Chicken 'n Ribs

Karen and I met up with Tom and Holly at their place at 4:00 and then we all headed down to Sparks Street.

There were 6 main restaurants competing in the event, and we had a look at what each of them had to offer.

They were all offering several variations of the same thing - ribs, chicken, and pulled pork.

For each stand, a full rack of ribs cost $20, with a half rack priced at $13. You could also get a half rack and chicken combination.

One thing that caught my eye was what they called 'A vegetarian's worse nightmare', which was a meal comprised of ribs, chicken, and pulled pork.

Karen and I split a full rack of ribs, as did Tom and Holly. They were very good. I will definitely be back next year.

Paintball

We arrived at the Commando Paintball fields at 10:30. It was just Kurtis and I this time.

We went into the main office and we got our gear - mask, paintball marker, jumpsuit, and 500 paintballs.

The equipment is quite worn down, but it still gets the job done.


We put our names on a walk-on list and we were told to go with another group of people.

The first few games went quickly for me, getting shot in the hand before I could really do anything. One thing that didn't help was that my marker kept jamming up.

We broke for our pizza lunch just after noon. Throughout the remainder of the day, we joined up with many different groups, culminating in our last game, where we played with about 20 people. Overall, a good time, and I have to welts to prove it.

Sunset Ceremonies

The Sunset Ceremonies took place at the RCMP Stables at the Canadian Police College.

On our way there, Karen and I got caught in a rainstorm and we had to pull over and wait until things calmed down.

When we did finally get back on the road, we were met with some flooding on the street. We took a detour and found our way to our destination.

When we got to the show grounds, we saw that two or three small lakes had collected. As a result, Karen's dance and the pipe band performance were cancelled.

New at the Sunset Ceremonies this year, was a performance by the Golden Knights parachute team from the United States. Afterwards, the musical ride riders did their thing.

Goodbye MJ

I grew up with Michael Jackson's music. At home, we had 'Thriller' on LP and 'Bad' on cassette. I tried and tried and tried to learn how to do the moonwalk and I used to dance around while listening to songs like 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Thriller'. I did almost everything except wear the sparkly glove.

In his short lifetime of 50 years, Michael Jackson put out 10 studio albums from Got To Be There (1972) to Invincible (2001), in addition to the albums that he released as part of the Jackson 5, being the youngest at only 8 years old.

He was known for most of his life as 'The King of Pop' because he rocked the musical world and shattered records, his albums selling in the millions and earning platinum status almost instantly. Everyone loved him, respected him, supported him, and came out in droves to see him. In every sense of word, he was royalty.

But, as we all know, things weren't always so rosy for Michael Jackson. In the 90's and early 2000's, there came a series of legal battles and controveries. As a result, he lost almost everything, including his reputation and the respect of his fans.

After all this, he was ready for a comeback. He was scheduled to perform 50 sold out concerts at London's O2 arena, starting in July.

Working it out

I have always been an active person. When I was young, I was an insatiable fountain of energy. I used to run around all over the place. I played soccer, basketball, football and baseball. I rode my bicycle. I climbed trees.

I started working out when I was a teenager, lifting free weights at home and in my friend's garage; nothing too serious. Later on, I got a gym membership at the Orleans Recreation Centre. I started adding machine weights to my workout schedule and I also spent a little time on the treadmill.

Some time later, I got a gym membership at my work, and I kept that up for a few years. Recently, I terminated my gym membership at work, and opted instead for the larger facilities at Health Canada just down the street.

A few weeks ago, I ordered a workout product called 'P90X' (perhaps you've heard of it). The premise is that you do a series of workouts for 90 consecutive days, and at the end, you'll be significantly stronger, faster, and leaner. Prior to starting the program, they ask you to take a fitness test, and they say that you should only pursue the program if you pass the initial test. I passed, so I figured that I was ready.

Well, I gave the first workout in the series a try and by the end of it, I was seriously considering two things 1) living the rest of my life from the floor 2) bathing in a bathtub filled with Rub-A-535. I thought to myself that if were to keep this up for another 89 days, I would eventually turn into dust and be carried away by a breeze. I made the executive decision to put the P90X collection of DVDs at a safe distance from my DVD player, and to no longer speak of the incident.

So what am I currently doing to stay in shape? Well, diet is one thing. I've reduced my portions of meat, and have opted for more vegetables and grains. In terms of being active, I've been playing dodgeball and ultimate frisbee, with the odd game of tennis thrown into the mix. Karen always beats me, but at least I'm being active. On the workout front, I'm still going strong at the Health Canada gym, three to four times per week, and I've purchased a set of adjustable dumbbells for when I want to workout at home.

I've also started to take vitamins and supplements. Currently, I am taking GNC Mega Men multivitamins, ISO 93 Sensation protein powder (which I have for breakfast mixed with milk, frozen fruit and frozen yoghurt - a special thanks to Tom for putting me onto this), and an after workout recovery formula.

Overall, I'd say that the results have been good, but I'm still some time away from putting on a Speedo (sorry ladies).

The Great Air Conditioner Installation of 2009

Today, I went over to Karen's place after work. She extended the invitation to me with a purpose - to do her a favour; to help her install her air conditioner. In return, Karen promised to make fajitas for supper. I got to her place at a quarter past five and we immediately got down to business. Karen cleared the area near her window of miscellaneous boxes and bags.

We got the air conditioning unit out of her storage space and brought it into her room (the addition of a storage shelf has greatly improved the organization of things in there). I was somewhat already practiced in this manoeuver as last year, I moved her air conditioning unit from her room into the storage space. Basically the same thing, but in reverse.

The next step was to lift the unit and to place it securely in the window, ideally without having it pass through the opening in the window and falling onto the ground below. Karen assured me that this wouldn't happen, but usually anything is possible when I'm involved in a project. But as so often is the case, Karen was right, and the task was accomplished without incident, unless you consider my back going out as an incident.

The tough part of the job was done and all that was left was to secure the unit in the window. Karen's process involved the use of pieces of cardboard to cover the exposed parts of the window on each side of the unit and duck tape to secure the cardboard. A job well done, even though the finished product might not be worthy of the approval of the 'Holmes on Homes' guy.

Under Repair

For one reason or another, be it my busy schedule or my stellar lazyness, I have been putting off getting some much needed work done on my car.

Back in December 2008, my car was parked outside of a friends' place in Kanata, and at some point during the evening, some scratches appeared along the drivers' side door.

Today, I decided to get an estimate of the damages. At noon, I went to Carling Mazda and the guy there had me fill out some forms and then we went outside so he could take a look at my car. After staring intently at the trouble areas, and taking down a few notes on his clipboard, we went back inside where he sat down at his computer and prepared the assessment.

In the meantime, I sat in the waiting area reading today's Ottawa Sun. A few moments later, before I had time to get to the 'Sunshine Girl' page (unfortunately), the guy called me over and presented me with the completed assessment. The total cost of the repairs came to roughly $1,400. I left with the paperwork and drove back to work mulling that number over in my head.

Bryan's 28th Birthday

Karen and I left her place at a quarter to 6 to go to Mekong Restaurant on Somerset.

We got there at 6:00 and we parked out on the street near the restaurant. Pay parking was in effect until 7:00, so I put in $1.25 in quarters, which bought us 25 minutes, and Karen put in a toonie, which bought us another 40 minutes, so we were covered.

We didn't need to be at the restaurant until 6:30, so we decided to walk down the street to Bubblicity, for bubble tea. We ordered a chocolat bubble sherbet. We intended to have it there, but upon noticing that we were running short on time, we quickly asked for it to go,
____________________________which enabled us to get to the
____________________________restaurant at exactly 6:30.

Jasmine had asked us all to be there at that time because she was going to show up with Bryan 15 minutes later under the guise that they were just going out for a quiet dinner for two. Sure enough, they showed up a precisely 6:45 and we all yelled 'Surprise!'.

We all looked at the menu and the idea of sharing dishes was discussed and discussed again. Joe put forth the notion that when it came to sharing dishes, the rule of thumb was 1.5 dishes per person. Meaning, he elaborated, that if 2 people are sharing dishes, they should
____________________________order 3 dishes, 4 people
____________________________should order 6 dishes, etc.

Bryan, Jasmine, Karen and I decided that this was far too complicated a concept for us, so we each ordered a dish for ourselves. In the meantime, the other end of the table seem to order with reckless abandon; drinks, appetizers, and main dishes which didn't seem to follow the 1 : 1.5 rule that Joe had established moment before.



I managed to finish my dish (braised duck with vegetable) with a little help from other, while Karen did a respectable job with hers (prawns with vegetables and cashews), but in the end, mostly due to some overzealous ordering on the part of certain individuals, our table
____________________________looked like a war zone, with half
____________________________finished dishes as far as the eye
____________________________could see. Needless to say, we
____________________________all took home leftovers.

A visit with my niece

Today was a big day, I was going to see my niece for the first time. I was nervous. What would she think of me? Would she like me? What if she didn't like me? First impressions are important. I couldn't afford to leave anything to chance.

After I got dressed, I dropped Karen off at her place so that she could take a nap while I continued to St. Laurent Shopping Centre to see if I could find something for my niece (who I hear has very particular tastes).

After wandering around for about an hour, through the aisles at Baby 'R Us and Sears, I happened upon a set of bibs at the latter location that I thought were nice. Each one had a different word inscribed on the front in bright letters: 'Adorable', 'Too Cute', and 'Spoiled'.




On my way out, I picked up some 'General Thai' and 'General Curry' from Thai Express. I arrived at Karen's place to find her on the couch, awoken only seconds earlier from her nap by the sound of the door opening. We sat down and had lunch and departed soon afterwards for our visit.

We arrived at Jeff and Namgyal's place and were greeted by Jeff, the new dad. I presented him with a bouquet of flowers that we picked up on the way there, jokingly saying that they were for him, and not for Namgyal. He saw right through my ruse.





My mom and her sister were there, visiting from Montreal, as was Namgyal's mom, visiting from Trenton, who has been staying with them to help prepare for the baby. Within moments of arriving, I was cradling Tenlha in my arms.

We spent the better part of the afternoon there, talking, eating cookies and cake, drinking non-alcoholic sparkling wine and Ginger Ale. We took several pictures and we presented the new mom and dad with gifts which they opened with delight.

Most importantly, we spent time with Tenlha.

A day at Mont Cascades Waterpark

I had been keeping close track of the weather forecasts all week leading up to today. It had generally been saying that it would be cloudy, with a high of around 22/23, with a chance of showers. In short, not very good 'waterpark weather'.


Tom and Holly came over to my place just before noon and we all packed into my car and the four of us headed out for adventure!

When we got there, Hogan, Tim, and his son Evan were waiting for us. Okay, so I said noon, and we rolled up at 12:35, so we were a bit late...

We got our passes, the friendly security people rummaged through our bags, we got in, and we set ourselves up on a picnic table. We had brought a cooler with pop, Tom's specialty juice mix, cookies, crackers, and fruit.

Hogan had a bit of a cold, so he didn't partake in the fun. Tim and
Evan tried out a few things, but in the end, Evan decided that staying dry and climbing stuff was the way to go. So, it was up to Tom, Holly, Karen and I to hit the waterslides with wreckless abandon!

All in all, we had a fun time. I totally dominated the four-person carpet races (pictured above), due to the fact that it's mostly a weight-prevailing scenario, although Tom managed to beat me a couple of times, once he figured out how to start properly.

They had a nice retro arcade inside the chalet. Hogan and I played a game called 'Vendetta' where your main objective was to beat the crap out of everyone that appeared on the screen. A concept that was beautiful in its simplicity.

In addition to the contents of our cooler, we also sampled some of the local cuisine: Hogan had a large poutine ($9.00), Karen and I each had a hot dog ($2.75), and Tom had a hamburger (not sure how much he paid for it).

Afterwards, we went back to my place, hung up our stuff to dry out, prepared some food, watched some movies, and played Guitar Hero.

Tenlha Jacqueline Smale

My brother Jeff and his wife Namgyal welcomed their daughter into the world today at 3:15pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces.

I will be going over to their place on Sunday to see my niece for this first time.

After work, Karen and I went out to M&M Meat Shops and Loblaws to get things for my b-day gathering tomorrow night, and while were at Loblaws, my mom called to fill me in on the events of the day.

Tom and Holly met up with us at my place for supper, and then we went to go see Year One at the movie theatre in my 'hood.

My mom turns 60

Today is my mom's 60th birthday.

For this occassion, I got her 6 garden lanterns, the solar powered kind that you put in the ground, which I bought from my favourite store in the whole world, Canadian Tire. I didn't realize it at the time when I bought them, but I guess that each garden lantern can represent 10 years, kind of like candles on a birthday cake.

I thought that the lanterns would be a nice addition to her garden, which she has been working on for the past several years. In the backyard, there are several bushes, shrubs, a couple of trees, some statues, and of course, the requisite gnome. In the front yard, there are also several bushes and shrubs as well as a massive Norwegian Maple tree that has been there longer than I have. This tree, despite undergoing frequent and elaborate trimmings, manages to always be wildly out of control and every autumn, its fallen leaves get packed into approximately 100,000 compost bags.

I also got her a nice sterling silver necklace with a Garnet gemstone pendant from Bija, a eclectic jewelery store on Wellington, near where I work. To top it all off, I got her a très (ie. very) humourous card, in French, and I will pick up some nice assortment flowers from the Parkdale Market.

My plan is to go to my mom's house straight after work and to position the lanterns in the prime locations in her garden, before she gets home from work, and then to present her with the rest of the gifts.

Where do I go from here?

I'm 30, and I'm feeling it. By 'it' I mean 'old', and by 'old' I mean 'very old', and by 'very old' I mean 'ancient'.

I find myself starting to say things like 'young punks' when referring to teenagers and their sometimes loud and often abnoxious behaviour. In times like those, I try to remember back to when I was a teenager to see if I ever behaved like the kids today. Ah yes, that's another things that I find myself saying. 'These kids today (enter general old people stereotype about young people)'.

I know that it's bad, and I also know that it won't end there; it will only get worse. It won't be long before I start saying things like 'Back in my day...', complaining about my various aches and pains, developing new fears, talking about how death is close, wearing adult diapers and a knee brace, not being able to eat spicy foods past 3 o'clock, hating loud music, having trouble with my bifocals, sitting on my front porch all day with a glass of lemonade and complaining to myself and to passers by how they don't make things like they used to, muttering to myself, wandering the shopping malls looking for the ultimate soft yoghurt, growing another chin, and not being able to drive anywhere because my Crown Vic is always in the shop.

A special thanks to Tom for his suggestions for this blog post.