Spring's arrival is no longer quite so ominous

After a little investigation yesterday morning, I was very happy to learn that all of my sump pump problems could be attributed to user error.  I was also happy to learn that we don't have a sump pump with an internally wired switch - so if either the switch or the pump go I can replace the problem part and not the whole operation.

Maybe it was the good news on the sump pump front, but somewhere I found the motivation to finally open up and apply our epoxy crack filling compound.  Of course, I'm not sure that the stuff will end up being all that effective as the instructions imply that it works more quickly and effectively when applied to warmer surfaces.  Unfortunately, our basement walls aren't all that warm at the moment.

The other good news of the day is that the forecast sun hasn't yet arrived.  With sun and higher temperatures we'd really be in the midst of a rather intense melt.  The absence of the sun should slow things down somewhat dramatically - which will hopefully allow us to avoid any Spring melt related problems.

On the other hand, because of the location of the snow during last year's thaw we've been keeping the patio and side of the house free of snow and it would be nice to have a rather dramatic melt to provide me some comfort that my work was worth it or the knowledge that no matter how clear I keep the foundation we'll have thaw leakage.

Anyway, no matter what the sun does, we should have at least a little melting today and we should be ready for it.  If I'm particularly motivated I may take this opportunity to remove some ice at the base of our driveway.

Spring is coming

After a very solid four months of Winter, Regina's forecast finally includes several days in a row with daytime temperatures above freezing.

While I'm sure that just about everyone in Regina is ready for the Spring thaw, I'm also sure that just about every in Regina would have preferred not to have the 30, or so, centimetres of snow that we got over the past few days.  

And to top off the impending thaw and new mounds of snow, our sump pump has recently started behaving erratically.  Instead of just engaging when the float is lifted by water as it should, the pump has started operating whenever it is plugged in.

If we know what's good for us we'd probably take this last day of cold temperatures and had to a local sump pump supplier and pick up a back up pump before everyone else in the city also discovers that they are facing similar problems.

We might also take this time to try to fill any problematic cracks in our basement foundation, a task we've been putting off for a number of months.

Of course, because we're both feeling a little under the weather and are moderately sedated with cold medication it's possible that neither of these advisable courses of action will be followed.

One year ago today

Exactly a year ago Jeannette and I moved into our current house, the first house either of us have ever owned.

By about this time of day a year ago we were in the midst of painting (I think we started with our bedroom).  For most of the rest of the weekend we were either moving items from our old apartment or painting.

Amazingly enough, by the end of the first weekend we'd painted Jeannette's office and our bedroom.  Within a few days we managed to paint my office.  Also, while the paint was drying we managed to move most of our belongings and set up shop.

Since then we've had to do a fair bit more work, the re-roofing of the garage being one of the most onerous tasks (though the extra electrical work and the burst pipe and subsequent patch job weren't trivial).

Hard work aside, it's been very, after years of apartment living, to have a house of our own.  I'm sure Jeannette's also appreciated finally fulfilling her long-time dream of owning a purple house.




Cameron - 21
Neil - 0

Big hockey weekend

So not only is there plenty of Olympic hockey this weekend (let's not forget today's monstrosity), but tonight Jeannette and I will be heading to our first Regina Pats game.

If I understand thing correctly, the Regina Pats are part of the WHL - a junior hockey league.  And if I understand junior hockey correctly, this is some kind of very minor, age-restricted professional level of hockey.

I'm sure that by the end of the night we'll know a fair bit more about the Pats and junior hockey.

Oh, and for those of you who are curious - this will be taking place in the same venue as the rodeo of a few months ago.

Cameron - 20
Neil - 0

Hard cuddles

Apparently just being near me on their window perch wasn't enough, they both wanted to be in my lap while I blogged about them.

Unfortunately, just moments ago noises occurring elsewhere in the house drew them away from me.  Bummer.

Oh, I take that back - Pierre's just come back and is getting his full cuddle on.

Cameron - 19
Neil - 0

The other perch

As I was preparing the last post Pierre came into the room and hopped up on the window sill, reminding me that they both also like to sit there and watch the street.

Just to help me prove the point that both cats like this perch, as I was preparing this post Marie hoped up for a few moments.

Unfortunately, because there are a few plants nearby that neither of the cats are content to leave alone they aren't frequently allowed to take advantage of this perch.

Just moments after this photo was taken Pierre tried to climb into the ficus pot.

Cameron - 18

Neil - 0

Pierre's perch

When not sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, one of Pierre's favourite places to sit is atop the garbage can.

I presume that the advantage of this location is that allows him to see a little more of the action while we're engaged in food prep.  What I don't understand is why he ever opts to sit on the floor where he can't see all that much and is likely to be stepped on.

Cameron - 17

Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 610

-We're just cluing up another slightly overcast, not particularly cold winter's day in Regina. I think there may have been a few flurries at various points throughout the day, or it may have just been blowing snow.  It was a little hard to tell and not important enough for me to engage in a serious investigation of the matter.

-I sampled my ginger beer last night.  It definitely had a bite, and it was definitely gingery.  But I'm not sure it had the bite or ginger flavour I was looking for.  My gut is that it basically tastes like carbonated ginger juice.

Fortunately, I've purchased some more ginger and am planning on working on batch two tonight.  Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have the process sorted out or have admitted defeat.

-Yesterday Jeannette and I picked up discounted copies of the first two seasons of The Wire.  Apparently Jeannette's incredibly Olympics viewing capabilities don't extend to 10 year old HBO shows - she crashed during the first episode.  I, on the other hand, couldn't believe how excited I was to be re-watching the show.  Hopefully we'll try again tonight and this time it will stick.

Cameron - 16
Neil - 0

Another problem with the Olympics

Aside from the arguably more important problems with the Olympics that concern matters political and commercial, something I've noticed recently is that one of the reasons I don't join Jeannette for more Olympics viewing is that too many of the sports are just excruciatingly boring to watch (and the worst part is that they tend to show the boring bits and not the potentially exciting bits).

Now that I've taken time to think the matter over I've realized that watching top athlete after top athlete complete the same course makes for uninspiring viewing.  Unfortunately for the Winter Olympics, this seems to characterize most of the sports (hockey, curling, cross-country skiing [and derivatives], and snowboard cross being the main outliers). There's no drama.  And, most importantly, there's no real competition.

What's worse, is that not only do they insist on showing boring downhill run after boring downhill run, but they tend to focus on the final runs rather than the qualifiers.

This approach is problematic for at least two reasons.  Firstly, the efforts  of hundreds or thousands of Olympians go uncovered.  Secondly, and more importantly, by focusing only on the best athletes inexperienced viewers aren't shown the full range of athletic talent at the Olympics.  The fact that the best skiers routinely land their jumps would be even more impressive if we were shown the world's 30th-60th best competitors in the sport failing.  Furthermore, for those sports where style points are in play (and lets not even get into the issue of the overall classification of these events as sports) the distinction between the first and second best skiers in the world is often almost impossible to spot, while almost anyone should be able to spot the differences between the first and sixtieth skiers.

So it seems that not only have the Olympics given us many reasons not to watch for moral and political reasons, it's also the case that they just don't put on all that great a show.

Oh, and I also really don't like watching teenagers and young adults risking serious life-long injuries or death just to entertain me on a grey winter's afternoon.

Cameron - 15
Neil - 0

Beverage update

You're curious, the ginger beer I made the other day looks like this:

I'm hoping to sample it a little later today.  I'm a little worried that it might be a little strong, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Also, the sparkling apple juice drink that I've been making looks like this:

Cameron - 14
Neil - 0

Ginger Beer

(not an allusion to Cockney rhyming slang)

At some point this summer I decided to try making homemade ginger ale.

Eventually I started to build from this recipe to make raspberry beverages and, once, a juniper (i.e. gin) based drink that was surprisingly palatable.

A few days ago after buying Jeannette some ginger beer I decided to try making ginger beer (the ginger ale just didn't have a satisfying kick).

After pursuing a few recipes and developing a plan of attack I finally sprang into action tonight and purchased a few pieces of ginger at the grocery store.

After dinner I grated the ginger and then used coffee filters and funnels to extract the juice.

If all goes well we'll have something approximating ginger beer in a few days.  Unfortunately, I'm relatively certain that my recipe won't be perfect the first time around - perfection may take a few batches.

Cameron - 13
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 609

-Today I walked outside and immediately wondered if I even needed a coat. Once I started the car I realized that it was still -16.5, but it was about 10 degrees warmer than the previous morning and certainly enough to feel the difference.

-Apparently today was budget day.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that CBC did push back, or at least appeared to, push back Olympics coverage to do some budget coverage.

-I think we may need to head to the grocery store tomorrow after work.

-Over the course of the past few weeks I've been trying to sell Jeannette on the effectiveness of Shirley Temple's performances in her many childhood movie appearances.  I think I finally convinced Jeannette that Shirley's movies are still entertaining.

So it definitely felt a little weird when this morning Jeannette emailed me to let me know that Shirley Temple had just died.  Definite bummer.

Cameron - 12
Neil - 0

Hard to believe it's real

For some reason today I was inspired to use the WayBack Machine to find the earliest incarnation of the Google website available.

Once at the site I noticed that a link was provided to a 'stickers' page.  And once I was on the stickers page I was surrounded by internet gold, or, more accurately, early/amazing versions of the Google logo that could be downloaded and posted on one's site.

I'm a big fan of the two early 'Google doodles' they had available for public consumption:

Burning Man festival

 and 'the holidays.'

Of course, one wouldn't want to miss the earliest incarnation of the Google logo.

I can't help but wonder if WordArt was maybe a little too accessible in early Google offices.

Cameron - 11
Neil - 0

Apparently I'm the only one here who doesn't like figure skating

Just like yesterday, Jeannette has been watching the Sochi Olympics today.  And just like yesterday the cats have been spending more time watching with her than I have.  Apparently, they're much more willing to sit through ice dancing than I am (especially in circumstances when gold and silver have already been determined and we're just waiting for the three worst teams to determine whose going to get bronze).

Cameron - 10
Neil - 0

Cats are definitely weird

Somehow Marie managed to make her way to the top of our bedroom door.  At first she seemed a little unsteady, but after a few moments she gained her footing and didn't appear the least bit upset.  Jeannette, on the other hand, was definitely not pleased to have Marie on top of the door.

Cameron - 9
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 608

-Apparently it's -29 with the wind chill at the moment.  Because I haven't been outside (except when I reached out to grab the paper this morning) I'll have to take Environment Canada's word for it.  Of course, as we're in Regina it's quite sunny.

-Though the Olympics aren't my thing (actually, I quite dislike them), we've been a pretty Olympics oriented house since Jeannette returned home from work yesterday evening.

Because of the time difference I'm not sure if anything but tape-delayed replays will be available this evening.  If so, maybe that will be a good thing as most of the available content has already been viewed by the Olympics-watchers of this household.

-While Jeannette's been watching the coverage of the Olympics the cats have been hanging out on the foot of the bed.

Sometimes they were more clearly cuddling.

Has the more or less devolved into an excuse to post cat pics?  And, if so, is that a problem?

Cameron - 8
Neil - 0

Kitty pics or my feeble attempt at link bait

Because of the popularity of yesterday's cat-based post (the tweet highlighting the post was favourited twice) I've decided that I should share a few of the  hot kitty pics I snagged today.

While maxing and relaxing after lunch and before tackling today's projects I suddenly found myself with a kitty on my lap.  It wasn't long before the kitty was taking a quick nap.

At time he was more closer to wakefulness, but still just as disinterested in moving.

He also took advantage of today's bright sun.

Actually, they both did.

For old times sakes, I also feel like including two pics from their first days together.  If I recall correctly, these were both taken relatively soon after they were comfortable enough with each other that they could be around each other unsupervised.

While they still aren't constant cuddle companions, they are pretty good at getting along.

And, not surprisingly, as I wrote this post he spent some time hanging out on my lap.

Cameron - 7

Neil - 0

Today's projects or a few of the lesser joys of being a home owner

Maybe about two weeks ago now I started to notice that our drier wasn't drying clothes as effectively as it had been.  Obviously, I immediately checked a few of the obvious potential problem points: the outside vent, the lint trap, the hose running from the drier to the vent.  All of these seemed to be working properly.

After some additional trouble shooting over the phone with my father, and a test run with the drier unconnected to the hose, I've come to the not-immediately-obvious conclusion that somehow the textured aluminum hose and two 90 degree turns are enough to slow down the exhaust enough to prevent the clothes from fully drying - a process that I suspect has been further hampered by low temperatures.

The solution, suggested by my father, that I eventually settled on was to replace the drier hose with a solid, smooth metal tube/duct.  

Today, because I didn't have to work, I finally got around to measuring the distance from the drier out to the vent connection above.  Turns out the gap was 60 inches.

Once I made it to the local building supply store I was pleasantly surprised to find that the material I was looking for came in just two sizes - 30 inches or 60 inches.  I was incredibly pleased to learn that I wouldn't have to hack a longer tube down to meet my needs.

Because of the wonderful coincidence that the size of tube I was looking for was exactly the size being sold the installation process was quite quick.  Lets just hope it works

For the time being, at least until I can determine if today's 'fix' worked or not I'll hang on to the old hose.  

While picking up the aluminum tube I happened to see some styrofoam and was reminded that we had an insulating project that we'd been meaning to take care for some number of months (almost a year at this point).  I decided to check out my options and see if I could find appropriate styrofoam.

As I'd long assumed that I'd need to buy a 4x8 sheet, which is much larger than will fit in our car, I was a little hesitant to proceed with the project.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they sold multi-packs of much smaller sheets.

By also using styrofoam that we received as packing material this past Christmas I was able to fill in the space between the inner and outer balcony doors.  

Though it still seems a little cool in Jeannette's office we're hoping that before long we'll start to feel the benefits of this added insulation.

Cameron - 6

Neil - 0

Cats are weird

For better or worse Marie has started hanging out on this shelf in the morning.  For some reason she only seems to be there in the morning and she only climbs up there when we're not in the room.  I guess at least she's out of the way?

Pierre, on the other hand, likes to sit on the kitchen floor while we're working in the kitchen.  Maybe his goal is to be stepped on 20 times a day?  If so, he's really great at accomplishing the goals he sets for himself. If, on the other hand, he doesn't like being stepped on he's really bad at learning how not to be stepped on.

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