Last weekend in Pembroke

We took a day trip up the valley to Pembroke last weekend to attend the wedding of Mindy and Paul, one of Tammy's school friends. It was a pleasant 2 hour drive up the valley. We stopped along a river, attended the wedding in a Lutheran church with lovely stain-glass windows, and stopped to eat at a crappy restaurant on the way back at Logosland. Apparently the Logosland resort is the site of some kind of historical somethingorother having to do with Samuel de Champlain (one of his Astrolabes was found there apparently).

The area is beautiful.

Firefox 2 beta 2

Firefox 2 beta 2 is available for download.

Security vs Liberty

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

-- Benjamin Franklin

Fall approaches

It's been getting really cool here in the evenings. We can even see that some of the trees are just starting to change colour at work. It will soon be time to take in the tomatos I guess.

Today we had a hummingbird in the back garden, enjoying the flowers of our bean plant. We only got a fleeting look at it as it flitted about.... and it was too quick to depart so no photo.

SMART-1 to Crash the Moon

Dad, ship up my telescope?

Amateur astronomers, grab your telescopes. A spaceship is about to crash into the Moon, and you may be able to see the impact.

The spacecraft: SMART-1, a lunar orbiter belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA).

The impact site: Lacus Excellentiae (The Lake of Excellence), an ancient, 100-mile wide crater in the Moon's southern hemisphere.

The time to watch: Saturday, September 2nd at 10:41 p.m. PDT (Sept. 3rd, 0541 UT).

This would be cool to see. Via - NASA

WE are still alive

This is a required posting, its been so long since the last posting i figured it had to be done. I think I have finally convinced Mom to come and visit me in Feb 2007. Will have to get the plane ticket soon. We are looking forward to December as Mom and Dad Anthony are comming to visit on the 20th of Dec.... the countdown is on! Then they will be back to visit baby early next year..... Its nice to know that family is on the way :)

This is for Shirley

Well Shirley has been crying that there were not all the right pics on the blog, so i think these are what you wanted to seee?


 

Tired of a Clean House

I am so happy no one wants to look at my place today. I am tired of people just wanting to come by and take a look at my wall color..... Or maybe my fabulous bed set.... I truly do love it, more then when we first bought it. Someone just make an offer, the house is clean, good condition, the appliances are good..... Show me the offer. I want to move in to another place and stop worrying about if someone's going to call and want to come over and there's a spot on the sink. Friends and family don't care if there's a spot on the sink. Yesterday after Steve vacuumed, I started picking up little fuzz balls off the carpet, now I'm sure no one would even notice them....... But I saw them, I had to pick them up. I'm worried I will have to steam the carpets again, although they are still looking good. Occasionally nova's foot print looks like a spot, until I get close. Steaming is hard work when you are pregnant, especially when you only want to sleep. I think I'm going to be having a boy. We have not decided on the name, although I have a name in mind for a girl. There is always hope. Nova has been causing some concern, his allergies have been acting up and he caused himself to have an infection from all the biting and scratching. The vet gives me discounts on my visits there................That's how often my boy goes

24

Over the past couple of months Tam and I have been catching up on the series 24. Neither of us watched it as it aired, but we're following up now. In this light, I'd like to direct you to some relevant sites, for no particular reason:

• Get a new random Jack Bauer fact - ala the recent Chuck Norris fame.
  
• Bauer kill count

For those unaware, Bauer is the main character of the show, and when he's not shooting to kill, he's torturing someone for information. All for the national security of course.

I like the fact that they use the same monitor (Dell flatscreen) and phone (Vtech) I use at home in the series to make things look cool.

Star Trek Motivational Posters

The only thing I can say... too bad they're not the next generation. Check out these Star Trek motivational posters... for the geek who has everything.

Rockets and pits

Today we had another house showing, so we stopped off for a quick supper, and took a quick after hours visit to the grounds of the Canadian Science and Technology Museum.

Well we really just the grounds, and really just the rocket on display. The rocket is a Corvair GCM-16 Atlas, the same kind used when John Glen first went into space. Nova was kinda anxious, and we couldn't take him on the grounds, so I just stayed long enough to take a quick look and some photos, and we were off again. I really have to go visit the museum sometime.

Still having some time to kill we took a pleasant walk in the Conroy Pit, a place where Nova is much more welcome.

 

Midnight harvest

Tammy was looking for a semi-healthy not-too-sweet snack this evening, so I ended up out in the garden with a flashlight looking for the first ripe tomato of the season. The neighbours must have thought that the tomato pirates had arrived.

Having found and taken my booty, we shuffled indoors for the preparation.





The tomato was sliced as bread was toasted, whole wheat for Tammy, whole grain for Stephen.

It hardly whimpered at all as I carved it.
Sandwiches were prepared, and made ready with beverages for the first official tomato of the season-sandwich tasting.

Lettuce, salt, pepper.... and some sliced cheese for Steve. Mmmmm, yummy tomato. Very juicy and tasty.

Invisible labor

"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor."

-- Victor Hugo

I visted his home while in Brussels a few years back... smart fellow... nice architecture.

Message in a bottle

Send an anonymous message in a bottle, and read some, with Oceangram. I have not picked up one yet, I keep scanning the virtual horizon for a bottle. Odd what joy and anticipation it gives.

Kevin and Jill

Congrats to Kevin and Jill on your marriage this past Saturday. We were wishing we could be there enjoying the festivities instead of here cleaning house. I'm sure it was lovely, and a good time was had by all.

Best wishes on the start of your new life.

Stephen & Tammy

Activities during showings

Today there was another showing of the house... so we had to make ourselves scarce for a bit. We got some food, drove around looking at houses, and then took Nova for a run in the park. He was a bit more active today than he was the other day when I took him right after having been to the dogsitters. It was a bit hot though, so he wanted alot of water, and wasn't as keen to run as usual... however, he did manage to get a bit of running in.

Nova takes a drink

Some flowers along the path. Queen Anne's Lace?

Hot dog

This dog actually caught Nova. Tammy thinks that he's getting older now... what with being the ripe old age of 4. I just think the white dog had longer legs.

All alone :(

It's Monday, Steve is sleeping and nova is curled up on his last remaining bed as if to say, don't touch it, if this goes so do I. Earlier when I washed it, to look good for the house showing he lied on the inside of it claiming it ..... I think he's getting worried. Our house is so neat, clean and empty... Its like going to a hotel. Everything you need but no personal items about. We headed out close to 12 noon and headed right for MacDonalds as neither of us had breakfast/dinner, Nova was pleased. We just woke up and started to get ready for the showing. Its hard to believe there would be anything to do, however there is. Lets just say I'm happy I have that new vacuum!
So I am really sore from all the cleaning and the baby is making himself known. The morning sickness can come without warning. It saved me from cleaning the shower yesterday, as I just could not do it. I am having cravings and aversions to particular foods, never constant only lasting a little while. Now I am partial to MacDonalds Chicken nuggets, one day it seemed like the only thing I could eat. Yesterday I could barley eat anything as it all seemed to make me ill. Pregnancy is interesting.

Open house completed

The open house was held today. It seemed to go very well according to reports from our realtor. A couple of people were interested, and one couple even returned a second time with their parents to have a look. An auspicious beginning.

Tam, Nova and I went to Dicks for a burger and shake (awesome burgers BTW) and then a drive through downtown Gatineau, with return via scenic highway 50. We were so busy prepping the house that we hadn't really made any plans for the time when we were ousted from our home. On our return there were still visitors, so we took a walk around the block, and walked back incognito... pretending (and indeed actually) to enjoy such a lovely adult-friendly young professional neighborhood on a nice afternnon. Care was taken to greet several of the visitors as they exited with broad smiles and how-do-you-do's.

Our realtor visted later and told us that the house was showing very well... especially for such a nice semi-cool sunny summer day. He generally hopes for rain on open house day, as more people tend to visit.

We already have another appointment for a showing tomorrow. So we'll have to plan an outing for tomorrow as well.

See the MLS Listing

Ready for showing

The house is just about ready for showing. It's clean, uncluttered, and fancified. I'm thinking about buying it. It's a bargan. Photos included in this posting, but these are not likely the ones that will show up on MLS.

We're just finishing up the final vaccuming now, and then it's out the door. We're not sure where we're going for 2 hours... but I'm sure we'll find somewhere to go.

Storage

I finally finished the "pre-move" by completing a series of trips to the old storage bin today. Without Shirley's help it was more difficult, even though the packages where smaller and fewer today.

Here's a photo of the storage area... lots of bins. Mine's a 10x10.








Here's a photo of the contents. Basically 10x10 feet of stuff that we don't actually need, that we've been tripping over for the past 3 years instead of tossing. Now we're paying to store it. Crazy.



The lock is to ensure that nobody steals the stuff that we don't want. 24x7 cameras and a barbed wire fence protect it. 

There is a new Family Blog

Hello everyone there is a new family web site dedicated to STAR, STAR's Site

Final painting touches complete

I finally finished my bedroom painting job by doing the window that I've been putting off. It's done now. I also touched up the painting on top of the fireplace (some potted plants had damaged the finish).

Windows are hard to paint.

Other than that, we've just got a few tasks to do before showings start on Sunday (1 PM). We got a call this evening to enquire about a viewing... but we're not showing until Sunday. I guess there was a little mixup... but it shows that at least there's some interest. 

House is listed

The house is listed. Somebody please buy it. Photos are forthcoming.

OPEN HOUSE SUN. AUG. 6, 1-3 PM, 30 BRISTON. BRIGHT OPEN-CONCEPT LOWER LOFT W/THE PRIVACY OF TRUE BKYARD FOR BBQ'ING & RELAXING? INCL. 5 APPL., GAS FPL, C/AIR, HI-EFF GAS FURNACE, PKNG AT FRONT DOOR, HUGE WINDOWS FOR MORNING RAYS & BACK YARD BATHED IN AFTERNOON SUN. LOCATED NEXT TO PARK & BIKE PATHS, NEAR OC 84 BUS, IN A MAINLY ADULT COMPLEX. SHOWINGS COMMENCE AT OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY AUG. 6 AT 1 PM

Wikiality

First there was truthiness, now wikiality. Colbert's awesome.