I saw this card in Portland Oregon a while back.
I bought it because it meant something to me.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
2016 Blogger to Blogger Tour - But just not now
I got to Trudeau Airport at 10h45 for an 11h30 boarding and 12h12 departure.
That didn't happen.
That didn't happen.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
2016 Blogger to Blogger Tour - Meeting legends
Those of you who are perspicacious will have noticed that I indulged in a little time travel. I not only caught up on Kathy's BBBC, I managed to go all the way out to February 22.
The reason is simple.
The reason is simple.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Operation Empty Nest - The Great 2016 Real Estate War
The end is in sight for the crossroads period of my life. March 30, 2016. That's when we pull up roots and begin a new life in Toronto.
All the conditions for the sale of our Montreal home, and the purchase of our Toronto home, have been satisfied. Now it's all about wrapping up the basement renovation and packing. The renovation began before the offer to purchase our Montreal home came in, so we're committed to completing it. Now it's just a question of getting the paint out of the cans and onto the walls without making a mess of the floors.
All the conditions for the sale of our Montreal home, and the purchase of our Toronto home, have been satisfied. Now it's all about wrapping up the basement renovation and packing. The renovation began before the offer to purchase our Montreal home came in, so we're committed to completing it. Now it's just a question of getting the paint out of the cans and onto the walls without making a mess of the floors.
ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (BBBC #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , 13, 14, and 15)
Kathy (ToadMama) published what she is calling her Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge. It's simple, a challenge that's a little crazy, and potentially demanding, but that is turning ought to be a whole lot of fun and very revealing for the participating bloggers.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (now with BBBC # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)
Kathy (ToadMama) published what she is calling her Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge. It's simple, a little crazy, and potentially demanding, but in the end, ought to be a lot of fun and very revealing.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Operation Empty Nest - Vignettes from behind the lines
If you've been reading the instalments of my life for the past six months or so, you've noticed the not so subtle military undertone colouring my ramblings.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Hum a happy tune, move like a hillbilly
The final conditions were waived at last. We're free to shop!
A last pre-shopping challenge.
Our son has offered his now semi-homeless parents a room at the inn. There's a queen-size bed, but... wait for it... no mattress.
A last pre-shopping challenge.
Our son has offered his now semi-homeless parents a room at the inn. There's a queen-size bed, but... wait for it... no mattress.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Big Move to the Big Smoke (and mirrors)
I know why it's a Big Move, but I have no clue why it's the Big Smoke,
and I have no inclination to Google it. We already have enough dim views
of Toronto as a new place to call home, that adding one more is a bad idea.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Bright, bright lights on a waning winter's day
Time passes. Memories fade.
That may be the most poignant fact of our lives.
That may be the most poignant fact of our lives.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Greetings for Christmas 2015, and New Years 2016
Just when I thought the dust had settled on this year's Christmas celebrations, yesterday the postman delivered the ModernVespa.com 2015 gift exchange present. I got to the door as the driver was climbing into his truck and we exchanged enthusiastic waves in a scene reminiscent of a Saturday Evening Post Norman Rockwell Christmas cover.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
With the help of the Empire, I strike back
I slid onto my perch and looked Kitchen Mac straight in the screen. I was focused. Reestablishing order and control over whatever was slowly going wrong among the wayward applications in my digital domain was mission critical. Keeping my collection of music and art out of harm's way was an objective I would reach.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Music and images
I believe that art, in all its forms, is the essence of our humanity. I will go further, and argue that the arts drive our evolution more than any other aspect of our being.
Long before the Motorola flip phone became a consumer product, there was the Star Trek communicator. Jules Verne explored ocean depths long before Jacques Cousteau did. Man walked on the moon in July 1969, but Jules Verne wrote about it more than one hundred years earlier, and Tintin made it there in 1954. Leonardo da Vinci explored human winged flight five centuries before the Wright brothers broke the bonds of gravity at Kitty Hawk.
Long before the Motorola flip phone became a consumer product, there was the Star Trek communicator. Jules Verne explored ocean depths long before Jacques Cousteau did. Man walked on the moon in July 1969, but Jules Verne wrote about it more than one hundred years earlier, and Tintin made it there in 1954. Leonardo da Vinci explored human winged flight five centuries before the Wright brothers broke the bonds of gravity at Kitty Hawk.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The laws of nature vs the nature of laws
Sometimes humour, even dark humour, accomplishes more, in a single sound bite or hastily drawn cartoon, than reams of newsprint, gallons of ink, and endless 'breaking news' segments can manage.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Rider profile: Mike Fritz
Name: Michael Fritz
Find me on Earth: Cornwall, Ontario
Find me Online: http://vstromamericas.com
Interview Date: Saturday, December 12, 2015
Interview Location: Cornwall, Ontario
Life on two wheels: When did you start riding, how old were you?
Mike: I was 5 years old when my father bought my brother and I a blue plastic battery operated bike. It was only meant for indoor use and surely I drove my folks batty driving it all the time. I was 8 or 9 when my friend bought his first dirt bike and I rode it as much as he did. I was hooked for life. At 16 got my first street bike and only went back to a dirt bike in 2014.
Life on two wheels: How many motorbikes have you owned?
Mike: 7 bikes.
Life on two wheels: What is your current bike, and is the current bike your favorite?
Find me on Earth: Cornwall, Ontario
Find me Online: http://vstromamericas.com
Interview Date: Saturday, December 12, 2015
Interview Location: Cornwall, Ontario
Life on two wheels: When did you start riding, how old were you?
Mike: I was 5 years old when my father bought my brother and I a blue plastic battery operated bike. It was only meant for indoor use and surely I drove my folks batty driving it all the time. I was 8 or 9 when my friend bought his first dirt bike and I rode it as much as he did. I was hooked for life. At 16 got my first street bike and only went back to a dirt bike in 2014.
Life on two wheels: How many motorbikes have you owned?
Mike: 7 bikes.
Life on two wheels: What is your current bike, and is the current bike your favorite?
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Lunch with Peter and Mike
I had to be in Ottawa yesterday for a meeting at four o'clock. It made sense to seize the opportunity to drop in on Peter Sanderson.
Peter had some business to look after in the morning and suggested we get together for lunch. He was already meeting Mike Fritz to celebrate Mike's birthday and asked me to tag along.
That meant three bloggers getting together to celebrate a birthday, what could be finer?
Allow me to introduce Mike Fritz.
Peter had some business to look after in the morning and suggested we get together for lunch. He was already meeting Mike Fritz to celebrate Mike's birthday and asked me to tag along.
That meant three bloggers getting together to celebrate a birthday, what could be finer?
Allow me to introduce Mike Fritz.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
Winter ride
I was seriously remiss.
I borrowed camping equipment for my July trek to the Adirondacks, and hadn't yet returned it to Marlene.
The weather gods are holding off the snow, at least for the time being. So today I made good.
I borrowed camping equipment for my July trek to the Adirondacks, and hadn't yet returned it to Marlene.
The weather gods are holding off the snow, at least for the time being. So today I made good.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Comfort food: Heirloom spaghetti and meatballs
Do you know why humans achieved so much more, in the course of evolution, than any other animal on the planet?
The proximate cause, of course, is that we are the smartest.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Life and death at the crossroads
Events continue to cascade in my life. It's been unremitting since May. The pace of change is something to behold.
Most recently I lost my Dad, on the twelfth of November. Out of the blue.
It's not a sad story, it truly isn't. Denis led a very happy full life. For the last six or seven years he was afflicted with progressive memory loss. He was in remarkably good spirits for the most part. That much hadn't changed. I believe his failing memory served to insulate him, to a degree, from his growing frailty and the ever-shrinking sphere of his existence. Then, in a matter of minutes or hours, a stroke took his life. He was eighty-six.
I've had this post on the subject of happiness simmering gently on the back burner for a little over a month. It's high time to publish it before something else happens, like the barbaric,
Most recently I lost my Dad, on the twelfth of November. Out of the blue.
It's not a sad story, it truly isn't. Denis led a very happy full life. For the last six or seven years he was afflicted with progressive memory loss. He was in remarkably good spirits for the most part. That much hadn't changed. I believe his failing memory served to insulate him, to a degree, from his growing frailty and the ever-shrinking sphere of his existence. Then, in a matter of minutes or hours, a stroke took his life. He was eighty-six.
I've had this post on the subject of happiness simmering gently on the back burner for a little over a month. It's high time to publish it before something else happens, like the barbaric,
Monday, November 23, 2015
Remembering
On November 11th I went to the Last Post military cemetery in Pointe Claire.
I have written about this place once or twice before. Here time stands still. Twenty thousand servicewomen and servicemen have been laid to rest in the cemetery. My grandfather Georges Terroux, who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I, is one of them.
It was a privilege to be here on Remembrance Day. The cemetery was well attended.
I have written about this place once or twice before. Here time stands still. Twenty thousand servicewomen and servicemen have been laid to rest in the cemetery. My grandfather Georges Terroux, who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I, is one of them.
It was a privilege to be here on Remembrance Day. The cemetery was well attended.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Been fiddlin'
Today I managed to implement about ninety percent of the changes to this journal that have been rattling around in my brain for many, many, months.
I have to say that translating the thoughts in my head into reasonably well-behaved pixels on the screen has been as painful as I thought it would be.
Authoring any digital media, whether it's software programming, graphic content like photos, or the look and feel of a blog, is fairly obsessive work. Trial and error, error and trial, trial and error. That, and the occasional epiphany when, on the very cusp of total frustration, something finally works. There are far too many moving parts between what this blog looked like for the past five years, and where it is now. I won't bore you with the details.
I have to say that translating the thoughts in my head into reasonably well-behaved pixels on the screen has been as painful as I thought it would be.
Authoring any digital media, whether it's software programming, graphic content like photos, or the look and feel of a blog, is fairly obsessive work. Trial and error, error and trial, trial and error. That, and the occasional epiphany when, on the very cusp of total frustration, something finally works. There are far too many moving parts between what this blog looked like for the past five years, and where it is now. I won't bore you with the details.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Runnin' errands
Some of the going is voluntary, some is imposed.
I have come to the end of some roads. Other roads beckon.
If I was a commuter, now I run errands. Like a run to Costco last week, to buy new cordless phones.
Monday, September 28, 2015
2015 Blogger to Blogger Tour - Epilogue, and lessons learned
It's been a long time between posts. The main reason is that the past two months have been, by some measures, the best and busiest of our lives. There was the annual conference of the national organization I chair that was, for the first time ever, held in Montreal. As soon as that ended we celebrated the marriage of our eldest son. Sonja and Roland came to visit, then Susan and I went on an amazing trip that took us to Edmonton, Jasper Park, Vancouver, and Maui. Phew.
Along the way, I worked on this post, mostly during our flights. I hope you will find it was worth the long wait.
I'm getting slightly more experienced with touring. That means I still have a lot to learn.
Along the way, I worked on this post, mostly during our flights. I hope you will find it was worth the long wait.
I'm getting slightly more experienced with touring. That means I still have a lot to learn.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Toying with Templates; Flirting with Failure
I've dropped hints about wanting to make changes to the way this ongoing story is presented.
The choices are unfortunately unlimited.
It's like shopping for a BMW vehicle with an unlimited budget. Sedan? SUV? Limousine? No problem. Suede headliner? 100,000 LED mood-lit interior? Built-in cigar humidor in the console? No problem. No kidding. I was chatting with Billy at Canbec BMW just the other day. Got millions to piss away to annoy your siblings and leave your heirs breathless and nervous? No better place to start than by ordering a custom seven series sedan with oodles and oodles of options and doo-dads.
The choices are unfortunately unlimited.
It's like shopping for a BMW vehicle with an unlimited budget. Sedan? SUV? Limousine? No problem. Suede headliner? 100,000 LED mood-lit interior? Built-in cigar humidor in the console? No problem. No kidding. I was chatting with Billy at Canbec BMW just the other day. Got millions to piss away to annoy your siblings and leave your heirs breathless and nervous? No better place to start than by ordering a custom seven series sedan with oodles and oodles of options and doo-dads.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Project report - Installing heated grips on a Honda Shadow VT750 ACE
The Honda Shadow is a shared bike. One day I'll get around to explaining in detail how Sonja and I came to co-own the Honda Shadow, which we now call Thunderbird.
Thunderbird is new to us, it's a gently used 2003 motorcycle. True to its roots, Thunderbird was fitted with a bunch of aftermarket accessories installed with thoughts of cruising down the boulevard with the sun glinting off as much chrome as possible, to the tune of very loud aftermarket Cobra exhaust pipes.
Thunderbird is new to us, it's a gently used 2003 motorcycle. True to its roots, Thunderbird was fitted with a bunch of aftermarket accessories installed with thoughts of cruising down the boulevard with the sun glinting off as much chrome as possible, to the tune of very loud aftermarket Cobra exhaust pipes.
Monday, September 7, 2015
2015 Blogger to Blogger Tour: Safe travels
Sonja and Roland returned this past Thursday from their Ontario trip with Sonja under the weather. Apparently traveling makes Sonja sick. Her love of travel is so deep, that she considers a predictable head cold to be a small price to pay for adventure.
On Friday I resumed my tour guide duties and took the traveling dynamic duo to see the remaining must-see sights of Montreal.
We had seen the southern and eastern sides of the city from the three drive-to lookouts on Mount Royal.
On Friday I resumed my tour guide duties and took the traveling dynamic duo to see the remaining must-see sights of Montreal.
We had seen the southern and eastern sides of the city from the three drive-to lookouts on Mount Royal.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The ScootCommute on CITY TV
Today was the day I got about three and a half minutes of the fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol kindly alotted to me.
Some time a few weeks back, I got an e-mail asking if I would mind being interviewed on Montreal CITY TV's morning show Breakfast Television. I was both surprised and genuinely honoured.
When I mentioned to Susan that the show's managing producer told me that it would be a three-minute interview, Susan burst out laughing "You can't even introduce yourself in three minutes!" she teased.
Some time a few weeks back, I got an e-mail asking if I would mind being interviewed on Montreal CITY TV's morning show Breakfast Television. I was both surprised and genuinely honoured.
When I mentioned to Susan that the show's managing producer told me that it would be a three-minute interview, Susan burst out laughing "You can't even introduce yourself in three minutes!" she teased.
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