My Xbox Elite – R.I.P.

My 2½ year-old Xbox Elite died on Saturday morning. No, not the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) or the E74 error, both of which every Xbox owner dreads.

I simply wouldn’t power up.

On Friday night while I was playing Red Dead Redemption, I noticed what can only be described as “snowing in the wild west”. Yet, it wasn’t snow. I booted up Blur for a look-see and the symptoms were the same. I continued to play for a ½ hour or so before powering it down for the night.

I searched the web to find that this could be an early indicator of the E74 error, which is basically an overheating GPU.

On Saturday morning, I grabbed my can of compressed air and cleaned the rear grill of the Xbox, in an attempt to help keep it cool when I turned it on. It wasn’t extremely dusty, but it had more than I expected.

After I was done, I hooked it all back up and hit the power button.

Nothing. No lights. Nothing at all.

I checked all connections and still nothing.

As much as I feared the RRoD or E74, either of those would have been a good alternative since both are covered by a 3-year warranty. But dead meant I’d have to pay to get it repaired.

No, I wanted to play games this weekend. So, I went out to Future Shop and picked up one of the newer “Arcade” Xbox models. As basic as they come. For $200 plus tax, I got a new Xbox with a 1-year warranty and another controller. The alternative was be to pay ~$120 and wait 2-3 weeks to ship it to MS and have them ship a refurb back to me.

I decided that I will still get the old one repaired, to keep as a spare and put in the basement for the kid to play. Time will tell if this is a good idea or not.

I logged a ticket on MS’s Xbox site and they sent me an email with a UPS label to print out, and I’m currently waiting for the shipping box to arrive so I can send it to them.

That’s pretty much the whole point of this blog entry – to keep track and see exactly how long the entire process will take.

• Saturday, May 29 – logged the repair request in the afternoon (credit card was required)
• Sunday, May 30 – received an email from UPS containing links to: instructions, the UPS return label to print, and a receipt.

Stayed tuned for more. :)

Week 42 - Yellow Lily

Yellow Lily (42/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

For some reason, I thought the yellow lilies in our front flower bed bloomed earlier than this in previous years. I checked photos from previous years and found that they usually bloomed in early June. I guess they're right on time.

There are many buds this year too. More than I've seen in previous years. This is one of the first and actually opened up the following day.

Week 41 - Container

A container
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Yeh, I'm a day late... I was busy socializing on Saturday and then we had fireworks in the evening, and then I had to watch the series finale of LOST. Busy, busy, busy! :)

I originally shot this for Dailyshoot.com, but it really turned out well so I chose it for this week's Project 52 posting.

I fired off about 5 or 6 shots before I ended up with this one. I placed it on my dining table, and the only lighting I had was from the light fixture above the table. I sat it close to one end of the table, and then I sat at the opposite end and almost rested the camera on the table to get the shot.

This container came from St. Maarten while I was on a Caribbean cruise that I won in 1989. I remember arriving on the island with hundreds of other people and we were all making our way toward these large taxis to ride into town for a day of shopping. Before we could get there, locals were lined up ready to sell their wares. I think I paid about $3 or $4 for this. It's cute... and currently holds loose change on my desk. :)

Privacy? What privacy?

I'm not a web expert, nor am I the paranoid type... but should QuitFacebook.com, who has privacy concerns against Facebook, be tracking its visitors with cookies?

I found these in Firefox's cookies.

In case you're wondering what they do:

• __utmz tracks where a visitor came from (search engine, search keyword, link)
• __utma tracks each user's amount of visits, first, last visit.
• __utmb and __utmc are used to track when a visit starts and ends to some decent time resolution (c expires quickly). If you look at cookie state changes (e.g. using firecookie), you will see these change regularly.
• __utmv is used for user-custom variables in Analytics

http://helpful.knobs-dials.com/index.php/Utma,_utmb,_utmz_cookies

Why would they care where you come from? Or how often you visit their site? Hmmm...?

Setting date and time on Mini DV Pocket Video Camera

I picked up a cheap Mini DV Pocket Video Camera off Ebay recently for 1 cent. Ok, so the S&H was $15.99, but for the whole price, it was a steal. My intent is to mount it onto my R/C plane this summer and shoot some aerial video like I did a couple of years ago with another camera. Since it has no internal storage, I also ordered a 2GB Micro SD card for it, from another Ebay vendor, for $7.

My purchase finally arrived yesterday. The camera is smaller than I expected which makes it ideal for my purposes. The brackets it came with will make great plane mounts.

The software drivers came on a mini CD and installed without a hitch. The printed instructions were clearly translated from Chinese, and not too surprisingly, difficult to understand. On the CD was a batch file, Updata Time.bat, used for setting the device’s internal date and time. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. (That’s not a typo – that’s how it is spelled) :)

I searched the web and found a couple of different YouTube videos demonstrating how to set the date and time on this camera. None of them worked. First, it didn’t seem to recognize this TAG.txt file that the videos used. The file created by the batch file is named time.txt. The information being put into the file didn’t look quite right. I determined that it was parsing the date from my PC incorrectly, either because I’m running Windows 7 or because the region is set differently than a Chinese system.  After some trial and error, I managed to fix the batch file so it inserted the date correctly, and in turn, was accepted by the camera.

If you have one of these cameras and the batch file isn’t working for you, the solution is really simple, and you don’t need to mess around with the batch file.

Open Windows Notepad (NOT WordPad) and enter the following information on a single line: yyyy.mm.dd hh:mm:ss.  So, for example, if you were to use today’s date and time, it would be 2010.05.18 08:29:00. Note: the time format is 24 hour time. Save the file to your desktop as time.txt, plug your camera into the PC, copy the file to the camera, unplug the camera and turn it on. When you turn on the camera, it will read the date and time, set it, and remove the file on its own.

If you’re the type, like me, who wants to fix the batch file, this is the section you need to change:

set b=%date%
set yy=%b:~0,4%
set zz=%b:~5,2%
set dd=%b:~8,2%
set xx=%b:~11,3%

Change it to the following:

set b=%date%
set yy=%b:~10,4%
set zz=%b:~4,2%
set dd=%b:~7,2%
set xx=%b:~0,3%

If it still doesn’t work, you may need to add or change one of these lines:

if exist J:\DCIM copy time.txt J:\

Change the “J:” to the drive letter that the camera appears as on your system.

That’s it, that’s all. I might throw together my own video and post it. In the meantime, I let the author of the linked video above know about this so if anyone contacts him, he can share the information.

Week 40 - Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Today was my daughter's 12th Birthday. She decorated this cake yesterday, for her Birthday party and asked me to take a picture of the masterpiece.

The Habs are not Canada’s Team… sorry

I am an Ottawa Senators fan.

I stopped watching all hockey when my beloved Ottawa Senators were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in round one of the playoffs. That’s my choice – why can’t some people respect that?

I don’t believe that once your team has been eliminated, you should now cheer on the remaining Canadian teams fortunate enough to remain in the playoffs. That’s not my thing.

We have one Habs fan on my team at work. For the great run that the Montreal Canadiens are having in their playoff run, the Habs fan is not a problem. I’m happy for him and his team. He doesn’t seem to have any problem with me not cheering on his team or watching the games.

Which makes this somewhat amusing, and confusing.

The problem I am having is with a couple of non-Habs fans who have jumped on the Habs bandwagon and feel that, being a Canadian Citizen, I should be cheering on the Habs because they are “the last Canadian team in the playoffs!”

They feel that, because I am not also on the Habs bandwagon, I am a “jealous Sens fan”, and anything I say that they feel might bring bad mojo to their adopted team, makes me evil.

Let’s be clear here. The Montreal Canadiens, or any “Canadian team” for that matter, is not “Canada’s Team”. The NHL is not the OIympics. The NHL is not the IIHF World Championship. Team Canada is not playing in the NHL playoffs.

The players on each “Canadian” team in the NHL aren’t even all Canadian Citizens. The only thing that makes a “Canadian” NHL team Canadian is their home city.  (We’ll ignore the fact that the Montreal Canadiens play for a city in a province that has tried to separate from Canada… that’s a whole other story) :)

“The cup needs to come back to Canada!”

Sure, that would be nice. But my cheering or not cheering for a team is not going to make a difference in whether or not the Stanley Cup comes back to Canada. That’s up to the mixed bag of nationalities playing for the Montreal Canadiens. Direct your energy into positive vibes toward the team, not as negativity toward me.

My decision to not cheer for the Montreal Canadiens does not make me a bad Canadian Citizen, nor does it make me a “jealous Sens fan” anymore than it makes you a “jealous {insert your team here} fan”.

Good luck to whichever team you cheer for, but please stop telling me that I have to cheer on a team that is not my chosen team.

My cheers are reserved for the Ottawa Senators.

GO SENS GO… maybe next year. :)

Week 39 - Tulips

Tulips
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I took this at Rideau Falls on the way home one day. I stopped to look for a monument or sculpture for the dailyshoot.com photo and they had tulips. It was really windy, so it made it a little difficult to get a nice shot. About 30 minutes before this, it was raining heavily.

Here's an amusing story about this location. About 5 minutes before I took this shot, there was a woman here pushing a child in a stroller. As I walked toward the tulips, camera in hand, she approached me and asked "Can you take our picture?" I paused for a moment wondering why someone would want me to take their picture with my camera... she didn't have one visible. I then asked "With your camera?" She nodded, and THEN she took our a small point & shoot from her bag. Now it made sense. Oops. I agreed and then she posed in front of the tulips with her son.

It started as a Tweet…

I was going to make this a multi-part tweet, but it was getting kinda long… so blog, it shall be. Plus, I can write more. :) If you took the time to click the link I tweeted and are reading this, thank you.

I lost my Dad in 1998 to live cancer. I lost a friend 2 years ago – he was 35 years old. It started as a simple mole on his arm. In less than a year, it spread and he was gone. Seriously… 35 years old. My wife lost an uncle last year. My brother in-law had it and beat it. That’s four people in my “circle”. I’d bet $5 that someone in your family, somewhere, has had it.

I decided that I had to do something, not only to raise awareness – clearly, we are all aware of its existence – but to help support those who are looking for a cure, or are making the lives of those affected by cancer easier.

In 2008, a friend and I put together a team for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and raised just over $3,073.

Last year I shaved my head bald after beating my personal fundraising goal of $1,000. It was awesome. Well, not the being bald part, but beating my goal. Being bald was actually rather annoying – head stubble is like Velcro. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Our team raised around $2,661.

This year I decided to raise the bar a little and set my goal at $1,500. In return for your generosity, I wasn't quite sure what to do that would top last year.

So, I pledged to shave off my goatee. That may seem rather lame in comparison to shaving my head, but personally, I'd rather be bald. I really like my goatee. My goatee is  like a security blanket, I guess. My kids (14 and 11) have never seen me without my goatee, or were too young to remember. It'll probably shock them. I will probably dislike being clean-shaven more than being bald.

This is where you come in. All of you. Canadians, Americans, Europeans. All of the people who follow me on Twitter and clicked the link I tweeted or posted on Facebook today and are now reading this. Well, hopefully still reading this.

If you knew me personally, you’d know how much I dislike asking anyone for anything. I’m not a pushy guy. Hell, if I had $1,500 to spare, I’d donate it all towards my goal so I didn’t have to ask anyone for anything. Seriously. So, asking for help is difficult for me. Asking for money is more difficult. But I’m going to do it anyway because it’s not for me.

And I’m not asking for a lot. A few dollars, or pounds? Anything that you can afford. It all helps. And it doesn’t matter that it’s going to a Canadian charitable cause because we’re all working toward one goal, right?

So instead of having three coffees today, how about skipping one and donating the money to me? Or, how about $5 for every person in your “circle”?

http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/scottpaterson

or

http://cancer.scottpaterson.org

They both go to the same place.

Although I’d prefer that donations be made directly online via the Relay for Life web site, if using a credit card isn’t your thing, you can also send it as a “gift” via PayPal to spaterson AT hotmail.com and I’ll add it as an offline cash donation, with your name, so you can see it on my fundraising meter.

As of this posting, I am $1050 away from reaching my goal with 43 days left.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

Week 38 - It's beer:30

It's beer:30
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I took this shot for dailyshoot.com on Friday. The goal was to "make an artistic shot of your favorite beverage or libation today". It was as if the task was made for me. :) When I got home I grabbed a beer from the fridge, sat it on the floor, put on my 100mm macro lens and snapped a few shots.

I was surprised to find that I got a couple of comments on it too. I like comments. :)

Who stole my little boy? And who is this man in my house?

Everyone says “Kids… oh my god, they grow so fast!”

It wasn’t until around Christmas that I realized how much of an understatement that is. They don’t just grow fast – they grow incredibly fast.

Since last summer, my 14 year-old son (soon to be 15) has changed from a whiny little kid, who could bring tears to his eyes simply by telling him he was losing computer privileges, to a deep voiced (and getting deeper), hairy-legged, long-haired monster with a Sidney Crosby moustache (circa 2009) who could probably come pretty close to taking me down in a wrestling match.

Where the hell did my little boy go?

Where did the time go?

I am still shocked every day that I see him, or when he opens his mouth.

I can’t help but feel that I have I have somehow missed a year or two of his life during this transition. Seriously. I got ripped off.

Let this be a warning to parents who have children around the same age. If they still look like kids to you, enjoy every moment you can… because one day you’re going to blink and miss it.

Week 37 - Go Sens Go!

Go Sens Go!
Originally uploaded by Twister65

A co-worker brought in a little luck the the Ottawa Senators. Unfortunately, as of last night, they were eliminated in game 6 of round 1.

I was messing around with my 100mm Macro at lunch one day earlier this week and took this shot. I really like that lens. Can't wait to get outside with it and shoot some stuff.

Xbox 360 compatible USB storage

Ever since Microsoft released the dashboard update for the Xbox 360 that allows it to read and write to USB drives, I’ve been searching for any information on compatible USB sticks storage. The last I read, a list was “forthcoming”.

In addition to that update, Microsoft also announce that they would be selling preconfigured, Xbox branded, USB sticks by Sandisk. In typical Microsoft fashion, they will be overpriced at around $70 for 16GB, and $35 for 8GB. I wouldn’t hold your breath on MS providing a list of compatible USB sticks.

I already tried a 4GB “Energizer” brand that I had lying around on my Xbox and it gave me a warning that it did not pass the performance tests. Despite that, it has been working fine.

I noticed that the part number on the Xbox sticks was similar to Sandisk’s own Cruzer flash drives, so I had a look around for those. I found 16GB Sandisk Cruzer USB sticks at Best Buy for $40 each. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are the exact same drive in different cases. The one linked above on Sandisk’s own page says “new design” but looks pretty much the same as the one at Best Buy.

I ordered a couple and they arrived today. They seem to work great and they pass the Xbox’s performance test.

It should be noted that these drives come with some program installed called U3 Launcher and a hidden partition. If you plan on only using this on your Xbox, it might be worth removing it and freeing up the space. You can find information and a removal tool by searching Google.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Xbox 360 update brings long-awaited USB storage support, SanDisk ready to cash in (engadget.com)
• Xbox 360 USB Mass Storage Support Now Live (inquisitr.com)

Week 36 – New floor

New floor
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This isn't a particularly interesting Project 52 photo unless you are me. But it marks an event in my year, so I find it worth posting.

We spent yet another weekend spent with renovations. Despite the rainy weather on Saturday, we managed to get started on installing the laminate floor. It drizzled on and off for most of the day, so we were able to get outside to cut the floor, but had to keep bringing the saw back in so it didn't get wet, and got about 1/3 done. We continued on Sunday morning and pretty much finished it 9 hours later. There's a small area in front of the stairs that still needs to be done, but we want to get the nosing sanded and stained first. We still also have two landings to do, and the small upstairs hall. We're not putting a plywood subfloor down for any of them, so they'll go pretty quick (I think... and hope)

Week 35 - Nickelback wait...

Nickelback wait..
Originally uploaded by Twister65

My wife and I went to the Nickelback concert here in Ottawa tonight. The show included Sick Puppies, Shinedown, and Breaking Benjamin.

The show was to start at 6:30pm. We were a little late in arriving due to me misplacing the stubs. As we drove to the parking lot, we were shocked to see a huge line-up, stretching around the corner of Scotiabank Place, after 6:30pm. WTF?

We weren't quite sure why, so we followed others to the front of the arena, skipping past the line-up. This photo shows where we were, and the time we were there.

By the time we got into the show, we had completely missed seeing Sick Puppies. Our friends, who got there earlier, told us that the doors didn't open until 6:00pm.

Seriously.... they opened the doors 30 minutes before the concert, where 17,500 people were attending.

I read this evening that the Prime Minister and his son were there, and security was tighter as a result. I guess it took them time to sweep the building for bombs? I don't know, but it sucked... and I sent Scotiabank Place a complaint email. Someone should have know about the PM's attendance way before and this shit should have been taken care of earlier.

Anyway, it was a great concert. Shinedown rocked. Breaking Benjamin rocked. Nickelback rocked. I'm not a huge fan of Nickelback, unlike my wife, but they sure know how to put on a great show.

Did I mention I hate painting?

I think all of the painting, minus the baseboards and trim, is now down. Thank God.

Today we tackled the entrance and the kitchen. It always seems to take longer than expected and we finished at around 10:30pm this evening.

We did take a little time during the day to sit outside in the sun and have a beer while we waited for the first coat of each room to dry.

The leak in the bathroom returned. I noticed the brass nut under the sink was a little wet this morning. Not enough to drip down the pipe or anything. I tightened it some more. A little later in the day I checked it and it was wet again. I tightened it a couple more times throughout the afternoon. After a few more uses it has remained dry. I hope it stays that way.

We are now at the point where we have to decide when to tackle the living room and dining area floor. The laminate has been waiting in the basement since day 1, way back in January. Before that, I told my wife we have to get those areas back to being functional and tidy. It’s going to be difficult enough having to move furniture around as we go. We don’t need all of the other crap that we have in there right now. It’s insane.

I mentioned to my wife today that it’s a good thing we’re tearing up the carpet in the living room and dining area. The wear and tear it has experienced just from working on the bathroom, kitchen and entrance is unreal.

I’m wiped. Need sleep.

Week 34 - Gummy-cide

Gummy-cide
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Messing around with my 100mm lens at work during lunch one day, and this was one of the results. I love it. I even printed out an 8x10 and hung it in my den at home.

Bathroom done… almost

Stuff I learned today during our ongoing reno:

• They actually sell the under-the-sink pipe elbow fittings all together for one price. Saves searching for the individual pieces. I like.
• I can’t cut very squarely with our hacksaw.
• ABS pipe doesn’t cut well with a jigsaw. Too much heat is generated by the blade, causing the pipe to melt back together as it cuts.
• ABS glue really smells.
• There hundreds of people in Ottawa with new BBQs from Lowes. Man, were they busy today.
• Our bathroom walls aren’t as square as I would like.
• Minor leaks are stubborn.

So, the bathroom is pretty much done. The vanity is screwed to the wall. The counter top is glued on with silicone. The pipes are all done and glued and don’t leak. The new faucets work. The new toilet seat is on. The new toilet roll holder is installed. New door knob is installed (Sandra wanted silver to replace the gold ones) All that’s missing is the baseboards, like everywhere else in the house where we’ve done stuff.

Sandra sanded and painted the entrance and bathroom door this morning. Unfortunately, the sanding wasn’t quite done well enough to hide most of the patches she did to the wall.  We didn’t bother doing a second coat. We’ll let it dry properly and take the hand sander to them tomorrow to see if we can get them down more so they’re more invisible.

Back to the minor leak. The faucet’s drain attachment seems to have a small leak where it meets the underside of the sink. It has a huge rubber washer that should prevent that, but it seems to leak no matter how tight I make it, and I’m paranoid of over tightening it and damaging the sink.

I removed it all and reassembled it again, and it seemed to stop at first, but then the plastic pipe with the drain plug lifter sprouted its own minor leak. I’m not sure even plumber’s tape will seal them, just because of the way they’re designed. It’s difficult to explain. I have a plan on how to stop the lifter pipe leak, but the other one still has me stumped.. unless I tried to tighten it even more.

A guy’s washroom

We grouted the entrance and bathroom on Thursday night and Sandra applied a few coats of grout sealer on Friday.

As well on Friday, we installed the vanity and dry fit the counter top – it looks pretty good. I decided to cut off the pipe elbows from the drain to make it easier to maneuver the vanity over the water supply pipes at the same time as fitting it over the drain pipe on the wall on the left. Because if that, we’ll have to pick up new pipe tomorrow to hook up the drain.

The toilet has now been reinstalled. Talk about paranoia. The first few flushes had us crossing our fingers. No leaks. At first I thought that maybe we’d only need the ½” flange extension but in the end I decided to also add the ¼” one as well to bring it to floor height. We also decided to throw out the toilet seat and get a new one. Until then, the toilet is for guys only. :)

So, tomorrow (err.. today, rather) I screw the vanity to the wall, permanently attach the “cultured granite” counter top to the vanity, and install the new faucet. Sandra is going to paint the bathroom door and I think get started on painting the kitchen and the entrance. That will pretty much finish what we have to do in the kitchen, entrance and bathroom, except for the baseboards which will come once the living room laminate floor is done.

That is next. Maybe even next weekend. We’ll see.

Home Reno – no more tiling

The tiling is DONE. Sorta. All that’s left to do is the grouting and sealing. It was so awkward trying to fit my fat ass into such a small room and install tiles, all the while trying to maintain the alignment and spacing. My knees and my back hate me.

Anyway, done. Grouting I can deal with tomorrow or the day after.

Next week we will attempt to install the new vanity, sink and faucets.

Week 33 - HMCS Sackville @ 100mm

HMCS Sackville
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I picked up a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens off Ebay this weekend. It took about 2 months of bidding on different auctions and losing on those bids either because I was outbid or the auction was canceled. It's crazy.

Somehow, I lucked out this time. I was the ONLY bidder on this auction, perhaps because the seller only had 1 feedback. He was local to my area, so I took a chance and won. The guy was even nice enough to meet with me downtown to save me $8 S&H.

This is one of the first shots I took with it, so it's really not the best. This is a collector plate of the HMCS Sackville, a WWII corvette, that I had the pleasure of spending a few days on to help to restore while I was in the Navy in the mid-80s. I think I bought this plate years later at the Stittsville Flea Market.

I’m cuttin’ pipe… all night long…

Yeh, bad attempted at pipe pun. Sue me.

I took Friday off work again, this time to tackle the bathroom part of the reno. All we had done up to now was remove the old laminate and the toilet. Today it was to be gutted: vanity and sink removed, which involves cutting the copper pipes, and hacking the vanity all to hell.

It went surprisingly well, although we did run into a hurdle when I went to cut the pipes.

The pipe cutter that we bought wasn’t small enough to full rotate around the pipe to cut it because the pipes were too close to the back of the vanity. It looked like that red one in the picture, except ours was blue. My wife went to Canadian Tire to buy a smaller one, while I searched for our pipe wrench.

Cutting the pipes was a piece of cake, after shutting off the water main of course. :) We then began dismantling the vanity. It turned out that the left side of the vanity, attached to the wall, was actually the wall itself. Cheap. It took us about 10 minutes to remove all the pieces, leaving us with a floor lower than the rest of the floor. It’s a good thing we kept laminate floor scraps from last week. Laying then two-deep was enough to bring it up to the floor height.

The funniest thing of the day had to be when I removed the toilet toll holder. It was old and inset into the wall and my wife wanted it gone.  I scored the edges and pried it off, leaving this massive chunk of plaster and carpet(?!) inside the wall. It took a lot of hammering to break it free. I'm not sure why they jammed carpet in behind it and also to the right of it. And, they stuffed plastic underneath it -- as insulation or to stop it from seeping down into the wall as it dried? Very odd.

With the vanity now gone, I attached the pressure-fit shutoff valves to the cut pipes. That went great. No leaks after turning the water back on. The main water shut off tap does seem to now have a very slow leak though.

My wife took some careful measurements of the floor space, taking into account the pipes and the toilet drain hole, and we managed to cover the entire floor with two large pieces of plywood. A couple of dozen floor screws later, and it was installed.

We dry fit some floor tiles and discovered the bathroom door isn’t going to close with tiles on the floor, so we’ll have to remove it and plane the bottom down. We were also quite happy to see that the layout of the tiles could not be better. The toilet drain occupies the space of a single tile, which will make the cutting really easy. As well, the sink water pipes also fit in part of a single tile space. Another easy cut. We planned this layout perfectly. :)

We also, finally, got to move our stove and fridge back into the kitchen. I didn’t mention that we grouted the tiles earlier in the week. It seems we had the presence of mind to buy quit-set grout, that dries in 3 hours.

My wife wants to paint the bathroom tomorrow before we begin laying the tile, so that’s the first thing on our list for tomorrow. We should also be able to install the floor tile. This time, I think we’re going to try and get the cut ones installed at the same time. Once the tile is laid, we really have no choice but to wait until Sunday to grout and install the vanity, if we’re lucky.

Confirm THIS!

This WTF Moment is brought to you by the Herongate Dental Clinic.

I have a dental appoint for tomorrow morning at 8:00am. Last week the phone rang and I answered it, which is rare for me as nobody ever calls me. It was an automated message from my dentist’s office reminding me that I have an appointment on Friday, March 26th at 8:00am and saying to “press 1 to confirm the appointment”.

I pressed 1 and hung up.

Yesterday I checked the messages on our answering machine. There was one from my dentist’s office, again reminding me that I have an appointment on Friday, March 26th at 8:00am, and adding that the appointment is not confirmed until I contact their office.

WTF?

I’m not going to call them. I’m going to go to my “press 1” confirmed appointment tomorrow morning for my check-up.

Home Reno – finishing the puzzle… well, mostly

We lucked out and the forecasted rain did not become a reality!

The entire day was spent cutting tile to fit near the walls… or around walls… and thresholds. We didn’t get started with cementing them down until some time after 3:00pm. We were so tired by then, that we almost decided to wait until another time. It’s hard to believe that it took that long. I never would have imagined it.

Anyway, we stuck it out and got it all done. The bathroom still has not been touched since we removed the laminate and the toilet. I’m sure that old vanity is going to take forever to remove because of the awkwardness of the plumping. So the floor in there still has to be done. It’s small, so it shouldn’t take long. (Famous last words)

After setting the last piece of tile at the entrance to the den, I was standing on it to make sure it was set and the damn thing snapped clean in half. I came so close to just leaving it. It didn’t look that bad. :) But I couldn’t. I cut a new one.

Our primary concern is still with getting the kitchen back to being functional, so we’ll be looking at grouting this week. Bathroom next weekend.

We’re both contemplating taking another Friday off as well.

Week 32 – Screwed

Screwed (32/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This weeks photo is... 3700 flooring screws. :) All part of our main floor home reno. I should have shot it closer and might have gotten a cool texture image out of it.

Home Reno – pieces of the puzzle

The whole day was spent mixing mortar and laying tile.

We started off laying the tile without mortar to get a good idea of how they should be placed so that we didn’t end up with small pieces along any of the walls.

Thank god we bought the big mixer bit to attach to my drill. That stuff is thick and doesn’t mix easily. I thought it was going to burn out the drill, it got so hot. It said to mix for 5 minutes, let sit for 5-10 minutes, mix again and then use it. It took more than 5 minutes to fully mix so there was no powder at the bottom of the bucket.

Here’s a tip: make sure you have two buckets. Start to mix in the first bucket and then pour/scrape it into a second bucket so you can get all the unmixed powder at the bottom of the first bucket.

Everything I read said to lay all of the full tile pieces first, let them dry and then do the cut pieces later. It makes sense, but it can be a big pain to scrape the excess mortar from the non-tiled areas so they remain smooth for when you do put those tiles down.

Our living room looks like hell now. My wife joked that our house looks like it belongs on an episode of Hoarders. Funny, but so true.

We still haven’t done any more to the bathroom. There’s rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so I suspect it’s unlikely that we will be getting it done anytime soon. I guess we’ll continue with the tiling to get the kitchen back in order, and then we can work on removing the old bathroom vanity.

Home Reno - demolition

We got to Home Depot at around 7:15am or so. We wanted to get there early so we had a chance to rent their $20 van to deliver our own plywood, rather than pay the ~$60 for them to deliver it.

We picked up fifteen 8’x4’x½” sheets of plywood, two bags of mortar, a box of 3700 flooring screws. Thanks to the cashier at Home Depot, we saved $2 on the screws and got 2700 more! We had originally picked up two boxes of 500. They had larger boxes at the cashier, and she pointed out that the 3700 box was $2 cheaper. Go figure. Good thing we went with the larger box because I went screw crazy on the plywood.

By around 3:50pm, we had moved all of the kitchen appliances into the dining area, we had all of the old laminate ripped up, all of the baseboard and ¼ round off, the toilet removed (that old wax(?) ring was f’n gross) and two sheets of plywood installed. It was slow going, mostly because we were trying to cut the plywood to fit all the angles, as opposed to using lots of smaller pieces.

We also slowed down when we were removing the laminate in the bathroom. We had originally planned on gutting the entire bathroom before starting to put down the plywood, but it turned out that the braided hose we got to replace most of the copper pipe was too short. My wife went back to Home Depot and exchanged it for longer hoses and different pressure fittings. But at the same time, we decided on NOT removing the old vanity for the time being because it’s going to be time consuming and we need to try and get our kitchen back to being functional as soon as possible. I figured we could get the kitchen and front entrance tiled and grouted first, and then do the bathroom later.

We stopped at 7:20pm after installing plywood in the kitchen and the front hall. That’s not as much as I had originally hoped on getting done, but I’m still happy with it. The weather forecast was originally calling for rain tomorrow, so we tried to get as much of the cutting done today since we were doing it all outside. I just checked the forecast now, and there’s no rain forecast for tomorrow, so maybe we will be able to get the bathroom floor gutted and plywood down after all.

I have to say that the best tool I have, and used today, was my Dad’s old variable-speed Black & Decker drill. It has to be around 30 years old and still works like a charm. My own drill is not variable-speed.  With a Robertson screw driver bit in it, it was a huge time saver screwing down all the plywood. I can’t imaging the hell it would have been screwing them all down by hand. There’s no way I could have done it. His old steel yard stick also came in handy. My Dad used to do a lot of home reno projects when I was a kid, so I like to think that he was with us in spirit, via his old tools. Thanks Dad! :)

Home Reno – Turning off the water

When I got home from work, I decided to make sure I could shut off the water to our house. I didn’t want any surprises tomorrow when we gutted the ½ bathroom. I knew where the tap was, but never had the need to turn it off. Until now.

The tap was very stiff, but I managed to turn it a dozen times until until it turned no more.

We turned on the tap in the bathroom and the water flowed freely. This was definitely not what one would expect with the main tap being turned off.

I had a look around the basement for another tap. Nothing.

This one had to be the one. It was attached to a pipe coming up through the concrete floor. The pipe was very cold. There was no doubt. I turned it back on again. And off again. We tested the basement taps near the washing machine. We still had water. WTF?

I tried turning off the tap leading to the hot water heater and then turned on the hot water tap at the sink. No water. I turned it back on. The pipe leading to the hot water tank comes from this main tap, so I was 100% sure this was the main source and all leading to this sink.

I swore a lot. My wife asked me to stop swearing. I told her I needed to swear.

I turned the main tap off again… as tight as it would go. I was afraid that it might snap off.

I walked over to the sink and turned on the cold water.

It dribbled out. Success!

I guess the stubborn tap, having not been used for such a long time, just needed loosening up… or something.

I ran up to the bathroom and tested its taps. They too stopped working.

I turned the main back on until tomorrow.

One problem overcome… with persistence and a lot of swearing. It is now beer:30.

Bring on tomorrow.

Home reno 101

I don’t consider myself to be a contender for Canada’s Worst Handyman, but I am also far from being a home renovation expert.

I always get nervous when trying new reno projects for the first time. 99% of the time, they go well, but there’s always that 1% taunting me that I’ll mess it up.

We’ve been doing a main floor reno since January. What started off as simply “replacing this old carpet” has turned into…

• removing carpet from all stairs, sanding, staining and finishing steps (done)
• installing ceramic tiles on the risers (done)
• repainting the stair stringers (done)
• removing all baseboards on the main floor, stair landings and upstairs hall (done)
• repainting the upstairs hall, stairs case walls – upper and lower – living room and dining area (done)
• removing carpet in the living room and dining area and replacing it with laminate flooring, including a ½" plywood subfloor
• removing old laminate floor in entrance, kitchen and ½ bathroom and installing porcelain floor tile, also including a ½" subfloor and removal of old vanity
• installation of new baseboard throughout all affected areas
• possibly installing crown moulding in living room and dining area

The two parts of this project that I have never “experienced” are:

• Gutting a bathroom and installing a new vanity and sink, including the removal and reinstall of a toilet and cutting pipe copper pipe
• Installing porcelain floor tiles

The vanity happens to be the original vanity installed back when this townhouse was built in the 1970s. It has no shutoff valves on the plumbing underneath the sink. Thankfully the toilet appears to be newer and does have a shutoff valve installed, so that’s one less thing to do (or screw up)

I’ll be taking the easier route and won’t be welding any pipe once I cut the old ones. I have the braided hose with pressure fittings and shutoff valves. One day I’ll take on the welding task, but for now, easy is key for me.

Wish me luck.

Things that I remember about my Dad

I remember once when we were visiting friends of our family, we were in the backyard playing badminton... it was hot and I asked him for a sip of his beer. I must have been like 11 or 12 years old. He let me have a sip and I remember not liking it.

One morning, when I was really young, my Mother woke us up and warned us that my Father had been in a fight the night before. He got punched in the face by some thieves breaking into a car in downtown Montreal. He thought they locked themselves out of their car and checked to see if they needed help. Not his brightest moment. He was greeted with a punch to the face, breaking his dentures and causing a deep cut above one of his eyes that required stitches. For weeks, while he waited for new dentures, he had to eat soft food. He got the soft toast in the morning. He called it his "wallopy bit".

His favourite beer was Molson Export.

He had THE smelliest feet ever. After a day of work, his feet could stop a herd of bull elephants in their tracks. And kill them.

He had a mole, dead center, on his back. It looked like a Jelly Tot stuck to his back.

I remember the first time my Dad said "Fuck". We were driving in our car and some kid threw a snowball at it. It startled him and he said something like "What the fuck was that?". It was eerily quiet in the car after that, when he realized what he said. The second time I heard him say it was when I visited him at work one day. Someone came into his office to ask about some changes on a set of plans, or something like that, and he mumbled "They don't know what the fuck they're talking about..."

My Dad was my best man at my wedding. On the morning of my wedding, I was sitting in the Minister's office talking to the Minister while we waited for my Dad to arrive. He was late. Apparently, in all of the confusion of who was driving who, and when, my Dad was forgotten. When he finally arrived, he rushed into the Minister's office, wiping the sweat from his brow, and said "Jesus, it's hot out there!" He then noticed the Minister, remembered where he was, and said “Oops… sorry!”. The Minister responded, "That's ok, we say that a lot around here."

He would always wear his kilt on New Year's Eve. I have a picture somewhere of him wearing it to walk our dog, one New Year's Eve.

I remember cutting off all contact with him after he left my Mother and all of their debts. As a result, he never got to meet either of my children. He lived in Louisiana, so it wasn't too difficult. Still, it’s not something I’m proud of.

I remember calling him when he was in the hospital, in the days before he passed away, and letting him speak with his 3½ year-old grandson for the first time. It was also the last time. I heard later that he was so happy.

 

My Dad passed away after a very short battle with liver cancer and all the hell that goes in December 1998. If you have a few bucks to spare, please make a donation in support of my participation in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life scheduled for June 18th. Any amount is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Click here!

Week 31 - Super Cub

Super Cub
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This week's Project 52 photo is my Hobbyzone Super Cub.

Back in April of 2007 I took up a new hobby of flying electric R/C planes. My first plane, the Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom, despite being a "beginner" plane, was quite difficult to fly and resulted in a lot of frustration and purchasing new wings and a tail.

Not long after, I decided to get a new plane: the Hobbyzone Super Cub. This plane flies like a dream. It is the ultimate beginner plane and is so much fun to fly. Many days that spring and summer were spent up at a nearby school, flying it with a friend and my brother in-law, both of whom also had R/C planes. I even rigged up a small digital video camera to record in-air footage and put a bunch of videos up on YouTube.

After logging a lot of air time with the Super Cub, I was finally able get my first plane in the air and keep it flying, now that I was more comfortable with correcting for wind and my own errors.

We didn't go flying as much the following year, and not at all in 2009. I had attempted to change the battery connections in the winter of 2008 to something more stable than the Tamiya connectors, but failed due to my crappy soldering iron. I never did get around to fixing it that year, even though I had also picked up a couple of batteries last year in anticipating of flying.

I have decide that this year, I will get back to flying. I bought a new soldering iron and this evening, I fixed up the connections. Hopefully those two batteries I bought are still good and I may have been able to salvage one battery from a couple of years ago. We'll see if it holds a charge.

This was the last video I made of my plane in August 2007.

Future Shop pre-order fail

What is the benefit of pre-ordering something before its release?

In my mind, I think it is so you can be one of the first to get your hands on it when it becomes available.

Am I wrong?

Let’s assume that I am right.

So, why does Future Shop and Best Buy accept pre-orders for new video game releases and then NOT ship the damned things on their official release date, or at least the day after?

Last summer, I pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Xbox 360. The official release date came and went. My order was stuck in “in progress” limbo for almost a month before it shipped.

Along came Final Fantasy XIII. Screw Best Buy. I pre-ordered it from Future Shop a few days before the official release date to get $5 off the price (Yes, I realize that Best Buy owns Future Shop but I was hoping for a better experience this time… apparently I was wrong)

On its release date (Tuesday), I posted a question on the Future Shop fan page on Facebook:

Scott Paterson How soon do the online pre-orders ship? The last time I pre-ordered a game from "that other" store, it took a MONTH after the game's release before it shipped. The only reason I didn't cancel it was because it was on sale. I'm rrreally hopin' Future Shop is different.

I got a prompt reply:

Future Shop @Scott: It should be shipping on the day of release which should be today.

As of noon today, the order status on Future Shop’s web site still indicated “In progress” and “Out of stock”.

I posted three replies in the thread since Tuesday and there hasn’t been any response from the Future Shop rep in that group. My last message said that I would cancel the order at noon if it still hadn’t shipped.

Guess what I just did.

Week 30 - Rideau Falls, Spring 2010

Rideau Falls, Spring 2010 (30/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I drove out to Rideau Falls on Saturday morning hoping to snap a few shots of massive ice chunks flowing over the edge, as it did around this time in 2007. I guess the milder winter played a large part in disappointing me this year, or maybe missed it?

Week 29 - Winter Wonderland?

Winter Wonderland?
Originally uploaded by Twister65

After many days of spring-like weather, last Thursday evening gave us this. It was gone by the weekend. Crazy weather.

Yes, I'm a day late. I watched the Canada vs. USA gold medal game on Sunday and enjoyed a few too many beers celebrating Canada's victory. :)

Week 28 - GO CANADA GO!

We love hockey
Originally uploaded by Twister65

At the start of every hockey season, I get out the Ottawa Senators flag and hang it on the wall behind the TV. We have a large Ottawa Senators blanket that is folded in half and placed on the back of the couch, with "Ottawa Senators" facing outward. A small Stanley Cup is placed somewhere in the room. This year it happens to be on the CD rack beside the TV. This is all done with my wife's blessing. She's as much of a fan as I am. In fact, she may be a bigger fan because she knows all of the players' jersey numbers. Oh yeh, we also wear team jerseys while watching the game.

For tonight’s Team Canada vs. Team U.S.A. Olympic game I got out the Canada flag and hung it on the wall in an attempt to bring some good mojo to the team. It didn't help. Maybe I was too late.

Anyway, thanks to the Olympics for my Week 28 Project 52 inspiration!

Uh oh… it’s the cops!

A little while ago, I wrote about all of the illegal left turns coming out of the Esso/Tim Horton’s at the corner of Ogilvie Rd and Montreal Rd.

A day or so after, I actually sent the Ottawa Police an email about the issue. It took them a while, but they did respond saying that it was forwarded to the department(s) in charge.

This afternoon I received an email from a constable asking for my name, address, phone number and birth date so he could follow-up on my “complaint”. I sent it to him.

He called me this evening.

He gave me a brief rundown of the history of the signage – how it started off as a single, waist-high sign at the Tim Horton’s drive-thru exit, and eventually became a larger sign, with an additional sign on the median. He acknowledged the fact that despite the multiple, clearly visible signs, many people are ignorant of them.

He said one day when they were enforcing the signage, they gave out over FIFTY tickets, and he had to call for assistance because while he was issuing a ticket, someone else would make the same illegal left turn.

Unreal. But based on what I see every morning, not too surprising.

He thanked me for the update that it’s still occurring and said that they would likely be out enforcing it again in the near future.

Like I said before, they could make some serious $$ in handing out fines.

Anyway, it was cool that they followed up. I wasn’t expecting it since I don’t really consider what i sent to be a “complaint”, but more of an “FYI”.

One of these days I’ll get some video footage of all the City of Ottawa trucks ignoring the sign and post it. :)

Week 27 - Flashback to the 70s

Flashback to the 70s (27/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I replaced an old light fixture on the landing going to our basement and found this behind the base of the fixture. Obviously, when one of the previous owners removed the wallpaper, they took the quick'n'easy way out and didn't remove the light fixture.

This must be vintage 70s stuff. The black has a velvety feel to it. Considering the basement walls have wood paneling on them (now painted) I have to assume that the main floor of our house was covered with this stuff at one point. A small piece of history to our home. :)

Week 26 - Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott (26/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This week's photo comes from my trusty 'ol Canon S3 IS.

My family and I went to the Sens Super Skills competition this afternoon. Unfortunately, they frown heavily upon fans who use, or try to use, a DSLR camera.

This is Brian Elliott take a fun shot on a junior goalie warming up. It's so cool to see pro players playing with the kids and treating them like an equal.

Team Red beat Team Black this year, for the third year in a row.

Week 25 - Stair Reno

Stair Reno (25/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Nothing fancy this week. Haven't had much time for that. But, it is a memorable shot for me. Or will be at some point in the future when I look back.

We started a main floor renovation a couple of weeks ago, and part of that involved removing carpet from the stairs, pulling staples, patching, sanding, staining and finishing them to match the laminate flooring that we'll be putting down in the dining room and living room in the spring.

We decided to put ceramic tiles on the risers, and this is the pattern and colour we chose.

I'm already sick of the smell of Varathane and I'm only half done, after putting on two coats on every second step.

I need a shave!

It's that time of year again!

June 18th and 19th will be my third year participating in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Orleans, Ontario.

The Relay for Life is an overnight non-competitive relay that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to loved ones. It's a night of fun, friendship and fundraising to beat cancer.

Thanks to your generosity last year I achieved my goal and, as a result, I shaved my head. It was a lot of fun and I would do it again... but where’s the fun in that?

Last year I set two goals. The first was to reach $1,000 and I would shave my head. The second was to also shave my face (moustache and goatee) if I reached $2,000. I didn't reach that second goal so I got to keep my facial hair.

I've had my facial hair for a long time and I’ve kinda grown attached to it. :) In fact, my kids (14 and 11 years old) have never seen me without my moustache. I have friends who have also not seen me without it.

So. here's the plan for this year:

I set my goal at $1,500.

$1,500 will let me shock my kids with a clean-shaven face.

I have approximately 4½ months to reach my goal. Want to help and support a great cause?

Visit here http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/scottpaterson

Or click the SUPPORT ME button on the left column of my Facebook profile.

Like they say, every dollar helps. That’s a fact.

Thank you for reading!

(P.S. if you have any better ideas that aren't painful, extremely embarrassing, or illegal, feel free to suggest them!) :)

Smoke photography

I am inspired by Photocritic.org’s smoke photography collection.

One tiny problem. Ok, maybe two.

I don’t have a remote flash for my camera, nor do I have a stand for my SpeedLite 380ex flash. I don’t think the 380 would work with a remote anyway.

But, after studying the photos and the setup, I realize that I may not need either.

What if I set up the camera and “smoking device” in a similar manner and then switched the camera to bulb exposure mode. With my infrared shutter remote in hand, turned off the lights in the room, stood off to the side, triggered the shutter and then fired the flash test mode?

Would that work?

Hmm… another photography project on my To Do list.

One year later

One year ago today I quit smoking. I am still nicotine-free.

I was going to write more about it but I’ve written enough before. If you want quit and would like to know what worked for me, click here for a previous post.

Oh ya… congrats to me! :)

Week 24 - Concentration

Concentration
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Tough choice this week. I had a few photos to choose from an decided on this one.

Another shot taken with my 50mm. I really like this lens and I so like B&W photos.

This is my daughter playing Lego Star Wars on my XBox earlier this week. She was so into the game, she hardly noticed me snapping away with my camera.

Week 23 - Feeed meee!

Feeed meee! (23/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I had plenty of photos to choose from for this week, but I figured that seeing pictures of our stairs being stripped of carpet, scraped and sanded wouldn't be too interesting. :)

So, here's our cat, Sam, once again gracing my blog. I bought a 50mm f1.8 lens off a seller on Ebay earlier in the week and it arrived on Friday. While testing it out, Sam decided she wanted to be fed and was quite vocal about it. I couldn't pass on the opportunity to snap a shot or two.

Week 22 - Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel (22/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

A fairly easy choice for this week's choice for my Project 52, although one of my recent B&W shots was a possibility.

We had put our Christmas tree out in the back yard, leaning up against our shed. I remember making a comment at the time that I'd better not find any squirrels making a home in it.

I was off work on the Monday, alone at home, and puttering around with my camera when I heard what I thought were birds at the bird feeder. I peeked out the back door window and saw this red squirrel running around inside the tree branches, snacking on small pine cone buds. He definitely saw me, and was only about 4 feet away. There was no way I could open the door to take the shot, so I poked the lens through the blind and snapped a few.

The only thing I did to this photo was crop it and increase the saturation a little to bring out the squirrels colour a little more.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Beige? White? Hot pink?

At some point this afternoon, Facebook statuses started appearing with a single word. That word was a colour. Any colour.

I was puzzled. What’s with all the status colours?

I did a little searching and found the reason.

Women on Facebook were changing their status to the colour of bra they were wearing to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

Cute. Fun. Many status comments were hilarious. Some guys had fun with it, posting the colour of their underwear. Or the fictitious bra they were wearing to hold their “moobs”.

Some other guys, like me, were puzzled. And some, when they found out what it was for, thought it was “useless”, or “retarded”. They said that it did nothing. It was no different than a chain letter.

I questioned this.

How could this be useless?

They asked what it was for. I knew, and I told them. By asking what it was for, they proved that it worked. It raised awareness.

The debate began.

I argued that it’s comparable to… wearing a pink ribbon. Or, wearing a poppy. Neither of those is a waste of time. They both serve a purpose. They raise awareness.

It was said that those two are different because they raise money for charities.

True, they do, but by us wearing them they also RAISE AWARENESS for those charities. What other purpose do they serve? A thank you? Sure. If you want to say that their sole purpose is to raise money, then wouldn’t it be a better idea to take the money spent on those little ribbons and use the money for the charity?

Perhaps. In fact, I could argue that a Facebook status is better than a ribbon, or a poppy because it costs nothing.

It is impossible for a charity to raise money without raising awareness first. If you know how, speak up. I’m sure they’d love to hear it.

By giving you something in return for your donation, and you wearing it, you are helping to raise awareness so more donations come in.

It’s silly to think that nobody has ever heard of breast cancer.   But awareness isn’t just about telling you something you’ve never heard of.  It’s about making you think about it, regardless of whether you’ve heard about it before.

I really makes me sad to think that some people think it was a dumb idea. A waste of time. That it served no purpose.

If one person made a donation as a result of those “useless” and “retarded” bra colour status, then wasn’t it worth the effort? Did it not raise awareness?

I proved that it worked. I made donation this evening to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

I now challenge you to do the same. Doing nothing is useless.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

American Breast Cancer Foundation

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How the Ottawa Police made my day

About a year or two ago, the Esso station at the corner of Montreal Rd and Ogilvie Rd was torn down and rebuilt. In addition to the new pump islands and convenience store building, they got rid of the car wash and added a Tim Horton’s drive-thru that runs around back of the building.

It wasn’t long before someone realized that this was a problem, especially in the morning, when cars try to leave the property, turn left onto Ogilvie Rd toward Montreal Rd and block the traffic heading north on Ogilvie as they wait to merge into the southbound traffic lanes.

Signs went up indicating NO LEFT TURNS between 7am and 9am. It’s not allowed in the evening either, but I can’t remember the times for that… 4 and 6pm perhaps? Anyway, you can see the signs as you leave the drive-thru and the sign that sits on the median between the north and southbound lanes. If you can’t see them, you’re blind.

If you park at the Esso in the morning you’ll notice that at least 9/10 cars completely ignore the signs and turn left. I see it every morning. Even City of Ottawa trucks ignore the signs, and they’re the ones who put up signs! This has become a huge pet peeve of mine. Granted, they don’t always block traffic, but the signs is there for.

It takes about a minute to turn RIGHT from the Esso and make a quick U-turn at the first corner, and you’re where you want to be. I do that every morning. It’s no big deal.

This morning the Ottawa Police made my day.

As I pulled up to the traffic light after making my U-turn, I saw flashing lights on an unmarked cop car stopped behind a Honda sedan in the middle lane.

My first thought was, “Oh please tell me they got busted for making a left turn…”

I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the officer bent over talking to the driver, and pointing back at the sign on the median.

Finally, someone got nailed and hopefully they got fined as well. I’m tired of seeing lazy-ass drivers ignoring the signs.

To the officer who busted that lazy ass this morning: thank you. :)

To the Ottawa Police: if you want to make a killing on fines, park at the Petro Canada cross the street every morning from 7am to 9am.

(Note: Google Streetview only shows one small “No Left Turn” sign. More have been added since Google took the photos last Spring)

Resolve THIS!

I can’t remember the last time I made a New Years resolution. I tend not to follow through with them. (I think that’s the case for many people)

This time, I have decided I should make a few really easy ones, maybe a couple of slightly challenging ones, and one tough one.

The Easy:

1. Finish reading Light -- Science & Magic. I started it in the summer and I’m so close to finishing it.
2. Start and finish reading Theo Fleury’s Playing With Fire that I got for Christmas.

Slightly Challenging:

1. Ride my bike at least once per week starting in the spring (once the snow is gone), and through the summer. I did it the year before last and it was awesome. Last summer I got a case of the lazys. :( This will help with The Tough One.
2. Drink more water. Again, this will help with The Tough One. I really do not drink enough water, or any liquids for that matter.
3. Shoot more photos! I don’t do it nearly enough lately. Maybe that’s in part due to the fact that it’s winter and takes more effort to get off my ass and outside. ;)

The Tough One:

1. Lose weight. My goal is 200lbs. That works out to about 5½ lbs per month to hit that by next year. Possible? We’ll see. One month at a time is all it takes. My idea is to not necessarily focus so much on what I eat, but more on how much I eat. Naturally, I’ll eat healthier stuff, but I’m not going to eliminate some of the foods I like. I’ll just eat less of them. If I cut all of that out, I’ll be miserable and give up.

It feels great to not put down “Quit Smoking” as a resolution for the first time in forever, because I kicked that bitch out of my life almost a year ago. :)

Week 21 - Laser Pointer Art

Laser Pointer Art (21/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I almost forgot about a photo for this week. I'm sure I could have dug up another Christmas photo, but instead I decided on something completely different.

Ever since I first saw this done, it was on my to-do list. Luckily for me, our cat got a laser pointer for Christmas. This also gave me an opportunity to use my wired remote shutter that I bought off eBay, and try out the BULB exposure mode on my Canon.

I brought all of my equipment to the basement and set it up on the tripod. I remembered reading that the ISO should be set to 100 and the focus set to manual. I first set the focus with the lens's autofocus and then switched it to manual so it didn't change.

I changed the exposure to BULB and then using my remote, fired off a few 3-4sec shots of the wall while the lights were on just to make sure I got the area I wanted.

Show time. Lights off. Stub toe on couch while walking back to my camera.

I turned on the laser pointer and aimed it at the wall where I wanted to start, turned it off again, pressed the shutter release, and then turned the laser back on and went nuts.

I repeated the process a few times, writing different things and drawing different pictures. The results were pretty good.

I then switched from my 18-200mm lens to a 10-20mm lens. This was a better move, imho. It allowed me to get closer to the wall while providing me with a nice wide angle "canvas".

This is only one of four that I posted on Flickr. Enjoy!