16 months

Has it seriously been 16 months since I was on here?

First Ride

Odometer : 1784 kms

Well I just got my first ride in for the year. It was cold, and the roads are covered in gravel, but it was great fun.


I have been dying to break out the bike fore the past few weeks, and when I was driving home from work today I saw the temperature was 8 degrees, and that was good enough for me!

I haven't done much with this blog in the last year (nothing actually), but I did mention on here is was thinking of getting a new bike. I was lucky enough to pick up a 2007 VStar 1300 last June.

I absolutely love riding this bike. Its got a ton of power and accelerates super smoothly. As you can see from the first line of this post, I put about 1700 kms on it last year, and I haven't even dropped it yet!

Its the standard model, not the touring edition, but its dressed up a bit like the tourer. It came with the low windshield, engine guards (crash bars), driving lamps and sissy bar. Over the winter, I've picked up a few goodies that I'll be installing over the next few weeks.

The quick list of stuff to install :
1) Highway Pegs
2) Cobra tachometer
3) Kuryakn ISO Grips
4) Cobra Fi2000R Fuel Injection Tuner

So its going to be a fun couple of weeks. Hopefully the weather warms up a bit, and I can get a few kms on the bike before and after the installs.

Ottawa 07

You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best

I've been gone for a week

I've been drunk since I left

And these so-called vacations

Will soon be my death

I'm so sick from the drink

I need home for a rest

Take me home....

So yeah, Facebook.

I've been on facebook for a couple of months now, and its crazy how many people from previous lives can flick right back into the forefront of your mind in an instant. Its like everyone I've ever met is there, and people who I haven't talked to in years can suddenly announce something to their closest friends, and I get to participate in the news as if I was still close to them.

It provides a way for you to keep in touch with old friends, without even reaching out to contact them. You just log in, and are instantly presented with a voyeristic view into hundreds of peoples lives. Fresh pictures, status messages, notes. For all I know, people I knew in Grade 2 are looking through my pictures, and know that I'm working most of this weekend, or am looking forward to a trip that is upcoming.

Its scary really, because sometimes you find yourself just clicking. Clicking a piece of news, which leads to a picture of a friend. Then you browse an album, then you see a picture of another friend you know, whose with someone whose not on your friends list, then you add them, then follow more links. Next thing, you've been on there an hour, and you've got much more important things to do !

But the instantaneous nature of the information is also a big part of the draw. I found out last week that my cousin got engaged. Did I find out from him? nope. My parents ? A proud Aunt or Uncle ? Nope. Facebook told me.

I've always had a big problem keeping in touch with people. I've had friends who were extremly close to me move away, and I never bother to call them. I mean ever. I'll go two or three years without talking to them. When one of my close friends goes away on a work term, I'll talk to them every day for weeks, then they move. I won't call, E-mail or IM them for 4 months. But the day they get home I am back on the line, excited for them to be here. My best friend moved to Ottawa 8 months ago, and we've spoken on the phone twice. He called me both times.

This is something I don't understand. I don't comprehend why I don't feel the need to pick up the phone to reach out to people. I just don't. I don't even call/see my mother, and she lives about 6 blocks from me.

But facebook. Man, Facebook. It brings information to you, you don't need to go looking, poking around. Its not gonna help people like me who don't deal well with distance. Its kinda depressing really.

Typical

Yeah, this pretty much sums up a lot of days I have had in the past two years of work in the real world. Sigh.

Testing Facebook Badges

hmmm.. thats neat....

Toronto '07

Last weekend, myself and Krista took a long overdue trip to Toronto. We went up for four days, and it was a great time.

We previously had planned to go up in September, but unfortuantly, just a few hours after we arrived in the T-Dot, we got a call that Ks grandmother had died. Back on the plane, and back to Newfoundland we came. We had pre-paid our stay at the hotel, so I figured all was lost in that department, but they were awesome about it. They left us with a full credit which we were able to use this time. The Holiday Inn on King is a super hotel, and I would reccomend it to anyone.

We had four fun-filled days in which we did an awful lot of stuff. We did the touristy walk around, I met up with an old friend for dinner, went to a Raptors game, spent an afternoon in the Royal Ontario Museum, saw The Phantom of the Opera, and went to the 2007 Canadian Autoshow.

The autoshow was the highlight of the trip for me. It was great for a bunch of reasons; anyone who knows me will know I'm nuts for cars (especially Jeeps) and also, Steve, Adam, and Scott came in for it, so we had an awesome afternoon together. Anytime you bring a group of Engineering Buddies together after a long absence, hilarity is sure to ensue, and this was no exception.

The first memorable moment was when we stopped to watch one of these demonstrations where a guy basically tears up the paint on a car with keys and 'magically' restores with a rub from the super-secret wax formulation. A guy with a pretty heavy Rastafarian accent is spouting his schpeel (did I just make up a word?) and the wax is doing its job. He finishes the presentation with the standard "Normal price is $60 per bottle, Car Show price: $20! But wait !!! the first three customers get a second bottle, FREE!" He then proceeds to place packages of wax in mine, Steve's, and another guys hand. Hes talking as he does it, and hes kinda hard to understand.

Me and Steve look at each other, and are kinda confused, wondering if its free. The third guy ponies up the $20 and walks away. Steve looks at the sales guy and says "I'll give you $30 for the two packs." Dude is pissed! He takes Steve's package away and gives it to Scott, looking for his $20. We all just kinda shrug and start to walk away, giving the guy back his stuff. Steve is about 15 feet away and the dude shouts out to him. He looks around, takes off his microphone and says "just give me the money." without a trace of any accent. He does not look happy. Steve hauls out the $30, and we walk away with 4 bottles of wax thanks to Steve's awesome powers of negotiation!

Did I mention we got bonus shammys? I can't wait to ruin the paint on my truck this spring. I think I might use sandpaper.

A few pics from the afternoon are located here.

Other random Toronto Pics from the weekend are here.