General

Well, as I look at my last blog post, I see that it’s been just about two weeks! My how time flies! There’s been plenty of things happening in the last couple weeks, so I’ll likely try to jam a few new posts on right away to catch anyone up who’s been wondering what’s new. To the left, you can see a lovely picture of Parliament Hill as seen from the air. April 29 marked my father’s 65th birthday, and he drove all the way up from Westville, NS to celebrate with his family up here. Yup, he’s now officially a Senior Citizen in the eyes of the man. You wouldn’t think it to see him and hang out with him for a while. He’s still sharp as a whip, and has plenty of stories that definitely make my life seem pretty pedestrian by comparison. Just ask him some day about the 6 months he spent slogging through the jungles, attempting the first land crossing of the Darien Gap (see this great story about the Darien Gap) in an amphibious vehicle ( a DUKW to be precise), which promptly broke down, leaving his team to slog on by foot, till he got dyssentry, and on and on! I’ve told him on several occasions that he must write out his memoirs some day. If for nothing else than for my sheer enjoyment of it all. It’s cool to hear stories from your maker about their life experiences!

The Nanaimo Bar management is pleased to announce that the newly-renovated facilities are ready for use! That’s right, work has been completed on the new oak bar fixtures in the renovated basement of the Cheshire Studios and home complex. After 5ish months of spotty labour (you get what you pay for), the beautiful 8 foot bar is done. Not only is it done, but it’s now fairly well stocked. I finished off work last week, but hadn’t gotten around to posting anything on the completed project. The picture at the right shows the back of the bar, with the cabinet doors on, and the fridge it place. The cabinets to the left of the fridge are loaded up with all sorts of libations for future consumption. If you’d like to see a few more pictures of the bar, click over to flickr.

Good Morning to you all!

As of the moment of this writing, I am not quite yet an uncle. However, the event is iminent. I’ve decided to try to keep a little log of the day as it unfolds for me (and the new family).

Things started off yesterday when I got a call from my sister: “Are you ready to be an uncle sooner rather than later?”. She was on her way to a diner for a bite to eat, since contractors had invaded their house to do some kitchen renovations. Ironically, a few days earlier, Andrea had said ‘I hope I don’t go into labour while they are there…’. Well, she didn’t, but was awfully close. It turns out that she was full term and pretty much dilated, meaning the big event could happen at any moment. The doctor pegged that within 48 hours, Andrea and Patrick would be new parents, and as a result, I would be the crazy uncle!

Hooray! The bar is seriously starting to shape up into the beautiful oak masterpiece that I envisioned it will be! On the right you can see a shot of the current bar progress. All the main cabinetry work is done, and the lower bar counter-top has been installed. The sink was fitted in for the picture, but not yet fastened down, to make sure I don’t mark it up before finishing the other pieces. The counter came out really nice, and I think this will definitely be a bar worthy of pouring some high-quality spirits on. To those ends, Jody even gave me an early Easter gift, a bottle of Tanqueray No. TEN, a top-shelf gin, since she knows me affinity towards gin. I now have nice top shelf Rum (various aged rums), Vodka (Grey Goose of course), Gin (Tanq. No. TEN) and Tequila (Cuervo Gold), not to mention a nice Single Malt. All these bottles, along with countless others, will no doubt grace the liquor shelf soon once the bar is completed.

I just thought that I’d post a pseudo-update to a post I made last week regarding obesity. In fact, this post will more closely resemble the antithesis of obesity. Last week, on Thursday, I had the good fortune of taking a day off the daily grind to contribute something to society as a whole. I volunteered at the Ottawa Food Bank. In case you are wondering, one of the elements in my union contract (yup, that’s right, I’m unionized, not by choice, but it has certain benefits) is that I am entitled to a paid day of leave for volunteer work. Personally, I think it’s a great idea, and rather than just pretend I took a volunteer day, I really did volunteer. Some people (okay, probably a lot), just take the day off claiming volunteer work, but don’t do anything, since technically, no one is allowed to question what you did! Actually, come to think of it, I think this is a government-endorsed thing, not a union thing, but I digress. My tasks for the day were quite menial, which was actually fine by me. People that are there frequently complained about how slow 8 hours goes by when you’re sorting food. Personally, I found the opposite. I found it quite enjoyable to do something manual for a change. Turns out I’m quite adept at mindless physical labour. Of course, I knew that from my two years doing shift work at Michelin Tires at the Granton plant close to my home in N.S.