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.

Collect all 10

Finally, after more than a 30 year hunt, I managed to visit all 10 Canadian provincial capitals.  Maybe surprisingly, Edmonton was my white whale - remaining just out of reach for years and years.

Because I was in Edmonton for work purposes in the Winter I didn't really see much of the city, though I did make it over to the legislature and I was able to take a few trips on the city's public transit system.

I was quite pleased that my hotel room for the final night of my stay even had a view of the legislative building.

Cameron - 13
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 606

-We seem to be in the middle of a multi-day run of temperatures hovering between -14 and -22, and, strangely, the skies are a little more overcast that usual.  Though we've had a few flurries we haven't had any real accumulation in weeks.

-Jeannette's in Kelowna visiting family so I've had a relatively low-key, laundry-based weekend.  Unfortunately, our drier hasn't been drying the laundry as effectively as it should be.  I've done a fair bit of trouble-shooting and I'm still no closer to the truth.  Bummer.

-Unless my evening takes a very unexpected turn for the absurd I don't think I'll be watching this evening's Super Bowl.

-While I don't plan on watching the Super Bowl I have been thinking about the scheduling of the event.  If they determined the two participating teams weeks ago why are they only playing the game now.  Wouldn't it make more sense to play the game the week after the teams have been determined?  I guess expecting sense from a sporting event many people watch for the ads or musical performances might be a bit much.

Cameron - 3
Neil - 0

A year ago today

For the past few weeks our move to Regina has been on my mind.  And today even more so.

Somewhat suddenly a few moments ago I realized that it's been exactly a year since we set out from Ottawa for Regina.  I would guess that by this time we were about half-way to North Bay (which is where we spent our first night).

I find this amazing for a number of reasons.  First of all, it's hard to believe that we the trip so recently - it seems as though it was a life-time ago. Secondly, it's hard to believe that we've been in Regina for just about a year.  In some ways it feels as though we've been here longer than a year, and in others it seems almost incomprehensible that've been here for a year.

If time keeps speeding up as it has over the past few years before I know it we'll have been here for five or ten years (and hopefully by then our garden will actually be producing a reasonable output).

A Few Quick Notes 599

-So for the past few days it's been pretty hot and humid in Regina.  I'm a little bit bummed about this as I have long been lead to believe that Regina is in the 'dry heat' zone.  Maybe this is just a bit of anomaly?

-Yup, we still have a cat and she's still at least a little bit cute.

Of course, from time to time she's also at least a little bit crazy.  Sometimes she seems to work herself up and then run around and jump off of furniture as quickly as possible.  She also likes running quickly and then sliding into turns on the hardwood floors (sometimes she misjudges the slide and bangs into things).

-I have today off so I walked over to get a nice summer haircut.  Already I feel as though I made the right call.  Maybe I'll have to be on a two or three week cycle for the rest of the summer?  

-If all goes well I be able to take care of some cement patching, aquaponics setting up, and a few other errands before my day-off comes to a close.

-Oh, and because I didn't mention it before or when it was happening, a few days ago I was in Ottawa. And is there a better way to commemorate the trip than to grab a quick time-lapse of the intersection outside of my hotel room?

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Right, I didn't think so.

Catching up on vids

So while Jeannette and I were in Vancouver just over a week ago I managed to snag a few hot time-lapse vids.

The first I took while taking a break from walking along the Sea Wall in Stanley Park.  It seems that even on a grey day in Vancouver the place is fausty with people.

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Later, when were back in West Point Grey we stopped at a park near where I used to live and I snagged this while we sat and drank coffee.  As you might be able to see, downtown Vancouver can be seen in the background.

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Don't forget to keep checking back for hot new vids.

Went on a Bieber hunt

Maybe the most amazing thing about my trip the airport last night was not that the flight arrived early, but that the first thing I heard as I walked through the doors was someone asking a youngish girl "Are you here to see Justin Bieber?"

Unfortunately, the airport wasn't overrun with misled Beliebers - that would have been impressive.

Instead, the airport was quite quiet as people waited for two flights (one of which had arrived and people were making their way through customs and the other of which was just about to arrive).

Eventually things picked up a little as Juno drivers arrived to pick up their charges.  Of course even with the Junos signs I was unable to recognize names or faces.

And of course Jeannette's Carly Rae Jepsen lead lead to nothing.  Can't count on her for anything when it comes to celeb spotting.  Jeez.

Going on a Bieber hunt - 4

So, just before her plane took off Jeannette texted me to say that there's someone that looks like Carly Rae Jepsen on her plane - so while I don't really know what this person looks like maybe with Jeannette's help I'll actually manage to have a Juno sighting.

Kind of bummed that if it's going to happen it won't be for Bieber.  It definitely would have been cool to see a flock of Beliebers.

Going on a Bieber hunt - 3

In recently received texts from Jeannette she has confirmed that there are Junos types on her plane.

So it seems that even though I won't be seeing the Biebs I'll have a hard time avoiding at least a few of the Junos crew.  I guess the big question is whether or not I'll ever be able to put names to faces - my guess is not.

Road Trip - Video Wrap-Up

In case you didn't get a chance to see all of my hot new vids from our recent weekend road trip to calgary - here they are!



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Well, those were super exciting weren't they?

Don't for check back for more exciting time-lapse content over the coming days.

Cameron - 36
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 1

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

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

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

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

Cameron - 16
Neil - 0

Big changes

Sorry for the unusually long radio silence - the past few months (really since July) have been much more intense than usual.

Not only have I been travelling more than usual (two trips to the Maritimes, two trips to the Prairies, and a trip to Chicago/Indianapolis), but I also had the pleasure of getting married to Jeannette (in October) and somewhat suddenly accepting a new job in Regina (which started in early November).

Anyway, all of these things kind of piled up and lead to circumstances in which regular updates to Montifax were not feasible.

Now that you're all sort of caught up maybe I'll try to post a few items about a few of the months that we've all had the pleasure of just living through.

Two hot vids you won't want to miss

Of course taking photos from my window seat wasn't quite enough to occupy me on my flight from Winnipeg to Ottawa.  I also had the time to take a few quick time-lapse clips.

In the first clip, if you are careful, you can see a few hundred/thousand of the fields that I flew above.

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In the second clip you might be able to sense that as we head East it is quickly becoming darker as we head into the night.

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I don't know how this won't end up being North America's response to the overwhelming virality of Gangnam Style.

I wonder what's going on down there

As someone who had never been to or seen the Canadian prairies until two days ago I'd always wondered if the presence of agriculture was as prevalent as it often appears to be in media coverage of the region.  It turns out that flying into and out of prairie cities on a clear day is a great way to observe that, yes, huge seemingly unending swaths of these provinces are, in fact, devoted to agricultural production.  Moreover, on the flight from Winnipeg to Regina I saw few signs of economic development other than those associated with the agricultural sector.

Before I go any further I should probably make three points clear.  Firstly, I know that the economies of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are not exclusively agricultural.  Secondly, I also know that these provinces are huge and that the terrain differs from region to region (i.e. that there are at least a few hills in each of these provinces).  And, thirdly, that I know I saw only a relatively small portion of either of these provinces (though on my various flights I did probably see hundreds or thousands of square kilometres of each province).

That said, to reiterate, what I did see was overwhelmingly flat land devoted to agricultural production.  There were literally farms as far as the eye could see.

I couldn't help but wonder if there is more land devoted to agriculture in this photo than in all of Newfoundland and Labrador?

And if I focused more closely on a specific area it was pretty easy to see what was going on on the ground.

At times, particularly in Saskatchewan, some of the fields/regions were a little more pock marked.  I still don't know exactly what was going on in these situations.

And maybe it's just me and my unfamiliarity with prairie farming, but I kind of thought that the farms just outside of Winnipeg looked a little different than the farms near Regina.  But again, maybe that's just my unfamiliarity with prairie farming.

I was particularly pleased with myself when I found the line in the land a little east of Winnipeg where the farming, or at least the overwhelming predominance of farming, basically comes to an end and forested areas pick up.  Until yesterday I had no idea that such a line even existed - I had always assumed the farming gradually lessened.

And isn't it also nice to see a little of the earth's curvature?

Mission accomplished

As of yesterday morning at about 11:44 I have now visited all ten Canadian provinces. Of course, I still haven't made it to Edmonton so I'm still short on the provincial capital front.

A Few Quick Notes 592

-After a few cooler days we've had a few return to summeresque temperatures.  Today, for the first time in what must be weeks, I actually had to turn on my AC unit for a little while.  Of course, by tomorrow overcast skies and rain should help drive temperatures down below 20.

-After weeks or months of delaying, this afternoon I finally got around to re-potting a few of herbs I originally planted a few months ago.  The seeds were originally planted in pots that were far to small.  I'm hoping that the new, larger pots will be more conducive to growth.  Of course because many of these plants were also in less than ideal growing mediums it's entirely possible that even with the transplanting that they will continue to under-perform as plants.

-The morning glories that I was busy bragging about a few days ago have stopped blooming quite as prolifically.  For instance, today there were only two smallish blooms.  As much as it was nice to have about 7 of full blooming, it would have been nice if months and months of watering had lead to at least a solid week of flowers.

-For some reason I got lazy and neglected to mention that last weekend Jeannette and I took a quick Sunday afternoon drive up to Wakefield, Quebec.  Had we done even a little planning we could gone up for a pleasant lunch, instead we went after we'd already eaten and ended up just walking around for a while.  It was definitely a nice looking town and I'm sure we'll head back at some point in the not-to-distant future.

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?)

The 'Unseasonable' Storm - 1

Well, it seems that we are actually in the midst of a storm, though not to the extent that some parts of the New England states are (I have seen photos of substantial snowfalls). At the moment all we have to complain about are high winds and rain.

Of course, now that this has been going on for the past few hours we are starting to see power outages in the province. And one of the three power outages is just a short ways away from us. Fun. At least we have gathered our 'emergency supplies' and are ready, at least as ready as we can be, for a possible power outage.

It seems that Neil and a few of the matheletes may have been more seriously impacted by the storm in that at least one of their flights was cancelled on their way back from a conference in the US. I still don't know the extent of their delays, though I imagine that today's developments haven't made things better.

I guess I should get back to storm watching (i.e. work).

Port aux Basques to Wolfville - 7

After a brief stop in Windsor, Jeannette and I finally made it back to Wolfville. Fortunately after Windsor I was able to hand off driving responsibilities.

Now that we have safely returned we should be able to look through our photos and reflect on the trip, which generally seemed to go well (even if the final 30 hours were rather gruelling).

Oh, and by the time we returned the power was back. This was a very pleasant surprise. And our apartment, which we had loaned to an unknown house sitter was in perfect condition.