Thursday, December 21, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Fun night!
So today was the Physics Society AGM (annual General Meeting). There was a free BBQ. We voted on a number of issues on the constitution. It was all fun. The nice thing about DUPS: they have a liquor license in the room. That's right, every Friday or two, the fridge is stocked and it's perfectly ok to drink in the physsoc for 2$/beer.
Around 8pm or so (the meeting started at 5pm) things started to wind down and the few of us that were left made our way to the CS building. They have some kind of lounge/bar in the basement. They have a GameCube hooked up on a projector with Smash Bros and other games. We ended up and "Joe's" or something. I can't quite remember now. Maybe it was "Tom's". It's basically a smoking bar, where you can buy tobacco and cigars. I remember having to go to the washroom and having a pretty hard time finding my way back to the table. The washroom is shared between 2 or 3 bars so I was pretty confused. Eventually I found my way back. We ended up at one of the girl's apartment downtown. Her roommate has this record spinning studio, where they spin vinyl records mix in different beats. He has a huge collection. It was pretty cool. After an hour or so we left and started making our way back uptown. I don't know Halifax all that well, but it's very strange how you can find your way home no matter how drunk you are.
The DUPS people are super nice. I had some fun discussions that usually tend to happen when a bunch of physicists get together (science, religion, sci-fi).
Anyway it's 3:45am and I made it home (bars close a lot later in NS!). Not looking forward to tomorrow's hangover.
Around 8pm or so (the meeting started at 5pm) things started to wind down and the few of us that were left made our way to the CS building. They have some kind of lounge/bar in the basement. They have a GameCube hooked up on a projector with Smash Bros and other games. We ended up and "Joe's" or something. I can't quite remember now. Maybe it was "Tom's". It's basically a smoking bar, where you can buy tobacco and cigars. I remember having to go to the washroom and having a pretty hard time finding my way back to the table. The washroom is shared between 2 or 3 bars so I was pretty confused. Eventually I found my way back. We ended up at one of the girl's apartment downtown. Her roommate has this record spinning studio, where they spin vinyl records mix in different beats. He has a huge collection. It was pretty cool. After an hour or so we left and started making our way back uptown. I don't know Halifax all that well, but it's very strange how you can find your way home no matter how drunk you are.
The DUPS people are super nice. I had some fun discussions that usually tend to happen when a bunch of physicists get together (science, religion, sci-fi).
Anyway it's 3:45am and I made it home (bars close a lot later in NS!). Not looking forward to tomorrow's hangover.
Monday, September 11, 2006
3rd day of classes
Well it's been a week-and-a-half since I moved to Halifax. I think I'm going to like it here. It's definitely cooler than Ontario. The university is pretty neat. I still get turned around a bit on campus though. I'll have to come in early some day to figure out the shortest routes between my classes.
Today was the first day of Atmospheric Dynamics. It looks like this will mainly be a fluid dynamics course. We spent most of the class doing a review of vector calculus (div, grad, curl in several different coordinate systems) which is good because I needed that refresher.
I was going to go and buy that $185 book today, but it turns out that the Book Store didn't order enough and now it's out of stock until Sept 28th. Sound like any other university book store you know? Anyhow, the prof lent his book out to a few of us so we could copy the first few chapters. I'll probably try and get it via Chapters or Amazon or something....
It turns out that FORTRAN and Matlab are not installed on most campus computers. I talked with the Computer Help Desk and they say that I can access a FORTRAN compiler on the UNIX machine. That sounds like too much trouble to me. On top of learning FORTRAN, I would have to learn UNIX and VI commands. They said that Matlab is installed on only one lab on campus. I'll have to go check that out and try out a basic program to see how it works. Once I figure out how it does stuff like if, then, else, while, for, etc, I should be ok.
Susan sent me an email from home which means that we must have internet now! Not that it's been too boring with all the unpacking we had to do. There is still lots, but a lot of it is done. The apartment is still a mess though.
Today was the first day of Atmospheric Dynamics. It looks like this will mainly be a fluid dynamics course. We spent most of the class doing a review of vector calculus (div, grad, curl in several different coordinate systems) which is good because I needed that refresher.
I was going to go and buy that $185 book today, but it turns out that the Book Store didn't order enough and now it's out of stock until Sept 28th. Sound like any other university book store you know? Anyhow, the prof lent his book out to a few of us so we could copy the first few chapters. I'll probably try and get it via Chapters or Amazon or something....
It turns out that FORTRAN and Matlab are not installed on most campus computers. I talked with the Computer Help Desk and they say that I can access a FORTRAN compiler on the UNIX machine. That sounds like too much trouble to me. On top of learning FORTRAN, I would have to learn UNIX and VI commands. They said that Matlab is installed on only one lab on campus. I'll have to go check that out and try out a basic program to see how it works. Once I figure out how it does stuff like if, then, else, while, for, etc, I should be ok.
Susan sent me an email from home which means that we must have internet now! Not that it's been too boring with all the unpacking we had to do. There is still lots, but a lot of it is done. The apartment is still a mess though.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Oceanography
I had two oceanography classes today.
physical Oceanography seems interesting. I've never taken this material before so it should be a fun learning experience. The professor is quite something. If I had to compare him to a prof I've had before I would say he is most like Stephen Ross.
The other class is Numerical Modeling. I hated Numerical Methods at UNB. Hopefully this course will be better. I'm going to have to brush up on my programming. The prof would like us to use either C, Fortran, or Matlab. I used Matlab a bit at UNB, but not enough to remember anything. I did a course in Java, but he didn't seem to keen on us using that. I suppose I'll give Fortran a try since it seems to be the one people tend to use the most.
I ran in to Clark in my classes today. He his working on his PhD in physical Oceanography and he was in both of my classes.
physical Oceanography seems interesting. I've never taken this material before so it should be a fun learning experience. The professor is quite something. If I had to compare him to a prof I've had before I would say he is most like Stephen Ross.
The other class is Numerical Modeling. I hated Numerical Methods at UNB. Hopefully this course will be better. I'm going to have to brush up on my programming. The prof would like us to use either C, Fortran, or Matlab. I used Matlab a bit at UNB, but not enough to remember anything. I did a course in Java, but he didn't seem to keen on us using that. I suppose I'll give Fortran a try since it seems to be the one people tend to use the most.
I ran in to Clark in my classes today. He his working on his PhD in physical Oceanography and he was in both of my classes.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Synoptic Meteorology
I haven't been to all my other classes yet, but I think this will turn out to be my favorite. It's a 2.5 hour class (twice a week) which is basically talking about weather patterns and maps. The first part of the class is a lecture, the 2nd is a hands-on lab, and the third is a map discussion of today's weather and how they came up with today's forecast. The first term covers mostly observations and analysis while the second term will be on diagnosis and forecasting. The course is not taught by a Dalhousie instructor but by someone from Environment Canada.
Hello Nova Scotia!
Well I am here. The move went as well as expected with the exception of a delay with our furniture which should actually be arriving today. I am currently writing from the library on campus.
We arrived in Halifax around 10pm on Friday. Artemis was ok with the travel but Nike meowed and howled anytime she was in motion. On take-off she let out this blood curdling scream I had never heard a cat make before. I actually thought it was a small child throwing a tantrum for a second or so. Once we got to cruising altitudes she calmed down a bit.
Our apartment is nice. It's a 2 bedroom but somewhat smaller than the one we had in Guelph. The beauty of it though is the location. Our building is attached to the Quinpool Market, which has a Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire, Wendy's, and Rogers Video among other things. We don't really even have to exit the building to get to the grocery store. Also the building is about a 10-15 minute walk from campus, and 30 minute walk from downtown.
Nathan and Rebecca came to see us on Saturday. They had some shopping to do and showed us around town. During the evening we played Settlers of Catan which is a pretty fun board game. It's strategy, but pretty easy to learn.
The rest of the week we spent time by sleeping, playing my Nintendo DS Light, and going out for walks. Downtown is pretty fun. I'll definitely have to bring my Ontario friends there if they ever visit.
Had my first class today. Atmospheric Physics I. It's actually an intro Thermodynamics course. I'm pretty happy about that. Since I've gone through 2 of these courses at UNB, it should help me ease back into Physics.
I got in the class room about 15 minutes early. I was the first one there. The next three other people to come into the class were all girls. At this point I'm wondering if I'm in the right class or not. I mean at UNB, the number of girls in an advanced Physics class averages at 1, maybe 2. It turns out that in this class about 9 or 10 are girls our of a total of 15. Crazy!
I was a bit taken aback by the price of the textbook for this class. It's $185+taxes at the campus book store. And it's only this little puny book with barely 400 pages! I'll have to see if I can find a cheaper copy online. It's "Atmospheric Thermodynamics" by Bohren and Albrecht.
Well, I should head home to have lunch and see if the movers have come yet. This afternoon I have a Synoptic Meteorology course followed by the lab.
We arrived in Halifax around 10pm on Friday. Artemis was ok with the travel but Nike meowed and howled anytime she was in motion. On take-off she let out this blood curdling scream I had never heard a cat make before. I actually thought it was a small child throwing a tantrum for a second or so. Once we got to cruising altitudes she calmed down a bit.
Our apartment is nice. It's a 2 bedroom but somewhat smaller than the one we had in Guelph. The beauty of it though is the location. Our building is attached to the Quinpool Market, which has a Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire, Wendy's, and Rogers Video among other things. We don't really even have to exit the building to get to the grocery store. Also the building is about a 10-15 minute walk from campus, and 30 minute walk from downtown.
Nathan and Rebecca came to see us on Saturday. They had some shopping to do and showed us around town. During the evening we played Settlers of Catan which is a pretty fun board game. It's strategy, but pretty easy to learn.
The rest of the week we spent time by sleeping, playing my Nintendo DS Light, and going out for walks. Downtown is pretty fun. I'll definitely have to bring my Ontario friends there if they ever visit.
Had my first class today. Atmospheric Physics I. It's actually an intro Thermodynamics course. I'm pretty happy about that. Since I've gone through 2 of these courses at UNB, it should help me ease back into Physics.
I got in the class room about 15 minutes early. I was the first one there. The next three other people to come into the class were all girls. At this point I'm wondering if I'm in the right class or not. I mean at UNB, the number of girls in an advanced Physics class averages at 1, maybe 2. It turns out that in this class about 9 or 10 are girls our of a total of 15. Crazy!
I was a bit taken aback by the price of the textbook for this class. It's $185+taxes at the campus book store. And it's only this little puny book with barely 400 pages! I'll have to see if I can find a cheaper copy online. It's "Atmospheric Thermodynamics" by Bohren and Albrecht.
Well, I should head home to have lunch and see if the movers have come yet. This afternoon I have a Synoptic Meteorology course followed by the lab.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Good bye Ontario!
Well, that's it. We're moving out this week. We've got things mostly packed. The movers are coming in 2 hours. After their gone we have a few things to do: clean, buy a few supplies, get my driver's license renewed so I can get on the plane...
We have to be out of the appartment on Thursday evening, so we'll be staying at my friend Dawn's house with our two cats. She has two cats as well, so it should be quite the evening. Cats can get very mean when they get a stranger cats smell, even if they're locked in a seperate room. They tend to hiss and attack at pretty much anyone. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
We fly out of Toronto on Friday evening and should be getting at our apartment around 10pm or 10:30pm. Our phone will be hooked up on Monday with Eastlink. We would have had to wait until the following Friday had we gone with Aliant. It's incredible how much better Eastlink's service is. More about that on another post.
My classes start on ThursdayJuly 7th September 7th. My classes for the first term are Intro Physical Oceanography , Numerical Modelling , Atmospheric Dynamics I , Atmospheric Physics I , Synoptic Meteorology I, Synoptic Meteorology I (LAB)
Second term: Atmospheric Dynamics II, Atmospheric Physics II, Synoptic Meteorology II, Synoptic Meteorology II, Radiative Transfer, Atmospheric Chemistry.
Yep, it's going to be a busy year! Hopefully Susan will find a job so I don't have to!
Anyway, I have to get to packing. I'll try to update in another week or so.
We have to be out of the appartment on Thursday evening, so we'll be staying at my friend Dawn's house with our two cats. She has two cats as well, so it should be quite the evening. Cats can get very mean when they get a stranger cats smell, even if they're locked in a seperate room. They tend to hiss and attack at pretty much anyone. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
We fly out of Toronto on Friday evening and should be getting at our apartment around 10pm or 10:30pm. Our phone will be hooked up on Monday with Eastlink. We would have had to wait until the following Friday had we gone with Aliant. It's incredible how much better Eastlink's service is. More about that on another post.
My classes start on Thursday
Second term: Atmospheric Dynamics II, Atmospheric Physics II, Synoptic Meteorology II, Synoptic Meteorology II, Radiative Transfer, Atmospheric Chemistry.
Yep, it's going to be a busy year! Hopefully Susan will find a job so I don't have to!
Anyway, I have to get to packing. I'll try to update in another week or so.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Check this out!
Check out this guy and his Super Skills!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y64rhuGwB9k&NR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y64rhuGwB9k&NR
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Doki Doki Panic
Most serious gamer know that Super Mario Bros 2 wasn't originally intended to be a SMB game. The Japanese thought that the REAL SMB was going to be too hard for Americans and instead made some modifications to an existing game Doki Doki Panic and exported that as SMB2. The original SMB2 became known to us as Lost Levels (although I do remember playing a pirated SMB2 on the SNES when I was young, and it WAS lost levels).
Anyway, Slashdot links interesting article pointing out the differences between the two games.
Anyway, Slashdot links interesting article pointing out the differences between the two games.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Battlestar Galactica
...The new show, not the one from 1978.
I would say this show is not only the best Sci-Fi on TV, but probably the best shows overall. I would recommend the DVDs to everyone. There's a 3 hour mini-series / movie and then it starts with episode one. It's a good drama, and the overall story arc is very well paced. I'm always satisfied with the information revealed in a show (unlike Lost), yet still excited for the next one . The space battles are just awesome and the effects are pretty good too. They're done by same group that did Firefly, which is another great Sci-Fi show (after I watched all the episodes, I bought the DVD and watched them all again). There's virtually no technobable or flashy scifi stuff (like Star Trek or Stargate). Like Firefly, the technology looks mostly like present day stuff, simply in space. I guess they call that "naturalistic Science Fiction".
Anyhow, you can look at a preview of the show at youtube. Here's the mini-series preview, and here's the teaser for Season 3.
You might recognize the blond hottie (Tricia Helfer) from Canada's Next Top Model. She's a really good actress and her character is also very interesting.
I would say this show is not only the best Sci-Fi on TV, but probably the best shows overall. I would recommend the DVDs to everyone. There's a 3 hour mini-series / movie and then it starts with episode one. It's a good drama, and the overall story arc is very well paced. I'm always satisfied with the information revealed in a show (unlike Lost), yet still excited for the next one . The space battles are just awesome and the effects are pretty good too. They're done by same group that did Firefly, which is another great Sci-Fi show (after I watched all the episodes, I bought the DVD and watched them all again). There's virtually no technobable or flashy scifi stuff (like Star Trek or Stargate). Like Firefly, the technology looks mostly like present day stuff, simply in space. I guess they call that "naturalistic Science Fiction".
Anyhow, you can look at a preview of the show at youtube. Here's the mini-series preview, and here's the teaser for Season 3.
You might recognize the blond hottie (Tricia Helfer) from Canada's Next Top Model. She's a really good actress and her character is also very interesting.
Lobster!
I had some fresh lobster for supper tonight. It was good!! Hadn't had any in a year or two. I had some at a restaurant in Ontario, but it's just not the same over there. It's not nearly as good. I've met a couple of people in Ontario who've never had lobster. It would be interesting introduction someone to it. I've got to say, it's not the most graceful food to eat. I guess most people who like it were introduced to it at a young age.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
In New Brunswick...
...but I almost didn't make it. I was taking GOTransit from Guelph to Pearson. The bus was arriving at 10:00am and the plane leaving at noon. The only problem is for some reason I missed my transfer in Brampton so I had to wait to get off in Toronto. From there I cabbed to the airport. It took me a little while to figure out that the driver dropped me off at the wrong terminal. I had to take a shuttle to the right one. It's 11:15am by this time. I finally made it to the luggage check line. It was HUGE and they only had one person servicing it. After a couple of minutes they asked if anyone was supposed to be on a flight for 12pm. There were a few of us and they let us skip the line. I made it to the gate at 11:40am, just as they started boarding.
The flight itself was really smooth. I was on one of those smaller planes (about 40-50 seats or so). Skies were clear all the way. I'm pretty sure I saw what I think was Fredericton as we flew over. It looked liked the St. John river, Westmorland and Princess Margaret bridges right before we started our descent.
My dad picked me up at the airport and we spent the night at my sister's who just started working as a nurse at the Moncton Hospital. Drove to Balmoral today. There wasn't too much traffic.
If anyone's in the area and up for something let me know. I've already talked to Dave who's up for some video games Thursday. Only problem is that might be the only time available for everyone up here to make it to the pre-wedding gathering. Oh well, well see.
The flight itself was really smooth. I was on one of those smaller planes (about 40-50 seats or so). Skies were clear all the way. I'm pretty sure I saw what I think was Fredericton as we flew over. It looked liked the St. John river, Westmorland and Princess Margaret bridges right before we started our descent.
My dad picked me up at the airport and we spent the night at my sister's who just started working as a nurse at the Moncton Hospital. Drove to Balmoral today. There wasn't too much traffic.
If anyone's in the area and up for something let me know. I've already talked to Dave who's up for some video games Thursday. Only problem is that might be the only time available for everyone up here to make it to the pre-wedding gathering. Oh well, well see.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
I'll be in the Maritimes this week
For anyone who doesn't know yet, I'll be moving to Halifax in order to study for my Diploma of Meteorology at Dal. Susan's on the lookout for a job, but she's not having much luck finding anyone who wants to hire someone with a Masters in Botany. If anyone knows of anyting, let us know.
The main reason for me going home this week is that 2 of my very good friends, Sebastien and Manon are getting married on the 22nd. I've known Manon since kindergarden and Sebastien since 7th grade. I'm going a bit early so I can spend time with family and friends that I haven't seen much since moving to Ontario. Frederictonians: If you have a bit of free time let me know and I might come down for a night or two.
After the wedding, I'll be catching a drive with 2 of my other very good friends Frank and Markita to Halifax where I'll be looking for apartments. Since I don't have a car, I'm looking for something fairly close to the university. Unfortunately, that means we're going to end up paying more. We're looking for a 2 bedroom under $900/month, since our income will be somewhat lower than what it is now. Most seem to be around 1000-1200 or so, but I found a few within our range.
The main reason for me going home this week is that 2 of my very good friends, Sebastien and Manon are getting married on the 22nd. I've known Manon since kindergarden and Sebastien since 7th grade. I'm going a bit early so I can spend time with family and friends that I haven't seen much since moving to Ontario. Frederictonians: If you have a bit of free time let me know and I might come down for a night or two.
After the wedding, I'll be catching a drive with 2 of my other very good friends Frank and Markita to Halifax where I'll be looking for apartments. Since I don't have a car, I'm looking for something fairly close to the university. Unfortunately, that means we're going to end up paying more. We're looking for a 2 bedroom under $900/month, since our income will be somewhat lower than what it is now. Most seem to be around 1000-1200 or so, but I found a few within our range.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Pictures!
Here are the pictures we took on our trip. There are currently no descriptions to go along with the pictures, I plan on adding those this week. We also took some with a submersible disposable camera but we haven't got those developed yet. I will add them to the gallery once we do.
Kodak Gallery.
No need to sign in, just click on the picture.
Kodak Gallery.
No need to sign in, just click on the picture.
The cat just puked...
...all over the floor. I hate it when they do that.
Anyway, Susan is in Montreal for the week. She's attending some sort of conference and giving a talk there. So I'm on my own which means I have more time on my hands, hence the updating. It also means I have to cook for myself! Susan and I have the household chores divided so that she does the groceries, cooking, and dishes where I do pretty much the rest. The reason for this is that she usually gets out of school at least an hour before I get out of work so it makes more sense that way. She usually does a pretty good job at keeping me well fed. On the other hand I'm sure she'd say that there are some improvements to be made on how well I keep the apartment tidy. Here's what a couple of days in the life of Jason. It's not very exciting. You've been warned.
Had a company BBQ on Sunday. Nothing too exciting. We were the first ones there.
Sat and chatted a bit. Then more people arrived. About 100 or so overall. Ate hot dogs and salad. Then they had games: Pie in the face, tug-o-war, water balloon toss. They were drawing a few prizes but I didn't win anything.
Got home around 5 or so. Sat on the balcony and read my book. I am currently reading Druid's Sword by Sarah Douglass, which is the final book in the Troy Game series. You might remember me mentioning this series last year. If you haven't read anything by Sara Douglass I would heavily recommend you do. She writes nice solid books. She does tonnes of historical research which makes it all the more interesting. The Troy Game is about Ariadne. You know, the girl who helped Perseus escape from the Labyrinth her brother the Minotaur? Well, if you know your Greek mythology, you'd know that Perseus thanked Ariadne by dumping her for her sister and then abandoning her on the first island they came by. The series deals with Ariadne's revenge and the consequences it has on future generations.
Anyway, back to the telling of my day. I had a few beers on the balcony while reading. I then came in to nap around 6. Slept until 9. Watched CTV and read until 12 then went to bed.
On Monday I did some groceries. Bought 1 kg of steak (enough for 4 days), broccoli, onions, chips, fries, mozza cheese, poutine sauce, 2 types of marinade, 4 cans of chunky soup. Got home around 7 or so. Put a load in the laundry. Tidied the kitchen a bit, cooked 1 steak 1/2 portion of Lipton Sidekick. Surprisingly enough, I ate a lot of steak last year when Susan was away as well. Steak was ok. I didn't marinade that one but put the rest in the fridge for the rest of the week. By the time I ate, showered, read a bit then went to bed. I stayed up late reading, probably went to sleep around 1am.
When I got home on Tuesday I cooked some steak and ate the other half of the
Lipton sidekick. The steak wasn't that good. It's too tough. I ate it anyway.
Put in a load of laundry. Spent a bit of time on the internet, then the rest of
the evening reading. I finished off tmy book. It was probably
12am by the time I was done and went to bed.
Today when I got home I did the dishes. I then cooked 2 more steaks and steamed the broccoli I had bought. This steak was tough as well. I ate one but didn't bother with the other and threw it out. It was REAL tough. I noticed that when I was marinating it, but I thought that maybe it would tenderize a bit while marinating. I guess not. I have 1 more steak left in the fridge and I'm debating whether I'm going to bother cooking it tomorrow. I probably shouldn't cheap out next time I buy steak. Anyway after I ate I cleaned up the dishes I had dirtied. Went on the internet, and here I am!
I'll probably do more groceries tomorrow even though I probably have enough food to last me until Susan get back. I want to do some real cooking. I think I'll make shepherd's pie. I'll get the groceries tomorrow but maybe I'll just make myself some poutine since it'll be late by the time I get home and then I'll save the good meal for Friday.
There you go. If you've been wondering what I've been up to in the past year, that's more or less how my days go. I usually watch more TV when Susan's around though. We also go to the movies every other week or so. Saw X-Men last week. I liked it but I'll save the discussion for another post. We'll most likely end up seeing LOTR: The Musical this summer. It didn't get that good of reviews but whatever.
Anyhow, time for bed.
Anyway, Susan is in Montreal for the week. She's attending some sort of conference and giving a talk there. So I'm on my own which means I have more time on my hands, hence the updating. It also means I have to cook for myself! Susan and I have the household chores divided so that she does the groceries, cooking, and dishes where I do pretty much the rest. The reason for this is that she usually gets out of school at least an hour before I get out of work so it makes more sense that way. She usually does a pretty good job at keeping me well fed. On the other hand I'm sure she'd say that there are some improvements to be made on how well I keep the apartment tidy. Here's what a couple of days in the life of Jason. It's not very exciting. You've been warned.
Had a company BBQ on Sunday. Nothing too exciting. We were the first ones there.
Sat and chatted a bit. Then more people arrived. About 100 or so overall. Ate hot dogs and salad. Then they had games: Pie in the face, tug-o-war, water balloon toss. They were drawing a few prizes but I didn't win anything.
Got home around 5 or so. Sat on the balcony and read my book. I am currently reading Druid's Sword by Sarah Douglass, which is the final book in the Troy Game series. You might remember me mentioning this series last year. If you haven't read anything by Sara Douglass I would heavily recommend you do. She writes nice solid books. She does tonnes of historical research which makes it all the more interesting. The Troy Game is about Ariadne. You know, the girl who helped Perseus escape from the Labyrinth her brother the Minotaur? Well, if you know your Greek mythology, you'd know that Perseus thanked Ariadne by dumping her for her sister and then abandoning her on the first island they came by. The series deals with Ariadne's revenge and the consequences it has on future generations.
Anyway, back to the telling of my day. I had a few beers on the balcony while reading. I then came in to nap around 6. Slept until 9. Watched CTV and read until 12 then went to bed.
On Monday I did some groceries. Bought 1 kg of steak (enough for 4 days), broccoli, onions, chips, fries, mozza cheese, poutine sauce, 2 types of marinade, 4 cans of chunky soup. Got home around 7 or so. Put a load in the laundry. Tidied the kitchen a bit, cooked 1 steak 1/2 portion of Lipton Sidekick. Surprisingly enough, I ate a lot of steak last year when Susan was away as well. Steak was ok. I didn't marinade that one but put the rest in the fridge for the rest of the week. By the time I ate, showered, read a bit then went to bed. I stayed up late reading, probably went to sleep around 1am.
When I got home on Tuesday I cooked some steak and ate the other half of the
Lipton sidekick. The steak wasn't that good. It's too tough. I ate it anyway.
Put in a load of laundry. Spent a bit of time on the internet, then the rest of
the evening reading. I finished off tmy book. It was probably
12am by the time I was done and went to bed.
Today when I got home I did the dishes. I then cooked 2 more steaks and steamed the broccoli I had bought. This steak was tough as well. I ate one but didn't bother with the other and threw it out. It was REAL tough. I noticed that when I was marinating it, but I thought that maybe it would tenderize a bit while marinating. I guess not. I have 1 more steak left in the fridge and I'm debating whether I'm going to bother cooking it tomorrow. I probably shouldn't cheap out next time I buy steak. Anyway after I ate I cleaned up the dishes I had dirtied. Went on the internet, and here I am!
I'll probably do more groceries tomorrow even though I probably have enough food to last me until Susan get back. I want to do some real cooking. I think I'll make shepherd's pie. I'll get the groceries tomorrow but maybe I'll just make myself some poutine since it'll be late by the time I get home and then I'll save the good meal for Friday.
There you go. If you've been wondering what I've been up to in the past year, that's more or less how my days go. I usually watch more TV when Susan's around though. We also go to the movies every other week or so. Saw X-Men last week. I liked it but I'll save the discussion for another post. We'll most likely end up seeing LOTR: The Musical this summer. It didn't get that good of reviews but whatever.
Anyhow, time for bed.
Update
Hey look at that. An update. And only a month after the last one too! Hrm. I should really update those sidebars...
Well, we're back from the DR obviously. It was fun. It's not really an exciting vacation, but it is fun and relaxing. It's one of those vacations that you don't feel more stressed coming back than you did leaving. Time didn't go by too fast and it was satisfying. I kept a travel log while away which I updated every day. I gave up on it half way through the vacation though. It was kind of time consuming to write all that stuff by hand and I was too lazy. I'll type it up at some point. Overall I enjoyed myself. I'd definitely go again. For variety's sake we probably won't do a resort for our next trip, but when we do I might try Mexico.
Well, we're back from the DR obviously. It was fun. It's not really an exciting vacation, but it is fun and relaxing. It's one of those vacations that you don't feel more stressed coming back than you did leaving. Time didn't go by too fast and it was satisfying. I kept a travel log while away which I updated every day. I gave up on it half way through the vacation though. It was kind of time consuming to write all that stuff by hand and I was too lazy. I'll type it up at some point. Overall I enjoyed myself. I'd definitely go again. For variety's sake we probably won't do a resort for our next trip, but when we do I might try Mexico.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
From the Caribbean
Hola from the Dominican Republic!
We've been here since last Sunday, but just getting around to using the internet now. We're actually leaving today around supper time.
We flew in last Sunday. The flight was nice and smooth. We had 2 inflight movies, Chronicles of Narnia and Nanny McPhee.
As soon as the plane doors opened we could feel the humidity and heat, despite it being late in the evening. We had a 45 minute bus ride to our resort, the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. Our hotel room is nice and big. The fridge is stocked with water, pop, and beer. Our room as a complimentary bootle of rum.
The water here is really blue, and the sand really white! There are many pools on our resort and they have swim up bars which are really nice. All the food, drinks, and alcohol is 'free' since it's included in our resort fee. I don't think I've ever drank so many 'girly' drinks before. The beer is ok, but it's light. They have so many different mixed drinks here that it's be a crime to pass them up! There's nothing like getting up in the morning, having breakfast, then going to the beach and sip on a Pina Colada or a Blue Hawaiian at 9am.
The food is ok for the most part. It's all buffet food. There's quite a variety to pick from, although I'm looking forward to home food and snacks. They also have "a la carte" restaurants. We get to pick 3 suppers. We picked French, Mexican, and Japanese. They were all pretty good, but my favorite was the Japonese.
We also went on 2 tours. One was a 'Safari' in which we're in a jeep like vehicle and take a day long road trip through part of the DR. It was great fun! We also went on a snorkling tour. A boat takes us out to the reef where we get to swim with fishes, sharks and stingrays. Both tours served us drink all day.
I've been keeping a travel log and I might transcribe that into my blog at some point.
My internet time is up, 6$/30 mins.
See ya later!!
We've been here since last Sunday, but just getting around to using the internet now. We're actually leaving today around supper time.
We flew in last Sunday. The flight was nice and smooth. We had 2 inflight movies, Chronicles of Narnia and Nanny McPhee.
As soon as the plane doors opened we could feel the humidity and heat, despite it being late in the evening. We had a 45 minute bus ride to our resort, the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. Our hotel room is nice and big. The fridge is stocked with water, pop, and beer. Our room as a complimentary bootle of rum.
The water here is really blue, and the sand really white! There are many pools on our resort and they have swim up bars which are really nice. All the food, drinks, and alcohol is 'free' since it's included in our resort fee. I don't think I've ever drank so many 'girly' drinks before. The beer is ok, but it's light. They have so many different mixed drinks here that it's be a crime to pass them up! There's nothing like getting up in the morning, having breakfast, then going to the beach and sip on a Pina Colada or a Blue Hawaiian at 9am.
The food is ok for the most part. It's all buffet food. There's quite a variety to pick from, although I'm looking forward to home food and snacks. They also have "a la carte" restaurants. We get to pick 3 suppers. We picked French, Mexican, and Japanese. They were all pretty good, but my favorite was the Japonese.
We also went on 2 tours. One was a 'Safari' in which we're in a jeep like vehicle and take a day long road trip through part of the DR. It was great fun! We also went on a snorkling tour. A boat takes us out to the reef where we get to swim with fishes, sharks and stingrays. Both tours served us drink all day.
I've been keeping a travel log and I might transcribe that into my blog at some point.
My internet time is up, 6$/30 mins.
See ya later!!
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