Where you will find my (documented) thoughts, worries, concerns, and issues
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36 posts tagged with this topic.
More weird dreams than I care to think about (I’m sure some of them would make interesting manga, but as a novel they’d be unworkable) kept me from decent sleep. Today was our last day in Ontario and we …
It’s been a long time since I was excited to fly. I don’t think I’ll ever recapture the novelty of flying when I was a kid – and goodness knows the airlines will never be like that again – …
Our flight was early, so we had an early morning. Well, early for some in this family. For me, it was normal. Packed and ready, downstairs, with cab called so we could get to the airport. The taxi arrived on time, we …
One of the problems with renting a car is returning it, especially before you get dinged for another day. The car was of no more use to us – everything from here is on foot. So I got up at 6:30, while my family …
Sometimes, when you have a really busy day, and you might not have entirely slept off the jet lag from two days earlier, you sleep in a lot later than expected. We were an hour behind schedule getting going. And I say …
I’ll just come out and say it: I didn’t want to do New Year’s Tea this year. Yes, it’s our tradition, yes we try to do it even under strange circumstances (heck, we made our own during COVID). I …
Today, I visited with an old friend and they showed me something wonderful. And while the “thing” could easily be construed as a place or an object, I look at it a bit differently. I was shown trust, given a …
I’ve driven part of Highway 3 – the Crowsnest Highway – between Cranbrook, British Columbia and Fort MacLeod, Alberta. I’ve driven it enough that I know the general map. What I haven’t done, …
For the record, Alex drove the electric car. I was her support, in case something went wrong. A couple of years ago, we decided it was time to ditch our diesel Jetta. It was gathering too many repairs and VW’s …
I met my friend Nancy when I first joined Critical Mass in April 2000. She was my first project manager, as we slugged away at the Proctor & Gamble Presiva project (it’s a fringe product that thankfully died out …
We were up early, hitting the front of the hotel for 8:20, to catch our shuttle bus to the Alamo Rental location just inside the Magic Kingdom‘s outer gates. We were renting a car for exploring! I had originally arranged …
Today, Alex and I picked up our new car. And it’s new, not a previously-enjoyed vehicle. It’s a 2016 Honda CR-V. Yes, it’s an SUV, the very thing I often rail against. It’s not even our first. (More on both of those in a …
So last week, I was huddled with my mom back in Oakville, Ontario. No, I didn’t publicize this because — and utterly no offense meant to anyone — I didn’t want to see anyone but my Mom (and by extension, my sister and …
In our Inconvenient Truth world, popular desire is starting to change the way some companies think. We’re seeing large companies produce “green” products, such as biodegradable detergents, packaging from …
Well, Monkey, it’d been over a month since the last time you swam in a pool, and I thought it high time we went for a swim. In fact, it was so overdue that I felt it was also a good time to go for a Surprise Weekend. And …
When I was a kid, I heard the phrase “you can never go home again”, but never understood it. I mean, I went home every day after school, so what was wrong with that? It wasn’t until I went to university that …
One week from … well, right now, our plane leaves Juan Santamaria Airport, bound for Houston. If all our cards fall into place (which, so far, they are — I just hope they keep falling!), we’ll leave in good order. …
That ticking is getting louder, I tell ya. We’re officially out of the “long vacation” timeframe, and into the “standard” two week vacation timeframe. You know this one: enough time to fly to a …
This morning, I made a return visit to the RTV to redo the test I failed last week. I woke up even earlier than last time (the “normal” evil traffic has returned to Lindora, and I didn’t want to be late), …
It goes to figure: Even though Costa Rica seems to lack things like good traffic control, traffic laws that people take seriously (though that’s beginning to change with some of the new laws that have been introduced …
This morning, as Mark and I drove to work (we carpool — there is no need for us to have separate cars when our apartments are barely 300 metres apart), we got caught in traffic (again) at this one particular intersection …
Yesterday, just after noon, I went into the nearby ATH (A Todo Hora, which is the Costa Rican version of “ATM”) to check my Scotiabank balance. Lo and behold, after two weeks of wrangling account, Swift, …
We tried to survive without cars. Really. We took taxis everywhere, and suffered due to the language barrier and an unfamiliar taxi system. (We’ve been unable to get taxis when we need them — baffling, when you see them …
I’ve had a few people tell me about how great it is to be living in Costa Rica, and how much cheaper it is to live here. Some people know from a little bit of experience, but others are making the assumption — it’s not …
Last week was a rough one. It’s almost hard to believe we’ve only been here a week now. (A week ago right now, I was in the lobby of our hotel, chatting with Jason and Javier, waiting for our realtors to come and whisk …
I am a broken man. For I have sold my Mini. This is, truly, a sad day. It had to happen. It was just a matter of when. The moment Alex got pregnant, the ticker started on time left with my beloved 2002 Mini Cooper. …
Yesterday, Alex picked up our new car seat. It’s a Britax Marathon, designed to grow with the child as it grows. A smart idea. And because it’s a permanent seat (as opposed to a removable seat), we think there’s a bit …
One of the biggest movies of this year will likely be Spiderman 3. Obviously, that’s hard to know for sure, but we’ll know by December. Anyhoo, the Critical Mass Social Club is now in full swing, and one of the first …
I used to drive. Then I realized that I should switch to something more environmentally friendly, and I could use the exercise to tone my otherwise sedentary ass. So I started biking. Biking was great. Fifteen minutes to …
I think Alex and I need to stop packing so much into a single weekend. It’s gonna kill us. Friday night was Light Night. Being fairly warm (thanks to a chinook), we went out in search of Christmas lights around town, …
I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but I seem to have a penchant for buying expensive things. Last year, I bought a house. This year, I bought my first new car. For those of you now saying: “He bought …
Like most people who work the ol’ 9-5 grind, my weekend started just as the whistle blew Friday afternoon. It was time to get my nose off the grindstone and into something far more pleasant. A beer. Not that I want to …
One of these days, I’m going to remember to stop booking things at the last minute. I wanted to go to Lunenburg. I wasn’t about to take a taxi – it’s a little far for that. A car was the only real solution I could think …
There are times when I hate owning a car. My car’s been having problems this winter. We had a really cold one — from late December through to just a week or so ago, we were having some really nasty cold snaps. Seeing -20 …
Our long weekend started Thursday night, when Allison’s company decided to hold an employee appreciation event at Metropolis (an entertainment-centric mall a couple of blocks from our apartment). Interlogic was springing …
Last Sunday (7 June 1998), we finished moving Allison out of her basement suite, and into my apartment. This was for a few reasons: First and foremost, Allison was going in for exploratory surgery, and wanted to …