Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Ramblings on a cold day
Well, it's not that cold anymore; not like the -40+ of yesterday. Or would that be -40-?? Anyway it warmed up a bit out there.
Its funny to fixate on the temperature. I don't remember a time when I typed the word temperature this many times. Its all people talk about, well that and the drivers. "Wow it sure is cold out there. Where did you say you moved from? Victoria? Its -9 there and -40 here, are you crazy. How about those idiots on the road this morning. Took me 90 minutes to get here. How long was your commute in Victoria. Sure is snowing there." I want to get past the weather and find some passion. You know something inspiring; like watching Abby read a new book and smile all the way through it. Watch the confidence in her body language as I watch her ask her teacher if she can move to the next level in her reading, and then see her reaction of pumping her fists in the air when she gets permission. That's a good day.
We found a little restaurant that has passion. I like to find places that enjoy serving customers, enjoy putting out a great product. This is what this place was like. Even though we both had the same thing I am certain that the entire menu was awesome. We devoured the ambiance of the place and were able to have a stress-free conversation, not worrying if our food would be cold or incorrect or just plain bad. The fresh, just-made perogies were terrific. The time spent with Nik in this environment was great. That's a good day.
by Chad
Its funny to fixate on the temperature. I don't remember a time when I typed the word temperature this many times. Its all people talk about, well that and the drivers. "Wow it sure is cold out there. Where did you say you moved from? Victoria? Its -9 there and -40 here, are you crazy. How about those idiots on the road this morning. Took me 90 minutes to get here. How long was your commute in Victoria. Sure is snowing there." I want to get past the weather and find some passion. You know something inspiring; like watching Abby read a new book and smile all the way through it. Watch the confidence in her body language as I watch her ask her teacher if she can move to the next level in her reading, and then see her reaction of pumping her fists in the air when she gets permission. That's a good day.
We found a little restaurant that has passion. I like to find places that enjoy serving customers, enjoy putting out a great product. This is what this place was like. Even though we both had the same thing I am certain that the entire menu was awesome. We devoured the ambiance of the place and were able to have a stress-free conversation, not worrying if our food would be cold or incorrect or just plain bad. The fresh, just-made perogies were terrific. The time spent with Nik in this environment was great. That's a good day.
by Chad
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
So Cool It's Un-Cool
It was -30 C (-40 C with wind chill) when Abby and I walked to her school this morning. It's quite a production to get ready for weather like this...I feel kind of like a superhero, donning my uniform to brave the cold. I pull on my snowpants (yes, snowpants), boots, sweater, vest, and coat. Wrap a scarf around the front of my face, concealing all but my eyes, pull on a hat with ear flaps, and add an extra hat "for good measure". My coat zipper strains against the bulk. I pull on my gloves, and I'm ready to walk Abby the 5 blocks to school. She is similarly dressed.
I couldn't help chuckling at our ridiculous predicament this morning, straining to see through my watering eyes off the glare of the snow, and against the driving wind. It brought to mind the Robert Munsch story where a boy, Jason, wakes in the middle of the night to find his father has been sleepwalking and left the house in his pajamas...and it's 50 below zero. The story goes:
A woman at Abby's school told me that it went down to -45C today (with the wind chill), so I guess 50 below zero is not as far-fetched as it sounded while reading the book in Victoria.
I couldn't help chuckling at our ridiculous predicament this morning, straining to see through my watering eyes off the glare of the snow, and against the driving wind. It brought to mind the Robert Munsch story where a boy, Jason, wakes in the middle of the night to find his father has been sleepwalking and left the house in his pajamas...and it's 50 below zero. The story goes:
"Yikes, " said Jason, "my father is outside in just his pajamas. He will freeze like an ice cube."
So Jason put on three warm snowsuits, three warm parkas, six warm mittens, six warm socks and one pair of very warm boot sort of things called mukluks. Then he went out the front door and followed his father's footprints. (Robert Munsch, 50 Below Zero, Annick Press Ltd., 1986)
So Jason put on three warm snowsuits, three warm parkas, six warm mittens, six warm socks and one pair of very warm boot sort of things called mukluks. Then he went out the front door and followed his father's footprints. (Robert Munsch, 50 Below Zero, Annick Press Ltd., 1986)
A woman at Abby's school told me that it went down to -45C today (with the wind chill), so I guess 50 below zero is not as far-fetched as it sounded while reading the book in Victoria.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
C is for Cookie
In anticipation of our upcoming trip to Tanzania, we're trying to identify recipes that are made with the basic ingredients that can be found in Haydom. Flour? Check. Eggs? Check. Chocolate Chips? Well... Let's just say we plan to bring a few "basic" ingredients with us! Since my contribution to cooking seems to be limited to sweets, Abby and I have decided to cook a new treat each weekend. She is really a wonderful cook and knows all sorts of tricks, after cooking once a
week with her after-school care teacher in Victoria. She makes a little '
well' before each new item is added, cracks eggs like a pro, and is skillful with a mixer. My job is limited to preheating the oven, handing Abby ingredients, and using oven mitts to cook and cool the creation. We welcome any of your favourite recipes!by Nikki
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Grass is not slippery.
The adventures in the snow continue as we now have a good 6 inches of hard packed snow around. Or at least we did before this latest warm spell.
We have been out to the sledding hill at the local school a few times and have had quite a blast. The hill is as big as a kid like Abby would enjoy without being scared of the speed and thrill of if all. There is no chair lift or tow line so the only means of ascent is little kid feet or the joy of Dad whipping the sled to the top in high wheelie style.
I recall the sledding hill outside our backdoor in Cranbrook. It was enormous, with numerous little tracks with jumps, bumps, whoopdy doos and flats. You could get speed, air or simply a sore rearend. We had this antique wooden sled with two thin metal runners and a wooden handle that ran across the front. We'd lie down on the wooden slats and get a big push and go so fast down the hill our eyes would have icicles hanging off them at the bottom. If you pushed on one side of the handle and pulled on the other the sled would make a sweeping turn and jump out of the track and into another tossing the rider into the hard packed snow. There wasn't much that was more fun than that. Of course there was the time when my brother and a friend of his decided that they could get more speed and have more fun if they got a large inner tube, stood it on its side, sat in it and had the other guy roll them down the hill. The results of this are so gruesome that I have blocked it from my memory. No one died or was sent to the hospital but it was a not a great idea.
Back to the local sledding hill. I get great joy from watching Abby Zoom down this slope at speeds she finds exhilarating. On the first few runs of each day when she reaches the bottom she raises both hands in the air and pumps her fists in triumph. Its quite a sight. Then after she makes a few speed runs it is time to test the turning capability of the sled and she has a blast trying to turn herself back uphill. Once she has that down, its time to get snowy and crashtime is the next game. If she doesn't crash on the way down that sled just seems to tip itself over after coming to a complete stop. And that's when the laughter starts and it doesn't stop until I have pulled her back to the van in her sled.
I asked Abby if she liked the snow. She replied, "YES!!! But not all the time." I agree.
by Chad
We have been out to the sledding hill at the local school a few times and have had quite a blast. The hill is as big as a kid like Abby would enjoy without being scared of the speed and thrill of if all. There is no chair lift or tow line so the only means of ascent is little kid feet or the joy of Dad whipping the sled to the top in high wheelie style.I recall the sledding hill outside our backdoor in Cranbrook. It was enormous, with numerous little tracks with jumps, bumps, whoopdy doos and flats. You could get speed, air or simply a sore rearend. We had this antique wooden sled with two thin metal runners and a wooden handle that ran across the front. We'd lie down on the wooden slats and get a big push and go so fast down the hill our eyes would have icicles hanging off them at the bottom. If you pushed on one side of the handle and pulled on the other the sled would make a sweeping turn and jump out of the track and into another tossing the rider into the hard packed snow. There wasn't much that was more fun than that. Of course there was the time when my brother and a friend of his decided that they could get more speed and have more fun if they got a large inner tube, stood it on its side, sat in it and had the other guy roll them down the hill. The results of this are so gruesome that I have blocked it from my memory. No one died or was sent to the hospital but it was a not a great idea.
Back to the local sledding hill. I get great joy from watching Abby Zoom down this slope at speeds she finds exhilarating. On the first few runs of each day when she reaches the bottom she raises both hands in the air and pumps her fists in triumph. Its quite a sight. Then after she makes a few speed runs it is time to test the turning capability of the sled and she has a blast trying to turn herself back uphill. Once she has that down, its time to get snowy and crashtime is the next game. If she doesn't crash on the way down that sled just seems to tip itself over after coming to a complete stop. And that's when the laughter starts and it doesn't stop until I have pulled her back to the van in her sled.I asked Abby if she liked the snow. She replied, "YES!!! But not all the time." I agree.
by Chad
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Service or Dis-Service?
I didn't think I would rant on this blog but I feel the need to clear a little writers block with a rant.
Edmonton, "the city of champions", some say the, "greatest city in the world". I must concede that when the sun is out and the temperature rises a bit it is a nice city. However, the pleasant city turns ugly when you enter a business. (broad generalization that is not always the case) Driving through Edmonton one must wear those blinders that are were popular in the days of the stagecoach and currently with sulky racers if one doesn't want to be barraged by multicolour assaults of help wanted signs. Along every road, in every mall, on every business help wanted signs blare their employment come-on. Signing bonus, full benefits for drivers, $8.50 PT $9.50 FT. There are even wage wars between fast food joints. The Saturday paper weighs 7 pounds due to the "working" section. It appears to be a job-seekers dream come true. But is it a dream for consumers?
The answer is a resounding, "no"!! With a, "make it stop" thrown in. Walk into a McDonald's and the person taking your order is the same person that cooks your food and the same person that is responsible to mop the floor and clean the toilet. Needless to say he is in a bad mood and not quite as fast as Ronald would like to see.
What brought this rant on you may ask. Well it is a funny story of good service gone bad.
After finding our van with a broken window and damage to three of the four doors, I found a nice bodyshop and received an estimate. Yada yada yada. I had to reschedule the repairs due to starting my new job, which they jumped at because they, "are understaffed in the bodyshop and could use a week to sort things out". They were very friendly, and simply provided what I thought was great service. The great service continued when I dropped the van off; they checked me in quickly and had the car rental folks on the phone to pick me up right away. I left there in a great mood and had terrific service for the car rental people too. Then it turned.
On Thursday afternoon the body shop left a message that the van was finished. I was surprised because this was only the fourth day and they had originally said it would take six. But I was happy to get it back and made arrangements to take a long lunch on Friday to pick it up and then zip to an afternoon meeting across town. I went to the car rental place and dropped off the rental, again great service. The guy that drove me back to the body shop was an older guy with a thick Irish accent and he was hilarious. We joked around during the short drive and as we pulled up he quipped, "do you want to check it out before I leave." We both laughed at this comment and I went in to get my van back as he drove off.
After signing the paper work and getting my keys (again very friendly service) I went out to get into the van. The perfectionist in me noticed immediately that there was something wrong with the paint job on the driver door. Instead of fixing the damage, they simply had painted over it. My internal dialogue couldn't figure out if this was the way it should be or if they should have done a better job. Deciding they should have done a better job, I started to head back in to get their opinion. I stopped myself took a deep breath and checked the passenger side. This was even worse, not only had they done a poor job repairing the passenger door they had not done anything to repair the rear door's damage.
They estimator and I checked out the van thoroughly and found there were a number of items that were poorly done or not touched at all. So we got the rental car driver back and again I left our van to be repaired. Needless to say the driver laughed all the way back to the rental shop and I must admit I did too.
What is the moral of the story? With so many jobs available, people do not need to take pride in what they do. Another job is waiting for them next door, down the street and in every other business within 50 Kilometers of where they are currently providing sloppy service to consumers.
by Chad
Thursday, November 02, 2006
What are you supposed to be?
Halloween in the frigid north of Alberta was an exhilarating experience. That could have been because it was something new or it could have been because keeping warm was a challenge.
Its great to see kids running about dressed as ghouls and witches but in this environment it is difficult to tell what the costume actually looks like. It is a certainty that the kids have a costume on when they say, "trick or Treat" but how can you tell what they are when they have a parka, snow pants, big snow boots and a hood or touque on? Abby was a princess under her outerwear and you could see a bit of her dress and cape under the Eskimo attire.
We didn't see too many kids and that may be why at the few houses, that had their lights on, that we went to, Abby cleaned up. I mean, from 12-15 houses over two large blocks, Abby had about 5 pounds of candy. The nice people of Edmonton really know how to hand out the candy. Of the few kids we did see out and about I think Abby knew about 90% of them. She thought this was great; running into friends, hugging hello, catching up a bit and comparing their respective sugar hauls.
by Chad
Its great to see kids running about dressed as ghouls and witches but in this environment it is difficult to tell what the costume actually looks like. It is a certainty that the kids have a costume on when they say, "trick or Treat" but how can you tell what they are when they have a parka, snow pants, big snow boots and a hood or touque on? Abby was a princess under her outerwear and you could see a bit of her dress and cape under the Eskimo attire.
We didn't see too many kids and that may be why at the few houses, that had their lights on, that we went to, Abby cleaned up. I mean, from 12-15 houses over two large blocks, Abby had about 5 pounds of candy. The nice people of Edmonton really know how to hand out the candy. Of the few kids we did see out and about I think Abby knew about 90% of them. She thought this was great; running into friends, hugging hello, catching up a bit and comparing their respective sugar hauls.
by Chad
