  I guess we'll probably have to wait until Friday to find out how much of a U of O party scene we'll have to contend with in this neighbourhood.  Hope it's not too bad.

-One of local feralish kittens has taken to sitting on our front steps.

And though at times I've simultaneously seen about ten cats hanging out in our neighbourhood, these days this is one of the few cats I see on a regular basis.  If only this thing was big enough to take on the local squirrels.

-So my cayenne pepper and water solution seems not to have worked (though the squirrels were absent for about 24 hours).  For the past two days they've been back and badder than ever.  If I didn't know better I'd think that they were purposely destroying things before they ripen just so that we can't have them.

The worst part is that I have no idea what it is they are looking for.  They keep digging in the dirt, but a far as I know there isn't anything there for them to find (aside from more dirt - and that doesn't seem to be what they are looking for).  

It definitely bums me out to look at the plants each morning and find that new damage has been done and a bigger mess made. 

-On Saturday Jeannette and I took a day trip to upstate New York.  In addition to witnessing what appeared to be a glee club sing-off in Potsdam, we also managed to find the world's worst homefries.  These bad boys were undercooked, soggy, cold, poorly seasoned, and over-priced.  Oh, and the same at the same place the 'side of fruit' was canned pears.  While we didn't see to many things that we would recommend, on the up side we have started to create a list of places that don't merit a return visit.

(Oh, and we saw five bros buying a 55 inch TV for their apartment.  Probably a pretty solid investment for your average undergrad student wouldn't you say?)

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.)

A table in three prices

Today, while on our way back from lunch, Jeannette and I decided to visit a local department store so that we could peruse the store's going out of business bargains (which were recently bumped up to up to 40% off).

After taking a quick look at the clothing and kitchen departments Jeannette reminded me that we should head to the furniture department we've been thinking about looking for a new dining table.  And wouldn't it be nice if we could get such a table at a deep discount?

Almost as soon as we arrived in the furniture department we realized that the store only had about four tables to chose from, and most were too large for our apartment.  So it didn't take us to long to focus our attention on a round 48 inch diameter solid-wood table that should actually fit in our apartment.

According to a price sheet on the table the table was $349, though we were expecting that there would be at least a 30% discount.

When we finally tracked down a non-furniture department employee (the only employee handy) he suggested that he would try to make sure to order us a table rather than sell us the floor model.  While we were both excited to buy a non-floor model table, the idea of ordering something in seemed a little strange considering that the store is in the midst of closing and they are very actively trying to sell their remaining stock.  So despite the absurdity of the proposition we decided to just go with the employee's suggestion.

Things became even stranger when we saw that instead of being applied to the price indicated ($349), the 30% discount was being applied to $189 (we still don't know where this price came from).

So instead of paying $349 - 30% for a floor model, the store (despite the fact that they're closing) is ordering us a brand new table at more then 60% off of the original price.  Maybe this kind of special math is why they're closing?

And to make things even more bizarre, when I came home I went online to find a listing for the table on the store's website and learned that online it's going for $319.

It's moments like these when I am quite happy to accept the mysterious ways in which the world works.

A Few Quick Notes 552

-Though chilly, today was a beautiful day. Much to my surprise, there are even remnants of the dusting of snow that we received a few days ago. I think it is safe to say that we are definitely into late fall now (even if on Wednesday I saw people sitting on the sidewalk in shorts and a tee-shirt while reading the paper).

-Today, at Jeannette's insistence, we made our way to a local Christmas craft fair. While much of the content was a little too Christmasy for me, there were a few vendors selling some really neat products.

Though for some time Jeannette has been telling me that this thing is a big deal, I really didn't think that it was going to be as big as it was. Not only were there more vendors than I expected (maybe even twice as many), the event seemed to be attracting hundreds of people, likely thousands over the course of the three-day event. It was really quite surprising.

-A few days ago I had the pleasure of doing some multiple choice grading. The upside is that this process is much easier and faster than essay grading. A downside is that, because I wasn't involved in the creation of the test, I don't have as good a sense of the areas where the students are and aren't doing well.

-I am in the midst of keeping a food diary for kidney stone related reasons. Knowing that I will have to record each thing I consume has encouraged me to think a little more closely about my consumption patterns. While, at least for the most part, I don't think I am too bad, I do think that this process has encouraged me to skip a few unnecessary even snacks that I might have otherwise been careless enough to have. (I am not sure how the observation process is impacting the data collection, but there is definitely some impact).

-I should probably head back to the kitchen to check on some food I am preparing for dinner. Assuming all goes well we will be having some dal (with vegetables) and rice. If I manage to get the recipe down I may end up making this on a semi-regular basis.

Secret get away (with birds)

Kirsten, who is currently visiting us in Wolfville, and I took a quick trip to the Nova Scotia part of the Bay of Fundy that is nearest to Wolfville.

Our first attempt to get to the Bay of Fundy via Bennetts Bay lead us to something of a dead end no more than 100 feet from the water.

After a little more thinking and driving Kirsten and I managed to find a nearby community, something like Paddy's Beach, that provided the public access to the water front.

Maybe even more impressive than just being able to see the majestic Bay of Fundy was that we were able to walk around on a rocky area exposed by low tide and framed by a rather impressive waterfall. And of course the best part of this all was that, aside from a few sea birds, we were alone while exploring.

After the leaving the Bay of Fundy Kirsten and I made our way to the much more interesting New Minas for a series of rather commonplace errands.

A little later in the day all three of us stopped by a small petting zoo to visit a few cute goats and peacocks. We were all quite surprised to see that the peahen seemed to have laid a few eggs (though she didn't seem to be minding the eggs too closely).

Anyway, mundane commercial endeavours aside, it was a very pleasant day.

This still bothers me

Apparently the Canadian dollar is valuable as it has been in almost four years.

What I don't understand about this is that I don't seem to have the increased purchasing power that I would have expected to go along with a high dollar. I don't seem to be getting more for each dollar. Particularly grating are lower prices for books in the US. Even though Canada has a much more valuable dollar than we did in years past, the gap in prices seems to have remained stable. How is this possible?

And, at least in my experience, prices of general household goods seem to still be cheaper in the US. Even if we accept that things like import duties and taxation will bump up the price a little, shouldn't the price gap have closed at least a little bit?

And shouldn't more people be asking these questions? Are we just so used to paying higher prices in Canada that now that we have a more valuable dollar we haven't thought about the benefits that should be coming from a more valuable dollar?

Another new tie or Congressional paraphernalia

A few weeks ago Jeannette had the good fortune to be able to quickly visit Annapolis Royal on her way back from a conference. Since then she has been keen on returning and engaging in a more in-depth exploration of some of the sights in the region.

Yesterday, though it was a little overcast and at times rainy, happened to be the day when we finally got around to making a return trip to Annapolis Royal (and it also happened on one of the days of the Gathering of the Clans event - though we couldn't actually find much evidence of this event).

After a very pleasant stroll through downtown Annapolis Royal and through the grounds of Fort Anne and a quick stop at a local bakery for lunch we started to make our way back to Wolfville.

Instead of taking the highway back we decided to take the slow road that would take us through a number of communities in the region.

One of the communities we ended up driving through was Coldbrook, a community that just happened to have another Guy's Frenchy's. While Jeannette looked at lady clothes I decided to check out the tie selection (among other things). Almost immediately I found a tie that I found intriguing.

Almost immediately Americanness of this tie was apparent. When I flipped the tie over and looked at the keeper that it was American in origin became even more apparent.

Of course after seeing that this tie was "Made exclusively for US Congress" I couldn't not spend the $1.95 to buy it.

Shortly after I returned home I tried to figure out if this tie was made specifically for members of Congress or if it had some other role. Unfortunately, the few searches that I did conduct on ties and neckties turned up nothing. At least I haven't confirmed that this tie was nothing more than an item made just to be sold in a Congressional gift shop - it might still have been created for use exclusively by Congressmen (and that is my hope).

Exciting Day

Yesterday, given that I am now post-comps (at least the most recent phase) and post-surgery, Jeannette and I decided to do some touring in the Annapolis Valley. While we had been planning on doing this for some time we ended up putting it off because of my two aforementioned commitments (and because of the relatively bad weather we have been experiencing here).

Our first stop yesterday morning was the recently opened Wolfville Farmers' Market. Unfortunately, the bad weather that seems to have been limiting our touring seems also to be limiting plant growth and development so there seems to be less local produce available than I might have expected. Of course, that is not to say that there aren't a number of other local producers at the farmers' market whose ability to sell hasn't been so negatively impacted by the bad weather. In particular the local meat producers and wineries were there in full force. Eventually I would like to get around to more extensive sampling of the wares of both of these types of vendors.

After a quick stop at the local public library for Jeannette to pick up a book we continued on our trip.

Our next stop was the Oaklawn Farm Zoo. We scheduled our visit so early in the day with hopes of avoiding rain that was forecast to arrive by the afternoon.

As expected, we had a great time at the zoo.

Almost as soon as we entered we were greeted by a rather impressive display of intimacy. And who knew tortoises had even the slightest ability to climb?

Though, at least yesterday, the other animals weren't as keen on exhibitionism as the tortoises pictured above they were ,nonetheless, fun to watch. In particular, a family of gibbons with a new addition were particularly amusing.

If you want to to see some of the animals we had the pleasure of observing, with a particular emphasis on the gibbons, check out the video I have included below.



[Embedded video]

When the rain eventually did start to fall Jeannette and I left the zoo (as was our plan) and started to make our way towards Berwick, which is where we decided to have lunch.

After a very pleasant lunch in Berwick, which included the best fish and chips I have had in Nova Scotia, we decided to make our way through some of downtown Berwick. This was my first visit to Berwick and I was quite impressed with the place.

While in Berwick we also visited a Guy's Frenchys, a used clothing chain that I have heard is legendary in the Annapolis Valley. Because my confidence has been buoyed by my recent decision to read and follow the pro-thrifting men's fashion blog Put This On I decided to scope out the menswear section for some hot finds. After a few minutes I found a silk tie that I decided to pick up. Jeannette found a jacket and a book that she wanted. We ended up spending less than $10 for the three items.

After our success at the Guy's Frenchys in Berwick we decided to head in to New Minas and visit the Frenchys there (I still can't figure out exactly what the name 'Frenchys' means or how the various stores are connected to one another). At this second store I became even more ambitious (though this was at least partly due to availability) and I picked up three more (silk) ties and two (wool) suits. Jeannette also picked up a nice dress on the cheap. I should note that all of our acquisitions at these stores were shockingly cheap.

After some shopping in New Minas (and at attempt to find an open dry cleaner) we eventually made our home where I immediately tried on a few of my new acquisitions.

While the photological conditions (and my sense of what matches) were less than ideal, I hope that the above photo does my new acquisitions (at least those pictured) justice.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable and action packed day. Hopefully it won't take us another month and a half before we head out to see more of what the Annapolis Valley has to offer.

Get your act together NSLC

Yesterday Jeannette and I were walking through the local NSLC (provincially run liquor store) when we noticed an acquaintance of ours, who also happens to be a local winemaker, pictured and named in a display about locally produced wines. (In case you are curious, we did end up buying one of his products and were quite pleased with it.)

A few minutes after spotting this picture we made our way to the check out where, much to my surprise, I was IDed. As I am now almost 10 years over the legal age I am always surprised when I am IDed, particularly if I have previously made purchases in the establishment without being IDed.

Anyway, this morning while at the farmer's market Jeannette ran into our acquaintance and mentioned that we saw the display with his photo and name. This local winemaker then told Jeannette that recently when making a purchase in this same store, where his photo and name were prominently displayed, he too was IDed.

How is that for ineffective systems? I am not sure if their IDing system is worse than their staff product training system, but I am pretty sure that at least one or both of these systems is pretty far out of whack if something like this can happen.

A Few Quick Notes 537

-We are presently in the midst of another grey day in Halifax. Fortunately, at least so far today doesn't seem quite as rainy as yesterday was.

-Shortly after I woke up this morning I was sitting at my desk checking my email when I noticed a German shepherd-like dog walk past my window. A few moments later the dog was followed by his two police handlers. Though the dog was sniffing aggressively I got the sense that they didn't find whatever it was they were looking for.

-Apparently 'Steven' Harper is finally coming to Nova Scotia for a rally today. Of course because it is in Windsor instead of Halifax I won't even be able to consider attending, and I have no idea whether or not it will be open to the public or not - or if prospective attendees will have to register in advance and then be screened.

-There is a pretty good sale today at Strange Adventures in Halifax. I bought a copy of Power Grid and an expansion map.

On the Road: Halifax to Sackville

Our weekend road trip started early this morning. Of course, it has been much colder and snowier than any of us would have wanted, oh, and it has been pretty windy as well.

After a quick to the airport to add me as a driver to the rental car agreement we made our way towards Truro. Before reaching Truro we stopped in Stewiacke, the former homeland of giant mastodons. What drew us to the site was the large mastodon statue that was visible for the road. Not surprisingly, we took the opportunity to take a few photos with the mastodon and some of the other touristy items (including a cement Flinstones car).

From Stewiacke we made our way to Truro to watch the 12:20 tidal bore. Much to all of our surprise, the tidal bore turned out to be something of a local attraction (there were 15 cars worth of people there) and of a fair size. If you are in the area it is definitely worth checking out.



[Embedded video]

After the tidal bore we made our way to Margolians, a locally owned department store. While at first I wasn't particularly impressed with the store I soon found that the prices for many of their items were half of what I thought they were. In the end I walked out with a handful of brandname shirts and sweaters for about $10 a piece. Everyone else found great things as well. Actually, we were all so impressed by the experience that we are hoping to head back on our way back from PEI.

We were all pretty impressed with Truro, it was definitely a nice little down.

From Truro we made our way to Parrsboro and the Fundy Geological Museum . After quickly passing through Parrsboro we made our way to the aforementioned museum and checked out a few of the exhibits. The museum employee then gave us a few suggestions about things to see in the region, we were particularly taken by her suggestion that we go gem hunting on a local beach.

Almost as soon as we arrived at the beach we noticed that a car a little further along the beach appeared to have gotten stuck in some loosely packed beach stones. Obviously we decided that it would probably be best if we didn't drive any further and that we should offer to help the guy get unstuck.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at lifting the front of the car with the guy while his ladyfriend gave it some gas we left them to do some digging out while we made our way down the beach to do some gem hunting (it really wasn't as bad as this likely sounds). After limited success gem hunting (none of us knew what we were looking for) we made our way back to the stranded car and helped them put some boards under their front tires. With the boards in place we were finally able get the front tires enough traction that our pushing actually mattered.

After freeing the car from the beach we made our way to Joggins Cove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of some very old fossils. Of course, because it is off season, we weren't actually able to see anything or visit the interpretation centre.

After our failed visit to Joggins Cove we were finally on the final leg of our trip to Sackville. Shortly after checking in at the Marshlands Inn (an inn that once hosted the Queen) we made our way out to find a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we took a brief tour of the town, though managed to see basically everything there was to see (at least those things that you could see by driving by).

The plan for tomorrow is to head to Dorchester to see the world's largest Sand Piper as well as the infamous penitentiary (there should be a museum-type aspect of the prison). We are also hoping to see the Mount Allison Owens Art Gallery, though we will have to check this out on our way back from Dorchester. I guess we will also eventually have to make our way to Charlottetown, which is where we will be spending the night.