Random Rumblings

Regarding Cora

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 14:53:00 +0000

In the summer of 2002, my brother had just married my wonderful sister-in-law, got their first house and picked a sweet puppy named Jake.

Things weren't quite as rosy on my side at the time - we had been trying for a baby for a long time, Gabi's work situation had gone from bad to worse to untenable, to the point she resigned and we were under a fair bit of stress overall.

It was fair to say that the best times I had that summer were playing with Jake. By far.

So when a friend of a friend offered us a Golden Retriever pup, I got quite excited. To be honest, I'd wanted a dog my entire life and was kind of crushed when it turned out that the free puppy offer was indeed too good to be true, and a pure miscommunication. Needless to say, we were in no position to pay market value for a purebred pup.

So somehow or other, with both my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in tow, we visited a few animal shelters, until we found ourselves at the same little storefront shelter on O'Connor Rd that Jake had come from. They had puppies, and quite frankly that was what I wanted. If I was going to get a dog with issues, I wanted to understand each and every one of those issues. That perspective has changed over the years, as it turned out that I likely caused most of the issues, but at least I understood them.

We looked in all the cages, and in the back in the second last cage were two little black puppies, both girls. One came forward, but the second one hung back, a little bit tentative. The sign said lab/terrier/collie x, but it's fair to say that I still have no idea what kind of dog she was, all these years later. I registered her as a Lab/Jack Russell cross, but that was more of a joke than anything factual. I mean, can you imagine that pairing?

At any rate, we left. Even the fairly small adoption fee was a big swing for the fences for us at that point. I mentioned as we were walking how much I liked the little black pup, and how much she reminded me of Reva, at that point my favourite dog ever. I am eternally grateful to Gabi that she looked me in the eye and said we should go for it.

Gabi went to the bank down the street while I went back in to fill out the adoption papers.

Cora was an absolutely amazing dog for 13 1/2 years. She was my near constant companion, and best friend. She passed away after an unfortunate Halloween candy incident. I wished I'd realized the distress she was in earlier, but by the time I did there was no decision to be made but to have her put to sleep.

I started writing this years ago, and am just able to finish it now. Maple the St Berdoodle is living with us now, and I love her to bits, but she's no Cora. No dog ever will be.

Larry

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:22:00 +0000

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Larry.

Larry came recommended by a recently gained pinball friend who also cottages nearby. I got to spend about 90 minutes with Larry and enjoyed them all.

Back story - last fall I dropped one of the pins from the dock into the lake. I did my best to find it, but it was mid-October and the water was, shall we say, rather cold. I didn't last long during my search.

I tried again this spring with no joy, and again a bit on the weekend. Our water is not clear and the lake bottom is covered in pine needles and branches, and at this point I can only assume the ice has moved it. I've pulled up between 30-50 branches that felt about right...

So I remember my friend mentioning he had a good metal guy, so I sent a message today when in town and he connected me with Larry.

To sum up Larry quickly - Larry is old, Larry is small, and Larry is amazing.

I showed him what I needed, and he quickly set to work with minor assistance from me, mostly carrying and moving a few things. I've never really done any metalwork and it was fascinating to watch.

While he worked we chatted. What an amazing guy. He was originally from Kapuskasing, moving to Toronto when his dad died, and he left school after grade 8 and became an iron worker. He worked on both the CN Tower and First Canadian place, and was as high as 1500 feet in the air. Nerves of steel, so to speak.

His first house was just around the corner from where I live now, and he seemed a bit surprised when I told him what they're worth now. He moved first to Pickering, then up north.

He then spent a large number of years working on the lake, mostly for cottagers, until he moved into town a couple of years ago. Not exactly in town though - if you can't live on water up north, then I want a place exactly like he has, with a big workshop, tool shed, nice back deck and what looked like a good size house.

A large part of our discussion took place while he was drilling, cutting and welding. I've never welded or had much occasion to be around it, so when he handed me the gloves and asked me to hold a few things for him, I was a little nervous. Shouldn't have been - the man knew what he was doing, except for asking ME to hold the torch a few times...but it all worked out.

So after spending a little over an hour working on making the part I needed for the dock, Larry told me $10 when I asked him how much. I had a hard time convincing him to take double that, and would have happily paid more if I thought he'd take it.

I hope he enjoyed talking to me as much as I enjoyed talking to him. Great guy - here's hoping I don't drop anything else in the lake, but if I do, well, I know this guy Larry....

I wish I had a Blue Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 13:37:00 +0000

So it's Terry's 40th birthday, and I'm now sitting alone beside the campfire, streaming music via Bluetooth thru Terry and Jenny's most excellent little Bose speaker, which is now firmly on my must-have list. I almost can't believe the sound it puts out.

It's getting cold, but that's ok because I'm firmly wrapped in the flannel shirt I bought on my last Buffalo trip, when we went to say goodbye to Uncle Steve and pack his things. The fire doesn't hurt either. I love a cool night with a fire and good tunes.

Got to talking tonight about our favourite campfire albums. Counting Crows August and Everything After. Tragically Hip, Up to Here and Fully Completely. Tom Petty's Into the Great Wide Open. Offbeat, but the Cowboy Junkies Miles From our Home is another one of mine. Great Lake Swimmers, Ongiara. CSNY So Far - not sure I should count compilations though...Beck's Morning Phase is probably my most recent addition to the list. I guess to qualify it has to be top to bottom great. A few have come close recently, but there's always a song or two that strike it for me. At any rate, that's some of what I listen to by firelight.

I'm reminded of a few things tonight. First off, early twenties I'm up here with Jeff, a high school friend. He gets drunk and passed out very early, leaving me to enjoy the campfire on a crisp clear early May night. I'll never forget that evening, the clarity I experienced sitting in almost the exact spot I'm in right now, the beauty of the sky, stars the like of which I feel I haven't seen since. As much as I love Friday night ball and Sunday morning squash, they really cut into my time up here.

And it's only my favourite place on earth after all.

The summer is off to a great start for me. We started off with a trip to Boston, where we'd never been before. The impetus behind the trip was a BNL concert, long Gabi's favourite band and one of mine as well. Aside - I'm having my best concert year in...well, what feels like forever. I used to go to a lot of shows, and then it felt like none post-kids. So far this year, The Hip's Fully Completely show at the ACC, where I rocked my face off to the point that I could barely move to run the ski trip the next day. Rush, which was really good but my knowledge is limited to Chronicles and a couple of records I have - so I recognized about 2/3 of the songs, unlike the Hip where I was 100%.

And of course BNL. I saw a tweet about a CBC first play concert, and got my family and the McDowell's in. What an awesome opportunity - especially getting identified as a member of the pinball mafia by Ed right before Silverball. I'd link the YouTube videos here but I have no signal so you'll just have to look them up on your own.

So, Boston. Gabi and I rolled early Sunday, with thanks to Nonna, Tata, Baba, Gogo, Vera and Doug for watching all our girls during the trip. The drive was a long slog, thru lots of rain and the stress of following Google maps thru the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. Breathed a sigh of relief hitting the interstate again.

Getting into the hotel was an adventure too, thanks to the big dig cutting our Nav at the most inopportune times. 3rd try was the charm, and I was more than happy to get rid of the van for a few days. I wanted to hit Cheers for a pint, but Gabi was really tired and since I'd done the bulk of the driving, which with traffic, border and a few stops took 12 hours, I wasn't too far behind her sleep-wise.

We toured Fenway in the morning, which was cool but after an hour I'd had enough of the Red Sox crap. I hate the Red Sox. So much. Ballpark was awesome, but the Yankee Stadium tour is a better experience in my humble opinion. Of course, I hate the Yankees too. ;)

We then used our transit passes to go to the Quincy market, where we explored a Newbury Comics (I bought myself a Star Wars t-shirt - nerd!) and had our best meal. The lobster roll was fantastic, and the Sam Adams was ice cold. Gabi loved her special order salmon too...and the chef from El Salvador cooking lobster right in front of us was a neat experience too, and we got to talk with him about what it was like there during the Boston Marathon bombing.

We then went back to the room to flake out and get ready for the show. At some point Gabi may be willing to tell the tale of her misadventure at this point, but it's not mine to tell.

We took a cab to the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, got our tickets and passes and decided to walk around a bit until we found a restaurant. We ate at Legal Test Kitchen, which was ok but nothing more than that.

Then, the show. I'd been told that it was one of the best lineups BNL had ever toured with, but to be honest I had no idea whatsoever who Colin Hay was. Glad I didn't look it up, because I was pleasantly surprised when it turns out he was the frontman for Men at Work, and he blew us away with his solo set.

The Violent Femmes were next, and I'd kind of heard of them, but didn't really know what they did but they kicked right into great song after great song. I was particularly impressed by their drummer, who was so high energy and played standing up, something I'd never seen before.

Then BNL came on, and with Silverball being on high rotation around our place for a while now, the show was a great mix of new stuff and some of our favorites. Light Up My Room was an excellent rendition, and I think Toe to Toe is one of the best songs they've done in a long time - I think it could be a hit, and was really glad they played it. Sigh - no When I Fall....

The encore was one of the only songs I didn't really know - still not sure what it was...Tyler sang lead and Ed took the drums, doing a pretty good Bonham along the way. At any rate, great setlist and the show alone was well worth the trip.

The highlight of the whole trip, however, was backstage, where we got a chance to chat with Ed and Jim after the show. Gabi was over the moon thrilled to do that, and it was kinda cool to watch the meet and greet. I was hoping to meet Colin Hay but he was long gone by then, I guess.

It was very interesting seeing the other side of things, which I'd done once before working cameras at Havelock but never where I particularly enjoyed the music. I still laugh at how the lady at the gate at Havelock wasn't gonna let me in until I told her that if there was ever a show I was gonna try to sneak into, this wasn't it. That must have been 20 years ago....wow...

So next morning we started home, and decided to take our time and stop wherever we felt like. That's how we wound up in Sturbridge and at the Yankee Flea Market, and spent a few hours wandering a mall in Albany. We stopped in Syracuse, and just as we opened the van heard thunder in the distance.

That storm flooded Syracuse, and man our open atrium hotel was loud with rain on the roof.

So we headed for home in the morning with a last bit of shopping in Syracuse, was grateful to see the girls, and met Doug to get Cora and pick up Oreo, as he was off to do the same trip, just to Raleigh instead of Boston. Dogcare trades! Cora was a huge PITA for him - I felt very badly about the havoc she wreaked.

So after a day at home to recharge and do laundry, we left for the cottage and Terry's big 40th weekend. It's us, them, aunt Vera and mom and dad. The last 3 are staying at White Pine Shores at night but spending the days here. We need to build a bunkie or something so we can sleep a few more here.

Had a great first day, ending with the campfire I started writing this to. That was quite a while ago, and I've now moved inside and put out the fire. Solitude stands.

And I should probably cease tonight's ramblings and get some sleep myself. Only one up, as usual.

This might be my longest entry ever. They are few and far between these days, so may as well make them worthwhile.

2014 in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 18:55:00 +0000

Well, the year both started and ended in a similar manner, with road trips and attempted road trips.

Our first was on Jan. 2nd, and my dad and I, in Detroit for the Winter Classic, an experience we both thoroughly enjoyed and that has already been well documented here. Our plan was, since we were already a good 40% of the way there, was to head to Wisconsin and visit Uncle Steve. However, it's a long way at 65 mph, never mind if you can barely get up to 20 in the blowing snow. We sadly had to abandon the attempt, a major letdown in my mind, but safety is paramount and that wouldn't have been a wise move.

The winter was a wild one, which was great for the skiing, but I told Tina that Tremblant in Quebec was warm, sunny and nice in March, with great spring skiing. As I was attempting to thaw out my hands, partially frozen while trying to put my ski boots on, I realized exactly how wrong I was. We had a wonderful trip despite the exteme cold, the highlight being Maya realizing she can handle a mountain, and of course the outdoor hot tub frozen hairstyle contest. I won!!!

We had an awesome week at the cottage in the summer - just the four of us the entire week. We did some day trips, and some excellent hanging out, but definitely a goal for the next year is to spend a lot more time up there. In my humble opinion, we didn't make it nearly enough.

Work has mostly been good - I continue to be lucky enough to do a job I really like, with an assignment that I love. What more can you ask for?

Chloe is in Grade 1 and loving it, although her extreme social butterfly nature has resulted in some improvement needed in Independent Work. We were very pleased with her Empathy award however. She also had a big role in the Musical Theatre program we enrolled her in, although I unfortunately missed her performance as it was my last time as teacher in charge of our Grade 8 trip and I couldn't get home in time, no matter how much I tried to will the bus to go faster. Her musical talents continue to surprise and impress us.

Maya is now in Grade 6 if you can believe, and enjoying her year as the Big Kid on campus. She's involved with helping all over the school, and I'm very proud of her. She also had a big role in her school play of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, playing the reporter Phineas who kind of tied the whole show together. She was awesome and enjoyed it very much!

A major highlight this summer was my parent's 50th Anniversary Cruise on the Allure of the Seas. We had an awesome trip that started with a flight to Fort Lauderdale out of Buffalo, then we boarded what was at the time the biggest cruise ship in the world to visit Haiti, Mexico and Jamaica. We travelled with Mom and Dad, Auntie Vera, Terry and Jenny and the boys and had a fantastic time all around. A special highlight was the 24 hour infinity pool that Gabi and I hit up night after night and has us seriously considering our own hot tub. It was a massive slap in the face to return to reality AND get back to work in the same few days after that wonderful experience. Cruising is my favourite way to travel by far, and I don't really care where I go as long as it's by ship.

I spent my birthday weekend in Gatineau, at the Ottawa Pinball show with my good friend Scott and a number of other pinball buddies. I've made some very good friends with similar interests through my hobby, and I've really enjoyed those get-togethers. I shuffled up my own collection quite a bit, replacing my Video game with a 412-1 Galaga, which is probably the cab I always wanted, and swapping out Lord of the Rings for several lesser games, but definitely better bang for your buck games. I've also done some competing, and made a decent showing at several tournaments, including my first ever playoff qualifying, which I was proud of. I've jumped into the top 4000 in the world, and my goal this year is to move up another 1000 or so. I'm looking forward to competing in Pinburgh this year.

In October Dad and I hopped in the van and finally made it to Wisconsin, the goal being to move Uncle Steve to an assisted living facility in Buffalo, as he wanted to be closer to family and he finally asked for some help. He was a very independent man for sure. Uncle Jerry and Steve and Debbie Dzurko were also part of what we started to call "The Moving Crew". We spent a day driving there, a day cleaning and packing up his apartment, a day driving to Buffalo and a final day unpacking him into his new place. It was a lot of work and organization as we tackled his lifetime of possessions, furniture, kitchen stuff, etc with one day to do it in. We had a good time connecting as a group, and the trip to Buffalo was a gift of wonderful amounts of time spent with Uncle Steve, possibly more 1-1 time with him than I'd ever had before. He was very happy with his new home, and seemed to be thriving, certainly looking worlds better when Gabi and I visited him in early December, during her most enjoyable birthday weekend away.

Unfortunately, we had no way of knowing that would be our last visit. On Christmas Eve, he took ill very suddenly, and passed away very quickly. I'm taking heart in knowing that we did everything we could to make his final days enjoyable and comfortable, and that he was happy with the place that was chosen for him, particularly the food, as he was very fond of mentioning. It may be surprising to say that I was shocked with his passing at 92, but it seemed like he could go on forever, and certainly put a major damper in my Christmas to say the least.

And that brings me to my final road trip of 2014, which was with Dad, Jerry and Debbie, as we went to Buffalo to pack up Uncle Steve's things. It was a difficult, emotional day, especially at the Funeral Home saying a final goodbye. I don't know what it is with important beloved people in my life passing at Christmas, but this is the third time it's happened and let me tell you, it was already enough.

Uncooperative clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 02:33:00 +0000

Well, Chloe caught her first fish today. It was our first extended period outside since we'd arrived, as the weather has been rather miserable. It's rained. Then some more rain. Then some more. I know I teach how important the water cycle is, but I certainly never meant during my cottage week. ;)

Sadly, the fish, a solidly medium sized rock bass, decided to swallow the hook, and in my ensuing attempts to remove it, said aquatic creature sadly expired. Now Chloe had expressed an interest in eating what she caught, but this poor little thing would barely make a mouthful. So it's in the freezer and will make a delicious meal for one of the brown bears at the dump. Chloe was a bit upset at killing one of "nature's beautiful creatures", but wants to figs again tomorrow, so I guess we're ok there.

A highlight has definitely been the films we watched during the rain. So far, we've done Saving Mr. Banks, which was quite good if a bit too dramatic for Chloe, and Man of Steel, which we all enjoyed. Chloe even made a Superman poster to cheer him on in his fight with General Zod. To be honest, I was surprised the movie didn't do that great in the theaters - I thought it was fantastic.

Cora gave us a bit of anxiety. We squeezed a boat ride in between rain storms on Monday, and returned to find the garbage tossed, without a single trace of the chicken bones we know were in there. She spent most of Tuesday hiding, which is not like her - she even pulled a comforter off a bed and made herself a nest, not something I've seen from her before. We even took her into Wilberforce with us, just to keep an eye on her. I'm suspecting some discomfort on her part - plus god only knows what else she ate. She seemed better today, and I took her for two extended off leash walks, and everything seems to be coming out all right in the end, if you know what I mean.

We're about halfway thru our week, and the weather is about to turn quite nice, so I'm anticipating a lot more swimming and boating time, and a lot less exploring the shops of nearby towns time. If it keeps raining Barry's Bay might happen, just so we do something different.

At any rate, it's still my favorite place on earth - even crappy rainy days here are better than days anywhere else. Sunny deck days are pretty good too though!

Ahhhhhh

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:16:00 +0000

I've continued my migration to mostly sharing my witty self in 140 character bursts, but every now and then (like now) I feel like sharing some random rumblings.

Parted with my Lord of the Rings this week. A good deal, I was able to bring in 3 other machines AND the High Speed playfield I wanted to buy earlier in the year when the CPR boys in the Maritimes got to me on the list at the precise same time we bought Gabi's replacement car, the Rondo that she has indeed gotten used to.

Best of all, I was even able to move some cash into our bathroom renovation fund, as we've pretty much come to the conclusion that our bathroom doesn't even come close to working in its present configuration. In short, if someone opens the door while you're on the throne, you are going to have sore knees. So we may have a year to figure out our perfect bathroom while we save, but by 2016 at the latest we'll have an oasis in there.

So I'm at the cottage, and as always this will transmit on the way home, so if you see it post you have like an hour to break into my house before I get home and kick your ass.

Btw - my sister in law makes great Caesar's!!!

Hence the slightly more irreverent tone than usual which I will no doubt hear about when Gabi reads this but oh well.

It's rather hot here, but the littler kids are all inside watching "The Nut Job", and Maya and the grown ups are out on the deck shooting the shit, literally. I've tried the ear muffs trick on maya, but I suspect she can hear this stuff.

There's chipmunks everywhere.

Constipation is the current topic.

The boat is in the water. It's running well. It makes me happy.

I slept on the floor from 4 am last night after Chloe tried her squeezing between us trick. It's not so bad at home in a king, but here in the queen it's kinda brutal.

I also really love my family. They rock. We're having lots of fun!

Moments in Time

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Sun, 11 May 2014 00:42:00 +0000

I'm sitting on the dock, watching the sun set over a still and quiet lake. I've just returned from a lovely walk with Cora, but also one that made me very sad.

My poor girl is really slowing down. It wasn't that long ago where she'd be on front of me, lingering to sniff something only to charge ahead, then lingering again only to charge forward again.

Today I sensed she was doing all she could to keep up.

She's been with me more than a quarter of my life. She's with me every moment she can be, wherever I am. I can't really remember what it's like without her. Perhaps it's a touch of rye making me melancholy, but I don't think so.

No, I don't think so one bit.

A Classic Winter Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 22:11:00 +0000

The beginning of this tale is actually in the garage in the summer of 2012. As was my wont at the time, since my good friend Scott was pretty much storing his pinball collection out there and I could play with it to my heart's content, I spent a good portion of my free time out there. So I was checking my email when an opportunity to purchase tickets to the 2013 Winter Classic dropped into my email box. I bit, and when my friend Ted, who I deal with on hockey tickets, told me that he was planning to take his Dad with him, my first thought was "That's a great idea." So Dad said yes, and I booked hotel rooms on Hotwire, paying a bit of a premium for the Days Inn in Detroit, let me tell you.

Of course, the moral of the story is - before buying non-refundable hotel rooms in Detroit, you should always check on the labour situation. I am of course a hockey fan, but it's more than safe to say my principle sports focus has long been on the white sphere over the black puck. I was completely unaware of the pending strike, and watched with dismay as the dispute dissolved the early part of the season until finally, the Winter Classic itself was cancelled. Ted and I decided to hang onto our tickets, although we couldn't give away the hotel rooms, and it turned out that my family wound up travelling in a different direction, which we weren't free to do while I held those tickets.

So fast forward to this summer. The plans started forming, and I needed an answer. Since the beginning I'd wanted to do this with my Dad, and he wasn't forthcoming with an answer right away. I understood this - spending that many hours outside in January isn't exactly the tropical cruising I think he prefers - and in addition, he's had a very sore knee for quite some time now. However, with his knee feeling good I think I caught him in a weak moment one day in September - he was in, which absolutely thrilled me.

So this time I merely made hotel reservations instead of the mistake of pre-paying, and we were all set to go. Ted and his Dad drove separately, as the plan was for Bob and I to continue on and visit Uncle Steve after the game.

December 31st 2013.

After hitting the bank for some USD, and spending a fair amount of time shovelling the snow, I packed far too much stuff into a duffel bag and headed out to pick Bob up. We made a brief stop at the Playdium Store to meet Drano, who needed some pinball parts dropped in London, then continued West. Snow was pretty steady, but not too bad - once we were past Kitchener we had dry roads, albeit some windy conditions. At the first rest stop we saw the Leafs trailer, selling swag (should have bought there, as I later learned) but also giving away rather cool Leaf flags that go on car windows, with the hashtag #seaofblue on them.

Of course, I quickly realized that my two flags were not really built for cruising on the 401 at high speeds, as one flag rather quickly detached itself from the vehicle, and the second partially detached itself, whapping against the window at a rapid and highly annoying rate. We also passed many of these same flags sitting on the highway. Bit of an epic fail for the Leafs on these - way too flimsy for highway travel.

So we stopped to remove the one flag we had left, and Dad took the wheel pretty much until the duty free, with a quick stop to drop the parts we were transporting in London. Picked up a couple bottles of rum, and crossed into the states without incident at Port Huron, and enjoyed a fairly easy drive into our hotel in Romulus, near the airport. We got a hint of just HOW close to the airport we were when a landing 767 went over our heads at an altitude of 300-400 feet rather loudly, but luckily the winds must have changed shortly afterwards - that was the only plane we saw like that.

We met up with Ed and Ted, and headed for dinner at Leanardos, where we just beat the New Year's Eve crowd and grabbed a table without a problem. Everyone who didn't have the Veal Marsala absolutely loved their meal. Guess who had the Veal? :) My soup and the bruschetta were absolutely amazing, and in fact we decided to go back the following night - yes, it was that good. Ted and I of course have lots to talk about, and Dad and Ed seemed to hit it off really well. In fact, they discovered so many common connections in their past that "It's a Small World" could have been playing in the background, very aptly too.

After dinner, we hung out in the room for a bit before we realized that we weren't gonna make midnight. Dad didn't, and I just barely did, but since I was the only one awake in a hotel room watching Netflix, I didn't realize it was a New Year until it was 15 minutes old. Stupid addictive Breaking Bad.

So the next morning we met for breakfast at 8, then decided to leave at 10 for the one o'clock game. Sounds like plenty of time to do a 25 minute drive, right? Well, add some snow, and 105 000 people trying to get into the same small town, and the 25 minute drive turned into just over 60. We were trying to park at Briarwood Mall, which was running a shuttle service, on the recommendation of the Hampton Inn front desk guy. Unfortunately, nearly every front desk guy in Detroit must have been recommending this, because there were thousands upon thousands lined up for these buses. With an hour to go before the game, we abandoned the shuttle bus idea and decided to hoof it. I was a bit worried about Bob's knee, but luckily, despite the snow, he had no difficulties.

In fact, the only real difficulty was that in hoofing the 2-3 miles, nobody had planned for that eventuality in our outfits. I know I dress differently for sitting around in -10 weather than I do for moving in -10, and since I wound up doing both, I ran into some moisture related difficulties. Picture this. My bottom was longjohns, trackpants, and snowpants, and my top was t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, hoodie, leaf jersey, and my new -20 rated winter jacket. To say the least, by the time we did the long walk uphill through the snow (said in my best old man voice), I had a pretty good sweat on. At any rate, we made it to our seats where Ed and Ted, who walk faster than us, were waiting. We were in the 94th row. Yes, that's a lot of rows in front of us. There were only two more rows behind us, and we were right under what I think was the South Scoreboard, so it was like we were backlit on some of the whiter ads they were showing.

To my pleasant surprise, the view was excellent. I thought we'd have to resort to the screen to watch the game, but the puck was fairly easy to follow and the players were bigger on the ice than the screen, so that was good. In fact, being up so high was actually an advantage - we could see everything. I was impressed with the National Anthem singers, especially the tenors, but a bit less that the guy who was performing the concert. Middle of the road, mindless music that no one will remember. I've already forgotten his name. Blandness personified, to me at least.

I vacated my seat during the first period because I wanted to buy a Winter Classic toque, as the one I had was slightly less than adequate. I got that, plus a few other souvenirs, like a shot glass for the bar along with a collectible hot chocolate cup. I later regretted that hot chocolate, but that's for later in the story. So buying the souvenirs and made me miss about 8 minutes of the first, but mostly that was Detroit peppering Bernier, so I was good with it. We pretty much all stayed in our seats the rest of the game, as we watched people who left at the first intermission start not returning until the end of the 2nd period, in line for the bathroom that whole time. You'd think a stadium that seats 110,000 might have more cans, but hey, I didn't design it.

Ah, the game. A very enjoyable, tense hockey game. My biggest fear was a Detroit blowout and a boring game, but thanks to stellar goaltending (from what we could see) Bernier kept it not only close, but the Leafs led for much of the game. I also figured out that dancing to every song in breaks in play helped me maintain feeling in my toes, which, really, were my only cold related problem. I had toe warmers in my pockets, but lacked the space and, quite honestly, the dexterity to put them in my boots. My glove warmers actually burst, so maybe that was a good thing they weren't in my boots.

At any rate, the last period, overtime and the shootout were very exciting, and it was rather cool being a Leaf fan in Detroit. At least there were a lot more of us than that time I tried being a Jays fan in Yankee Stadium`s bleachers. Safety in numbers, you know. Thoroughly enjoyed the game, as I think every Leaf fan did.

The downside to walking TO a hockey game is that to get to the car, you`ve got to walk BACK. I must confess - being in a mass of people like that was rather cool. Everyone was in a good mood, even the Red Wings fans, and looking forwards and backwards all you could see was a sea of both blue and red, co-existing peacefully while moving away from the Big House.

While Bob`s knee was holding up admirably, I was having more problems. My plantar fasciitis starting acting up with about a mile to go, and then, even worse, my snow pant suspension system started acting up as well. In fact, I hobbled the last bit to the parking spot whilst desperately holding up my pants so I wouldn`t have to walk with them around my knees. Oh, and remember that hot chocolate I mentioned earlier? Yeah. That. It was lovely to get into the car for Ed to pilot us back to the hotel, but I only realized exactly how much snow had accumulated in my two hoods when it all started to melt and run down my back.

I apologize if that sounds like whining - it isn`t. Merely relating the slight negatives to what was an overall highly positive experience for me, one that I would unquestionably do again.

Nevertheless, one of my most enjoyable moments of the trip was the moment we got back to the hotel and I had the opportunity to remove all my wet stuff. Woohoo!

We had planned to go back to Leonardos, and we did try, only to find it closed. So we ventured to the Hilton Garden Inn next door, and their restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn`t expecting a whole bunch of hungry hockey fans (we hadn`t eaten since breakfast) and with 1 server and 1 cook for a full house, dinner took....a while. Like, hours. Bob said it was the slowest meal he'd ever had, until I reminded him of a place in Myrtle Beach called the Rice Plantation, which had already taken forever when the waiter dropped his tray on the way to our table. So, the second slowest meal ever. I felt pretty bad for the two girls working in there - we all did - so no complaints. Luckily, the food was excellent, and my dinner more than made up for the disappointing meal I'd had the night before. Of course, when you're that hungry just about anything can taste good, so you never know, but I thought it was excellent.

We had a few more beverages in Ed and Ted's room, but Bob was done and bid an early adieu, and despite my best efforts to keep my eyes open, I was fading fast and said my own goodnights, unfortunately dropping one of the Appleton Estate glasses we'd gotten with our duty free purchase. I cleaned up as best I could, but wound up leaving the other gentlemen awaiting housekeeping to clean up the fragments I couldn't.

The sleep that night was deep. Seems I don't hike five miles in the snow every day.

So, finally, the make it or break it morning. We took a good hard look at the Weather Channel, which was fear-mongering as usual, but the high volume of cancelled flights in Chicago kind of sealed the decision for us. We sadly decided not to make the venture to Wisconsin. I felt terrible, as I haven't seen Uncle Steve in two years, but it was definitely the right call.

Ed and Ted hit the road in the morning, but I hit the hot tub, and then Bob and I did some shopping to kill a little bit of time. We wanted to get the 48 hours necessary to bring back our liquid purchases, so we hit a Culvers for a burger, which was good...but nowhere near the Nirvana I remember from Wisconsin in 2012. We also spent a bit of time trying to chase down a very special scooter for a special nephew of mine, but had no luck whatsoever.

For the drive home, we had snow pretty much all the way home, passing about 20 cars that had exited the highway into rails and ditches at varying intervals. We moved pretty slowly and steadily, other than the occasional more serious slowdown for tow trucks, etc. What in good weather and traffic is a 5 hour drive wound up taking nearly 8, but I'm just happy we made it safely without incident. We got some Shwarma's at Ibrahim as we continued our trend of not eating over long periods of time, and I dropped Dad at home, ending what was an absolutely fantastic road trip and very memorable experience. I can't remember the last time I spent nearly three days just Dad and me. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope he did as much as I did. Had a great time with Ed and Ted as well.

It was absolutely wonderful to be greeted by welcome home signs and great hugs and kisses from all my girls. As much as I enjoyed the road trip, coming home was awesome, and as much as I wanted to see Uncle Steve, these two unplanned for days at home are more than welcome as well. I missed all the women in my life very much.

To sum up - the Winter Classic was a classic winter adventure!

63 Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:10:00 +0000

I don't think I realized how much pressure I was feeling until I nearly cried when the first lights came back on.

At any rate, let's start at the beginning - Saturday night, the power went out around 10:00. I had more than an inkling that this was going to happen - first, the forecast of a massive ice storm, and second, some flickering of the lights earlier in the evening. So I had previously abandoned my phone conversation with Vera to head downstairs to pick my LED worklight out of my pinball bucket of tools.

This was in my pocket, and we proceeded to put the girls to sleep. No sooner were they down when the power came back. Woohoo - we were all good, right? So, off to sleep we went, and it felt like almost no time at all when I suddenly was awakened gasping for air. See, for those who don't know, I wear a CPAP machine to sleep due to sleep apnea. Losing power while your air intake is hooked up is a vastly unpleasant experience - I don't recommend it to anyone. However, it woke me up so that I could clearly see the series of green flashes out the window that I now know represent hydro transformers doing very bad things.

So I struggled to sleep the rest of the night, and of course Gabi did as well, as my normally very quiet Darth Vader style breathing was now a snorefest interruptus. Luckily, I didn't wake up the girls.

So we got the basement fireplace going in the morning, and I made some unsuccessful attempts at starting the dining room fireplace. Now, I'd been advocating for it's removal for some time, as it hadn't even had the pilot light lit since our home inspection. However, with some assistance from Jeff, our most excellently handy neighbour, we were able to get it going, and let me tell you, I will never again even think about removing this fireplace. Despite our number of issues over the past 63 hours, cold was not one of them. This house was toasty warm and comfy, despite being a tiny bit chilly upstairs, but only comparatively to the main floor.

Tina and Gabriel packed up their things and came over, as their power was out too, and despite every attempt at persuasion I know, I could not talk my parents into doing the same. I took them some hot soup Sunday evening, and let me tell you, the sight of the two of them huddled around candles at the kitchen table was a painful one to me, especially since I had a warm house. I made the mistake of using their bathroom while there, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get off the seat. It was cold there, man. Luckily, they've gotten warmer since.

So we cooked by flashlight (the gas cooktop has been invaluable), then hung out for a while by candlelight, lighting all the decorative candles we had all over the house, many of which have never been lit! Finally, it was off for an early bedtime. I decided to try sleeping in a sitting position, and for a while it worked. Chloe was with Nonna, Maya was with Mommy, and Tata and I were in the basement. Unfortunately, Cora still needed her 11:30 pee, and woke me up for it, and that was pretty much it for sleep. I moved upstairs to the couch, and then at some point in the night Nonna came down and told me Maya had moved to her own bed, so I tried mine for a while. All I think I did was disturb Gabi. A miserable miserable night.

I headed back out at this point to make sure my parents were good, as I'd resolved to freak out on them if they weren't, and a combination of Rogers Home Phone not working during a power outage along with Rogers Cellphones losing their signals entirely (less than pleased with Rogers at this point and time, let me tell you) left the only way to make sure they were ok was to drive over there.

Since I'd yet to move one of my own vehicles, I resolved to get into the van. This was not an easy accomplishment, as it had been parked since the freezing rain had begun. After quite some effort, I managed to get in, and only did a tiny bit of damage to the windshield trim. Sigh...my mom was there, and hadn't answered my texts as she hadn't noticed them. I was pleased to hear that they were planning to seek warmth if they didn't have power by Monday evening.

At any rate, the kids were getting absolutely wiggy at this point, not that I could blame them. We'd done talent shows and board games and books and crafts and everything we could think of (actually, mostly Gabi could think of, as I spent most of my time trying to keep things working inside and outside), and we all packed up and headed to Tata's office, which we'd discovered had power earlier in the day. I went and got a couple of pizzas, and we spent a most enjoyable afternoon watching TV, eating pizza, and charging all our toys while enjoying the wifi. All the comforts of home. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the fireplaces going with no one here, so we couldn't stay long, but the outing proved to be just what the doctor ordered. Tina cooked us up a nice dinner, and everyone enjoyed yet another talent show, although my attempt at stand-up comedy went over rather flat. Apparently, having a few jokes prepared is a good idea - who knew?

At about 11:30, I headed over to George and Claudine's place. They had never lost power, and once I established that, George invited us over. We all declined, but I accepted for myself as I knew that one more night without my CPAP and I might be at risk of losing it on somebody. The night's sleep was absolutely beautiful, and to just show how out cold I was, George was able to get up and go to work without me even noticing. Thanks so much George and Claudine - your kindness is much appreciated, to say the least!

So I came home in a much better state of mind than I'd been for days, and our friends the Cabrals posted on Facebook that they were basically freezing in their house. So I invited them over, and was pleased when they came! It was fantastic, because the Cabrals come as the perfect playtime match - Tom, the boys and I usually play pinball, Esther matches up with Chloe, Naomi with Maya and Susannah with Gabi. Tom was working and there was obviously no pinball, but I BBQed some pizza they brought, made some pasta which wasn't touched after the pizzas were devoured, and spent the afternoon working on steaming our turkey. I think we all had an excellent time, and I'm glad we were able to share our warmth with friends who needed it.

Our last real adventure of the blackout happened around 3 pm. Gabi has been after me for some time to replace the toilet handle in the girls bathroom, but it hadn't really been a problem sticking - the toilet just runs until someone notices it. Unless, of course, the toilet is also plugged. That combination of events happened this afternoon, which no one noticed until it pretty much started raining in the dining room. There was a lot of water on the floor - it had filled the bathroom, spilled into the hallway, and was even most of the way to covering our bedroom. Luckily the linen closet was right there, and I was able to pull out vast amounts of towels to stop and sop up the spill. By the time I got back downstairs, Susanah was on the dining room table taking apart the chandelier, which had been filling with water, and I had to go down to the basement, where the furnace room was once again raining.

In the end, no harm done - I lost a couple of books, my 2009 Dynasty League Baseball cardset, and no fewer than five washing machine loads of wet towels. Since I'd been meaning to recycle that cardset anyways, there was no big problems. I'll touch up the paint on the ceiling when it dries, re-hang the chandelier, and it'll be like it never happened.

So with water flying around, despite the fact that we had no power I'd shut down the main circuit breaker, and once dry I flipped everything back on. The Cabrals had headed out to their evening church service, and I'd just brought in my steamed turkey from the backyard, when, wonder of wonders, I noticed that the light in the fridge was on and the clocks were blinking.

My god, I think I cried. I know just how they felt in The Stand when they got the generating station running again. It was like a Christmas Eve miracle. By my rough calculations, we were in the dark for 63 hours. Massive cheering, dancing, hugging and high fives commenced!

Despite the fact that we had power, our Christmas Eve dinner was still by candlelight, since we have no light in the dining room with the chandelier temporarily gone! It was delicious, and enjoyed by all! Tina has always cooked turkeys for us, so it was nice for me to be able to return the favour for her!

I hope a Toronto Hydro worker reads this at some point - to those individuals who gave up their holiday time to help restore us to normalcy after the Ice Storm Disaster, I thank you.

To those who are still without power, if there's anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask.

Finally, I'm left to think. I always talk about our dependence on Hydro in Geography classes. This year, I'm pretty sure the discussion will be quite a bit more lively than in the past. While we weathered the storm fairly well here, there are a few more things I'm going to take action on in order to even further prepare. First off, I don't see how I can keep Rogers Home Phone after this. I'm going back to Bell. Secondly, I'm going to start thinking about a generator. Not for heat, as we proved our fireplaces are more than adequate - but mostly for my CPAP. I was really suffering by the 2nd night without it, and still feel a bit like my lungs took a beating, if that's even possible. At the very least, some kind of battery backup system.

At any rate, if I don't get a single other gift this year, I got the one it turned out jumped to number one on my list.

I'm dreaming of a "light" Christmas;
Just like the ones I've always known.

The Pinball Years

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 03:22:00 +0000

Although it may not necessarily seem obvious, something is on the wane a bit with me.

In September 2011, a few innocent internet searches led me down the rabbit hole. I had no idea what was about to happen. How could I, really?

From about then til the summer of 2013 I can only call, like Picasso's Blue period, my pinball period. I went nuts for it, obsessing about it, even travelling for it. Over that time I bought and sold no fewer than 15 machines, and had a hand in transporting over 100. Believe it or not, that 2nd number may be conservative.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm by no means done with the hobby.

As far as my collection? I'm content. I have 4 great games I love to play, although I'm ready to let The Simpsons Pinball Party go to bring in AC/DC, but the girls aren't, so I can't. My other 3 are long term keepers.

I'm starting to get more interested in competitive play - entering tournaments when I can, and cursing the fact that TOPL plays on my squash league night. I finished 12th out of about 40 at my last event, a best ever.

I am thrilled with the friends I've made, all over this province, along with La Belle Provence, people I would likely have never crossed paths with otherwise. Best of all is a rekindled friendship with an old friend as we descended headlong into this madness together.

But with this newfound contentment comes the realization that the thrill of the hunt was a big part of the obsession for me - and I'm no longer hunting. I remember spending an entire day online chasing down a TSPP that turned out to be a hoax a friend was playing, since he knew I wanted one. I was ticked at first, but man, in retrospect he had me hook, line and sinker and I just had to admire his chutzpah and in the end, just laugh about it.

That couldn't happen now, because I'm not interested in buying anything.

So, as I continue to calm down and emerge from the other side of obsession, I think I'm finally in a good place in the hobby. In it, but certainly not all in, like I was a few short months ago.

And that seems to be working for me.

Final cottage time of the summer

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 17:07:00 +0000

Well, I brought the girls up solo this time, in an attempt to give Gabi a few days off after my 2 day Montreal run and my day in London. Payback is only fair, right?

There was some text message confusion - at first I thought we were building the 2nd replacement section of dock, then I thought we weren't. So I didn't bring any tools, and I didn't exactly rush.

So I arrived to find two men in a very bad mood, having been struggling with taking the hardware off the old dock for several hours, with the new frame already constructed.

At any rate, eventually (several hours later) we got things together well enough, and then had a nice dinner. Melissa swam over, and we invited Jerry to join us too, then had a lovely evening.

So terry and I re-assembled the dock this morning, and then everyone but the girls and I gradually departed. We're going into town for a few supplies, and then we're gonna spend the rest of the day hanging out here.

I'm having a great time, and so are the girls!

Unexpected yet rewarding task

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 03:56:00 +0000

So it was one of those situations where Gabi thought I had an eye on Chloe, I thought she did, and really, Chloe was just trying to be helpful, really she was.

She decided (for some unknown reason) to bring my beer bottle piggy bank that I've had since maybe high school to me in the dining room. Now, I'd noticed it was getting a bit brittle, but I think we were all surprised when the bottom let go and the stairs...well, lets just say there was some money on them.

Now, I have emptied this coin bank several times in my life...it has bought me a tape deck, a ski trip to Vermont, a couch (it still sits in my living room, however the purchasing of it with $700 in coins was terribly embarrassing as they took apart and counted each one of my rolls. My advice - don't take coins to Leon's.) and numerous pizzas when I got the munchies.

So - some unexpected counting took place tonight, and I thought I'd share the results.

$2 - 2 = $4
$1 - 5 = $5
.25 - $48.75
Plus a small freezer bag of .10, .5 and .1. Coin star, here I come.

I also had $12.75 in US quarters, along with a selection f dimes, nickels pennies etc. Where was this the last time I was busting tolls in Chicago cause I was out of coins, eh?

Then the unusual stuff.

4 $2 bills. No Cdn singles, but about $6 us in singles.

A token from North End Bowl.
2 tokens from Ocean Lakes. At least I remember being there.
10 pesos from Chile.
A small battery - no idea what from, but it was coin shaped, so maybe....
And the most valuable of all - 4 ttc tokens.

So - not quite couch money, but I can do something with this, for sure...

What, I haven't figured out yet.

Fantastic week!

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 14:47:00 +0000

Having a fantastic week at the cottage. Rough start weather wise, but nothing like what Toronto got.

Cora is finally starting to feel better, although now that she's not as sick I'm starting to really realize this - she's getting old. Heck of a time for the poor dog to finally have Chloe take an interest in her - the dog just looks at me, with a "save me" kind of pleading in her eyes.

The boat has been fun. Gassed it up yesterday at the marina ($92!!!!!), and will try to leave it as empty as I found it. About to take the girls for another tube ride very shortly. Woohoo!!!

Poor Nonna is not at all well - hopefully just a 24 hr bug.

Oh, and a pine cone just landed on my head in a rather rapid and somewhat shocking manner. Ouch.

How's that for random?

The Big Lebowski

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 14:22:00 +0000

Well, I've been trying to watch it for years. I finally did last night, and all I can say is...meh.

Maybe I started it too late. Who knows. All I know is I had a lot of trouble staying awake, and wasn't all that entertained. John Goodman was good, but the Buscemi character was pointless and The Dude?

Didn't do much for me, as a whole.

What can ya do?

Cottage 2013 Reading Reviews Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 01:23:00 +0000

Well, here I am for my annual week at the cottage, and armed with my Chapters gift cards kindly given me by a few of my students, I'm working my way thru a large volume of reading material in the absence of an Internet signal.

First up - Sunday evening

Cooking Light magazine

I thought it would be a good idea to get inspired for some recipes for the week, since we were coming up with virtually no groceries, and the cover picture on the mag looked delicious. Unfortunately, that was by far the best thing in the entire magazine. Did I mention by far? I settled into after a very difficult chloe bed time with a fantastic movie on tv, but I barely got past the "We got a bleeder" line before the first of several Chloe screaming fits. Oy.

Monday - So after a trip into town, I got down to some serious reading, my first novel being Daniel Silva's The Rembrandt Affair. It features Gabriel Allon, a character I've very much enjoyed. The novel was so good I tore thru it, finishing around dinner time.

My next was one I found on a "geek" table at Chapters. I could resist the "how to speak Klingon guide" (barely), but couldn't pass up "Redshirts", which was a delicious send up of Star Trek, and how the dudes in the red shirts seldom survived away missions. I bought it as well because I noticed the dedication to Wil Wheaton, who has grown in my esteem greatly recently. If you don't follow him on Twitter, you should. @wilw . See? Not that hard. Also a good book, although by the end the meta fiction had completely overwhelmed the fiction. Read it - it's not bad, and you'll see what I mean.

So that, along with some rather sore eyes, was Monday.

Tuesday Nonna and Tata arrived, and I started Joyland, Stephen King's latest. To say I loved it was an understatement. Since he "retired" and slowed down his work, it's gotten better and better. I really liked Under the Dome, and this one blew me away. Just a good story, in fact so good I've started my second read of it.

Wednesday was catching up with the world, in many ways. I read the Globe and Mail, and most of the Star, along with the latest issue of The Atlantic. Also had a good long swim in the lake, went to town to see if anything important happened online (it hadn't), realized that the girls level of tubing comfort is vastly different, and cooked up a couple of awesome meals (if I do say so myself). I also purchased some cider in town, and that is no doubt adding to my effusive ness this evening.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to read a few other things, but for now I rented the Big Lebowski, apparently a comedy masterpiece. I guess I'll see!

A rather exciting start to my summer...ok, terrifying!

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 23:02:00 +0000

So in my quest to get lots of exercise this summer, I brought my bike up north with me. I got my family to drop me off about 8 km from the cottage, and rode back.

First off - it's hillier than I ever realized. And a much more difficult ride than I was expecting.

Secondly, I PASSED A BEAR!

Yes, a bear. Not a panda in a zoo, not a koala. A real, full-sized, adult black bear.

It was in the ditch on the far side of the road as I approached, and I did the only two things I could think of.

1. Pedal harder. Kind of obvious, that one.
2. I made some kind of noise to get its attention. Last thing I wanted was to startle it up close. Then, it looked at me. I then screamed at the bear at the top of my lungs, the kind of thing you might have been able to hear 3 or 4 classrooms away.

The bear, thankfully, was scared by this horrible sight bellowing at it from a bike, and lumbered off into the woods. I continued pedaling harder, and spent a lot more of the rest of the ride looking over my shoulder. Luckily, I saw nothing.

I arrived safely back at the cottage, and found, to my surprise, that the same bear had been seen by my passing family, and they'd discussed coming back to get me but decided against it, since the bear had run off as they passed.

The ensuing discussion led to a new family rule.

If you see a bear in an area where a family member (or anyone, really) is biking, go pick them up!!!

The return trip

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:22:00 +0000

Well, the return trip has been a drawn out process. We needed a down day for sure, as Chloe fell asleep at 5:15 yesterday and apart from surfacing for a snack around 10, pretty much slept the night.

We stayed at the airport Sheraton, for which I got a good deal, but I now know why. There is absolutely nothing to do in walking distance, we didn't have a car, and were forced to eat in the hotel restaurant. Lunch was more than the hotel room, and breakfast was less - but not by much at all.

The pool was a fantastically heated experience, and I went in with the girls with Tata supervising from the side while Nonna and Gabi stayed in the room. We ordered some pizzas for dinner, and were pretty much down for the count shortly after 9.

Today has just been long - and our first flight has already been delayed twice, a rather alarming development considering our layover is only 58 minutes before the delays.

Of course, that's in Atlanta. Here in Miami, time has slowed to an absolute crawl. Agonizing, actually. All I feel like doing is eating, which is slowly costing me a fortune.

A formal apology

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 03:05:00 +0000

I haven't met any of these people, but to the people in cabins directly above, below, beside and across, I would like to apologize to you.

Chloe, about a year ago, went thru a phase where she would have a monumental night terror - kicking, punching, screaming, etc. We figure it was triggered by the movie a bugs life, the 4d version she saw at Disney last year. It went on for the better part of 4 months, predictable as clockwork, every single freakingly miserable night.

They Thankfully started to diminish, then I thought they had vanished. Can't remember the last time Chloe had one. 6 months, maybe? Possibly longer.

This afternoon, the adjacent Disney Magic had a Bugs Life on their poolside movie screen.

That was apparently, as I sit here craving rum and completely astonished that security isn't knocking down our door in the aftermath of what just went on in here, all it took to trigger a relapse.

Wow. That was pure kickass insanity, because she's a lot bigger and stronger now, and those kicks and punches are more effective. I may have bruises.

Here's hoping (desperately) that it was a one time affair. If anyone even mentions a bugs life tomorrow, they're going overboard.

All good things...

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Well, you know how the rest of that goes...

Guy Fieri has a burger joint on this boat, and the burgers are excellent. I had one on sailing day, two after the Roatan experience (serious stress eating) and another today. Only today's was a mistake - I had a huge breakfast, and was only getting more food because Maya was hungry. I've been feeling bloated all day - I can only imagine how I'd be feeling if I hadn't skipped a whole day of eating this week.

We spent the afternoon flaking out, then hit a show and the dining room late while Chloe apparently was destroying the kids only dinner at camp carnival. We bought some photos (when I saw the stack I realized why our sign/sail bill was higher than I was expecting) and then finished packing up. Chloe seems all the way back to normal, as she requested food before bed, and I made one last late night run to the deli. Since maya didn't enjoy her dinner much either, it was tuna sandwiches all around.

I also picked up some smokes for my Buffalo pinball buddy Craig. Since I know nothing about smoking, I hope I bought the right ones.

This has been a really enjoyable vacation, nice to get away from work, home and contract stress. I'm sure my blood pressure will rise when I get an Internet signal again, but for now I'm fantastically relaxed. I can't thank Tina and Gabriel enough for this - it's been great in every meaning of the word.

We start our return trip tomorrow with a day in Miami, then fly to buffalo and should be back in Canada (or close) ready to ring in the new year. Looking forward to being home soon....

Look out Jack!

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Chloe's back!

Today was Roatan, an island possession of Honduras. Took us a while to get going, but once we were ashore Chloe and Maya hit the ocean, and didn't look back. I spent a fair bit of time in the water with them, and hanging while they built sand castles. Maya and I took a walk out onto the pier, and then I grabbed a Salva Vida, a local Honduran beer, which was a good idea because I think the alcohol kept me from a complete nervous breakdown later.

We headed out when it looked like it was going to rain, about 120 minutes before ships departure. Gabi and Maya checked out a store, while Chloe and I headed further into the little market. I assumed they'd follow, Gabi assumed we'd go to duty free, buy the promised lemur (stuffed of course) and board the ship.

Flaw in the ointment - Gabi had Chloe's card. So while Chloe and I wandered the market, Gabi and Maya boarded the ship as Maya had an urgent need for our stateroom. Not knowing this, Chloe and I then wandered around the shore for about an hour, with anxiety levels slowly and steadily increasing. Gabi wound up checking with guest services, and found out that I hadn't checked back in (it never occurred to me to try without Chloe's card - just assumed I wouldn't be let back on).

Once that was realized, Gabi and Maya came back ashore, and I can honestly say I'd never thought my wife was a more beautiful sight than when I found her outside the duty free.

Once my blood pressure started to return to safe levels, we were able to start laughing about things, with minimal tension. Hopefully Chloe never repeats some of the things I was saying while we were searching the market.

Maya and I wound up having a dining room dinner date, while everyone else ate in the buffet, then we went to a quest show. Lots of laughs, especially watching the 15 guys topless with their wives bras on.

Then back to the room, where maya and I watched Back to the Future on the iPad. She loved it and is looking forward to part 2 - which takes place a scant 3 years from now. Scary.

Added bonus, Chloe fell asleep during the movie.

OMG

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

So last night, with Gabi and Chloe sleeping, I ventured out to pick up Maya from the night owls program. We went to the late night snacks, got some ice cream and ate it under the moon and stars while watching Elf on the big screen over the pool.

We got a bit chilled, so didn't stay too long, came back to the room and joined the rest of our family in slumber.

Which would have been it, except I woke up at 2:30 am with some pretty severe stomach pain. Having guided Chloe thru the previous night, I had a pretty good idea what was up, and sadly I was right. After being up most of the night, I joined the family for breakfast (or a ginger ale in my case) then went back to bed while everyone went ashore in Cozumel.

Probably picked it up cleaning one of her slightly less well-aimed effort. I've pretty much spent the whole day in bed, in the hopes that this is it for us. It's my hope that Maya, Nonna and Tata miss this one.

Also since we're not doing Belize, very sadly, I'm determined to make the most of puerto de Maya tomorrow....maybe even after eating something!

On the plus side, all my clothes still fit. :)

Christmas blew chunks...

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

...but Boxing Day absolutely rocked.

Pretty much spent most of Christmas Day alternating between my bed and the bathroom, which is certainly not the ideal way to cruise. I entirely missed the first port of call, Cozumel. Everyone else went ashore, however, and pronounced it good, although we're noticing that Chloe was pretty much not eating, never a good sign.

So today started off with a very careful breakfast, consisting entirely of a croissant. We then headed into Costa Maya, which disappointingly replaced the Port of Belize. We went around the little shopping promenade, spent some time in the little pool, checked out the dolphin swim area, then headed back to the ship to stave off any potential Disney flashbacks.

After lunch (also very small - by my standards at least) my girls decided to stay on the ship while Nonna, Tata and I headed back to shore. Gabriel climbed the tower and spotted a shopping mall in the distance, so we walked over there, leaving the cruise ship secure area, and my comfort zone behind. The place may once have been a thriving area, but it sure isn't anymore. Nearly everything was boarded up, and my plan to fire a quick and reasonable costing email home was thwarted by the closed Internet cafe in the distance. Sorry mom and dad! I did find the deal of the day, however - a bottle of diet coke for only $1.50. Only way it could have been better is if it was diet Pepsi.

My comfort zone completely evaporated when a pickup truck drove past, and in the back was a soldier - with a full-on machine gun. Freaked me out completely, and I was even more shocked when we got back to the terminal area (read - secure) and people were posing with this guy for photographs. Americans, mostly. Damn gun obsessed culture. I just don't get it at all.

So we returned to the ship, and headed up to the pool area, where I took a chance and indulged in a delightful piña colada. Maya was with me when the Glory and the adjacent Disney Magic dueled with their horns, and it was a complete flashback to our honeymoon, when the same ship's horn blew "When you wish upon a star". Just an awesome moment.

Chloe went to kids only dinner, which meant a slightly less frenetic experience, and by far my best meal of the trip (which up until now was still my pollo tropical). Onion soup, jerk pork and rice, and a slice of delectable cheesecake. Just awesome!

We noticed Chloe fading fast, so after yet another arcade visit (scared to see how much this is gonna cost) Chloe, Gabi and Nonna returned to the room, where Chloe suddenly devoured nearly every bit of food we had, which was great to see. Tata, Maya and I went to the hasbro game show, which maya enjoyed but I struggled to stay awake for.

Bedtime with the suddenly re-energized Chloe was a major battle, especially with the screaming, always a pleasure for our neighbors no doubt, but it worked. In short, everyone is finally healthy again, and we're ready to tear up the beach at the isle of Roatan tomorrow! Today was a fantastic day overall, and apart from a few snits, a pretty perfect example of why we're doing this vacation. This rocked!

A much improved evening

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm lying in bed waiting to pick up the big girl from her Camp Carnival Christmas party, and waiting on the little one to fall asleep. Easier said than done, because our cabin is right under the theatre, and the Dynamic Divas show is on. I think I'm pretty good at picking up on what song it is from bass lines alone because that's mostly what I can hear.

What a difference 24 hrs makes. Chloe is getting back to her normal self, thank goodness. Last night was rough...with a capital r. She'd fall asleep, then wake up puking, and while she made the bathroom everytime thank goodness, she has not yet mastered the skill of finding the toilet in her mad dash.

We had sessions at 10, midnight and the final one....I think it was around 4? Honestly not sure....I was pretty hazy at that point.

So tonight we skipped the formal night and ate on the lido deck. We got semi-dressed up, and did some portraits. I may have created a monster though - all Chloe wants to do is go to the arcade, and they don't even have any pinball.

Chloe wanted to do Camp Carnival, so she went while Maya joined us in the comedy lounge, then maya went to the tween party, and Chloe is finally asleep.

Gabriel, Tina and I went to the Latin Nights show, which was good. I think I'm becoming a fan of the green dancer, although I wisely refrained from mentioning that to my inlaws.

Looking forward to being somewhere new tomorrow - I've never been to Mexico before.

Hmmm...pretty sure that's Katy Perry being covered over our heads. Good thing Chloe is already asleep - she's clearly our firework.

The Gift Shop Incident

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:49:00 +0000

I write this from my stateroom on the Carnival Glory, on our sea day somewhere in the Caribbean - it won't post until I return to Canada, so please take note, all would be burglars.

So we got home from school Friday already beat, and finished packing, as well as dealing with garbage and dishes, etc, so we wouldn't come home to a stinky house. Mom and dad picked up Cora for us, and took her to Terry and Jenny's place in Newmarket - thanks so much to all for taking care of our pup!

About 7, we rolled out, picking up some Mickey D's on the way to adding Nonna and Tata to the van, then straight to the Sleep Inn in Buffalo. Our drive was uneventful, our border crossing an absolute breeze, and the only slight difficulty was running into my greatest fear, a Buffalo snowstorm, especially as it was the first snow I'd seen this year.

My anxiety grew when the desk clerk started talking about flight cancellations, but luckily we were all good. I put the van into the hotels long term parking, along with all our winter coats, and we were good to go the next morning.

Except, of course, Gabi had a bit of a stomach issue. So after passing thru security, we headed to the gift shop, where I utterly embarrassed Gabi and made a fool of myself, loudly asking the clerk if they sell the medicine Gabi needed. I hope she'll be laughing about it - eventually.

Gabi was a real trooper, traveling with few complaints despite feeling rather unwell all day. Chloe, on the other hand, who I'd been worried about, was absolutely fantastic, clearly a born traveller.

Our hotel in Miami was nice, and Tata and I went to Pollo Tropical to bring back dinner, which was awesome! I felt totally like a minority though - the spanish all around me was remarkable.

Sunday We got on our bus to the ship, and I was tremendously pleased with how well everything worked out. Check-in was smooth, and before we knew it we were sucking back cheeseburgers on the Lido deck. Our cabin is quite a bit less space than we're used to, but we're certainly managing. Chloe unfortunately wasn't feeling her best, and we had a pretty rough first night as a result. Hopefully it'll all get better from here. Figure it was too much ice cream and brownies.

I ordered the sweet and sour shrimp on a bed of noodles, and was shocked to find it was smaller than my Caesar salad appetizer. The food on the Lido deck has been fantastic however - I loved my veggie omelette this morning.

Best laugh of the day - Tata hanging out by the giant chessboard waiting for the tournament to start, oblivious to the hairy CHEST tournament happening behind him.

We're debating skipping the formal dinner tonight - our waiter hasn't been impressive, and Tata really likes the more casual experience of the Lido, plus after being up half the night Chloe has been a bit of a limp noodle all day. Not much point dressing up if she can't go anywhere, although she did get a swim in. I'm hopeful she'll bounce back for Cozumel tomorrow.

Apart from the sour stomachs (Nonna and I are both a tad unsettled as well) we're having a great time. I bought the souvenir rum punch, and as a result enjoyed departure much more than normal, especially doing the chacha slide with maya by the pool.

On to Mexico!

Turtles, turtles and more turtles!

noreply@blogger.com (Walt) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:48:00 +0000

So today was Cayman Island, and after the roughest seas we'd seen to get here, I was expecting a not so nice weather day.

Couldn't have been more wrong. Fantastic blue skies, beautiful seas, warm breezes...everything you could hope for.

We were doing our only booked excursion, so Gabi, Tina, the girls and I went to the theatre to be tendered to our outing. Upon reaching the shore, we headed for our bus, which took us to the Cayman Island Turtle Farm. First, an amazing sight - 300 adult green turtles swimming in a lagoon...Chloe was mesmerized, and in all honesty, so was I. We then got toured around different enclosures where they keep turtles of different ages, before we got to the tanks where they let you pick up baby green turtles.

Freaking cool, to say the least!

They even had one where you could go in the tank, catch one and hold it. I went in with Chloe, and helped her "catch one". Turtles have a rep of being slow - not these, let me tell ya.

We then went to the saltwater lagoon, where we had a chance to snorkel with turtles. However, it was a huge lagoon with only a dozen turtles. I felt lucky to have seen 3 - I heard others complain about not finding any at all.

Both girls wound up with stuffed turtles (our home menagerie is going to be pared down upon our return home, since its grown on this trip!) and overall a fantastic final day ashore for what has overall been an absolutely wonderful vacation.

The girls all tendered back to shore while I took Gabi's phone across the street to a party stand - I had my first ever Caribbean patty (while in the Caribbean at least) and a diet Pepsi while I used their free wifi to send an email home, first place I've had the opportunity to, since ships Internet access is about what I pay...per month...for one day.

The last sea day is always bittersweet for me - enjoyable, but sad at the same time. We have a slight chasm in our group - some prefer the dining room, others the buffet. It's our last formal night tonight, and I'm looking forward to putting on my suit and wandering the ship.