musings of middle age

Done.

2010-12-16T10:51:00.001-05:00

I really can't get too enthused about blogging these days.

As such I am turning off the lights. Probably for good.

Snow day

2010-12-07T16:28:00.003-05:00

My city has been hammered by snow. We have had more snow in the last two days then we had all of last winter. You shovel and bye the time you reach the end of the driveway, it's like you haven't even gone out. The sun finally came out about an hour ago and I did what is in theory the last shovel of the day.

I have to admit I have enjoyed the day off. I shoveled early, then made a great omelet of red peppers, mushrooms, cheese and prosciutto. Then I played with the kids for a bit after after washing the dishes. About 9 we headed off for a hair cut but the barber was closed. Back home and then I made some pizza. A meat lovers for the kids with pepperoni and bacon while my beautiful wife and I shared a vegetarian of red peppers, black olives, mushrooms and zucchini. It was great.

I am about to head out for a walk with my dog and check out the Christmas lights. It will be dark within an hour.

Then I will do some yoga and some nesting.

I have Boardwalk Empire ready to go on the laptop. With Dexter almost wrapped up, my wife and I are looking for shows to watch. We are thinking Empire, Mad Men and First Blood.

Brut?

2010-12-02T15:31:00.002-05:00

I guess with the success of that 70s super scent Old Spice, it was only a matter of time. The other day I saw an ad for Brut. It was OK, no where near on the level of the Old Spice ad and I had one huge issue with it. They poo pooed a man enjoying wine over beer. I like a good beer but do prefer wine. Plus if we are talking about the water downed mass beers (Coors, Budweiser etc) instead of a hearty micro brew, then wine definitely comes out ahead.

I just wonder how long until they bring back Hi Karate.

Just do it.

2010-12-01T13:42:00.001-05:00

Last night I reluctantly stepped on my yoga mat. I am tired. I start with Warrior II and as I transition into Extended Right Angle post, I am already feeling better. This exercise is exactly what I needed. Twenty minutes later I feel refreshed and relaxed.

It was the same thing this morning. I was lying in a cozy bed next to a beautiful woman. Why drag myself out of bed for a 5km run in the dark and cold? That said, as I finished up my run and was doing some sun salutation prior to meditating, I think, why do I fight it? Why do I hesitate? I love exercise and it loves me. I feel so much better after.

I guess it is either Newton’s law of motion or it’s the funk that we all go into. I guess I just need to fight to that first step and let it go from there.

Almost December

2010-11-30T12:25:00.002-05:00

We have no decorations up so far. I really can't get excited about putting up the lights outside, and the increase in hydro costs is no doubt making me think I have done the right thing. We should put up the Christmas tree soon. The thing that worries us is the cats. Last year Maurice jumped in the tree quite often and now he has help with Pemma and Luigi.

Still awaiting two gifts to be delivered for my beautiful wife. Not time to panic yet, but getting close.

Can't believe only two episodes of Dexter left. This season has been great. I will need to fill that void with the books. I read the first but still have a few to get from the library.

Finally a post

2010-11-29T18:06:00.002-05:00

Been busy lately. Life and what not.

This weekend we went to Cambridge. I have some photographic evidence of me holding my niece's daughter on the occassion of her first birthday. It was nice to get together with the family.

Kind of fed up with my one fantasy football league. We are at that point in leagues where friends start colluding. A trade went down where a guy who was out of the playoffs traded a top running back and a top receiver for another guy just out of the playoffs for a second rate receiver and an injured running back.

Needless to say, I won't be playing in that league after this year.

Hump day miscellaneous

2010-11-17T16:52:00.002-05:00

I have a date with my beautiful wife tonight. We are going to see a play by a local theatre company. That should be nice.

I am loving the egg nog lattes this year. I had my first one two weeks ago, that is first one ever, and now I am addicted. I need to pick up some egg nog and try to replicate this at home with my espresso machine.

Today stuff

2010-11-16T14:54:00.002-05:00

Back at work and I am fairly calm. The mental health day helped, along with some exercise and meditation.

I have finished my Christmas shopping, and I am only awaiting the arrival via the mail. This is a first for me, I have never been done this early. Then again, last year I waited too late and there was nothing under the tree for my beautiful wife to open.

Felt quite odd this morning, dizzy like. It is gone now, but it was quite strange as it never happens.

Hooky

2010-11-12T12:33:00.002-05:00

I am taking a mental health day. Turns out the timing was right. One, it saved me from committing murder at my place of employment and two, my wife can keep her shift at work. Seems the kids have a day off as well, scheduled, of course.

So I woke up more or less normal time and went for a run with my dog. Then some yoga and then proceeded to making a nice big bacon and egg breakfast. I cleaned the house a bit, including the always popular cleaning a toilet!

I played with the kids for a bit and then took them out for lunch, McDonalds. I don't know if you have heard this or not, but that food isn't very healthy. I had a quarter pounder (shouldn't it be metric here in Canada?) and man is it salty. I was wondering if the salt content in the food had something to do with it staying fresh for six months.

The balance of the day will have me play outside with the kids for a bit, read a bit, and make a simple pasta for dinner, some nice puttanesca.

Great weekend thus far

2010-11-06T15:11:00.002-04:00

It is kind of nice not running around with kid activities. Last night I had a nice cold pumpkin ale with my commuting mate. Then I tried a recipe that I dreamed up. I love corned beef has but I figured that with my new meat grinder, I could get a corned beef consistency with a chourico sausage. So that is what I did, I grinded up a chourico sausage and added it to a grated potato to give a very nice chourico hash. Then the family relaxed with Toy Story 3 and we had a nice movie snack of cheese, apple and grapes. A nice snack considering all the Halloween candy the kids have been eating.

This morning I had a run with the dog then made some pancakes with a nice blueberry syrup. Then I went to Starbucks and Toys R us with the kids. I had an Egg Nog Latte. It was quite good. Lunch was a fried rice that I made with leftover chicken and some white rice and I am just about to start on homemade pizza. (Will take dog for walk while sauce cooks and dough rises.)

Plus Manchester United won.

I think I also figured out what I am going to get the wife for Christmas. Yeah for me because I was racking my brain about that.

Reading

2010-11-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

Busy week. Glad the weekend is just hours away.

Finished another of the Man Booker Prize books (either winners or nominees) at my library. It was a good one, The Line of Beauty by Alan Holinghurst. What made this book unique was at the end someone put a yellow sticky to say, if you enjoyed this read, try Felony by E, Tennant. I really liked that touch, a connection with another reader, and may give that book a try.

The other book that I am finishing up is a non-fiction on the pursuit of science in pre-Victorian times. In this I took a bit of a lesson from the U.S. elections this week. For those that scream for smaller government and think that everything will be corrected by capitalism, in this book they talk briefly of slavery and of child labour. Without government involvement and relying only upon the forces of an open market, does anyone believe that these two moral abominations would have gone away?

I actually have started my Christmas shopping. I was too late last year to get my beautiful wife's gift under the tree, so this week I bought the boys their pajamas and will start looking for my wife's gift.

Halloween treats and a new cat too.

2010-10-30T13:18:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures of the Halloween party treats and one of the new cat, Pemma.

Weekend

2010-10-29T16:26:00.003-04:00

Finally. Been a long week.

Tonight I will enjoy live theatre, miniature people style. My middle guy is putting on his play and that should be a great way to start what I hope to be a relaxing weekend.

Tomorrow I plan to start off with some running and some yoga, before heading into host mode. The same thespian son is also going to host a little get together. He wants to play spin the bottle. Yikes. He is growing up too quickly. I think I will keep an ear open and a eye on things as I host while also trying to watch Manchester United and then AC Milan play their games tomorrow.

Sunday has my beautiful wife's sister coming down with her family to see the same play. I was going to make a roast chicken but I am really craving a good chicken pot pie, so guess what I am making. That is right, the pot pie.

Still blah

2010-10-26T12:30:00.002-04:00

Still feeling blah. Kids seem mildly better, but work is still somewhat stressful. I did have a great meditation session last night, and that did lead to a wonderful sleep, but the feeling of blah still remains.

Perhaps a small portion of this is due to my brother-in-law not winning in his municipal councilor election last night.

Blah

2010-10-25T14:02:00.001-04:00

A combative weekend for the most part. Argued a lot with the kids and engaged in an argument in one of my fantasy football pools based on the homophobic response from the league idiot. I didn’t really enjoy the weekend based on this.

On a nicer note, we are the proud owners of a fourth cat. We found an abandoned kitten that is the most beautiful tortoise shell. She is eating like crazy and this morning was quite happy and willing to be pet. I will attempt to post a picture later this week.

Weekend almost here

2010-10-22T12:47:00.002-04:00

My wife and I have a few hours to ourselves tonight. The boys are heading to see the London Knights play the Oshawa Generals in OHL action tonight. At present we are planning to use that free time to try a new Vietnamese restaurant that is near us. It is in the same location of a Korean restaurant that we really enjoyed, especially the barley tea.

After that, who knows. A quiet house with no kids? Whatever could two consenting adults do?

Saturday looks to involve some running around for Daniel's play and then not much. Hoping to keep my winning streak in all leagues going. I have won all games in fantasy football for the last two weeks. Hopefully it can be three.

Very surprised that Rooney signed with Manchester United given the turmoil and words exchanged this week. I am quite happy about it though.

Cooking wise, I know I am craving French Onion Soup. Sunday for football I am thinking a nice fall meal of roast and some potatoes. Not sure of the details on that yet.

Montreal Ying and Yang

2010-10-21T15:21:00.003-04:00

Back from the doing the dutiful son thing and driving my dad to Montreal to deal with his divorce. So in the spirit of good/bad, ying yang, here we go Montreal style.

- We arrived back home safe.
- Driving and spending three solid days with my dad drove me nuts but I only lost my temper twice! Once arriving at the hotel and he shouted out "Why are you parked here?" as I parked in front of the "Hotel Parking" sign. Second time to be expounded upon later in the post.
- Chinese food. We stayed in Chinatown. I ate great Chinese food.
- The second time I yelled was after about two hours of listening to him complain about other drivers. We saw one bad driver not slow down that almost lead to a truck collision on a merge. When this same situation presented itself to us I slowed down and he commented as to why I was slowing down. I yelled and explained the other situation. He was rather quiet after that.
- Traffic through Toronto was great.
- My dad blows his nose at the table. Every meal. This really, really drives me nuts.
- I received a fantastic greeting from my family upon arrival. Heartfelt hugs and kisses. That made me feel great.
- My dad complains about immigrants not learning the language yet lived in Quebec for over ten years and never learned french.
- Getting a chance to use my french again.
- Ending on two goods, I had two amazing runs in Montreal through Chinatown and Old Montreal. Nice to run decent hills as I live a fairly flat area.

It appears that I may be dumb enough to do this again in January. I will see how my work schedule goes. I think I may sedate him during the trip as well.

Friday stuff

2010-10-15T09:34:00.002-04:00

Funny with all the death talk, one actually happened. My brother-in-laws mother passed away after a long illness. I ended up sending some flowers from the family. I ordered it on-line and was surprised at the items they suggest you add on. Chocolates, a teddy bear and of course, a get well soon balloon. If you choose from the funeral section, perhaps suggesting get well soon isn't the best thing.

I was also thinking that lawyers should get in on this. Put balloons, advertisements or flowers that say "Contesting the will? Call me at 555-1122." It really is an untapped market with a captive and motivated group of consumers.

Saw an add for one of those war first person shooter games. For a sense of realism, why don't they have a level where you recover from the war, learning to use the wheelchair or artificial limb. Not trying to be an asshole but how about we stop glorifying war. How about we look at war for what it really is, the worse that humanity can be? How about using the resources we spend on war and make the world a much better place?

Reflections on death.

2010-10-14T15:02:00.001-04:00

As I have mentioned a few times, I am learning more about Buddhism. As such I am reflecting upon death, not in a morbid, shit I’m dying sort of way, but in the eternal question, “What is next?” My Catholic upbringing tells me that this life is it. Live it well, live it good. That will impact upon what happens to my soul, hopefully going up to heaven where for eternity the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup, Manchester United win the treble and the Washington Redskins are Superbowl Champs.

Buddhism denotes a much different belief. Does how I live now impact what comes next? Has this life been effected by how I lived in the past? Does this explain feelings of déjà vu? Do previous lives effect how I think, how I can feel gratitude for what I have now, contrasting how easy we contemporaries have it compared to our forefathers? Do previous lives impact my karma balance? Have I lived hundreds of lives so far and may experience hundreds or thousands more?

I honestly don’t know. I guess the thing is, regardless of whether it is my catholic upbringing or the Buddhism beliefs that I am studying, the key is all the same. Live well and be kind. Be kind with your words and with your actions, to family, to friends, to strangers. Try to live with no regrets.

I found it funny as I have been mulling this over for a while, one of my beautiful wife's and my favorite shows, Being Erica, also looked at this theme this week.

Tired and grumpy

2010-10-13T10:43:00.002-04:00

Couldn't fall back to sleep last night after I got up at 1:30 for a cat related issue. I lied in bed for a bit, then got up and did yoga and meditation, read a bit and then watched some TV. I am fueled currently with my usual two double espressos but augmented it with two cups of tea. I am tired right now and I am trying to keep my distance from folks because when I am tired, I am grumpy. Work is also getting on my nerves, and that was yesterday when I wasn't tired.

Back at it

2010-10-12T16:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday had great weather and a lot of exercise to burn off Thanksgiving calories. A 6k trail run in the morning with dog and beautiful wife, taking in the glory of autumn. The smell of the leaves was great.

The afternoon had a football game. We played for just under an hour and that felt good.

AT night I did a decent yoga routine and I think that is half the reason I feel physically good today even with the running and sprinting I did yesterday.

I won all three fantasy football games, leaving me in playoff position in two leagues.

Yeah me.

Thanksgiving round up

2010-10-11T15:24:00.002-04:00

The meal went off without a hitch. Turkey, moist and delicious with the brine, marinating in white wine and garlic and cooked well. Bachalau was delicious. Stuffing great. Lasagna was my beautiful wife's favorite. The double stuff mash potatoes were good too. Not much left overs. Always a good sign.

Not only did we eat well but we had a road hockey game. This is becoming a family Thanksgiving tradition. Then we enjoyed dessert outside in the back yard.

The balance of the weekend was relaxing. I did throw the football around with the kids for an hour yesterday and today had a 6k trail run with my dog and beautiful wife and the afternoon was a football game with the immediate family. I think I also won all three fantasy football games, my Redskins won.

Today I made a pizza using my new pizza stone. It came out great. I don't know whether it was pizza stone related or the fact that if you get the initial water temp right for the yeast, the dough usually rises nice.

Google

2010-10-08T14:25:00.000-04:00

I find that Google is making logging in a giant pain in the ass.

Fable of the porcupine

2010-10-07T10:53:00.001-04:00

One thing that my wife and I are trying to do is to instill in our sons a spirit of loving kindness, starting with one another and extending forth from there. Part of it definitely requires us setting a good example. We are trying, relying upon yoga and meditation to keep us grounded and calm. We rely upon the teaching of Buddha and Jesus to instill us with a sense of what is right, and pass these lessons upon our children. We also try to get the kids to meditate and most importantly think before they speak. Answer the question whether what is going to come out of their mouths is something that will hurt the person who is listening and also to ask how they would feel if they heard the same words. Today I received the following email from a friend. I think I will need to read this to the kids before bed tonight. Words to live by and think upon.

Fable of the porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever and many animals died because of the cold. Some porcupines, realizing the gravity of the situation, decided to group together to share warmth. This way they were better covered and protected; however - the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After a while they decided to distance themselves one from the other and soon after they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to accept the little wounds that were caused by these close relationships, in order to benefit from what their companions offered. It was this way that they were able to survive and thrive.

Moral of the story:
The best relationships are not ones that bring together perfect beings, but are instead ones where individuals learn to live with the imperfections of others and can still accept the gifts they have to offer.

Positive Reading

2010-10-06T14:48:00.001-04:00

I have to admit that I really enjoy reading Yoga Journal. As a guy that reads voraciously, the newspaper, books, various websites, I find that Yoga Journal is delivered with a bent that is very different. Reading the newspaper can really bring you down. The old axiom “What bleeds leads” can really give you a sour outlook on life. Even the trial and tribulations of life can bring you down. Yoga Journal has a very positive outlook the vast majority of every article. The helps me to have an optimistic view on life, that is supplemented with my own yoga practice and meditation.

The fact that the pictures contain good looking, healthy and athletic women, I put that in the bonus column.

It wasn't all toilets

2010-10-05T16:11:00.001-04:00

All in all I would have to put it down as a good weekend.

The toilet took longer to fix then anticipated, due to it being more than fixing the wax ring. The rubber ring between tank and base needed replacing as well and naturally the screws were rusted through. A pain to fix.

After that the weekend was all about food, just the way I like my weekends to be.

For lunch it was Portuguese Chicken and then we picked up some of the items required for this weekend’s Thanksgiving dinner, specifically some bacalahua and a meat grinder for making the stuffing.

Dinner was off to Paris (the Ontario variety) for a 25th wedding anniversary. The prime rib I had was spectacular as was the roasted vegetables.

Sunday had me making a fine lunch of pork chops served with a cranberry-maple chutney and paired with roasted root vegetables. It was delicious, easy and will go in the dinner rotation. A good fall meal.

The balance of the day was watching football. Some really good games on and Washington won over Philadelphia. My three fantasy teams lost however. Not a good year for me. I have a shot at the playoffs in two leagues but the family league I am 0 – 4 and it is not looking good. I essentially have to win every remaining game.

Ying and yang

2010-09-30T13:17:00.001-04:00

Somethings have been bugging me but to keep the blog from becoming all negative, I will offset the negativity with an element of life I like.

Bad

The use of “gate” behind everything. This really speaks to the stupidity of the press. Now it stems from Watergate, but Watergate was the name of the hotel. The break-in and cover up had nothing to do with water. Do you understand this very simple concept press? To me the tipping point was the use of “Gate” in describing whether Sarah Palin was booed on Dancing with the Stars. (Who really gives a shit anyways?)

Good

Thanksgiving is just around the corner for us Canadians. It is my favourite holiday, built around enjoying food with family.

Bad

Referring to the World Trade Center as Ground Zero. Prior to September 11, 2001, Ground Zero was commonly referred to as Hiroshima, the very first use of an atomic weapon on people. Well over a hundred thousand people were killed, either during the blast or due to the effects of the radiation. Now this is not in any way meant to diminish the deaths on 9/11, they were indeed horrific and tragic, but merely to put things within context. Hiroshima being referred to as Ground zero makes sense due to the fact that it brought the dawn and first use of atomic weapons. 9/11 was not the very first deaths by terrorists within history or even within the United States. (Google McVeigh, The Weathermen for starters.)

Good

My yoga practice of late. I feel fantastic, both from a physical standpoint and from a centering of my mind standpoint.

Dear Brett Favre

2010-09-28T15:47:00.002-04:00

I hate you.

First off you come out of retirement after my draft. Had I known that I would have drafted differently, taking Peterson instead of Rice.

More recently your pathetic performance against the Lions cost me a win this week. It is the Detroit Lions for hell's sake. Everybody plays well against the Detroit Lions. Everyone except you.

At least as of tomorrow (or it could be Thursday, I can't remember when waivers are processed) you will be cut. I will replace you with Peyton Hillis, who no doubt will blow his knee out in practice this week or something equally bizarre.

I think the family league is a write off this year.

Weekend update

2010-09-27T15:30:00.002-04:00

Saturday was all politics. Daniel and I helped my brother-in-law canvass for city council. It went well and Daniel took control on a couple of houses. It is something to watch an 11 year old kid canvass for votes.

Judging from the lawn signs, my brother-in-law has a shot at victory. From a guy that has been a fuck up for most of the time I have known him, the last few years he is pulling himself together.

Fantasy football wise it was a fairly good weekend. I have won two and have an outside shot of winning the third league. The one that I am behind in, if I lose I am 0 - 3, but would have won two games with a proper selection of players. I drafted with the same methodology, so it just goes to show. Brett Favre is going to be cut and I will pick up someone useful.

Cooking wise I made a great pasta dish that has Italian sausage, proscuitto and fennel along with orzo pasta. It is real comfort food and Daniel likes it as well. He ended up taking the leftovers for school lunch. Here is the recipe

Fry up garlic, onions, green peppers and fennel (anise) and after they soften add chopped up Italian sausage (I use hot) and proscuitto. Cook it slow to release those beautiful juices. (aka fat) Then put in about a cup of orzo, coating it in the grease. Add in bits some chicken stock, (about 500ml or so) which you can mix with some white wine. Cook slowly until the liquid is all added and absorbed.

A cultured lunch

2010-09-24T13:42:00.000-04:00

We had a cultural potluck at work today. True to the roots adopted from my wife, I made a Portuguese dish of a cod casserole with fried potatoes. (Bacalhau dourado no forno). It was well received and I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this affair. The chick pea dish from one of the Indian workers was my favourite but there was plenty of excellent food from around the world.

The weekend plans are for a busy Saturday and a quiet Sunday. Tomorrow we are heading to Cambridge where I will help my brother-in-law canvass for municipal election. Then back home where Daniel goes to acting and we will partake of the local Culture Days activities. We will wander around and see the artists at work.

A lunch surprise

2010-09-23T15:44:00.000-04:00

I had a huge surprise today. My brother phoned me to do lunch. This is highly unusual as he lives in Hilton Head SC. He was up here to renew his work visa. It was good as we got a chance to catch up, although far too short a chance but we did promise that the two families would get together at Christmas, although it may end up being celebrated at US Thanksgiving.

Only one dilemma for fantasy football this week and that is whether to start Green of the Jets or Stewart of the Panthers at running back. The breakdown is not huge between them from what I see. Green is losing carries to Tomlinson and they are playing the Dolphins, who shut down the Vikings last week. Stewart also shares carries, although in an offence that is usually great for the run. New QB in Carolina also means that the opposing defence can key on the running backs. Leaning towards Green but my error last week cost me a loss in the one league. I won the other two thankfully.

We have meet the teacher tonight. I think Daniel has had his teacher before from what he tells me.

One busy cowboy

2010-09-22T14:17:00.002-04:00

That is me. I have been quite busy lately.

Work is going great, very busy but that helps pass the time nicely.

Doing lots of yoga and meditation but not much running these days. It is just how I feel but I will probably get out for a run this weekend.

Was out reading a book last night in the mild evening air. The next door neighbour kid comes over and asks if he can talk to me. He wanted advice. What I find odd is that this is the second kid that has asked for advice in the last couple of months. What am I, the neighbourhood guru? The first kid asked for financial advice, the kid last night had a bombshell. Pregnant girlfriend and whether he should tell his mother. We talked for a bit but I told him to tell her. She will probably go through a raft of emotions (shock, rage) but eventually will come around as supportive as she loves him. I also told him to look at funding alternatives from Social services as 16 is too young to leave school. It was an interesting conversation that I seriously hope I don't need to have with my kids.

Gun registry

2010-09-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

I have read a few comments about the gun registry debate and I am fascinated by the amount of wrong ideas out there, especially from those that want to scrap the registry.

First off is the fact that they look at the cost incurred thus far. Any introductory finance class will tell you that sunk costs are irrelevant. Whether you continue with the program or not, those costs are not coming back, they are not increasing, they are not decreasing. They have been spent and that is that. The only credence these numbers have is perhaps to make one take the current spending estimates with caution, as the setup estimates were so far off.

The most glaring error that I see is the number of people that want to pin this issue on the NDP. This fascinates me. It was the Conservative party that wanted to scrap it. It is a member of the Conservative party that is bringing the bill forth. Somehow these facts have morphed into blaming the NDP if it fails.

Then there are the surveys. They don’t trust the police chiefs that want to keep the gun registry. Then they harp on the poll of one cop website. Because they had around 2,000 cops visit this site and they want to scrap it. One issue with this, 2,000 people that may or not be cops who go to a pro gun website perhaps doesn’t really classify as a referendum or an unbiased poll. It would be like polling an NDP meeting and ask if they prefer Jack Layton or Stephen Harper.

Personally I think the world would be much better without guns.

I think now I will turn myself to the dilemma of what running back to start in my fantasy football.

City wish list

2010-09-16T15:22:00.000-04:00

The other day I did cities I have visited that I like. Today it is the cities I want to add to that list.

First and foremost, is Rome. I would love to go to the Eternal city. I love Italian food, I love Italian history and art and I am Catholic so going to check up on the boss would be great too. Along with Rome would be trips to Milan (go AC Milan!), Venice and Florence. I hope that by next year, this has been accomplished as that is the plan.

Dublin. I love Guinness. The city looks great on various travel shows that I have seen.

London. Along with Paris this is one of the crown jewels. It would be hard to beat Paris but let’s see what it can do. The bonus of London and Dublin is that I speak fairly passable English.

Tokyo. I have never been to Asia or the Orient and this is arguably the most famous city. I would love to see it before it is destroyed in the next Godzilla attack.

Sydney. Looks amazing from what you see on TV and the weather is nice.

Prague. They say that it is a Paris like city. Again from the viewpoint of TV, it looks pretty nice.

Buenos Aries. You have to round out the culture with a South American jewel. This city seems to have a real European sense of architecture.

That would be a good starting point, but if money were available, I would expand this list accordingly (Vietnam, Thailand, India, China, etc etc etc)

My city list

2010-09-15T14:11:00.000-04:00

Sarah of Water Water Everywhere did up a top ten list. It wasn’t as funny as David Letterman’s lists, but it was interesting. This list talked about your top ten cities. I thought I would take a stab at mine. I really only came up with eight.

Toronto, Ontario. My birthplace and still a city I love to go to. It is clean and interesting. I have really noticed the build up of the condos along the waterfront. It is the home of my beloved Argos and Maple Leafs.

Paris, France. This jewel was also on Sarah’s list, and it is richly deserved. This city lived up to expectations when I visited. I loved the old buildings and the city’s landmarks. The people were also great. Friendly. One of the great memories for me of Paris was at Luxembourgh Gardens, renting one of the boats for my son Luke to play with. These boats are wind powered and the children shoot the boats away from the side of the pond with sticks. All the people that sat along the pond would quickly shuttle over when they saw a child with a stick, moving over so that the play with the boats could continue. I loved that. I also have a great memory of a memorable meal out with my beautiful wife.

Lisbon, Portugal. My beautiful wife and I went here for our 10th wedding anniversary. We had a great time, ate great food and enjoyed the city. From the medieval castle of St. George, to the downtown with the mosaic tile and the grid like streets rebuilt after a devastating earthquake. Although not really a city, we also enjoyed very much the town of Marvao, that we visited after Lisbon.

Boston, MS. My wife and I ran the Boston Marathon in 1994. We arrived a few days early and took in the sites of this old city. We were quite impressed.

Chicago, IL. I find that Chicago has a feel very much like Toronto. Being on the waterfront and with the downtown located right there. Having watched the show ER for years, it was also interesting to see some of the backdrops that you saw on TV.

Ottawa, ON. The capital of Canada. I loved Sparks Street, a pedestrian thoroughfare. The city is clean and there is lots to see and do. The marathon we ran there in 1993 was very good as well, fairly flat and taking you right by the Parliament buildings.

Washington, DC. I went there to see my beloved Washington Redskins and was quite impressed with the area that we stayed in, around the capital and all its attractions. The police presence certainly made you feel safe. We didn’t wander into the areas that have high murder rates.

Montreal, Quebec. I love the old downtown.

0 - 3

2010-09-14T13:13:00.002-04:00

Time to panic.

I was 0 - 3 in my three fantasy leagues. Thoroughly clobbered in the family league. As such I will be buying a Portuguese Chicken dinner tomorrow night.

In my original league, I have five quality running backs so I am unloading Darren McFadden for two receivers, Roy Williams and Mike Wallace. Both second on the depth chart on their teams but it is the one area I need to address on this team.

I have been doing a fair amount of yoga lately, not running. I do miss the running but really felt the need to stretch, especially with the home project on the weekend and discovery of all the muscles you don't use while sitting at a desk.

I am also going to put my bike on the rollers down in the basement and turn Sunday morning Italian football watching into a workout session. I figure an hour or two of cycling should help this middle age man fight the effects of age a bit longer.

That was it?

2010-09-13T14:47:00.002-04:00

Not the greatest of weekends. I ended up spending most of it putting up a shed. A vinyl shed instead of the wooden one I wanted, but I know my place in the house organization chart. A notch below the cats and the dog. I spent from 8 am to 7 pm on Saturday and 8 to 3 on Sunday. I only lost it for a half hour on Sunday when I couldn't get the roof to go together. With just the right amount of pressure and swearing, it did go up and all is good now.

After three I ended up just chilling and watched some football while my beautiful wife brought me a sandwich (back bacon with caramelized onions) and a cold beer. These were both refilled quickly upon finishing. I could get used to that!

Fantasy football wise I got killed in one league, I am ahead in another with a great probability of winning and behind in the third with a chance of catching up.

Love and football.

2010-09-09T15:08:00.001-04:00

One of the tenants of most religions, especially Christianity and Buddhism, is to love your neighbour, even your enemy. Jesus spoke many times about this, loving-kindness meditation in Buddhism talks of meditating and sending loving-kindness intentions to those that you are at odds with. Intellectually I understand this. I am certain that abiding by these worthy rules will leave you feeling better yourself. In reality, it is extremely difficult. I find that meditating and adopting these rules are helping me drop the issues from the people I had issues with in the past. I am finding it very difficult to do this with the person I am having issues with in the present. Especially since it seems to be a new issue every day. Still I must persevere. That is the reason they refer to religion and meditation as a practice. You are never really at the end.

The NFL starts tonight. That means fantasy football starts tonight. I am in three leagues this year. I used a similar draft strategy in all three leagues. I drafted strong running backs and then filled out my roster with the best available at each position. One thing I am doing this year is drafting a defence late and then adding and dropping depending on what available defence has a favourable match up. I found this worked pretty good last year.

My original league that I have been doing for about five years now is up to a 14 team league and is being done on the NFL site. It is pretty good. The drafting interface was good and altering your lineup is fairly easy. The news and updates show in a fairly decent format.

My family league is a 10 player league on ESPN. This site is the worse of the three. Adding and dropping players is a chore and the news for the players is difficult to obtain. Setting your line up is not the most elegant interface.

Daniel wanted to do another league so we went into the same public league on CBS. CBS only has 12 team leagues but I have been in a CBS league every year that I have done fantasy football. I find this site the best. Setting and researching your team and getting news on players is the easiest of all three sites I am on.

Now I just need to win all three leagues and watch the money roll in.

Long weekend

2010-09-03T11:16:00.002-04:00

Only a few hours away. I am looking forward to it.

After a few very hot and humid days, the temperature will quickly become autumn like. The low may go down to 4 degrees tomorrow. The high is forecast as only 17 tomorrow and it is due to rain. Fortunately we have a trip to see my dad and take him out for a birthday lunch.

Other than that, nothing but relaxation planned.

No Islamophobia for me.

2010-09-01T09:27:00.001-04:00

I said recently that I was going to stop reading the letters to the editor on my local paper’s website. This time I really mean it. On top of the usual complaining about road work, property taxes and traffic, I have noticed a real hatred towards Muslims. I have commented occasionally that we should not hold all Muslims accountable for the actions of a few. In response I have been called virtually every name in the book but have had little in the way of rational discourse.

I honestly think that hatred towards Muslims will alienate them further. Having churches organize Koran burnings is not the message of love and acceptance that Jesus talked about in the Gospels. Denying them places to assemble and to worship is only giving them reason to hate us.

Not all Muslims are bad. As I mentioned earlier, there are 1.5 billion of them. The vast majority I am certain are not bent on global domination or all our deaths. I have Muslim neighbours and they haven’t killed me or my family once. I have seen them celebrate family weddings and births. The only crazy thing was that yell they do to celebrate. Otherwise it is a normal family get together.

I have heard the argument that Muslims should have stopped the acts of terrorists by other Muslims. I agree with this on the caveat that they actually knew about the acts. Should the neighbours of some of the recent mass shootings over the years be held responsible because they didn’t stop the shootings before they happened? It is a rhetorical question. The answer is no, because in all likelihood they didn’t know about it.

I think that you look at the contemporary persecution of Muslims and you can find many instances in the past of persecution of other groups. Catholics, Jews, Chinese, Irish, Germans, Homosexuals, the list goes on and on. It was wrong back then and it is wrong today.

I also think the threat posed is overstated as well. I am certain that the risk of dying in a car accident far exceeds the threat of dying in a terrorist attack. If we are so concerned about loss of life, there is a raft of preventable deaths in the third world that we should be concerned about.

People mention that this is World War III. OK, let us say it is. Who are you putting your money on? Who has the vast superiority in conventional and nuclear weapons? It isn’t even close. It is the West. Does anybody outside of the certifiably insane foresee a D-Day invasion of Muslim soldiers on the shores of North America or Europe anytime soon?

Yes I know. This reads as the manifesto as a bleeding heart socialist. Perhaps. I just can’t rationally understand the paranoia of some folks. The threat of Muslims is just not as great as some believe.

Long two days

2010-08-31T15:40:00.002-04:00

The balance of the weekend was great. Sunday was my wedding anniversary. We had a great dinner and better still the kids went to sleep over at someone's house. I will let the balance remain unsaid but it is implied.

The two days thus far have been long. Partially due to dealing with bureaucracy. Rogers is always a chore to deal with and then I had some issues with one of the kids activities.

Only three days until the long weekend.

Good day thus far

2010-08-28T15:42:00.002-04:00

After a long and trying week, the weekend has been awesome. Yesterday was chill. My beautiful wife worked, so I read and watched a bit of TV.

This morning started off with a trail run of about 7 km with my dog and my beautiful wife. After a shower, a bit of breakfast and some coffee, we went to the local farmers market. The fruits and vegetables were overwhelming. The colours were incredible, the variety, all local, great. The smells of basil bunches were great.

We bought sweet corn and some baby carrots, which I will have for dinner today. For tomorrow's dinner, our 14th wedding anniversary, I have a free range chicken, some butternut squash, parsnips and more carrots. We also bought some vegetables for canning. Me, I love pickled hot peppers so I bought a batch of cayenne peppers to pickle. My beautiful wife makes some great pickled veggies, a medley of cucumbers, cauliflower, zucchini, onions, green and red peppers. We are going to go back next week and buy a bushel of roma tomatoes and some onions to make some pasta sauce.

When we got back I read a bit outside and now I blog before I have to do some computer related things.

I really should stop

2010-08-25T12:13:00.002-04:00

I occasionally read the letters section on the website of the local paper. It appears that the xenophobic have a lot of time on their hands. Heaven forbid you try to use any facts on them.

With the boat of Tamil refugees that has come into Canada I questioned the one writer on the $50,000 per person that these folks were charged, finding it exceedingly unlikely that they had this sort of money or that they would be granted this level of credit. This individual responded that Sri Lanka is actually quite rich and even if they didn't they would work it off here.

I responded that the per capita GDP of a Sri Lankan is $4,100, placing it 148th in the world according to the CIA factbook. Hardly what I would call a prosperous country. As for working off the debt once here, they would be working minimum wage jobs. How long would it take to repay? I don't think criminal masterminds work with that long a time frame.

Now with the long gun registry, they are blaming the NDP. I really can't understand how a private members bill brought forth by the Conservatives is the fault of the NDP. I also called them on the poll they quote that the cops don't like the gun registry. The poll in my opinion is biased and flawed. It was conducted on a single web site. It reflects the echo chamber and is not as valid as a poll that would question rank and file policemen at random. Can you take the results of a poll off of Fox News and say that it applies globally? No, Fox News reflects the right wing side of things. Same can be said for a poll conducted on Huffington Post.

Tuesday stuff

2010-08-24T14:17:00.003-04:00

I have done my two days thus far in the 21 day meditation challenge. I followed that up this morning with some yoga. I know that I should have done yoga followed by meditation, but I had a feeling that dog and kid would arise prior to me completing the meditation, so I did it that way. My beautiful wife wants me to save and burn the meditations on to a disk to give to the oldest son. Calm him down. He is much calmer than he was, but a bit of improvement can't hurt.

I need to do more running. Especially as the nights get colder, I get that taste of autumn and the need to run. I see that some trees are starting to turn and the sun is going down before 8:30 and not arising until after 6 now. Two weeks until kids are back at school and less than a month of summer.

Our garden is in full harvest mode. Last nights dinner was (with garden items denoted with *) goat cheese, tomato * and basil * sandwiches with some nice zucchini soup. (soup containing onions *, garlic *, zucchini *, ginger, garam masala and coconut milk) I was quite happy with the soup as it was my own creation, no recipe and it tasted great. I had roasted the spices for the garam masala and ground it just prior to putting it in. I also blended it all to give it a wonderful consistency and the colour is great.

I also made pumpkin cheesecake on the weekend, pumpkin from the garden. It was very good.

way to fast a weekend

2010-08-23T10:46:00.002-04:00

We had friends over Friday night. Nice to relax after a rather trying week at work.

Saturday started off with a trail run with my dog and my beautiful wife.

I then made breakfast, pancakes with blueberries, a favorite of my new that day 11 year old Daniel. Then we went off to Starbucks for a hot chocolate and to Toys R Us for Daniel to use the birthday money. Later that day we did another fantasy football draft and off to Swiss chalet for dinner.

Sunday was a trip to Cambridge to see family. Even though the weather was not great (lots of rain) it was nice to see everyone and to eat well.

PITA day

2010-08-19T19:08:00.002-04:00

This was one of those days that becomes what you measure good days against. It really had it's moments but on a good note it is improving with a mortgage renewal that I took 1.5% off in negotiating to get 3.9% for five years, I had a great dinner and I am going out on a date with my beautiful wife.

Hump day miscellaneous

2010-08-18T13:37:00.002-04:00

I have signed up for the 21 day meditation challenge. I and my beautiful wife have been doing this more, and trying to incorporate more of what we have learned by exploring Buddhism (mindfulness, loving-kindness, non-attachment) and we are finding this is making us better parents and better people. As an aside, we also find this is improving the quality of our sex life.

I am looking forward to this meditation challenge as it is still a struggle to sit and be silent at times. This will help to keep it fresh.

Setanta Sports has a free preview on now and today they are showing the Braga/Sevilla Champions League game. I will be able to watch a re-broadcast at 6:15. Yeah me.

I am tired of listening to the mosque debate. Let them build it. This may be a news flash to some, but not all Muslims are evil or dangerous. Let's even look at the numbers. Let's say that 1 million Muslims are evil and want to kill everyone that they meet. I think that number is far too high but I am trying to make a point. There are roughly 1.5 billion Muslims world wide. If the 1 million bad evil ones are compared to the total, then this equates to roughly 0.07% of Muslims. That doesn't seem like a big issue.

Also, although some Muslims did a very bad thing, that does not make all Muslims bad. Some Catholic priests did some horrible things, does that make ALL Catholics pedophiles? Some evangelical Christians are full of hate but then there are some like Mainline Mom that are full of love, as she documents on her blog.

Let's face it, there are good and bad in every group (possible exceptions being Nazis, Al-Queda and Philadelphia Eagle fans. These groups are just evil.)

Camp Recap

2010-08-17T18:28:00.003-04:00

I agree with my good friend zydecofish that the luxury of modern living is nice. I like a comfy bed, a good hot meal and a glass of wine, an espresso and a brandy. That being said, camping for the first time in two years was great.

I enjoyed the hikes in the woods, the beach, food cooked over an open fire. Even a decent red out of a plastic cup was fine.

We went to a new campsite this year and it worked out great. The dog enjoyed herself and the kids were good. The only downside was I woke up sore from sleeping on the ground plus with the high humidity it was very warm for sleeping. The mosquitos were crazy as well.

Here are a sampling of photos.

My beautiful wife at the beach.

Campfire and glow sticks.

This is us at the lowest point of mainland Canada.

The food. I love the food.

Off to my happy place

2010-08-12T14:02:00.002-04:00

Tonight we are partaking again of the local arts scene to partake of the Odd Soul Stroll. That should be fun and the director of Daniel's last two plays will be one of the actors.

Tomorrow, we are off camping. I haven't been in two years and that is far too long. This marks the inaugural trip with our dog, so that will be interesting. We are also trying out a new campsite, as our usual place is booked.

Not deaf, just quiet

2010-08-11T15:06:00.003-04:00

Had a night to myself the other night. My beautiful wife took the kids and the dog to Cambridge, even the cats were out and about. I relished the silence. I read, I meditated, I did yoga. It was nice.

I did enjoy the return of chaos last night however. That silence doesn't quite feel right in our house.

Mid summer Thanksgiving

2010-08-09T14:12:00.002-04:00

We had to make some room in the freezer for the blueberries we bought. One of the items that came out was a turkey. Yesterday I cooked said turkey, after marinating it in white wine, hot sauce and garlic. I made stuffing and we had roasted garlic mash potatoes. I made gravy out of the delicious juice. For dessert a blueberry cheesecake.

It was great. Bringing a lunch of the leftovers left me feeling as satisfied (plus a little sleepy here at work)

It is beyond me why turkey is only trotted out a few times a year, and usually just at the holidays.

A good to be alive kind of day

2010-08-07T15:06:00.002-04:00

Wake up next to my beautiful wife. We head out with my dog for an 8k trail run, seeing rabbits and the lush trees. Have a nice breakfast of oatmeal with raisins and a touch of nutmeg, washed down with an espresso.

A lunch of a nice roasted vegetable sauce of garden sourced tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini and oregano with some black and green olives, drizzled with olive oil and roasted in a 325 F oven for an hour. Over some rotinni pasta, with fresh bread and a glass of red wine, enjoyed overlooking our garden in the backyard.

I hope everyone in the world is having as good a day as this.

Soon I will sit back and watch the Benfica versus Porto game (Super cup) and enjoy the fresh bread and some nice borscht made with beets from the garden.

Tonight I have nothing more planned except for some reading out in the garden and perhaps a chess game with the boys.

Books and wine

2010-08-06T15:01:00.002-04:00

Before I get to the reviews, I must say that today I had a most enjoyable lunch. I got together with five old co-workers and must say it felt like old times for an hour. The only element that I miss from my old job is that we did get together weekly for lunch. Those Friday lunches were always a highlight. It should be noted that we went to our old stomping grounds and had Portuguese Chicken, complete with the red wine, followed by brandy and espresso.

Before I get to the book reviews, I have a wine review. Last night I stopped off to replenish the wine rack. I bought a reasonably priced French red called Petit Bistro. It was a Syrah and it was great. Love the colourful picture on the bottle as well.

As I have mentioned before, I am reading through the list of Booker Prize nominated or winning books from my library. I have recently finished two more and loved them both. One was called Animal’s People by Indra Sinha and the other was Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare.

Animal’s People dealt with a city dealing with the Bohpal fallout twenty years later. It appealed to my socialist leanings but still spoke wonderfully of human perseverance. Not only against poverty but also overcoming personal shortcomings. Well written for sure.

The second book is the second that I have read of this author, the first being The Siege. Chronicle in Stone looked at the Second World War but from a totally unique perspective, that of a small boy in Albania. The small, backward country perspective and the unique innocence of the small boy make this a great read and a totally different take on war stories.

So I strongly recommend picking up a bottle or two of the fine wine and spending some time reading these books.

5 day recap

2010-08-03T19:23:00.004-04:00

An awesome break.

The beach was great. Food was good with the chipoltle mango BBQ chicken, a white bean salad and some great chorico bread. Fresh fruit for dessert. Great weather and wonderful weather.

Friday was a trip to my favorite restaurant, Portuguese chicken and then a movie, Despicable Me. Pretty good movie.

Saturday was low key. I made some burgers and double stuff potatoes along with some zuchinni from our garden.

Sunday was church and then steak, bbq zuchinni and a dessert of blueberry pear crumble.

I ran four times this weekend including three trail runs with my dog.

Monday was a holiday and we took advantage to go blueberry picking. We went to the same place we went the last few years. Only 15 minutes out of town but with a great garden on location. I have attached some pictures which doesn't do the garden justice. You can't even see the pond with the frogs. The blueberries are great this year. Big and sweet.

45

2010-07-28T16:33:00.002-04:00

I try not to think about it.

Looking forward to 5 days off. I will start it off right with a trail run tomorrow morning with my dog and I think my beautiful wife will join in. I have to get those new shoes dirty.

Beach tomorrow. I am working on what to take. I am going to try a new Mediterranean white bean salad and I am debating between some chicken or just some simple sandwiches. Leaning towards chicken. Although we will also have an outing on Friday and the chicken may show up that day.

New Shoes

2010-07-27T15:47:00.002-04:00

I went running in my new Saucony Pro Grid 2. My feet were happy. The shoes are still too white and new looking, but I plan to fix that on Thursday with a trail run.

Now I bought these new shoes on sale from Sport Chek. The service was poor and the one thing that I did notice is that these are the most out of shape looking group of people that I have ever seen trying to sell sports equipment. I mentioned this to my beautiful wife and she mentioned that she might put in a resume there. Great for us as it is just around the corner and I can get discount shoes!

I am stretching out the long weekend to five days by taking Thursday and Friday off. Yeah for me.

Afghanistan

2010-07-26T15:14:00.001-04:00

This thing has been going on for a while. Am I the only one that is surprised that the Taliban still has bullets? Don't you think they would have run out by now? Unless of course, they are getting them from somewhere. Plus I don't mean Iran if anyone thinks that.

Date recap

2010-07-23T14:41:00.001-04:00

The date lived up to our anticipations. Dinner was fabulous. My beautiful wife and I are both good cooks and love food. We are committed to using good ingredients. So we ended up using a gift certificate that we received from our oldest son at Christmas. I ended up having deep fried ravioli that was stuffed with spicy bread as an appetizer, chicken parmigiana with a side of sautéed vegetables and some fettuccini alfredo and for desert a raspberry New York cheesecake. It was all excellent. The ravioli was lightly fried and served with a marinara sauce. The chicken was juicy and full of flavour, with real cheese, a tangy and fresh tasting sauce was lightly breaded. The vegetables were crisp, fresh and cooked to perfection. The pasta was done al dente. The cheesecake was a perfect finish.

My beautiful wife had deep fried calamari, fresh, tender and lightly breaded. She had seafood fettuccini and finished off with a Tartuffe. She loved it. A nice half litre of wine washed it all down.

We are definitely going back and this place has rocketed up our favourite list.

The play we attended was excellent as well. It worked in a circular time frame, starting off where the man and woman started cheating on their spouses, jumped nine years in the future and then worked back. It was a great performance by a small three person troupe. We still have two more plays to see as we bought the package to this local acting company.

The runner

2010-07-22T14:27:00.002-04:00

I had one of those runs this morning that leaves you panting and sweating, yet happy to be alive.

What a glorious way to start a day.

I finished up with some sun salutations and some meditation.

Tonight promises to be good. I am going on a date with my wife. Dinner and a play by a local acting group. Should be good.

Hey internet f&*% you

2010-07-21T13:20:00.002-04:00

The internet has it's uses. It quickly answers questions like "Is that guy dead or alive?" or "Wasn't that guy in the movie, you know the one with the guy?".

The internet is not useful for giving the straight forward answer that I have been trying to get for the last three fucking hours on how the import of an invoice is supposed to look in this given software and which of the foreign currency numbers is it supposed to go over.

Come on internet. Get your shit together. I am not going to tell you again.

Odd dream

2010-07-20T11:04:00.001-04:00

I woke up unsettled. The reason was due to an odd dream. I was laid off and my brother-in-law had gotten me a job in real estate. I prepared a report that went off to the head office in Chicago and there was an error in it. They responded back via an internet chat.

I did feel better post run and post yoga. In analyzing this, I don’t think I am in any danger whatsoever here. Business is fine and my performance is very good, the owners love me. (Knocks on wood that it continues). I think a lot of this dream sequence comes from my old job, now about 15 months removed. In that situation the owners (a group of lying pricks if ever there were some) ended up moving head office to Chicago. The plant that I worked in was recently sold.

Now how my brother-in-law fits in I think that was due to the fact that he hosted a golf tournament on the weekend. We were talking about it yesterday.

All of a sudden it all makes sense.

Weekend update

2010-07-19T14:12:00.000-04:00

I have to admit, it was another good weekend. Friday I just ended up watching some CFL football. Saturday involved a walk with the dog, heading out with the kids for a hot chocolate (they drink this even with the summer heat), some yard work and just some general relaxing. Sunday was church combined with more relaxing.

Food wise it was the Chipotle Pork skewers with pineapple served along with sautéed green beans and then a chickpea and potato dish with garam masala, tumeric and coconut milk. Good. Sunday was pizza for lunch and the Sichuan beef for dinner, served with rice and some beets.

As part of the Saturday outing was a trip to local electronics store to see about converting to internet TV and abandoning the satellite. I think I am some hardware shy but moving in the right direction. I did see a demo of 3D TV. They were showing a Barcelona football game from the FIFA club championship. It looked good, but how many broadcasters are set up for that? Not too many I think as most are just switching to HD at present.

Sucks to be me

2010-07-16T13:53:00.002-04:00

That was sarcasm.

Let me spell it out. I get home from getting a haircut yesterday. I find my wife frying fresh fish. That is good on it's own but the thing that really took it over the top was the fact that she was in a bikini. Yum yum and I don't mean just the fish, which was very good by the way.

For clarification, she did take the kids to the beach and that explains the bikini.

A rebuttal

2010-07-15T14:15:00.001-04:00

While waiting for my car pool ride to pick me up this morning I was watching Fox News. I watch Fox News for entertainment value as opposed to actual news content. Lately the issue that seems to burn on them is the lavish unemployment benefits received by those that are jobless. (Note, the last sentence contained sarcasm.) This morning one of the talking heads was questioning a staffing agency on whether people were turning down jobs due to the preference of receiving unemployment benefits. This person said that about 5% were turning down jobs.

If this is the case, and Fox stated this as fact, then the premise that unemployment is high due to high unemployment is false. First off, the fellow mentioned the rate of those turning down jobs was 5% and that is half the actual unemployment rate. Additionally a first year macro-economic student will tell you that structural unemployment is 4 to 5%. That means the 5% figure this guy spouted is just the structural figure, that would be the same whether there was a boom or a depression.

Now granted, someone could come back and attack the sample size. It was only one staffing firm but they did say that they dealt with thousands of applicants. Therefore let’s assume that sample size is OK.

World Wide Religion

2010-07-14T13:46:00.000-04:00

Midge Ure wrote the line in Dear God, “Give me a worldwide religion”.

I think this is a fantastic idea that would go a long way to creating peace in the world. In reality however, I can’t see this happening. Over the last few years I have studied a few religions. I am curious as to what they contain. In pure essence, the religions that I have studied basically have a message that says be good to one another. They all have a Supreme Entity, they just happen to have different names. I really don’t see any reason to blow someone up over any of the differences that I have seen.

What I find very interesting, and certainly puts a halt to a global religion, is that each major religion I have studied has off shoots. There is no uniformity on the one religion. Christianity is split between Catholics and Protestants; the Protestants have who knows how may different classifications. Muslims have Shiite and Sunni. Jews have Hassidic and Sephardic to name but a few. Buddhists can be classified by Tibetan or Zen. I haven’t studied Hindu but I would imagine that has splits as well.

Potentially it’s not a bad thing. You wouldn’t want a garden with just one kind of flower. I guess the important thing is to respect and allow each religion to practice. Learn the differences and feel comfortable with whatever religion (or atheistic leanings) are out there. Be kind to one another and whatever you call God or Allah, you will see Him (or Her?)

The interview

2010-07-13T13:53:00.002-04:00

I have three good friends that happen to be HR folks. All are very nice, all are good looking. Yet all of them can't find that special someone. I wonder if it is due to their job skills creeping into their personal life. Are dates interviews? Do they go out of their way to find weaknesses, evaluating answers to questions to ascertain certain skills and attributes?

Now I guess that all dates have this going on, and whether you are in HR or not, you are always evaluating. But do HR folks bring other skills to bear? They would have more interviewing experience than the average person.

Myself, I think that if you find that magic someone, it just clicks. With me it worked that way at a running race when I met my beautiful wife. It was a chemical reaction. Perhaps these folks just haven't lucked into meeting that special someone. But perhaps it is also an occupational hazard holding them back.

Saturday

2010-07-10T14:51:00.002-04:00

Great day so far. Woke up with the sun shining in and illuminating my beautiful wife next to me. Then a nice breakfast and off to pick some raspberries. We picked ten pints and they are great. We also picked up some sweet corn, green beans and some beets. Had the corn and beans for lunch. The corn was very sweet, so good.

I have knocked a few things off the honey do list and now I sit watching the third place game. A bit more work around the house and some reading outside. That is what the balance of today holds.

Friday

2010-07-09T15:36:00.002-04:00

I like that.

Last night we had our priest over for dinner. It was a pleasant night and the food was good. BBQ chicken that was marinated in white wine, lemon and spices, some corn on the cob and some unstuffed double stuffed potatoes. Was also good to get to know the father in a relaxed setting. He is left leaning like me and my beautiful wife, so that was good.

If the weather cooperates we will go raspberry picking tomorrow morning, then watch some World Cup in the afternoon. I also want to start working through the recent Food and Drink which looks to have some great recipes. I will start with the Indian Eggplant pizza and I think also make the Chipolte Pork and Pineapple skewers.

The one thing about this spy thing I find interesting is everyone is upset about the Russians captured by the US, yet does anyone besides myself not wonder why there were spies in Russia to trade?

Summer reading

2010-07-06T11:16:00.003-04:00

Being off last week and taking in the beach, I got a lot of reading done. Reading and summer go together like hot day and cold beer.

One book I finished was Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher. A fine writer that keeps the reader entertained but the book was lacking. It follows two families for a thirty year period in England. It read like a finely done blog. Nothing against blogs but I expected a bit of a story, not a series of events. A 3 out of 5.

The second book I flew through. The Deportees by Roddy Doyle is a collection of short stories that deals with Ireland and the influx of immigrants. Very entertaining. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5.

It's so hot

2010-07-05T15:06:00.002-04:00

I guess this is the kind of thought that only occurs during heat waves.

Given the Wicked Witch of the West's reaction to water, I am guessing she didn't have sweat glands.

Back at it

2010-07-05T08:52:00.002-04:00

Vacation over. I was a little melancholy yesterday over having to go to work today. Although I didn't do much, I did enjoy my time off. Batteries are more or less recharged.

Started today off with some yoga and then I made an omelet with a banana pepper from the garden. Cooking with ingredients that fresh is always a joy.

US versus them - summer edition

2010-07-03T15:16:00.002-04:00

The greatest generation we are not. I don't debate that at all. The World War II types must laugh at us. Myself I think of the pioneers, they lived a lot harder than we did. Today though I am thinking. It is hot and humid. Tough to be comfortable in without air conditioning. So I turned mine on. I don't do this often. I finally did this a few weeks ago when confronted with my beautiful wife who said, "Turn it on". So I did!

Now looking back to the pioneers. They did not have air conditioning. I think that is beyond debate. Even if one had an air conditioner it probably didn't have electricity to plug it into and it probably would have had a European plug.

Then again, the pioneers didn't have urban conditions. How much hotter is it for us, with the build up roads, sidewalks and driveways? They retain heat much more than the tree covering that pioneers had. Our modern conditions have to add a few degrees than what our early ancestors had to endure.

On to other stuff, I have enjoyed the vacation. I was in a bit of lull as far as cooking goes. It is back with a vengeance. Part of it is due to the availability to fresh ingredients, including from my garden. Part of it is due to the missing of it all, the cutting, the frying, the flavours, the creating. Last night a great homemade pizza, a pepperoni for the kids and a sauteed vegatable for me and my beautful wife. Today it has been a fresh berry crepe post run and for lunch leftover pizza paired with fruit and a salad (lettuce and herbs from garden). Tonights dinner is a grilled lemon and thyme chicken with accompanments of spinach and also some mushroom risotto.

More World Cup thoughts

2010-07-02T10:53:00.002-04:00

First off, if Christiano Ronaldo wants to be thought the best in the world, he needs to dispense with the underwear ads and concentrate on football. I know my wife wouldn't want to read this, but Ronaldo was invisible in the Spain versus Portugal game. Even though Messi hasn't scored yet, his play has been amazing and I am sure he creates opportunities for others.

England has been a mystery. I know that some say that they hate each other and I have also read that the fact that they only play in England versus the other leagues means that they don't mesh styles. Well, Italy and Germany also have players only from their domestic leagues. Maybe using Italy is not the best example this time around but they usually play better than a first round exit. As for the don't like each other thing, or a single league thing, let's contrast the play of England versus Canada's hockey team. The national team players play in a single league, the NHL and they wail on each other. But when they put on the Maple Leaf jersey (the Canadian one, not the Toronto one) they pull together and play hard. That intangible item is missing from England's footballers

Vacation update

2010-07-01T13:43:00.001-04:00

Awesome so far. Except for Portugal losing two days ago I have no complaints.

I have done some cooking, I went to a fringe festival play. We did the beach yesterday.

Today my wife took the kids for the day so it is nice and quiet. I did a run with my dog, some house work, some yoga and some yard work. Now I am going to read and grab a cold beer.

Hefe Weissbier

2010-06-26T15:58:00.002-04:00

That post title has to be a first in blogging history.

While at the liquor store buying some post garden tour wine for tomorrow, I felt like a beer. While looking at the selections of the Ontario craft breweries my son Luke pointed out a sampler pack from Muskoka Cottage Brewery. Well, who doesn't take beer buying advice from a nine year old? Thus far I have had the light and the hefe weissbier. The light was very flavourful. The hefe weissbier yeasty and refreshing, very much like a nice German beer. I am looking forward to the Cream Ale and most of all the Dark, which I am very much partial to.

Insomnia has it's benefits

2010-06-25T14:24:00.002-04:00

Maybe not insomnia so much. I woke up the other morning at 4:30. Too late to go back to sleep and still get my daily exercise in. So I got up and watched a bit of television. On foodtv was the show David Rocco's Dolce Vita. On there was a unique recipe for an orange salad that had anchovies, onions and black olives. I love all those ingredients so I made it today for a post Portugal versus Brazil lunch. It was paired with a beautifully BBQ steak and a glass of red wine (Portuguese of course). It was delicious. I used a grapefruit as we are out of oranges, but it worked good. My oldest son Matthew, who doesn't like grapefruit, loved this salad. The refreshing citrus would work as a nice beach meal. As far as a recipe, mix the ingredients together after slicing. That is all there is to it.

Enjoyed the game this am and now I will watch Spain versus Chile to see who we play.

Semantics

2010-06-24T11:00:00.003-04:00

I left a comment on a blog yesterday that dealt with semantics. I also read a very interesting article on semantics and political systems the other day.

The article dealt with socialism versus capitalism. Looking at the semantics you wonder why anyone would choose otherwise. Socialism speaks of people at the heart. Capitalism speaks of cold inputs. With capitalism people are an input and there is no differentiation between people and other inputs such as minerals or machines.

Switching topics, a potential complaint I heard about McCrystal was the lack of free speech. Was he fired for exercising free speech? I don't think so. He was fired for speaking out against his boss. Try a very public outburst against your boss and see how things play out.

Switching yet again. As I write this Italy is down 1 - 0 at the half. Hard to believe that they could be out at the group stage. England versus Germany looks very intriguing next round.

On the cover of Rolling Stone

2010-06-23T16:13:00.001-04:00

I think General McCrystal just had his job interview with Fox News. No doubt he is a regular on that propaganda outlet by August at the latest.

World Cup Musings

2010-06-23T15:27:00.002-04:00

I have to admit, I have enjoyed this football tournament thus far. More so since Portugal laid that whopping on North Korea. I am off for a week and a day starting on Friday so I get to see Portugal versus Brazil. My oldest son also rearranged his day off so it looks like some nice steaks and some wine between the am games and the afternoon games.

I have liked the CBC's coverage thus far but have to admit the commercials from Rogers are deceptive. They state "Only Rogers customers can watch the coverage on the internet or on their Roger's phone". The deceptive part to me comes from the interpretation that only Roger's customers can watch it online. Anyone can log into CBC.CA and watch the game. I did it the other morning.

If I am France's coach, I would stay in South Africa and claim refugee status. After that performance I don't think France wants him back.

Given the performances thus far, Argentina is looking like the team to beat. With the strikers they have the solid defensive performance they have put in for three games, it is going to take a true team of talent to topple them.

Non-violence Day

2010-06-22T09:12:00.003-04:00

Most countries have a day honouring their war dead and those that are still alive but have served their countries. Rightly so. It is right to honour those that have made these sacrifices.

Why don't we have a day that honours those that choose non-violent means of solving issues? Gandhi, the guy that stood in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square, the Velvet Revolution in Europe.

Honour those that use logic instead of violence to solve issues.

If your neighbours were having a disagreement, or perhaps you were having issues with a neighbour, what is preferable, to solve it by talking rationally or beating the crap out of each other? I am sure most would say the non-violent method of problem resolution. Should we not move to the same mode of conflict resolution in international matters?

7 - 0

2010-06-21T09:48:00.001-04:00

I like that dominating victory. That sort of goal differential has to help. Now if Portugal can knock of a Kaka less Brazil on Friday, they will win the group.

Good and bad

2010-06-20T17:34:00.003-04:00

Ying and yang.

Good. Yesterday had us attending our nieces horse back riding camp. She is special needs. I tell you that was very powerful. Joy in the enjoyment of life. All in all a very enjoyable day. The camp itselfwith amazing gardens the kids enjoyed the horses, alpacas and hamburgers (not made out of the two previous mentioned mammals.)

Bad. My sister in law had to borrow the kids for a while and returned them two hours late while I listened to the human vuvazela that is my brother in law. (Human vuvazela- a constant noise that makes no sense). It was good in that I used deep breathing and buddhist principles to stay calm.

Good. Driving down the 401 in the am. 110 km was quick. Everyone driving more or less sensibly.

Bad. Drivng home on the 401 in the pm. 120 km was pedestrian. WTf?

Good. A nice wake up for Father's Day with a special thank you from the mrs. and some homemade cards from the kids.

Bad. The youngest acting up while alter serving at mass.

Good. The local butcher talking to us at the checkout saying to my beautiful wife how good me and the kids are. A bit of an understanding between a Muslim butcher and some Catholic customers how we are all one and we have one God. Beautiful Wife crying because that is what she needed to hear from so many ways.

Bad. Italian acting stealing a victory from New Zealand.

Good. The Father's Day lunch I made. I know it's fathers day but I love to cook and I love to eat. The lunch was very good. BBQ steak, BBQ marinated mushroom skewers and some double stuffed mashed potatoes. Washed down with a nice Lindemans' Australian Shiraz that was on sale.

Good. Enjoying the above with a family that loves me and that I love them looking over a beautiful garden. Life isn't too bad.

Good. Kaka got a red card (mind you a bullshit red) so won't play Portugal on Friday. I see Portugal advancing.

OK, so the good outweighs the bad above. I will take it. I will head out with the boys and my dog for a walk around the block. More good. Do a little yoga and meditation prior to reading them to bed for the eveing. More good.

Not so bad if the good outweighs the bad.

Fathers Day and Jose

2010-06-18T20:26:00.002-04:00

Logged on tonight and was saddened to read that Jose Saramago had died. I have read quite a bit of his work and he is great. I have to admit that Blindness was probably the most frightening book I ever read. Probably because the monsters were us and the breakdown of society. The Seige of Lisbon was also very good but a difficult read.

Happy Fathers Day to the dads out there.

Stopping and smelling the roses

2010-06-18T13:45:00.002-04:00

I am really trying to appreciate all the sights and smells of our far too short seasons here (with the exception of winter which seemed to go on forever).

The last two days walking over to meet the guy I ride in to work with, I really noticed the smells of flowers in bloom, especially the honeysuckle down the road. Then last night sitting of the deck after mowing the lawn and doing some yoga with Daniel, I sat and just enjoyed the sight of our garden in bloom. The birds flying in and out to the feeders.

I attribute this joy and ability to marvel at this to the meditation, using the Buddhist thoughts of mindfulness and enjoying the moment.

Thursday miscellany

2010-06-17T10:46:00.002-04:00

Read a headline that said "6 reasons men say no to sex" I would imagine the top one is they didn't hear or understand the question.

Doing an exercise program with my middle guy. He is ten years old, 80 pounds and has a 31 inch waist. My waist is 31 inches! So we are going to do some physical cardio type activity (cycling, basketball, football) three days a week along with some work on resistance bands. Then three other days we do 20 to 30 minutes of yoga together. We are also cutting down on the portions he eats. The one thing I will say is that he does eat healthy, very much enjoying his vegetables and fruits.

One week of work to go and then I have one week off, plus Canada Day. I am looking forward to that let me tell you.

I see that the Blog o sphere has lost another one. Leafgirl has left us. I have followed her blog for years and was sad to see her leave.

References

2010-06-16T12:38:00.002-04:00

I bailed from Linked In. Part of it was seeing the overly positive references for complete screw ups. Myself, I take giving references very seriously. It reflects on me and my professionalism. I would only give a reference to someone that I would hire myself.

Otherwise, I haven't had much use for the site. It seems to be facebook for business people. I joined up when the plant closed and unemployment seemed imminent. The networking seems useful. Since then I have discovered it is not for me.

Should have phoned in sick

2010-06-15T10:53:00.001-04:00

It is difficult to get any work done with World Cup on, especially as the team our family is backing, Portugal, playing today. I am following it at work on the BBC. At least while the playoffs are on I am off, as I was going to take the time off and do some stuff with the kids.

Too quick

2010-06-14T12:33:00.002-04:00

The weekend flew bye too quickly. Saturday was a little stressful but Sunday was better. I made a bacalau dish for lunch and then headed off to see my dad in the hospital an hour away. He looked fine but slept a lot. I did get to talk to the surgeon so that was good. Turns out he had a hernia that had wrapped around his intestine. They had to remove about 10 cm of intestine and then reattach. He will be able to eat normally after.

After coming home the in-laws were over. Had a nice visit.

Remember to breath deep

2010-06-12T18:16:00.002-04:00

One of those weeks.

Got into a good shouting match with our incompetent sales guy this week. I think part of it was me having months of frustration built up and him being demoted and that was a toxic mix. That was Tuesday and led to a bad nights sleep, that was eventualy recovered.

Today was me and the Mrs getting into it. It was over her car usuage, not allowing me to live up to my end of car pool sharing. Then I needed the car today to get dog food and she buggered off at nine to do grocery shopping and stopped off at an art exhibit so she got home in time to unload the car and then go to work.

Then I find out my dad was rushed to the hospital last night while staying at his sisters, my aunt. He had bowel reconstruction surgery. I am heading over tomorrow to visit him.

Soon I will go off to do yoga and meditate to calm down but it has been one of those weeks.

An unusual night

2010-06-10T12:21:00.003-04:00

Last night my wife and I actually went out on a date. We have three gift certificates to local restaurants from Christmas that we still haven't used, so Matthew watched the kids while we went out.

The dinner companion was great, conversation good with no interruptions. The food was about a 2 out of 5. Not good. I guess that is the problem with foodies dedicated to cooking with fresh ingredients. It takes a lot to measure up.

At least it finished well as I watched a little bit of Grosse Point Blank. That is my favorite movie with an awesome soundtrack.

The sleep I had was also unusual. I slept deep and long. 9 and a half hours straight. I woke up feeling great and thoroughly enjoyed my run with my dog, especially near the start when I ran by the blooming honey suckle bush down the road.

1000

2010-06-09T16:36:00.004-04:00

My 1,000th blogger post. A time for reflection I think.

Older. Yep.

Wiser, I hope so, but still not where it needs to be.

Still basically happy with life. There have been some changes over the five years that it took to get to 1000.

Jobs have changed but I picked up a few new friends from that, so that works out.

Family has gotten older just like I have. Can't believe how fast the kids are growing or how fantastic my beautiful wife still looks.

The animals have all changed in the house over those 1000 posts with the exception of Leo, the giant cat.

Will I end up posting another 1000? Who knows? I still enjoy it from time to time and it's nice to write things other than grocery lists and business emails. So chances are it will nudge higher than 1000, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

A gift of rain

2010-06-08T14:35:00.002-04:00

Well, I recently finished and returned to the library yet another of the books nominated for the Booker Prize. This book was Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain. I enjoyed it, I would give it a four out of five. The book had some great Buddhist themes running through it, which I enjoyed as I am learning about this very interesting religion. The author also describes the city quite well. The only thing that I didn't really feel was the development of the characters, especially the strong feelings for each other that they state, yet you don't really feel.

This garden is cat approved

2010-06-06T18:03:00.007-04:00

Inspired by Betty, here are some garden photos.

9 trips around the sun

2010-06-04T12:42:00.002-04:00

My littlest guy is now nine years old. He was up early, 6 am. I was just doing some post run yoga when he came upstairs from his room. By 7 am he had opened the gifts. Tonight we have a trip to the Portuguese Chicken restaurant planned.

Hard to believe it was nine years ago that he was born. I can still remember with exceptional clarity the night he was born at 12:04 am on 4 June 2001.

Odd sayings

2010-06-03T13:27:00.002-04:00

First off, dad is settling in great. He is loving it at my home and the hustle and bustle of a house with 1 dog, 2 kids and 3 cats is not fizzing him. I think he was lonely and now that he is surrounded by activity and eats much better than he was, he is happy.

I was thinking of the phrase, "Get your shit together." Think about it. You actually do get your shit together, then what? Chances are you are either going to flush it or chuck it in the trash.

The new guy

2010-05-31T14:01:00.002-04:00

My dad arrived Sunday afternoon. Both my wife and I were surprised by how old he looks. We hadn't seen him in a year and a half. It seems he has aged at double the rate. No doubt part of it is due to the stress of divorcing the second wife.

Let's hope that he settles in nicely and once we get some decent food in him on a daily basis (he has survived on sandwiches for the last two months) he starts to look better.

Otherwise a decent weekend.

Dress Code

2010-05-28T14:24:00.002-04:00

My work has altered the dress code. Jeans are now allowed every day but no shorts and no T shirts. I find this a bit sad. Proper, professional dress has dropped by the wayside. A single day for dressing down but still being professional should be fine, by that I mean a dress shirt and good jeans. Myself, I occasionally still wear a tie, probably twice a week. My wife likes it and you feel more professional when you wear it.

Now I sometimes stop and watch an old movie on the TV. The movies from the thirties and forties had real elegance, that is just missing today. Not that I sit around on the weekends in a shirt and tie and read the paper, but to work is OK.

Still alive

2010-05-26T14:07:00.002-04:00

Enjoyed the long weekend. Saturday sucked weather-wise but I enjoyed the Champions League final and took the kids for ice cream in the afternoon after the rain stopped.

Sunday was fairly low key and holiday Monday saw us on a hike on the Elgin trail. Very rustic and was very enjoyable. The dog got some good exercise. Always a good thing.

Got a great raise at work yesterday. I enjoyed my run this morning.

Life is good.

Sandwich

2010-05-20T16:09:00.002-04:00

I would love me a Reuben sandwich, but it is not about that. Perhaps this weekend, Sunday, because for the champions league final on Saturday I am going to make some chicken wings (suicide for me and some honey-garlic sesame for my little football fans).

No the sandwich refers to me about to be a card carrying member of the sandwich generation. My dad is divorcing his wife (not my mom she died, the second wife), so he is moving in with me. I would prefer he stay but I think he might look around for a furnished apartment. The only thing is the change, moving from a relatively quiet house that he shared with a complete bitch to a relatively noisy house with two kids, a dog and three cats. Plus we watch a kid three days a week after school. Then again, sharing a house full of love isn't the worse thing in the world. He will need to learn Wii.

The weekend will have me moving the kids' bunk beds downstairs as we don't want Dad going up and down the stairs too much, being 75 and all. At least now we have a built in baby sitter so my beautiful wife and I can go to dinner every once in a while.

Great sleep, odd dream

2010-05-19T08:54:00.002-04:00

My sleep consisted of nine deep hours of sleep. For a guy who usually gets six to seven hours, this was heaven. I slept through my run, but got up to do a few sun salutations and was happy with that.

Odd dream though. It consisted of me buying a hummer and being very happy with it. That is definitely not me. It was also winter which I find odd as I was also enjoying that.