Friday, November 21, 2003
Thursday, November 13, 2003
GD03, Day Three
Today is the day with all the talks I wanted to go to, and yes, today is a fruitful day in terms of things learned and things discovered.
The morning started with the two plenary talks. The first one is given by Jorg Peters on "Mid-Structures Linking Curved & Linear Geometry", which is actually about the work to create a tight polygonal (or polyhedral) bounding shape for various spline curves (or surfaces). This one, I didn't have any expectations (mostly I knew hardly anything related to this) but it was pleasant and I learned a few things from his talk.
The second, and the one I was most looking forwards to, is the one by Konrad Polthier. This talk will be a summary of recent work him and colleagues have done in the area of discrete differential geometry and related applications. The talk was as good as I have hoped, and I did manage to talk to Konrad afterwards and asked him a few work-related questions.
The morning symposium session is on surface mesh parameterizations. One application of this for the layperson is that this allows for effective texture mapping onto meshes -- but there are other uses too besides this. Anyways, I'll save the details of this session for the trip report I'll write at work, but it is safe to say I enjoyed this session the most, out of all the sessions so far. :)
By lunch time, Chris Ingram showed up and along with Steve and Ken, we went to lunch at the same cafe we went to yesterday. Today, though, the clam chowder was thin and disappointing. The barbecued pacific salmon sandwich was heavenly! Maybe tomorrow I'll go yet again. HA HA. After lunch we walked to the Pike Place Starbucks. Now, this is apparently the first store-front of Starbucks, anywhere. (There is some dispute whether this is truly the first Starbucks, ever, since rumour had it that the first Starbucks is really a trolley that was pushed around by the founder to sell coffee at bus stops and such. Who knows.) I bought a mug specially made for this store, with the traditional, R-rated, Starbucks logo, and some inscription to the effect of "This is mug from the very first Starbucks location."
We came back for the after lunch, and I went to the Mesh Generation session. This session was a bit of a hit and miss. Really, only half the talks were really applicable (I had expected a bit more) but it was fun nonetheless. The one surprisingly fun talk was the one given by Gerald Farin (yes, THE Gerald Farin, ha ha) on their work to compress triangular meshes by treating the vertices of a triangle strip as control points of a b-spline curve. The idea is very refreshing (it uses a completely different approach than other existing methods in this field.) It is work in progress, but already has promising results compared with currently best, published, results. There is one talk on improving QEM-based decimation of ultra-dense triangle meshes, and finally a PDE and distance field based mesh modelling scheme. I went to talk to the speaker of the latter talk, and eventually requested that he send me a copy of his dissertation when he has time.
I kinda sat around until banquet time, during which I met with a young fella by the name of Hassan Ugail, a researcher in the UK specializing in the use of PDE-surface modelling. I have to admit that I knew nothing of this field before, yet his overview of the field is terribly exciting. I think I'll look into it for fun, at least. Oh. How was the food at the banquet? Certainly not worth the money I paid for it. However, just part of the experience at these small conferences I think -- and to think that one gets to be in attendence of such collection of illuminaries in the field. :) Maybe it's worth the $50 bucks or whatever I paid. :)
Today is the day with all the talks I wanted to go to, and yes, today is a fruitful day in terms of things learned and things discovered.
The morning started with the two plenary talks. The first one is given by Jorg Peters on "Mid-Structures Linking Curved & Linear Geometry", which is actually about the work to create a tight polygonal (or polyhedral) bounding shape for various spline curves (or surfaces). This one, I didn't have any expectations (mostly I knew hardly anything related to this) but it was pleasant and I learned a few things from his talk.
The second, and the one I was most looking forwards to, is the one by Konrad Polthier. This talk will be a summary of recent work him and colleagues have done in the area of discrete differential geometry and related applications. The talk was as good as I have hoped, and I did manage to talk to Konrad afterwards and asked him a few work-related questions.
The morning symposium session is on surface mesh parameterizations. One application of this for the layperson is that this allows for effective texture mapping onto meshes -- but there are other uses too besides this. Anyways, I'll save the details of this session for the trip report I'll write at work, but it is safe to say I enjoyed this session the most, out of all the sessions so far. :)
By lunch time, Chris Ingram showed up and along with Steve and Ken, we went to lunch at the same cafe we went to yesterday. Today, though, the clam chowder was thin and disappointing. The barbecued pacific salmon sandwich was heavenly! Maybe tomorrow I'll go yet again. HA HA. After lunch we walked to the Pike Place Starbucks. Now, this is apparently the first store-front of Starbucks, anywhere. (There is some dispute whether this is truly the first Starbucks, ever, since rumour had it that the first Starbucks is really a trolley that was pushed around by the founder to sell coffee at bus stops and such. Who knows.) I bought a mug specially made for this store, with the traditional, R-rated, Starbucks logo, and some inscription to the effect of "This is mug from the very first Starbucks location."
We came back for the after lunch, and I went to the Mesh Generation session. This session was a bit of a hit and miss. Really, only half the talks were really applicable (I had expected a bit more) but it was fun nonetheless. The one surprisingly fun talk was the one given by Gerald Farin (yes, THE Gerald Farin, ha ha) on their work to compress triangular meshes by treating the vertices of a triangle strip as control points of a b-spline curve. The idea is very refreshing (it uses a completely different approach than other existing methods in this field.) It is work in progress, but already has promising results compared with currently best, published, results. There is one talk on improving QEM-based decimation of ultra-dense triangle meshes, and finally a PDE and distance field based mesh modelling scheme. I went to talk to the speaker of the latter talk, and eventually requested that he send me a copy of his dissertation when he has time.
I kinda sat around until banquet time, during which I met with a young fella by the name of Hassan Ugail, a researcher in the UK specializing in the use of PDE-surface modelling. I have to admit that I knew nothing of this field before, yet his overview of the field is terribly exciting. I think I'll look into it for fun, at least. Oh. How was the food at the banquet? Certainly not worth the money I paid for it. However, just part of the experience at these small conferences I think -- and to think that one gets to be in attendence of such collection of illuminaries in the field. :) Maybe it's worth the $50 bucks or whatever I paid. :)
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
GD03, Day Two
Woke up to attend the two plenary talks in the morning. The second one was one that I looked forward to since the speaker, Leif Kobbelt, is a very good speaker, and his topics are very interesting. The first talk given by Michael Leyton, however, was disappointing. The exit polls were dismal – it ranges from confusion to ridicule. Personally I think it wasn’t what he talked about was horrible – he wanted to use apply group theory to classify commonality in the generation of shape elements, and beyond. Arguably it was confusing. However, there was this thing about his tone or how he came across during the talk that was the issue. Reading the abstract one understands that he is very proud of his books, politely speaking. And since this is such a foreign subject to the audience in attendance, he had to spend a majority of his talk to explain the basic theory behind it before he can even get into simple applications. To me the talk itself was quite a drag, and I decided to skip the session he was involved in later in the day.
We went to a very nice café in the Pike Place Market that noon for lunch. It has a very nice view of the Elliot Bay, and the food was excellent. I had an albacore tuna sandwich, with an ice tea. The tea was made with some special blend of tea that was positively floral in smell and in taste – wonderful. The sandwich was also wonderful. On the way back we went under the elevated monorail in Seattle that travels between a mall and the Seattle Space Needle. Since it was sunny and not hazy at all, I managed to take a picture (or two) of the Space Needle. I missed the monorail though.
I waited until the 4:30 session, and attended the “Geometric Modeling using Point Samples” session. Can’t say there are many applications that I can think of immediately, but there I’ve identified a few older papers and basic techniques that I have to investigate further, later.
Dinner
I went to 727 Pine again for dinner. This time the maitra'd offered a menu called 25 for $25, which is a 3 course meal -- 2 appetizer choices, 3 main course choices, and 2 dessert choices. With each choice there is a pairing of wine, by the glass in addition to the price of $25. I took the offer, and ordered the smoke salmon appetizer, the kobe beef main dish, and the trio of sorbet as dessert.
The smoked salmon came, and what it is is a 3-layers of smoke salmon slides, with a dab of unsalted butter between the slices. The trimmed stack of salmon slices was placed on top of a bed of froth sauce, and topped with a salad made of fennel and watercrest. The froth sause was excellent, and the salad toppings was good. The salmon itself was ok -- nothing spectacular.
While I sipped the carbinet savignon, the kobe beef that was paired the wine came. This dish was a bit of a disapointment for me -- not that it wasn't tasty, but I thought the sauce was a bit overpowering, and I wasn't sure I can taste the beef. Or, it can just be me being used to a low-sodium diet at home with my folks.
The sorbet is quite good. The first taste immediately screams "freshly made" but I suppose anything but is a big no-no. :) All in all, I think the $25 price is fine for what I got. Those of you who are, by now, screaming at the screen for my lack of pictures -- the restaurant was way too dark for my dumbo Pentax OptioS to focus.. Doh.
Woke up to attend the two plenary talks in the morning. The second one was one that I looked forward to since the speaker, Leif Kobbelt, is a very good speaker, and his topics are very interesting. The first talk given by Michael Leyton, however, was disappointing. The exit polls were dismal – it ranges from confusion to ridicule. Personally I think it wasn’t what he talked about was horrible – he wanted to use apply group theory to classify commonality in the generation of shape elements, and beyond. Arguably it was confusing. However, there was this thing about his tone or how he came across during the talk that was the issue. Reading the abstract one understands that he is very proud of his books, politely speaking. And since this is such a foreign subject to the audience in attendance, he had to spend a majority of his talk to explain the basic theory behind it before he can even get into simple applications. To me the talk itself was quite a drag, and I decided to skip the session he was involved in later in the day.
We went to a very nice café in the Pike Place Market that noon for lunch. It has a very nice view of the Elliot Bay, and the food was excellent. I had an albacore tuna sandwich, with an ice tea. The tea was made with some special blend of tea that was positively floral in smell and in taste – wonderful. The sandwich was also wonderful. On the way back we went under the elevated monorail in Seattle that travels between a mall and the Seattle Space Needle. Since it was sunny and not hazy at all, I managed to take a picture (or two) of the Space Needle. I missed the monorail though.
I waited until the 4:30 session, and attended the “Geometric Modeling using Point Samples” session. Can’t say there are many applications that I can think of immediately, but there I’ve identified a few older papers and basic techniques that I have to investigate further, later.
Dinner
I went to 727 Pine again for dinner. This time the maitra'd offered a menu called 25 for $25, which is a 3 course meal -- 2 appetizer choices, 3 main course choices, and 2 dessert choices. With each choice there is a pairing of wine, by the glass in addition to the price of $25. I took the offer, and ordered the smoke salmon appetizer, the kobe beef main dish, and the trio of sorbet as dessert.
The smoked salmon came, and what it is is a 3-layers of smoke salmon slides, with a dab of unsalted butter between the slices. The trimmed stack of salmon slices was placed on top of a bed of froth sauce, and topped with a salad made of fennel and watercrest. The froth sause was excellent, and the salad toppings was good. The salmon itself was ok -- nothing spectacular.
While I sipped the carbinet savignon, the kobe beef that was paired the wine came. This dish was a bit of a disapointment for me -- not that it wasn't tasty, but I thought the sauce was a bit overpowering, and I wasn't sure I can taste the beef. Or, it can just be me being used to a low-sodium diet at home with my folks.
The sorbet is quite good. The first taste immediately screams "freshly made" but I suppose anything but is a big no-no. :) All in all, I think the $25 price is fine for what I got. Those of you who are, by now, screaming at the screen for my lack of pictures -- the restaurant was way too dark for my dumbo Pentax OptioS to focus.. Doh.
GD03, Day One, Dinner
According to ChowHound, Saito's is a good, consistent Japanese restaurant in Seattle. So I decided to try it. Around the corner of 2nd and Bell, it is but an at-most-20-minutes walk to the restaurant.
I arrived, and promptly asked for a seat at the sushi bar. I think Saito-san was around, but it was a junior sushi chef that greeted me at the bar. I cracked opened the menu, and ordered a sashimi dinner, an order each of o toro and amaebi, a la carte.
I give the sashimi dish an 85. The octopus is quite good, while the hamachi was very good. Both weren't all cooked and vinegared to death.. And the latter was quite fragrant and the oils spread in mouth even if I just put it on tongue.
The red clams are also very good.. I don't think I have had these clams fresh.. I always had them frozen. In fact many of the fishes on that dish are good. Even the daikon was cut extremely thin (indicating that whoever made it had very good knife skills.) The only bad thing was that there were 2 scales on one piece of the fish, which I thought was the weirdest.
The amaebi nigiri sushi was very good. Mind you this wasn't the smallish shrimp that I was used to, but in fact I got two relatively large shrimps! Whereas the body was served raw on the sushi (yummy, and seriously fragrant with the sweetness of shrimp throughout), the heads of the shrimps were deep fried tempura-style. That way, I get to enjoy the heads too -- the fat and some of the shrimp meat are tasty there.
The otoro was also very good.. as in, fatty, melt-in-your-mouth good. It was of a seriously pale-pink colour, and for around $10 USD, I got two large pieces of otoro, nigiri-sushi style. It was a bit sinewy, but that's ok.
Suffice to say, I left the place a happy guy. 2 out of 3 done! (Oysters is left)
According to ChowHound, Saito's is a good, consistent Japanese restaurant in Seattle. So I decided to try it. Around the corner of 2nd and Bell, it is but an at-most-20-minutes walk to the restaurant.
I arrived, and promptly asked for a seat at the sushi bar. I think Saito-san was around, but it was a junior sushi chef that greeted me at the bar. I cracked opened the menu, and ordered a sashimi dinner, an order each of o toro and amaebi, a la carte.
I give the sashimi dish an 85. The octopus is quite good, while the hamachi was very good. Both weren't all cooked and vinegared to death.. And the latter was quite fragrant and the oils spread in mouth even if I just put it on tongue.
The red clams are also very good.. I don't think I have had these clams fresh.. I always had them frozen. In fact many of the fishes on that dish are good. Even the daikon was cut extremely thin (indicating that whoever made it had very good knife skills.) The only bad thing was that there were 2 scales on one piece of the fish, which I thought was the weirdest.
The amaebi nigiri sushi was very good. Mind you this wasn't the smallish shrimp that I was used to, but in fact I got two relatively large shrimps! Whereas the body was served raw on the sushi (yummy, and seriously fragrant with the sweetness of shrimp throughout), the heads of the shrimps were deep fried tempura-style. That way, I get to enjoy the heads too -- the fat and some of the shrimp meat are tasty there.
The otoro was also very good.. as in, fatty, melt-in-your-mouth good. It was of a seriously pale-pink colour, and for around $10 USD, I got two large pieces of otoro, nigiri-sushi style. It was a bit sinewy, but that's ok.
Suffice to say, I left the place a happy guy. 2 out of 3 done! (Oysters is left)
Monday, November 10, 2003
GD03, Day One, Lunch and Afternoon
Steve and I walked to the Pike Place Market, which is also known as the fish market for some. It is right at the seashore, a few blocks down Pine Street from where the hotel is (Pine and 6th). After Steve got the spices, we toured the market a bit to check it out. The market itself is a multi-floor market, where it is basically groceries (fish, in particular) and also arts and crafts. Much like the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.
We found one of the original Starbucks stores, where they still use the old logo. The story behind the logo is that the original one is completely brown, and featured a white, whole-body picture of a mermaid, boobs and all. Then as the chain expanded, they had to "sanitize" the logo and so the new logo only zoomed into the mermaid's face. I'll include links to pictures soon.
We then decided it is time for lunch. After checking out umpteen restaurants Steve found Ivar's, and he exclaimed, "Oh, there's Ivars! [The search is] done!" We went for the fish-n-chips part of the Ivar's store, mostly because by that time we are tired, and I had previously proclaimed, "At this point, I can settle for fish-n-chips" when Steve asked what kind of "seafood" I really wanted. So I was glad that we found a place that Steve, who I guess knew a thing or two about Seattle, was happy to have found. I ordered the 4 piece Halibut and chips, the salmon chowder, and a coke. We then proceeded to sit "outside" -- benches and tables under a sheet-metal roof -- where we get to stare at seagulls and pigeons, and had a very nice view of the bay. To tell the truth, only the first 2 of the 4 pieces of fish were tasty -- the other ones were overcooked in the fryer, I think. However, the tartar sauce was excellent, and I have never tasted chowder so unique (well it was salmon chowder, as I've metioned) and it's quite good! So I was a happy guy, nonetheless.
It was all cloudy and overcast today, but Steve mentioned that this was "exceptional weather". In fact, since it didn't rain today. It was in fact a very good day for us to have ventured out of the hotel and did some site-seeing and shopping.
After we returned, I attended the session called Engineering Challenges in Geometric Modeling, where various folks discussed current challenges faced by CAD/CAM users, what things they cannot do, and what things are worth the time to investigate into.
Steve and I walked to the Pike Place Market, which is also known as the fish market for some. It is right at the seashore, a few blocks down Pine Street from where the hotel is (Pine and 6th). After Steve got the spices, we toured the market a bit to check it out. The market itself is a multi-floor market, where it is basically groceries (fish, in particular) and also arts and crafts. Much like the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.
We found one of the original Starbucks stores, where they still use the old logo. The story behind the logo is that the original one is completely brown, and featured a white, whole-body picture of a mermaid, boobs and all. Then as the chain expanded, they had to "sanitize" the logo and so the new logo only zoomed into the mermaid's face. I'll include links to pictures soon.
We then decided it is time for lunch. After checking out umpteen restaurants Steve found Ivar's, and he exclaimed, "Oh, there's Ivars! [The search is] done!" We went for the fish-n-chips part of the Ivar's store, mostly because by that time we are tired, and I had previously proclaimed, "At this point, I can settle for fish-n-chips" when Steve asked what kind of "seafood" I really wanted. So I was glad that we found a place that Steve, who I guess knew a thing or two about Seattle, was happy to have found. I ordered the 4 piece Halibut and chips, the salmon chowder, and a coke. We then proceeded to sit "outside" -- benches and tables under a sheet-metal roof -- where we get to stare at seagulls and pigeons, and had a very nice view of the bay. To tell the truth, only the first 2 of the 4 pieces of fish were tasty -- the other ones were overcooked in the fryer, I think. However, the tartar sauce was excellent, and I have never tasted chowder so unique (well it was salmon chowder, as I've metioned) and it's quite good! So I was a happy guy, nonetheless.
It was all cloudy and overcast today, but Steve mentioned that this was "exceptional weather". In fact, since it didn't rain today. It was in fact a very good day for us to have ventured out of the hotel and did some site-seeing and shopping.
After we returned, I attended the session called Engineering Challenges in Geometric Modeling, where various folks discussed current challenges faced by CAD/CAM users, what things they cannot do, and what things are worth the time to investigate into.
GD03, Day One, Morning
Woke up just in time to attend the invited talks, and didn’t even have time for breakfast. The first one was by a guy from the Boeing Math group, Tom Grandine, about their efforts in geometry generation, and its role in aircraft design. The talk was very interesting for me as a person not too familiar with the aircraft design, this talk gave a bit of insight on how aircrafts go form design to product. The second talk was by one of the guys behind level sets, Stanley Osher. The talk was a blur, because he was trying to give an overview of his favorite subject by skimming through 3 sets of old presentation slides prepared for different aspects/applications of the level-set idea. Frankly, it was a bit disappointing that an invited speaker didn't prepare a new set of slides for his or her plenary talk.
I found out that I can have breakfast at the Starbucks on the ground floor -- I think that is where I'll go for chow in the morning for the rest of this trip, instead of the expensive breakfast I had yesterday.
After the plenary talks, I met up with Steve in the foyer. He decided to go to the Pike Place Market during the morning Mini Symposium session to pick up Craig's spices. After checking the scheduled topics, I decided to join him. It’s a good day to go because it’s not supposed to rain today. We’ll see.
Woke up just in time to attend the invited talks, and didn’t even have time for breakfast. The first one was by a guy from the Boeing Math group, Tom Grandine, about their efforts in geometry generation, and its role in aircraft design. The talk was very interesting for me as a person not too familiar with the aircraft design, this talk gave a bit of insight on how aircrafts go form design to product. The second talk was by one of the guys behind level sets, Stanley Osher. The talk was a blur, because he was trying to give an overview of his favorite subject by skimming through 3 sets of old presentation slides prepared for different aspects/applications of the level-set idea. Frankly, it was a bit disappointing that an invited speaker didn't prepare a new set of slides for his or her plenary talk.
I found out that I can have breakfast at the Starbucks on the ground floor -- I think that is where I'll go for chow in the morning for the rest of this trip, instead of the expensive breakfast I had yesterday.
After the plenary talks, I met up with Steve in the foyer. He decided to go to the Pike Place Market during the morning Mini Symposium session to pick up Craig's spices. After checking the scheduled topics, I decided to join him. It’s a good day to go because it’s not supposed to rain today. We’ll see.
GD03 Day Zero
Woke up way too early, at 6am PST. Had tones of time to explore the room some more. Took a nice shower, and then realized that there is this big tub-to-ceiling mirror in the washroom that offers the most unflattering view of oneself -- a gentle reminder that I should go to the gym tonight on the 4th floor.
I walked into the 727 Pine restaurant downstairs to have breakfast. For $12 USD I had the "Forager's Mushroom omelet". The mushrooms are very nice, and I even got a healthy serving of fresh goat cheese inside the omelet too. However, the egg itself was disappointing.
Morning session was ok. Some useful information, but mostly the stuff goes over my head: too much math. The Luncheon was interesting. Met with one of the conference organizers (Mike Neamtu), a person who used to work with Alias, Robert Blomgren, and also Tor Dokken, one of the speakers in the morning session.
The afternoon session was a bit more interesting. It was on meshless field simulations, and it involves heavily the idea of approximate distance fields.
Met up with Steve when he was setting up his poster in the foyer, and invited him to come visit my room so he can check emails and such. Chatted a bit.
In the poster reception, I had some professionally done gravlax, tasty!
Met Ken Sloan(link) apparently a faculty member in U(wash) when Steve was a student there. He explained his views on why there should not have been a proceedings for this conference, and that was an interesting point, (elaborate) and though I do not agree 100% it was interesting nonetheless.
We had dinner at Von’s (link) and they serve very nice angus beef roast. Tastiest roast I have had, and the price is reasonable given that it is angus beef.
Finally got to watch “The Transporter” starring Shu Qi. The movie itself was horrible.. and it didn’t have too much of the car-chase scenes I was looking for.. oh well. At least the guy fought well (i.e. very good kung-fu choreography).
Woke up way too early, at 6am PST. Had tones of time to explore the room some more. Took a nice shower, and then realized that there is this big tub-to-ceiling mirror in the washroom that offers the most unflattering view of oneself -- a gentle reminder that I should go to the gym tonight on the 4th floor.
I walked into the 727 Pine restaurant downstairs to have breakfast. For $12 USD I had the "Forager's Mushroom omelet". The mushrooms are very nice, and I even got a healthy serving of fresh goat cheese inside the omelet too. However, the egg itself was disappointing.
Morning session was ok. Some useful information, but mostly the stuff goes over my head: too much math. The Luncheon was interesting. Met with one of the conference organizers (Mike Neamtu), a person who used to work with Alias, Robert Blomgren, and also Tor Dokken, one of the speakers in the morning session.
The afternoon session was a bit more interesting. It was on meshless field simulations, and it involves heavily the idea of approximate distance fields.
Met up with Steve when he was setting up his poster in the foyer, and invited him to come visit my room so he can check emails and such. Chatted a bit.
In the poster reception, I had some professionally done gravlax, tasty!
Met Ken Sloan(link) apparently a faculty member in U(wash) when Steve was a student there. He explained his views on why there should not have been a proceedings for this conference, and that was an interesting point, (elaborate) and though I do not agree 100% it was interesting nonetheless.
We had dinner at Von’s (link) and they serve very nice angus beef roast. Tastiest roast I have had, and the price is reasonable given that it is angus beef.
Finally got to watch “The Transporter” starring Shu Qi. The movie itself was horrible.. and it didn’t have too much of the car-chase scenes I was looking for.. oh well. At least the guy fought well (i.e. very good kung-fu choreography).
Sunday, November 09, 2003
The Shuttle and the Hotel
So after we got off the plane, Steve proceeded to get his luggage, while I went to find the shuttle bus stand. We found the one for Gray Line, which is the one that was mentioned to me by the lady from the hotel with whom I have talked to this morning. However, this one was unlit, and so we walked along the side of the terminal until we came to a second stand, where the booth was open. We purchased our ticket (round trip shuttle fare = $14 USD) and we waited until the shuttle arrived. During all this time Steve mentioned his plans to take the metro bus, and there are two different routes he can take.
At this point I have to mention that I am amazed at how many sign are around the place. Signs everywhere!
"Bus stop 300 feet ahead."
"Wrong way to C gate"
"This way to luggage"
"Do not [do whatever they didn't want you do to]"
In fact, it is then I realized why Americans say that when they drive up to Canada they noticed how bad the signage on Canadian Highways are. :) It's true.. Here at least there are many signs, way more then there are in say, Pearson Airport.
Anyways, the shuttle finally came at 8:50pm (right on time), and we are on our way. The bus stopped at a few other hotels before arriving at the Grand Seattle Hyatt. Oh well, by the time I arrived at my hotel room it was close to 9:40pm. Wow, speaking of my hotel room. It is expensive. Whew. It is like $139 USD per night -- *and* this is supposed to be the conference rate. Holy. I hope my boss doesn't freak out.
So after we got off the plane, Steve proceeded to get his luggage, while I went to find the shuttle bus stand. We found the one for Gray Line, which is the one that was mentioned to me by the lady from the hotel with whom I have talked to this morning. However, this one was unlit, and so we walked along the side of the terminal until we came to a second stand, where the booth was open. We purchased our ticket (round trip shuttle fare = $14 USD) and we waited until the shuttle arrived. During all this time Steve mentioned his plans to take the metro bus, and there are two different routes he can take.
At this point I have to mention that I am amazed at how many sign are around the place. Signs everywhere!
"Bus stop 300 feet ahead."
"Wrong way to C gate"
"This way to luggage"
"Do not [do whatever they didn't want you do to]"
In fact, it is then I realized why Americans say that when they drive up to Canada they noticed how bad the signage on Canadian Highways are. :) It's true.. Here at least there are many signs, way more then there are in say, Pearson Airport.
Anyways, the shuttle finally came at 8:50pm (right on time), and we are on our way. The bus stopped at a few other hotels before arriving at the Grand Seattle Hyatt. Oh well, by the time I arrived at my hotel room it was close to 9:40pm. Wow, speaking of my hotel room. It is expensive. Whew. It is like $139 USD per night -- *and* this is supposed to be the conference rate. Holy. I hope my boss doesn't freak out.
Pearson
I haven’t been to the US since Aug 2001, so I didn’t know what to expect at the airport check-in and the US customs. I do know that I am supposed to present my electronic devices for inspection, including having to turn on each and every piece of equipment to prove that they are in working order, and not something else in disguise. This time around I manage to get a company laptop loaned to me for the duration of the trip. I’ll tell the story of the laptop later.
So, I got to the terminal, and headed to the Express Check-in. This is the first time I bought an e-ticket from Air Canada so I didn’t know what to expect. I fed my Aeroplan card into the machine, and it then asked for more identifications. Hmm – one of the options for “additional identification” was a credit card so that is what I fed the machine next. It thought for a while and asked for more identification. What?! That was the visa I bought the tickets with! The only option presented to me was the booking confirmation number. I took out my itinerary, and discovered (of course) that none of the numbers is called “booking confirmation”. Finally I discovered the right one, and the rest of the process of automated check-in went without a hitch. Sigh. I thought, “This is going to a fun day”.
As I proceeded to the restricted area, a lady seated at the door asked if I have got a pink form. Turns out that was the form that I should fill out to prove that I have non of the SARS symptoms. The US custom agent was friendly enough – but I think they are required not to smile and speak with a deadpan tone.
Now comes the dreaded part – the x-ray machine. I mentally rehearsed my plan for turning on the machines I have on me: my laptop, my digital camera, my PDA, etc. I told them that my shoulder bag contains the equipment, and they told me to take them out and pass them through the x-ray machine separately. Sure. Past the x-ray machines they go. Operator #1 signals to operator #2 and #3; conveyer belt that feeds the x-ray beast stops. Fingers extends and points to the screen. “Oh no,” I thought, “That’s great. What did I pack that’s not to their liking?” Then, nothing, the belt restarts and all my stuff passes through.
Next came my turn to go through the metal-detecting doorframe. Today I was wearing my North Face convertible camping pants, equipped with a nylon belt that featured a plastic belt buckle. Hence, this is one of the very few times that I go through the doorframe without causing a beep. Excellent. Henceforth this pair of pants will be the pants of choice when I have to go on a trip! Ha Ha.
Now comes the turn-on-machines part. The lady asks for my permission to take a look at my laptop shoulder bag. Sure – as if I had a choice. No! You may not look at my bag at all. Ha. Hmm. So she dons latex gloves and proceeds to feel around in all the compartments of the bag. The other lady opens my laptop, but instead of turning it on, she takes this “wand” with a fabric tip, and proceeds to wipe it on the insides of the laptop. It donned on me that this is probably some sort of chemical sniffer, looking for chemical residue on the laptop. Cool. After the wiping is done, the computer purred its satisfaction, and the ladies let me go. At this point it is 4:30pm, about 1.5 hours from my flight, which means there are tonnes of time left. I get to sit at Gate P until the boarding call.
Shortly after boarding the plane, I got to my seat and was reading the En Route magazine (link?) when someone called out my name. Turned out it was Steve Mann, a professor back at the CGL at Waterloo. Wow. I really didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew at this conference, and here I am, not even in Seattle yet, and already found one! We chatted about things, and found out a few more things about the conference, and how I can get from the SEA-TAC airport to the hotel. But I think I’ll still take the shuttle, since it goes directly to my hotel, and the company’s paying for it. :)
The Laptop
I got the idea to borrow a company laptop when Tyatt and I were discussing choices of bed-and-breakfast places in Vancouver. Back then we were sure we are able to get a place that has a computer for us to use – thought almost all the places we’ve found offered free use of high-speed internet access. Finally last Monday I called up the company’s department responsible for such things and requested the loaner laptop, and on Friday I got it. However, they let me have an older model (a PII 266), which wasn’t a problem, but it has no network card, which is a big problem. How the heck am I supposed to use my free high speed internet access at the B&B and my hotel room? I was so psyched about my free in-room internet access at the hotel (link) that this turn of events was quite deflating. But at least they set the laptop up so that I can dial back to the company via a modem and check work email that way. Then again, would they pay me back for the long distance calls when I dial in? I guess I’ll find out next week. :)
Back in my house, I was chatting with Tyatt and lamenting on the laptop when she, ever resourceful, suggested that I check out Future Shop (link) to see if I can buy some PCMCIA card for the laptop, at least for the duration of the trip (ok I am evil). She then forwarded a link to a wonderful, tiny device, the Linksys USB network “card” (link). It’s not really a card – it looked more like the now-commonplace USB Flash drives (or the so-called key-chain hard drives). So today I went and bought one. Tried it, and (after a few snafus with the driver installation) the network thingy worked like a charm. Wonderful. So now the circle is complete. :)
Then I also discovered that there is only one battery (out of two), that the battery drains REAL fast, and there are at least 3 things that are already broken on the laptop – such as the latch that keeps the screen secured when the laptop is closed. I guess the laptop had seen better days. Oh well, as long as I can use it (like I am now, on the plane, writing this long blog), I am a happy guy. Welcome to my first business trip!
I haven’t been to the US since Aug 2001, so I didn’t know what to expect at the airport check-in and the US customs. I do know that I am supposed to present my electronic devices for inspection, including having to turn on each and every piece of equipment to prove that they are in working order, and not something else in disguise. This time around I manage to get a company laptop loaned to me for the duration of the trip. I’ll tell the story of the laptop later.
So, I got to the terminal, and headed to the Express Check-in. This is the first time I bought an e-ticket from Air Canada so I didn’t know what to expect. I fed my Aeroplan card into the machine, and it then asked for more identifications. Hmm – one of the options for “additional identification” was a credit card so that is what I fed the machine next. It thought for a while and asked for more identification. What?! That was the visa I bought the tickets with! The only option presented to me was the booking confirmation number. I took out my itinerary, and discovered (of course) that none of the numbers is called “booking confirmation”. Finally I discovered the right one, and the rest of the process of automated check-in went without a hitch. Sigh. I thought, “This is going to a fun day”.
As I proceeded to the restricted area, a lady seated at the door asked if I have got a pink form. Turns out that was the form that I should fill out to prove that I have non of the SARS symptoms. The US custom agent was friendly enough – but I think they are required not to smile and speak with a deadpan tone.
Now comes the dreaded part – the x-ray machine. I mentally rehearsed my plan for turning on the machines I have on me: my laptop, my digital camera, my PDA, etc. I told them that my shoulder bag contains the equipment, and they told me to take them out and pass them through the x-ray machine separately. Sure. Past the x-ray machines they go. Operator #1 signals to operator #2 and #3; conveyer belt that feeds the x-ray beast stops. Fingers extends and points to the screen. “Oh no,” I thought, “That’s great. What did I pack that’s not to their liking?” Then, nothing, the belt restarts and all my stuff passes through.
Next came my turn to go through the metal-detecting doorframe. Today I was wearing my North Face convertible camping pants, equipped with a nylon belt that featured a plastic belt buckle. Hence, this is one of the very few times that I go through the doorframe without causing a beep. Excellent. Henceforth this pair of pants will be the pants of choice when I have to go on a trip! Ha Ha.
Now comes the turn-on-machines part. The lady asks for my permission to take a look at my laptop shoulder bag. Sure – as if I had a choice. No! You may not look at my bag at all. Ha. Hmm. So she dons latex gloves and proceeds to feel around in all the compartments of the bag. The other lady opens my laptop, but instead of turning it on, she takes this “wand” with a fabric tip, and proceeds to wipe it on the insides of the laptop. It donned on me that this is probably some sort of chemical sniffer, looking for chemical residue on the laptop. Cool. After the wiping is done, the computer purred its satisfaction, and the ladies let me go. At this point it is 4:30pm, about 1.5 hours from my flight, which means there are tonnes of time left. I get to sit at Gate P until the boarding call.
Shortly after boarding the plane, I got to my seat and was reading the En Route magazine (link?) when someone called out my name. Turned out it was Steve Mann, a professor back at the CGL at Waterloo. Wow. I really didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew at this conference, and here I am, not even in Seattle yet, and already found one! We chatted about things, and found out a few more things about the conference, and how I can get from the SEA-TAC airport to the hotel. But I think I’ll still take the shuttle, since it goes directly to my hotel, and the company’s paying for it. :)
The Laptop
I got the idea to borrow a company laptop when Tyatt and I were discussing choices of bed-and-breakfast places in Vancouver. Back then we were sure we are able to get a place that has a computer for us to use – thought almost all the places we’ve found offered free use of high-speed internet access. Finally last Monday I called up the company’s department responsible for such things and requested the loaner laptop, and on Friday I got it. However, they let me have an older model (a PII 266), which wasn’t a problem, but it has no network card, which is a big problem. How the heck am I supposed to use my free high speed internet access at the B&B and my hotel room? I was so psyched about my free in-room internet access at the hotel (link) that this turn of events was quite deflating. But at least they set the laptop up so that I can dial back to the company via a modem and check work email that way. Then again, would they pay me back for the long distance calls when I dial in? I guess I’ll find out next week. :)
Back in my house, I was chatting with Tyatt and lamenting on the laptop when she, ever resourceful, suggested that I check out Future Shop (link) to see if I can buy some PCMCIA card for the laptop, at least for the duration of the trip (ok I am evil). She then forwarded a link to a wonderful, tiny device, the Linksys USB network “card” (link). It’s not really a card – it looked more like the now-commonplace USB Flash drives (or the so-called key-chain hard drives). So today I went and bought one. Tried it, and (after a few snafus with the driver installation) the network thingy worked like a charm. Wonderful. So now the circle is complete. :)
Then I also discovered that there is only one battery (out of two), that the battery drains REAL fast, and there are at least 3 things that are already broken on the laptop – such as the latch that keeps the screen secured when the laptop is closed. I guess the laptop had seen better days. Oh well, as long as I can use it (like I am now, on the plane, writing this long blog), I am a happy guy. Welcome to my first business trip!
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Trip to Seattle!
So the plans are set. The company will sponsor my trip to Seattle for the SIAM Conference on Geometric Design & Computing, held at the luxurious Grand Hyatt Seattle. I'll be going on the 8th of November.
I think this will be the first trip that I'll try to make daily entries on my trip here! Boy did I regret not starting this blog earlier when Tyatt and I were on our JKH trip. Doh, that would have been a blast.. Instead we tried to write trip journals.. And I think we are still stuck on the entry on the 9th of Dec, 2002. Ha ha ha... Really sad too, because this is the one trip that was to countries that are so wired, where computers were available at all these place (every train station we've been to had terminals for dirt cheap access fees!) Sigh..
I hope I get to borrow a laptop to go.. but I am sure there will be free terminals at the conference for me to type in entries.
So the plans are set. The company will sponsor my trip to Seattle for the SIAM Conference on Geometric Design & Computing, held at the luxurious Grand Hyatt Seattle. I'll be going on the 8th of November.
I think this will be the first trip that I'll try to make daily entries on my trip here! Boy did I regret not starting this blog earlier when Tyatt and I were on our JKH trip. Doh, that would have been a blast.. Instead we tried to write trip journals.. And I think we are still stuck on the entry on the 9th of Dec, 2002. Ha ha ha... Really sad too, because this is the one trip that was to countries that are so wired, where computers were available at all these place (every train station we've been to had terminals for dirt cheap access fees!) Sigh..
I hope I get to borrow a laptop to go.. but I am sure there will be free terminals at the conference for me to type in entries.
At the gym
So Marco joined the club. It's good that he's also into cardio, so I have a partner on the elliptical cardio machine so I won't think of quitting every 5 minutes on it. We stuck to the plan and worked out for 30 minutes. I think I am getting the hang of it, so it's not so painful after 15 minutes. The ankle doesn't bother me anymore, though I get a hint of it whenI push. I think the pain will go away soon.
So Marco joined the club. It's good that he's also into cardio, so I have a partner on the elliptical cardio machine so I won't think of quitting every 5 minutes on it. We stuck to the plan and worked out for 30 minutes. I think I am getting the hang of it, so it's not so painful after 15 minutes. The ankle doesn't bother me anymore, though I get a hint of it whenI push. I think the pain will go away soon.
Gravlax, take two
My second batch of gravlax was ready this morning (after having spent 1.5 days in the fridge) and this time it is more successful. I actually followed the recipe this time and so the amount of salt and sugar is just right I think. And I didn't go nuts with the dill this time -- I didn't use the stems and went easy with the leaves -- and so the fish flavour is still there mostly. And all the oils are still in the flesh, so when I cut it into slices they are gleaming and shiny! Very appealing. Yum.. Though, I can taste that the side of the fish touching the marinade is saltier than the skin side, so I wonder if next time I should pack both sides with the marinade.
I also bought some capers. This is a small jar, $3 CAD, and are capers packed with rock salt. To use, I washed them under running water, and soaked them in some more water overnight in a bowl. This way they are not so salty when I eat them with my gravlax.
I think if/when Marco's party comes along and it's a potluck, I'll make 1.5lb of this stuff.
Oh.. also turns out this way to curing fish can also be applied to other types of fish. For example, there are recipes for curing halibut here and here.
My second batch of gravlax was ready this morning (after having spent 1.5 days in the fridge) and this time it is more successful. I actually followed the recipe this time and so the amount of salt and sugar is just right I think. And I didn't go nuts with the dill this time -- I didn't use the stems and went easy with the leaves -- and so the fish flavour is still there mostly. And all the oils are still in the flesh, so when I cut it into slices they are gleaming and shiny! Very appealing. Yum.. Though, I can taste that the side of the fish touching the marinade is saltier than the skin side, so I wonder if next time I should pack both sides with the marinade.
I also bought some capers. This is a small jar, $3 CAD, and are capers packed with rock salt. To use, I washed them under running water, and soaked them in some more water overnight in a bowl. This way they are not so salty when I eat them with my gravlax.
I think if/when Marco's party comes along and it's a potluck, I'll make 1.5lb of this stuff.
Oh.. also turns out this way to curing fish can also be applied to other types of fish. For example, there are recipes for curing halibut here and here.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Today's weight = 178lb (woo...)
Today is also arms day at the gym.. Marco didn't get to slack off today because for arm's day there are no "rods only" exercise like he had for chest day last Sunday. haha He was dog-tired afterward.. :) I am too.. for all the time (one/two months?) that I've slacked off.. I am soooo paying for it now. Never mind.. all for a good cause.
Today is also arms day at the gym.. Marco didn't get to slack off today because for arm's day there are no "rods only" exercise like he had for chest day last Sunday. haha He was dog-tired afterward.. :) I am too.. for all the time (one/two months?) that I've slacked off.. I am soooo paying for it now. Never mind.. all for a good cause.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Weight loss update
Today's weight = 178lb (woohoo).
I am also trying to eat less during dinner, saving the food for lunch the next day. That seems like a good idea. Also, trying to eat fruits now.. even though that gums up my throat (allergic to sugar?!)
Today's weight = 178lb (woohoo).
I am also trying to eat less during dinner, saving the food for lunch the next day. That seems like a good idea. Also, trying to eat fruits now.. even though that gums up my throat (allergic to sugar?!)
Monday, October 27, 2003
Today's weight = 180lb (doh...)
well, the Great Wall of China wasn't built in one day. At least the workout yesterday gave me the good sign of a good workout -- very sore chest and shoulder muscles.. Good good.
I'll remember to update the graph tonight.
well, the Great Wall of China wasn't built in one day. At least the workout yesterday gave me the good sign of a good workout -- very sore chest and shoulder muscles.. Good good.
I'll remember to update the graph tonight.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Graph posted
Ok, I've made a new page on my website that will show my body-weight graph. I'll try to remember to update it daily.
Ok, I've made a new page on my website that will show my body-weight graph. I'll try to remember to update it daily.
batik-squiggle vs. Adobe-SVG
I got sick of Adobe-SVG and got batik-squiggle working. The latter worked like a charm -- and turns out the SVG terminal for gnuplot is fine and dandy.. whew. Think I'll try to figure out why the adobe viewer fucked up so badly on the rendering of my simple, simple graph.
I got sick of Adobe-SVG and got batik-squiggle working. The latter worked like a charm -- and turns out the SVG terminal for gnuplot is fine and dandy.. whew. Think I'll try to figure out why the adobe viewer fucked up so badly on the rendering of my simple, simple graph.
Dream phone
The other day I saw the Handspring Treo 600 and I fell in love with it. Nice and small, this time the design is actually sane (the Treo 300 and 270 both have flip covers.. doh! and wide-ass! DOH DOH!) There are one or two reviews of the phone online [Wall Street Journal], [PC Magazine], and [TreoCentral]. Now I just need to see if there are any places in Seattle that sells it at a store so I can grab it while on my trip there.
The other day I saw the Handspring Treo 600 and I fell in love with it. Nice and small, this time the design is actually sane (the Treo 300 and 270 both have flip covers.. doh! and wide-ass! DOH DOH!) There are one or two reviews of the phone online [Wall Street Journal], [PC Magazine], and [TreoCentral]. Now I just need to see if there are any places in Seattle that sells it at a store so I can grab it while on my trip there.
Gnuplot and my weight-loss plan
Alright.. so I dug up my old gnuplot scripts from my thesis work and started a plot of weight versus time (days). After staring at the script I wrote to plot the research data, I realized I've forgotten a lot of the stuff about gnuplot so I had to refer to the manual a bit. I also found a wiki dedicated to gnuplot at gnuplot wiki.
I thought it might be a good time to try SVG, especially cool for a graph that I can resize nicely! Turns out there is an "output plugin" for gnuplot that I can use to get my plot in SVG format. That's alright, no problem. However, I think on linux there is a little problem getting a decent viewer for SVG files. Interestingly, there are some nice folks working on SVG display capabilities for the Mozilla browser. However, it seems that while the SVG code is in the Mozilla CVS it's not turned on in the trunk Mozilla/Mozilla-firebird. Doh. I don't want to recompile mine on my linux box. :( Anyways, this page lists a lot of other available SVG viewer implementations out there. I am using Adobe's right now, but can't say I am too impressed with it as a plug-in for Firebird. Out of that list, I am most eagerly awaiting KSVG, which will be part of KDE 3.2, supposedly scheduled for a December 2003 release. How cool is that?! :) Also cool is Squiggle, the SVG browser that is part of the Batik package -- only thing is that I need java on my linux box.
Alright.. so I dug up my old gnuplot scripts from my thesis work and started a plot of weight versus time (days). After staring at the script I wrote to plot the research data, I realized I've forgotten a lot of the stuff about gnuplot so I had to refer to the manual a bit. I also found a wiki dedicated to gnuplot at gnuplot wiki.
I thought it might be a good time to try SVG, especially cool for a graph that I can resize nicely! Turns out there is an "output plugin" for gnuplot that I can use to get my plot in SVG format. That's alright, no problem. However, I think on linux there is a little problem getting a decent viewer for SVG files. Interestingly, there are some nice folks working on SVG display capabilities for the Mozilla browser. However, it seems that while the SVG code is in the Mozilla CVS it's not turned on in the trunk Mozilla/Mozilla-firebird. Doh. I don't want to recompile mine on my linux box. :( Anyways, this page lists a lot of other available SVG viewer implementations out there. I am using Adobe's right now, but can't say I am too impressed with it as a plug-in for Firebird. Out of that list, I am most eagerly awaiting KSVG, which will be part of KDE 3.2, supposedly scheduled for a December 2003 release. How cool is that?! :) Also cool is Squiggle, the SVG browser that is part of the Batik package -- only thing is that I need java on my linux box.
Weight-loss graph?!
Now that I am on this plan, perhaps it's instructive (and perhaps motivational, in a negative way) to see the progress (or lack of it) on some kind of chart. Perhaps I'll exercise my skills in gnuplot and use it to draw a graph.. I wonder if I should also document the exercises I've done too, just to attempt a pseudo-scientific correlation between (lack of) exercise and (lack of) progress..
Now that I am on this plan, perhaps it's instructive (and perhaps motivational, in a negative way) to see the progress (or lack of it) on some kind of chart. Perhaps I'll exercise my skills in gnuplot and use it to draw a graph.. I wonder if I should also document the exercises I've done too, just to attempt a pseudo-scientific correlation between (lack of) exercise and (lack of) progress..
Weight-loss plan, Day 2
This morning's weight: 179lb (fuck....)
No matter. Today I will go to the gym with Macro, my friend who wants to go to the gym to try and lose some weight too. Good.. Finally I found someone who actually wants to get on the treadmill (or stairmaster, or elliptical x-country skiing machine) with me ha ha.. Gay guy (my brother) doesn't want to because he's fit and all.
Funny.. Last night's 30 minutes on the treadmill gave me a stiff and sore back.. I wonder why.
This morning's weight: 179lb (fuck....)
No matter. Today I will go to the gym with Macro, my friend who wants to go to the gym to try and lose some weight too. Good.. Finally I found someone who actually wants to get on the treadmill (or stairmaster, or elliptical x-country skiing machine) with me ha ha.. Gay guy (my brother) doesn't want to because he's fit and all.
Funny.. Last night's 30 minutes on the treadmill gave me a stiff and sore back.. I wonder why.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Exercise
Huff! I convinced myself to go onto the treadmill in my basement and I ran/jogged for 30 minutes. Treadmilling is not so bad after my visits to my physiotherapist -- she makes me go on the treadmill for 15 minutes every visit as warmup. I must say her insistance has paid off -- I relearned how to run fairly quickly and I think it allowed me to be able to do a lot of things quicker...
Anways I am now dog-tired, but a nice runner's high has settled in. One feels warm, fuzzy, joyful. It's all good.. I think I'll do it again tomorrow.
Huff! I convinced myself to go onto the treadmill in my basement and I ran/jogged for 30 minutes. Treadmilling is not so bad after my visits to my physiotherapist -- she makes me go on the treadmill for 15 minutes every visit as warmup. I must say her insistance has paid off -- I relearned how to run fairly quickly and I think it allowed me to be able to do a lot of things quicker...
Anways I am now dog-tired, but a nice runner's high has settled in. One feels warm, fuzzy, joyful. It's all good.. I think I'll do it again tomorrow.
Yummy Gravlax
So I finished the last of my gravlax today. It's great. I am quite pleasantly surprised that it kept so well. It's been more than a week! I think I'll make some more of it next week, with some improvements:
- use Atlantic salmon this time (I mean, why the hell did I get Pacific salmon last time?!)
- use the proper amounts of salt (ha ha ha)
- try using regular table salt (iodized.. etc) see if that makes a difference, because Brittany sea salt is saltier, pound or pound.
- get some allspice this time, for completeness
Anyways, it's not like making this yourself is that much cheaper. Getting a pound of fresh Atlantic salmon is about $10 CAD. The salt and spices, for the amount used, comes to about $1. However, once it's done, one can enjoy it for a few days.. Or, a few people can enjoy it for a meal! :) Not bad. Curing foods kick ass. Next time I'll try curing the salmon with honey.
So I finished the last of my gravlax today. It's great. I am quite pleasantly surprised that it kept so well. It's been more than a week! I think I'll make some more of it next week, with some improvements:
- use Atlantic salmon this time (I mean, why the hell did I get Pacific salmon last time?!)
- use the proper amounts of salt (ha ha ha)
- try using regular table salt (iodized.. etc) see if that makes a difference, because Brittany sea salt is saltier, pound or pound.
- get some allspice this time, for completeness
Anyways, it's not like making this yourself is that much cheaper. Getting a pound of fresh Atlantic salmon is about $10 CAD. The salt and spices, for the amount used, comes to about $1. However, once it's done, one can enjoy it for a few days.. Or, a few people can enjoy it for a meal! :) Not bad. Curing foods kick ass. Next time I'll try curing the salmon with honey.
Weight Loss plan!
Hmm.. So after reading the report of my sleep study, my family doctor says I need to lose some weight -- he thinks that being overweight makes it harder to get a good night's sleep, since having a fat neck might cause all the problems with me not getting enough air and hence leads to all these trouble during sleep.
"So fine," I asked, "how much weight to I have to lose?"
"10 pounds", Dr Law quipped.
"Oh.. 10 pounds." I mumbled. "What is my optimal weight anyways?"
"Your BMI is on the high side.. Let's see.. I think you should be at 165lb, so for you," he gives me the once-over, "a minimum of 10 pounds."
Hmm.. So 165lb it is. I think my best yet is 155lb, but let's not set such a high goal yet. I wish to go to 165lb and keep it there first, because that will give my a BMI of 25, the upper-bound of the "optimal weight" catagory. So here, I tell you all. I'll try to get to 165lb in 2 months.
What I'll do is post my weight that I will measure every morning. To be a bit scientific.. I'll attempt to be consistant, and measure the weight after my morning crap, but before the morning shower.
Today: 180lb (fuck....)
Hmm.. So after reading the report of my sleep study, my family doctor says I need to lose some weight -- he thinks that being overweight makes it harder to get a good night's sleep, since having a fat neck might cause all the problems with me not getting enough air and hence leads to all these trouble during sleep.
"So fine," I asked, "how much weight to I have to lose?"
"10 pounds", Dr Law quipped.
"Oh.. 10 pounds." I mumbled. "What is my optimal weight anyways?"
"Your BMI is on the high side.. Let's see.. I think you should be at 165lb, so for you," he gives me the once-over, "a minimum of 10 pounds."
Hmm.. So 165lb it is. I think my best yet is 155lb, but let's not set such a high goal yet. I wish to go to 165lb and keep it there first, because that will give my a BMI of 25, the upper-bound of the "optimal weight" catagory. So here, I tell you all. I'll try to get to 165lb in 2 months.
What I'll do is post my weight that I will measure every morning. To be a bit scientific.. I'll attempt to be consistant, and measure the weight after my morning crap, but before the morning shower.
Today: 180lb (fuck....)
Friday, October 24, 2003
Taste of Spain
Wednesday night Otto, Vivian, Maggie, Derek, and I went to this place called Taste of Spain. This is on the corner of Yonge and Elmwood, very close to the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, and steps from the North York Center subway station. If you go there, know that they have 5 or 6 customer parking spots behind the store, the enterance being on Elmwood. Otherwise, there are parking meters all along Elmwood, so don't worry.
Apparently on Tuesdays, there are live music performances; but since this was Wednesday, we missed it.
We had ourselves a '97 vintage wine, (which we promptly forgot its name. doh) and that was quite good. We started with a goat cheese appetizer, which I thought was quite good. However, for $8 that sure was a small plate :) That's ok, especially since only Vivian and I really enjoyed it, we get lots of pieces of it.
Then came the main dishes. We decided to each get a main course and then split a seafood Paella between all of us. I had the seafood cassarol, which actually tasted very good. Vivian and Derek had Rabbit confit. For some reason though, Vivian got all the dark meat (which was yummy) and Derek got all the white meat (he says it tasted like chicken breast and was quite dry.) I guess he didn't like it much, because much of it was left. Maggie had the duck confit, and that must have been yummier, cus Derek dug into it like he was Hungry Man himself. Poor Otto. He had the salmon puff -- when it came we all kinda thought it was small.. and Otto claimed that he didn't taste fish at all.
Then the paella came.. and boy it was a large dish. Clams, mussles, and prawns are delightfully arranged on the pan on top of the rice. Man this is not paella for two! I kinda like it -- it's comfort food in some ways, but the others didn't like it. Vivian says she had better at the same restaurant, but she comes on weekends usually so perhaps the restaurant had an off-day. In all, I think it was fine, but for the price we had to pay, not the best I've had.
Wednesday night Otto, Vivian, Maggie, Derek, and I went to this place called Taste of Spain. This is on the corner of Yonge and Elmwood, very close to the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, and steps from the North York Center subway station. If you go there, know that they have 5 or 6 customer parking spots behind the store, the enterance being on Elmwood. Otherwise, there are parking meters all along Elmwood, so don't worry.
Apparently on Tuesdays, there are live music performances; but since this was Wednesday, we missed it.
We had ourselves a '97 vintage wine, (which we promptly forgot its name. doh) and that was quite good. We started with a goat cheese appetizer, which I thought was quite good. However, for $8 that sure was a small plate :) That's ok, especially since only Vivian and I really enjoyed it, we get lots of pieces of it.
Then came the main dishes. We decided to each get a main course and then split a seafood Paella between all of us. I had the seafood cassarol, which actually tasted very good. Vivian and Derek had Rabbit confit. For some reason though, Vivian got all the dark meat (which was yummy) and Derek got all the white meat (he says it tasted like chicken breast and was quite dry.) I guess he didn't like it much, because much of it was left. Maggie had the duck confit, and that must have been yummier, cus Derek dug into it like he was Hungry Man himself. Poor Otto. He had the salmon puff -- when it came we all kinda thought it was small.. and Otto claimed that he didn't taste fish at all.
Then the paella came.. and boy it was a large dish. Clams, mussles, and prawns are delightfully arranged on the pan on top of the rice. Man this is not paella for two! I kinda like it -- it's comfort food in some ways, but the others didn't like it. Vivian says she had better at the same restaurant, but she comes on weekends usually so perhaps the restaurant had an off-day. In all, I think it was fine, but for the price we had to pay, not the best I've had.
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Gravlax
So I decided to try a no-cook recipe for "gravlax", which is a kind of preserved (cured) salmon. This is a Scandinavian dish.. According to a web site, apparently in the days before refrigeration, Swedes used to bury cured salmon in the ground to preserve it through the long winter; hence the name gravlax -- "salmon from the grave".
Its not hard to make really -- as I said this is a no-cook recipe. All you need is to cure the salmon with a mixure of salt, sugar, white peper, corriander seeds, and dill.. While I read my Le Cordon Bleu recipe book, there are ther recipes online like this one and this one. I just tried it, and I think I get the hang of it, but I over-salted it. :)
So I decided to try a no-cook recipe for "gravlax", which is a kind of preserved (cured) salmon. This is a Scandinavian dish.. According to a web site, apparently in the days before refrigeration, Swedes used to bury cured salmon in the ground to preserve it through the long winter; hence the name gravlax -- "salmon from the grave".
Its not hard to make really -- as I said this is a no-cook recipe. All you need is to cure the salmon with a mixure of salt, sugar, white peper, corriander seeds, and dill.. While I read my Le Cordon Bleu recipe book, there are ther recipes online like this one and this one. I just tried it, and I think I get the hang of it, but I over-salted it. :)
I got gnome-blog working!
Ha. So I was looking for some other blogs to use, but then I came up to this thing called gnome-blog.. it's kinda simple, but I guess I don't need to use the webpage to post.. dunno.. maybe it's not that different. :)
Ha. So I was looking for some other blogs to use, but then I came up to this thing called gnome-blog.. it's kinda simple, but I guess I don't need to use the webpage to post.. dunno.. maybe it's not that different. :)
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
This past Thanksgiving weekend Tyatt and I went to Montreal for some SEAsian shopping and some fine dinning. It was kinda fun :)
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Holy shit the Italian fine food place next to my work is having a moving firesale! Everything they have not in fridges is $.49.. So I went nuts and bought $15 of stuff.. Well I am sure they would have came to $79 or something.. haha.. Amongst the gems I got.. Riso Scotti rice-oil mayonnaise.. WEIRD! I also got tonnes of roasted peppers and pasta.. a good find.. I am going back tomorrow to see if they have some more stuff.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
So.. Almost a month without a post... Good God I am lazy.
Today was my sixth session with a physiotherapist. I thought about writing about the experience earlier on, but held back because 1) YES I am fucking lazy and 2) I really didn't want to sound pessimistic when I am unsure of the efficacy of the sessions. Frankly I came into this having a prejudice that physiotherapy is this long and arduous process that takes years and years to get me healed. But I have to say I am very impressed with my progress, the skill of my physiotherapist, and the process in general.
My sessions now, not including the first (assessment) session, consists of 3 parts:
1) The exercise part, which I am to perform a series of exercises to train my calf and foot muscles (and hence the tendons that connect them to my bones) so they are strengthened.
2) The stretching part, which I am to use these tools to stretch my ankle to regain much-needed flexibility to prevent further injury to the ankle and other parts of the body (especially the knee and the hip).
3) The therapy part, which helps healing.
The first few sessions I start on the health bike. The motion that I go through on the bike pedal basically consists of me pointing my feet forwards (downward stroke) and pointing up (upward stroke).. Then I graduated to the treadmill, so that I can regain my running capability. Now I can run at about 5.5 miles/hour with minimal pain.
The stretching part consists of stretching my ankle forwards-backwards and side-to-side. At first both directions hurt like a mofo, but now, just the forwards part hurt. Incidentally this stretching is done on unstable platforms (imagine you putting a foot on a flat board with half a ball on the bottom, you rocking in any and all directions) so that one's leg muscles are trained to improve stability, a skill sorely missed after ruining a whole lot of tendons in the ankle.
Finally the most interesting part is the therapy part.. I'll talk about it in a later post.
Today was my sixth session with a physiotherapist. I thought about writing about the experience earlier on, but held back because 1) YES I am fucking lazy and 2) I really didn't want to sound pessimistic when I am unsure of the efficacy of the sessions. Frankly I came into this having a prejudice that physiotherapy is this long and arduous process that takes years and years to get me healed. But I have to say I am very impressed with my progress, the skill of my physiotherapist, and the process in general.
My sessions now, not including the first (assessment) session, consists of 3 parts:
1) The exercise part, which I am to perform a series of exercises to train my calf and foot muscles (and hence the tendons that connect them to my bones) so they are strengthened.
2) The stretching part, which I am to use these tools to stretch my ankle to regain much-needed flexibility to prevent further injury to the ankle and other parts of the body (especially the knee and the hip).
3) The therapy part, which helps healing.
The first few sessions I start on the health bike. The motion that I go through on the bike pedal basically consists of me pointing my feet forwards (downward stroke) and pointing up (upward stroke).. Then I graduated to the treadmill, so that I can regain my running capability. Now I can run at about 5.5 miles/hour with minimal pain.
The stretching part consists of stretching my ankle forwards-backwards and side-to-side. At first both directions hurt like a mofo, but now, just the forwards part hurt. Incidentally this stretching is done on unstable platforms (imagine you putting a foot on a flat board with half a ball on the bottom, you rocking in any and all directions) so that one's leg muscles are trained to improve stability, a skill sorely missed after ruining a whole lot of tendons in the ankle.
Finally the most interesting part is the therapy part.. I'll talk about it in a later post.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Finally I went swimming. Swimming is good.. swimming is bliss.
I think I laid off swimming now for a year and a half. I mentioned before why I stopped, and yesterday the shoulder still causes trouble.. but not as much as my ankle still.. When I pushed off the side of the pool oh man it hurts. But I got a solid 20 laps before I gave up. (readers snickers in an evil way.. vince you fat ass, you are out of shape!) Well.. partly cus I had to catch my breath.. but partly cus I went to the pool under a holiday inn that I get to swim in as part of my Goodlife package. Yes, a hotel pool is usually filled with fun loving kids splashing around in brownian motion. I gave up after realizing belatedly that I might injure a kid or two. :)
What are the other options? Hmm I can try to go back to the pool in my old high school.. Maybe I'll do that and see how that goes.
I think I laid off swimming now for a year and a half. I mentioned before why I stopped, and yesterday the shoulder still causes trouble.. but not as much as my ankle still.. When I pushed off the side of the pool oh man it hurts. But I got a solid 20 laps before I gave up. (readers snickers in an evil way.. vince you fat ass, you are out of shape!) Well.. partly cus I had to catch my breath.. but partly cus I went to the pool under a holiday inn that I get to swim in as part of my Goodlife package. Yes, a hotel pool is usually filled with fun loving kids splashing around in brownian motion. I gave up after realizing belatedly that I might injure a kid or two. :)
What are the other options? Hmm I can try to go back to the pool in my old high school.. Maybe I'll do that and see how that goes.
Sunday, August 17, 2003
So I had my checkup for my ankle the other day.. the news is not good.. it's still painful, still swollen, and the doc opened his drawer (it is NEVER good if the doctor has to open the drawer, I find) and gave me a referral slip to "go directly to the physiotherapist, do not collect $200 dollars" .. ur.. anyways.. so yes, to the physiotherapist. He's apparently situated on Bayview... at least on the way to home from work so, woohoo. I've also asked to be referred to see a sleep clinic, to get to the bottom of my poor sleep and snoring. YES, you all who read this, yes I admit.. I snore like a logger cutting down a giant redwood. Hopefully I can stop snoring so my friends won't mind me so when we go camping. :)
Some of my HPY (好朋友) read this page asked to see if we want to hold a gourmet barbeque.. cool idea.. I wonder if I should just repeat my menu, or think of new food to cook? I wanted to think of something more fun to do.. because if it was to be a parteque (barbeque party? :) ) then the cooking part should be as much fun as the eating part. There are one or two things that I like to try too.. as in, it's most fun to try a new receipe at a party.. more.. adventurous.. more fun. :) Let's hope I don't think of something that's too wild.
Some of my HPY (好朋友) read this page asked to see if we want to hold a gourmet barbeque.. cool idea.. I wonder if I should just repeat my menu, or think of new food to cook? I wanted to think of something more fun to do.. because if it was to be a parteque (barbeque party? :) ) then the cooking part should be as much fun as the eating part. There are one or two things that I like to try too.. as in, it's most fun to try a new receipe at a party.. more.. adventurous.. more fun. :) Let's hope I don't think of something that's too wild.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Today I went nuts and did supreme barbeque (picture here). On the menu today are
Tuna steak marinated with two herbs and two oils
Makes 3-6 servings, depending if you are cooking for yourself and your hunny (3) or if you are serving friends after telling them this is fine-dinning bbq (6).. haha.
Bacon-wrapped tiger shrimp with a sliver of over-riped avocado
The bacon should not be too salty at this point as the tastes have infused into shrimp and avocado.. that's why no wimpy 50%-less-salt bacon. :)
Makes 3-6 servings, again, depending on who you are cooking for :)
Street-hotdog style mild Italian sausage
Makes 2-4 servings, again, depending on who you are cooking for :)
Grilled Portabello
Makes 4 servings.
Tuna steak marinated with two herbs and two oils
Bacon-wrapped tiger shrimp with a sliver of over-riped avocado
Street-hotdog style mild Italian sausage
and
Grilled portabello mushrooms
Tuna steak marinated with two herbs and two oils
- 1-2lb
- Yellow-fin (or better) tuna steak.. er this is one piece, 1-1.5 inch thick
- 10-12 leaves
- Fresh basil, finely chopped
- 3-4 sprigs
- Fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup
- Good robust virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp
- Good robust japanese/chinese sesame oil
- 2 tsp
- Salt, preferablly sea salt or kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp
- Brown sugar (white sugar OK too)
- Black pepper to taste
- wash the tuna, and carefully pat the steak dry with a towel or some paper towel, set aside.
- use a mixing bowl, combine the chopped basil and dill with the half the salt, sugar, and black pepper.
- slowly drizzle the oils into the mixing bowl while whisking vigourously. Let mixture sit while you...
- rub the remaining salt, sugar and pepper onto both sides of the tuna steak.
- after 5 minutes, pour the herb mixture onto the steak and massage it into the flesh gently. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- turn your bbq or grill to high heat, and wait until the grill is hot.
- quickly slap the tuna onto the hot grill, and sear/cook each side for 2/4/6 minutes for raw/pink/well done tuna.
- take away from grill after desired cooking time, and let sit for 3-5 minutes minimum before serving.
Makes 3-6 servings, depending if you are cooking for yourself and your hunny (3) or if you are serving friends after telling them this is fine-dinning bbq (6).. haha.
Bacon-wrapped tiger shrimp with a sliver of over-riped avocado
- 18
- medium-size tiger shrimp
- 18 strips
- regular Canadian back bacon, no wimpy 50% less salt type (you'll see why)
- 1
- over-riped avocado (that probably means it's so ripe the skin is slightly wrinkled)
- 18
- bamboo skewers
- remove the shell and the vein from each shrimp. Wash, pat dry, and set aside.
- peel the avocado and remove the pit. (attempt to) cut the flesh into 18 slices along the long side.. I guess 9 per half.
- take skewer, poke it thru one end of the strip of bacon. Then starting from the tail of the shrimp pass the skewer to the top of the shrimp, while trying to straighten the shrimp. Stop advancing the skewer thru the shrimp as soon as the tip of the skewer appears at the top of the shrimp.
- take one slice/sliver of the avocado, place it beside the shrimp. Then gently wrap the bacon around the shrimp and avocado in a spiral manner. If you do it right, the end of the bacon strip should be at the tip of the skewer. Poke the tip of the skewer into the tip of bacon to secure the wrapping.
- repeat for the other 17 skewers. Let sit for at least 1/2 hour for the flavours of bacon infuse into shrimp.
- over medium to low heat on the BBQ, place the skewers on the top rack. Slowly cook until the bacon sizzles. Rotate often. Overall cooking time = 15-20 mins, or until shrimp is just cooked.
The bacon should not be too salty at this point as the tastes have infused into shrimp and avocado.. that's why no wimpy 50%-less-salt bacon. :)
Makes 3-6 servings, again, depending on who you are cooking for :)
Street-hotdog style mild Italian sausage
- 2
- mild Italian sausage
- take a pot big enough for the sausages and boil some 1.5 inches of water in it.
- when the water comes to a rolling boil, place the sausages in and leave the heat high for 3-5 minutes.
- turn the heat off completely, but let the sausages sit in the hot water for another 3 minutes or so.
- turn the grill on high heat, and when the grill is hot, place the sausages on the grill. Use a sharp knife cut the sausage down 1/3 the way in a oblique pattern. If you are a true Toronto-streetside-hotdog affectionado, you would wanna cut in a diamond pattern. :)
- the grease and some juice will come out of the cuts and basically fry the sausages at this point.. let the sausages fry in its own fat for 5 minutes or until you are sure the sausages are cooked completely.. this is pork afterall.
- serve immediately.
Makes 2-4 servings, again, depending on who you are cooking for :)
Grilled Portabello
- 4
- large (palm sized) portabello mushrooms
- 4 tbsp
- butter or margerine, preferably butter, unsalted :)
- 2-3 cloves
- garlic
- a dash
- salt, preferably sea salt..
- remove the stalks and clean the 'shrooms. If you are wimpy wash them under running water. Otherwise, wipe them with damp cloth. The latter will preserve more of the flavour of the 'shrooms, but you have to be careful when you wipe to make sure you don't leave any soil or dirt behind.. Major bummer to eat dirt. Really.
- finely chop the garlic. Then sprinkle the salt onto the minced garlic, and lay the kitchen knife sideways on top of the garlic/salt mix and mince. The salt acts as an abrasive and will help you mince the garlic in no time.. the result is a garlicy plup. If you are wimpy you can use a garlic press, or a microplane to grate it, then add the salt.
- take the butter and mix the garlic/salt mixture into it. After mixing, spread the butter mixture onto both sides of the mushroom.
- turn the grill on medium heat, and place the mushroom underside down. Grill for 2-4 minutes (depending of thickness), and flip and grill for the same amount of time. At this point some liquid will pool on the underside of the mushroom which is facing up -- like a bowl!
- serve immediately, juice and all.
Makes 4 servings.
So I've been doing some research into the anatomy of the ankle lately, seeing that it's now probably time to learn such things. I must say the makeup of the ankle is far more complex that I've envisioned! The article I linked suggests that I've probably did what thousands of other did when they sprained their ankle, which is to hyper-turned my ankle inwards and injured the Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament. Presently, when I use my fingers and poke at the foot around that area it still hurts, and of course the bony part of the outside of my ankle, corresponding to the base of the fibular, is still swollen.. sigh. Moreover, as much as I thought I can go without my painkillers, the dull pain that comes when the medicine wears off is getting on my nerves -- it causes me to walk with a limp. If I take the pills I can walk normally.. doh doh. Speaking of which, I better take my night dose now.
Hmm.. I've to stand corrected.. apparently the proper terms for the ankle movement side-to-side are eversion and inversion.
Hmm.. I've to stand corrected.. apparently the proper terms for the ankle movement side-to-side are eversion and inversion.
Saturday, August 02, 2003
Urgh. Turns out that the painkillers I am taking makes me kinda happy (in a bad way) so I decided to stop taking them. *Then* I realized why the doctor prescribed them to me -- ankle still hurts like hell if I twist/use it a bit forcefully -- say.. running across the street while jay-walking. Doh. At least I didn't have to pay too much for them -- I only have to fork out $1 after my company drug plan kicked in. Incidently APO-Ibuprofen is cheapass -- it was like < $1 for my 2-weeks worth, but like $9 for the pharmasist.
The swelling is almost gone, and the purple bloches are almost gone as well. I went for a follow-up visit to my doctor and he gave me the good news -- x-rays turn out negative for fracture or tendon damage (tear) so that's great. However, I am to use a tensor bandage and keep the ankle wrapped for a few more days, and have to start self-physio-therapy myself.. mostly stretching exerices (adduct, abduct, toe up, toe down, etc).. just to make sure everything heals properly. Humph. I wonder when I can do exercies again. In particular, I know I still cannot do the motion required to swim freestyle, and breast stroke also hurts a bit. Doh Doh.
Enough of my ankle. The other day I bought for my brother and I 2 pieces of succulent T-bone steak. Yes, Canadian. Yes, Angus. Yes, Organic. YES. $30 for 2 pieces. OH YES it was tasty. Oh did I sound like I had an orgasam? Hmm.. that wasn't my intention. I took the steaks home, and spread some salt, pepper, chopped rosemary, and worked in some olive oil. Then I threw them onto the grill at high heat, and watched as it smoked and crakled and seared and cooked. I heeded to the recommendations of the chefs on FoodTV and let them steaks rest for 15 mins, and then sank my teeth into mine. Oh..... Grilling is fun. One doesn't stink up the whole house after cooking, and one doesn't have to wash the cooking utensils in addition to the dishes (ok I did have to scrub the grill, but that's easy.) I think I'll try the cedar-plank salmon next.
The swelling is almost gone, and the purple bloches are almost gone as well. I went for a follow-up visit to my doctor and he gave me the good news -- x-rays turn out negative for fracture or tendon damage (tear) so that's great. However, I am to use a tensor bandage and keep the ankle wrapped for a few more days, and have to start self-physio-therapy myself.. mostly stretching exerices (adduct, abduct, toe up, toe down, etc).. just to make sure everything heals properly. Humph. I wonder when I can do exercies again. In particular, I know I still cannot do the motion required to swim freestyle, and breast stroke also hurts a bit. Doh Doh.
Enough of my ankle. The other day I bought for my brother and I 2 pieces of succulent T-bone steak. Yes, Canadian. Yes, Angus. Yes, Organic. YES. $30 for 2 pieces. OH YES it was tasty. Oh did I sound like I had an orgasam? Hmm.. that wasn't my intention. I took the steaks home, and spread some salt, pepper, chopped rosemary, and worked in some olive oil. Then I threw them onto the grill at high heat, and watched as it smoked and crakled and seared and cooked. I heeded to the recommendations of the chefs on FoodTV and let them steaks rest for 15 mins, and then sank my teeth into mine. Oh..... Grilling is fun. One doesn't stink up the whole house after cooking, and one doesn't have to wash the cooking utensils in addition to the dishes (ok I did have to scrub the grill, but that's easy.) I think I'll try the cedar-plank salmon next.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Last night I slept much better than Sunday night. I suppose it's all due to the pain killer I took after dinner. The drug is just Ibuprofen (aka Motrin or Advil) -- but prescription strength.. 600mg per pill (your normal over-the-counter extra strength Motrin is 500mg I think) but this pill is the size of a JellyBelly(tm)! Apparently ibuprofen at this dosage is also commonly presribed treatment of the pain from arthritis. I guess it's strong enough -- I can even walk today without wincing in pain every step. However, if I twist my leg relative the foot, or tug on my heel (imagine putting on a pair of shoes and attempting to push your heel into the shoe) it will hurt like hell. But that's am improvement I guess from yesterday.
But boy does the foot swell! not only is the ankle swollen, today the top of the foot is also swollen. The purple colour from the bruising has also spread from around the ankle, down to the side of the foot, towards the front. If I press anywhere on the outside of the ankle it hurts. I still cannot abduct or adduct my foot without pain, and my toes have limited mobility because of the swelling towards the toe-end of my foot.
Oh well, I think it can only get better at this point.. I'll be wearing my sandals (with socks, cus otherwise it's pretty gross), and look at my lonely scooter longingly before I step out of the house. :\ Meanwhile I should try the suggestion made in this webmd.com article.
But boy does the foot swell! not only is the ankle swollen, today the top of the foot is also swollen. The purple colour from the bruising has also spread from around the ankle, down to the side of the foot, towards the front. If I press anywhere on the outside of the ankle it hurts. I still cannot abduct or adduct my foot without pain, and my toes have limited mobility because of the swelling towards the toe-end of my foot.
Oh well, I think it can only get better at this point.. I'll be wearing my sandals (with socks, cus otherwise it's pretty gross), and look at my lonely scooter longingly before I step out of the house. :\ Meanwhile I should try the suggestion made in this webmd.com article.
Monday, July 28, 2003
Ouch.. yesterday I was playing b-ball with my friends Alex, Bryan, and my brother Vic.. and I pulled a Vince and landed on my left ankle weirdly -- I sprained it pretty badly. Immediately (say an hour later) it started to swell. This morning it got even worse so I took the day off and went to see the family doc. After waiting an hour (my doc is a busy guy, I find) he took one look -- by this time the ankle is twice the size of the other one -- and said the x-word: "Dude you need to get some x-rays done". DOH. He prescribed some pain killers for me to take, told me to get some tensor bandage, and gave me marching orders to the x-ray place. Luckily I found that I left my hiking pole in my trunk so I used it to help me get up the stairs. Four x-rays exposures later I get to go home. Well that was fast. Anyways now the ankle is swollen, painful as hell if I twist it or pull on the heel, and purple! I never knew that one gets massive internal bleeding after a sprain.. well.. either it's really bad (ruptured arteries, oh my!) or that's just standard for a bad sprain. oh well.
Come to think of it this is the second time I had injured myself badly enough to warrant an x-ray session in front of the big GE machine. Last time it was when I was in second year in university.. I had a "terrible" bike accident.. Then I think I had injured a rib (bruised the muscles around it) and couldn't breathe without pain for a week, and had subluxed both shoulders.. then again that time I had 15 x-rays pictures taken, this time only four.. I am getting better at this. (reader: er.. what kind of twisted logic is that?)
On second thought, my left shoulder hadn't been right ever since. I reinjured it around Feb 2002 when I "overstreached" my left arm warming up for a swim.. it went pop and it hurts like hell. I tried swimming a few lanes and then had to quit. Ever since there is a certain range of motion that I cannot do because of the pain. I am sure it had to do with reduced shoulder stability. I laid off swimming ever since.
Interestingly enough, while looking at links for subluxed shoulders I found a page describing rehab exercises.. I should try them out seriously. I've already heard of the first set of exercises detailed on that page -- an instructor at my gym taught them to me when I first joined. Apparently the guy studied sports medicine or kinesiology.. it actually worked well to reduce the pain when I was doing those.. then I stopped when the pain seemed to have gone away. Maybe I should restart them.
Come to think of it this is the second time I had injured myself badly enough to warrant an x-ray session in front of the big GE machine. Last time it was when I was in second year in university.. I had a "terrible" bike accident.. Then I think I had injured a rib (bruised the muscles around it) and couldn't breathe without pain for a week, and had subluxed both shoulders.. then again that time I had 15 x-rays pictures taken, this time only four.. I am getting better at this. (reader: er.. what kind of twisted logic is that?)
On second thought, my left shoulder hadn't been right ever since. I reinjured it around Feb 2002 when I "overstreached" my left arm warming up for a swim.. it went pop and it hurts like hell. I tried swimming a few lanes and then had to quit. Ever since there is a certain range of motion that I cannot do because of the pain. I am sure it had to do with reduced shoulder stability. I laid off swimming ever since.
Interestingly enough, while looking at links for subluxed shoulders I found a page describing rehab exercises.. I should try them out seriously. I've already heard of the first set of exercises detailed on that page -- an instructor at my gym taught them to me when I first joined. Apparently the guy studied sports medicine or kinesiology.. it actually worked well to reduce the pain when I was doing those.. then I stopped when the pain seemed to have gone away. Maybe I should restart them.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
So lately I am trying to learn cheeses. No, not the processed chedder type.. but like.. well, the stuff you could get at a half-decent wine-and-cheese party. What with the St. Lawerence Market close by to work, I get to visit the cheesemongers there and get some hands-on (well, or.. taste-buds-on) experience.
Recent visits to Quebec and trips to fancy restaurants there has awaken my appetite for European cheeses. Promptly, my dear o' girlfriend (thx hun..) suggested that I should get a book on cheeses to learn about them. The book recommended to me is French Cheeses: The Visual Guide to More Than 350 Cheeses from Every Region of France by Tomoko Yamada et al. (ISBN 0789410702, DK publishing ). It's actually not bad a book. It is, like the name suggest, a reference book to French cheeses. Each cheese it catalogues has at least one picture, brief history, and suggestions on how to serve it and what wine to pair to the cheese. For the more famous cheeses a longer description is given.. for example for Roquefort it has multiple pages describing the history of the cheese, and even a guide to the geology and properties of the caves of Roquefort that the cheeses age in, and that lends the name to the cheese. Too bad in Canada you aren't supposed to be able to get raw milk cheeses due to some legistration.. but I hear if you know a cheesemonger well accidents do happen (oops.. they undercooked this cheese.. in fact.. they've undercooked it for centuries..)
Anyways, every two weeks or so me and my friend Vivian goes to St. Lawerence Market to have lunch. Of course afterwards we go to the cheesemongers and see if we can pick out some cheeses to have. My girlfriend too is starting to get a hang of the cheeses too! (well.. last time I made her taste some of the blue cheeses I bought and she seems to like them..)
So far, I have discovered some cheeses.. Not all of them are French, but they are all good so far.. (i.e. I haven't yet found a cheese that I dislike.. yet.)
I think I'll now attempt to get me a slice of Roquefort...
Recent visits to Quebec and trips to fancy restaurants there has awaken my appetite for European cheeses. Promptly, my dear o' girlfriend (thx hun..) suggested that I should get a book on cheeses to learn about them. The book recommended to me is French Cheeses: The Visual Guide to More Than 350 Cheeses from Every Region of France by Tomoko Yamada et al. (ISBN 0789410702, DK publishing ). It's actually not bad a book. It is, like the name suggest, a reference book to French cheeses. Each cheese it catalogues has at least one picture, brief history, and suggestions on how to serve it and what wine to pair to the cheese. For the more famous cheeses a longer description is given.. for example for Roquefort it has multiple pages describing the history of the cheese, and even a guide to the geology and properties of the caves of Roquefort that the cheeses age in, and that lends the name to the cheese. Too bad in Canada you aren't supposed to be able to get raw milk cheeses due to some legistration.. but I hear if you know a cheesemonger well accidents do happen (oops.. they undercooked this cheese.. in fact.. they've undercooked it for centuries..)
Anyways, every two weeks or so me and my friend Vivian goes to St. Lawerence Market to have lunch. Of course afterwards we go to the cheesemongers and see if we can pick out some cheeses to have. My girlfriend too is starting to get a hang of the cheeses too! (well.. last time I made her taste some of the blue cheeses I bought and she seems to like them..)
So far, I have discovered some cheeses.. Not all of them are French, but they are all good so far.. (i.e. I haven't yet found a cheese that I dislike.. yet.)
- Cambozola, a creaming German cheese which for me tasted like a Brie with blue veins.. very creamy and the veins are not too strong. Too bad it doesn't really keep and you have to eat it quick.
- Jarlsberg, a Norwegian cheese that is like swiss cheese.. Well.. it even tastes like swiss emmentaler.. and has a wax rind which I find annoying to remove.. doh.
- Saint Albray.. I had some in Quebec while on vacation and I like its spicy flavour.. (well it's not like.. spiced up spicy hot.. but it has a bite and a tang.. if you know what I mean. .. hmm. you don't? oh well.. buy some)
- Saint André, this is the cheese that I accidently bought after mis-pronoucing "Saint Albray".. this is a cheese much like Camembert.. but its much larger and has a middle that is more cream/curd than cheese.. you can imagine that it has the outside moldy rind, then cheese, then a sour-cream core.. kinda. It's quite good actually.. sinfully good.
I think I'll now attempt to get me a slice of Roquefort...
Saturday, July 19, 2003
After months of hard riding, I think it's time soon to replace the wheels on my scooter -- but they are hard to come by! I am still trying to find places either in Toronto or online that I can get replacement wheels for my JDRazor2000. doh doh. Perhaps it's also time for me to get some accessories for the scooter too.. such as lights for the end of the board, perhaps a helmet for me. Hmm..
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
So some time during the early days of my blog-hiatus, I've rediscovered my scooter. Ok, well, the picture at the other end of the link is not exactly my scooter, as my wheels and strap are green. Hmm.. come to think of it, I don't have a picture of me on my scooter! The only thing I can recall is that my friend Nick who took a video of my back side as I scootered up Ring Road in Waterloo, in front of Needles Hall.. Perhaps I should get a copy off him some time and show you all.
But, I digress.. I guess after a while of riding the GO train and having to walk from Union station to work, I got sick of it. Why? I think chiefly because I am a Lazy-ass, and I hate physical exsertion. You have to admit though, riding on the scooter is faster than walking! In fact, if anyone asks (folks at home included) I tell them: "Yes, walking from Union to work takes a minimum of 12 minutes (even if I race walk like the best of them, due to slow pedestrians), while going on the scooter takes about 7 (yes, including waiting for the traffic lights and doging slow walking pedestrians.. this time also rubber-necking and staring at you like there is a big wort on my leg)".. but I think on the scooter I get to go as fast as I want (.. er.. can) and get that much needed adrenaline rush.
But, I digress.. I guess after a while of riding the GO train and having to walk from Union station to work, I got sick of it. Why? I think chiefly because I am a Lazy-ass, and I hate physical exsertion. You have to admit though, riding on the scooter is faster than walking! In fact, if anyone asks (folks at home included) I tell them: "Yes, walking from Union to work takes a minimum of 12 minutes (even if I race walk like the best of them, due to slow pedestrians), while going on the scooter takes about 7 (yes, including waiting for the traffic lights and doging slow walking pedestrians.. this time also rubber-necking and staring at you like there is a big wort on my leg)".. but I think on the scooter I get to go as fast as I want (.. er.. can) and get that much needed adrenaline rush.
Saturday, July 12, 2003
So what happened during my laziness-induced blog-hiatus? Well, first complaint -- Stupid GO Trains dropped our smart-card for the Richmond Hill line. DAMN! They went back to paper-tickets. Well, the paper tickets aren't as boring as I thought. The old machines that "cancels" your paper tickets behave rather like the ones at factories that workers punch-in their time cards with. I feed either end of my ticket into the machine, and it prints the current date-time onto the card.. the term "ticket canceller" the conductors use actually dates back to at least this. A bit of mystery solved!
What's bad about it? Well, according to a friend of mine that's a longer-term GO rider, these machines are old now and they have a hard time working 100%. Yes, that's true, it fails repeately to find a spot to print the date-time on my ticket after some use.. so it was quite frustrating after a while.. especially when yours truly was in a rush, 'frate of missing the train, and our friendly machine says.. nope, your ticket I cannot print on.. DAMN IT...
So, then after my first 10-ride paper ticket ran out, it was the start of July.. so I went to buy a monthly pass instead. So now I can just hop on the train without cancelling nothing.. no worries.. so.. free.. Even better than the metropass on the TTC.
What's bad about it? Well, according to a friend of mine that's a longer-term GO rider, these machines are old now and they have a hard time working 100%. Yes, that's true, it fails repeately to find a spot to print the date-time on my ticket after some use.. so it was quite frustrating after a while.. especially when yours truly was in a rush, 'frate of missing the train, and our friendly machine says.. nope, your ticket I cannot print on.. DAMN IT...
So, then after my first 10-ride paper ticket ran out, it was the start of July.. so I went to buy a monthly pass instead. So now I can just hop on the train without cancelling nothing.. no worries.. so.. free.. Even better than the metropass on the TTC.
Wow.. almost 2 months without a post. Was I busy or was I busy and lazy? I think I was busy, because there was much work at work, and then when I get home, one doesn't want to use the computer again.. My eyes kinda goes on strike and all the words and pictures on my computer melted into one solid block of.. grey.. and it's time to sleep. Then I am lazy.. I have things to say, but then I don't wanna write after I thought about things and you know .. like I had to repeat myself.
So why I write now? I felt like it I guess.. and then I found out my friends actually read it.. or.. they come to my blog and realize I didn't write jack shit. Then they complain .. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BLOG? Well.. you ask and I write :) I guess it's nice to get feedback from one's spew.
So why I write now? I felt like it I guess.. and then I found out my friends actually read it.. or.. they come to my blog and realize I didn't write jack shit. Then they complain .. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BLOG? Well.. you ask and I write :) I guess it's nice to get feedback from one's spew.
Saturday, May 17, 2003
Wow, I just noticed that the ad on top of my blog page recognizes my posts and puts up links that are quite apropos. Hmm.. should I be surprised? :)
So after 2 weeks my herb garden is coming along just fine. Each of the herbs I've planted have at least some seeds that germinated. The best seems to be the basal, then thyme. The cayenne pepper seedlings just started to poke out of the soil, and I have like 3 dill seedlings. I think I've planted too few dill seeds.. doh. I think another week or so I have to start looking for a real pot for the herbs to sit in...
Wow.. 2 weeks without a post, I must be a happy guy. Er.. no. I guess there are enough stuff on TV during weeknights to keep my brain rotting at a steady state. :)
So I have potentially found the mode of transportation that is relatively the best out of all my options -- the GO train. For the life of me I don't know why I wasn't aware of the Langstaff GO station that is minutes from my house. So it turns out I am able to get to the station in less than 5 minutes, at around 8 I can hop on a train, and reach Union Station in 35 minutes.
So after 3 days of eyeballing the station I got on the GO train on Friday for the first time. Well, what people say is true. It is much more comfortable than the subway, and it did only take the 35 mintues to reach Union station. Great. Moreover, the walk from the station to work is only 12 minutes by my watch if I walk along Front street.. Sweet. So by my current estimation, if I leave my house at 7:40am to take the 8:04 train, I can (theoretically) get to Union at 8:40, and plant my butt on my work chair at 8:55am. So that's still one hour and 15 minutes, but that's because I arrive at the station early to ensure I have a parking spot. The actual time spent on the commute is (estimated to be) 5 + 35 + 12 = 52mins, which is exactly what I will spend on the way home. Either way, I get to avoid traffic jams since I get to minimize driving, a BIG improvement from driving to work, and even getting on the TTC, since I need to drive from home to Finch station.
Mind you, the Richmond Hill line will cost me more than TTC. Whereas TTC metropass approaches $99.. the monthly pass for taking the GO train is $132 + tax. hmm. But hey, the Richmond Hill line is one of the first GO lines that employs the smart card payment system. After paying a one-time fee of $5, you can then purchase 2 or 10 rides, or put a monthly pass onto your smart card. Then, you go to a ride canceller and put your card close to the sensor, and a ride is deducted. I loved it -- it reminds me of the Octopus system in Hong Kong. The card can operate even if its in your wallet or handbag. So now I put the card in my wallet, and I only need to take out my wallet and place it near the canceller without taking out my card. In Hong Kong I've seen ladies who smack their handbags to the sensors, or even guys who sticks their asses up to the sensors, asssuming their cards are in their wallets in their back pockets... hmm. Anyhow, I think GO transit has a good thing going with the smart card system.
So I have potentially found the mode of transportation that is relatively the best out of all my options -- the GO train. For the life of me I don't know why I wasn't aware of the Langstaff GO station that is minutes from my house. So it turns out I am able to get to the station in less than 5 minutes, at around 8 I can hop on a train, and reach Union Station in 35 minutes.
So after 3 days of eyeballing the station I got on the GO train on Friday for the first time. Well, what people say is true. It is much more comfortable than the subway, and it did only take the 35 mintues to reach Union station. Great. Moreover, the walk from the station to work is only 12 minutes by my watch if I walk along Front street.. Sweet. So by my current estimation, if I leave my house at 7:40am to take the 8:04 train, I can (theoretically) get to Union at 8:40, and plant my butt on my work chair at 8:55am. So that's still one hour and 15 minutes, but that's because I arrive at the station early to ensure I have a parking spot. The actual time spent on the commute is (estimated to be) 5 + 35 + 12 = 52mins, which is exactly what I will spend on the way home. Either way, I get to avoid traffic jams since I get to minimize driving, a BIG improvement from driving to work, and even getting on the TTC, since I need to drive from home to Finch station.
Mind you, the Richmond Hill line will cost me more than TTC. Whereas TTC metropass approaches $99.. the monthly pass for taking the GO train is $132 + tax. hmm. But hey, the Richmond Hill line is one of the first GO lines that employs the smart card payment system. After paying a one-time fee of $5, you can then purchase 2 or 10 rides, or put a monthly pass onto your smart card. Then, you go to a ride canceller and put your card close to the sensor, and a ride is deducted. I loved it -- it reminds me of the Octopus system in Hong Kong. The card can operate even if its in your wallet or handbag. So now I put the card in my wallet, and I only need to take out my wallet and place it near the canceller without taking out my card. In Hong Kong I've seen ladies who smack their handbags to the sensors, or even guys who sticks their asses up to the sensors, asssuming their cards are in their wallets in their back pockets... hmm. Anyhow, I think GO transit has a good thing going with the smart card system.
Saturday, May 03, 2003
Today I finally got the haircut I wanted -- I think "stubbles" is a good description. So it turns out that my thought of my head being sharp on the top is unfounded.. but perhaps my head is a bit too wide to make this hairstyle look the best it can on my head. But what the hey, yay for me trying.
DId some gardening with my folks today too. Call me lazy, but I didn't wear a pair of gardening gloves today when I did the yard work, and guess what? I like that feeling.. For reasons that I can't put into words, this made me feel like I really was doing gardening. The feeling of the dirt and soil between my fingers was wonderful -- as if I can feel the soil and all that it has to give to the plants I put into the ground. Bare hands on the plants, the seeds, the seedlings. Ever cradle a seedling and the potting soil on your bare hands? I highly recommend it.
During our trip to the local White Rose, I also bought material to start my own herb garden. Ok I am biased and only bought herbs I like.. but hey.. I'll do the other ones when these are successful. What did I buy? Thyme, Basal, Dill. We also got seeds for leeks.. mmmm potatoes and leek soap... Chinese leek and beef.. mmmmm..
DId some gardening with my folks today too. Call me lazy, but I didn't wear a pair of gardening gloves today when I did the yard work, and guess what? I like that feeling.. For reasons that I can't put into words, this made me feel like I really was doing gardening. The feeling of the dirt and soil between my fingers was wonderful -- as if I can feel the soil and all that it has to give to the plants I put into the ground. Bare hands on the plants, the seeds, the seedlings. Ever cradle a seedling and the potting soil on your bare hands? I highly recommend it.
During our trip to the local White Rose, I also bought material to start my own herb garden. Ok I am biased and only bought herbs I like.. but hey.. I'll do the other ones when these are successful. What did I buy? Thyme, Basal, Dill. We also got seeds for leeks.. mmmm potatoes and leek soap... Chinese leek and beef.. mmmmm..
Monday, April 28, 2003
Yummy... found a recipe for a rack of lamb.. makes me just wanna crack open the barbeque and ... GRILL. I can get good racks of lamb at the St. Lawrence Market, and it's walking distance from work.. Now if I can just wait until the weather gets really good and warm..
Friday, April 25, 2003
So we finally got absolutely sick of eatting in (because of SARS) so we went out for dinner at a local joint. I used to be one of the o'favorates of ours since their food was.. hmm.. what's a good translation.. cooked with gusto? Bold flavours? Well. we liked it. But today was something else. Where there were lineups and take-a-number-and-wait, now we are like table #3 out of the 25.. and the dishes are all scaled back.. $14 bucks for the fish dish and we have one slice of fish.. it's not funny. Do I sound like I am bitching? I'm not. I am sad. Obviously they are having a hard time staying afloat and cannot offer the same quality / quantity of food.. And you know what? Since's we've been eating in ever since this all started, we've been having exceptionally value-meals at home all the time, so perhaps our wallets have not readjusted to eating out. Well, we did our bit this week to help the economy.. we'll do it again next week as Torontonians grasp and hold tight what remains of our normalcy.
I haven't been blogging too much lately. Not much to say. As I said before this is supposed to be theraputic and so I guess today I feel like getting some therapy. Dunno.. not too much energy today... or yesterday.. or this whole week. Get up, go to work.. get home.. dog tired.. go to bed.. toss like a green salad.. the radio comes on with Andy Barrie.. get up.. go to work. Work's always fun but the commute is not. And I'm not doing too well in the sleeping department. I think my legs got enough sleep and that's it -- I can still step on the gas but I can't think straight. I stopped at the red light and after 3-potato I drove right through it like it was a stop sign.. Is this a sign of depression? Or that I should just get a new bed and avoid drink water before sleep? Or I should buy an Aston Martin, wake up at 5am every morning, and race down the DVP at 150km/h and hear the tires squeal and the engine roar and my heart pump and my ears ring and the sirens wail and... crap I don't like Aston Martins anyways -- and to tell you the truth I like the Eagle Talon... but whatever.
Talking about cars. Toronto is full of them. Everywhere. Cars. Cars that have 4 or 5 seats but with only the driver in it. Drivers with mugs drinking coffee with only one hand on the wheel. Drivers with one hand holding the mirror and the other with the brush applying rouge on her face while using the pinky finger to hold on to the gear shift. Drivers that holds a novel while speeding down the 404. Fuck even drivers that are trying to eat pancakes the proper way with knives and forks. Don't ask me how he is driving.. perhaps steering with his middle leg.
I always wondered what happens if car makers made cars that fit one person. You know.. Suppose you take a sedan and scale it down to the size of an ATV.. You know.. you and the 4 wheels. Wait.. just like a go-kart. Suppose you can have a car the size of a go-cart, but with regular 15-inch tires, slap on a battery-driven engine, or one equipped with a fuel-cell, forget every amenity except the radio and the a/c.. wow.. my kind of commuter car. (readers - man Vince don't have any idea.. do you?! What an idiot..) Or how about community owned car? Suppose I walk out of my house, and instead of walking to the bus or subway station, I walk to the TCAC (Toronto Comunity Automobile Commission) station, swipe my monthly ticket, and grab the next commuter car? I drive it down to a station close to work, drop it off, and head to work. After work, I pay and pick up another car, drive home.. but on the way I get to drive out of my way to the supermarket and pick up groceries.. Hmm..
Ok now I feel better and can continue my shying away from social life and cocoon in my room pretending to work on Caligo.
I haven't been blogging too much lately. Not much to say. As I said before this is supposed to be theraputic and so I guess today I feel like getting some therapy. Dunno.. not too much energy today... or yesterday.. or this whole week. Get up, go to work.. get home.. dog tired.. go to bed.. toss like a green salad.. the radio comes on with Andy Barrie.. get up.. go to work. Work's always fun but the commute is not. And I'm not doing too well in the sleeping department. I think my legs got enough sleep and that's it -- I can still step on the gas but I can't think straight. I stopped at the red light and after 3-potato I drove right through it like it was a stop sign.. Is this a sign of depression? Or that I should just get a new bed and avoid drink water before sleep? Or I should buy an Aston Martin, wake up at 5am every morning, and race down the DVP at 150km/h and hear the tires squeal and the engine roar and my heart pump and my ears ring and the sirens wail and... crap I don't like Aston Martins anyways -- and to tell you the truth I like the Eagle Talon... but whatever.
Talking about cars. Toronto is full of them. Everywhere. Cars. Cars that have 4 or 5 seats but with only the driver in it. Drivers with mugs drinking coffee with only one hand on the wheel. Drivers with one hand holding the mirror and the other with the brush applying rouge on her face while using the pinky finger to hold on to the gear shift. Drivers that holds a novel while speeding down the 404. Fuck even drivers that are trying to eat pancakes the proper way with knives and forks. Don't ask me how he is driving.. perhaps steering with his middle leg.
I always wondered what happens if car makers made cars that fit one person. You know.. Suppose you take a sedan and scale it down to the size of an ATV.. You know.. you and the 4 wheels. Wait.. just like a go-kart. Suppose you can have a car the size of a go-cart, but with regular 15-inch tires, slap on a battery-driven engine, or one equipped with a fuel-cell, forget every amenity except the radio and the a/c.. wow.. my kind of commuter car. (readers - man Vince don't have any idea.. do you?! What an idiot..) Or how about community owned car? Suppose I walk out of my house, and instead of walking to the bus or subway station, I walk to the TCAC (Toronto Comunity Automobile Commission) station, swipe my monthly ticket, and grab the next commuter car? I drive it down to a station close to work, drop it off, and head to work. After work, I pay and pick up another car, drive home.. but on the way I get to drive out of my way to the supermarket and pick up groceries.. Hmm..
Ok now I feel better and can continue my shying away from social life and cocoon in my room pretending to work on Caligo.
Monday, April 21, 2003
Well, that was a wonderful weekend I had up in Ottawa with the girlfriend :) Had some good food, sampled some wonderful warmth-brand dessert, and did some serious shopping. Poor Les Ailes in Ottawa is going out of business so all their merchandize was going on sale for 50% off or more. I picked up a bunch of nice clothes for my wardrobe... hmm.. on the side of the colour red I might add.. go figure.
Actually most surprising to me was the drive up and down 401. Perhaps I was lucky or perhaps I had extra-sensory perception (ESP) and chose the time wisely, but there was hardly any traffic to speak of. That was wonderful.. I am sure those that came back tonight on the 401 had the best time getting stuck in Ajax in the rain.. I feel for them. Despite the current SARS scare in Toronto, I still feel sad that Canada does not have a more developed rail system. You see all the cars and traffice jams (man you should be there on the 401 in Pickering/Ajax during the Canada Day weekend) and you wonder if it be better if there are trains that can reach Ottawa in 2 hours from Toronto. It's not that hard: The distance from Toronto to Ottawa is roughly 450km; a train that goes at 250km/h can easily cover that distance in 2 hours or so.. and even if you figure-in stopping at places like Smith Falls and/or Port Hope, 3 hours ought to do it. That is still better than getting stuck on the 401 in Ajax for 45 minutes.
Actually most surprising to me was the drive up and down 401. Perhaps I was lucky or perhaps I had extra-sensory perception (ESP) and chose the time wisely, but there was hardly any traffic to speak of. That was wonderful.. I am sure those that came back tonight on the 401 had the best time getting stuck in Ajax in the rain.. I feel for them. Despite the current SARS scare in Toronto, I still feel sad that Canada does not have a more developed rail system. You see all the cars and traffice jams (man you should be there on the 401 in Pickering/Ajax during the Canada Day weekend) and you wonder if it be better if there are trains that can reach Ottawa in 2 hours from Toronto. It's not that hard: The distance from Toronto to Ottawa is roughly 450km; a train that goes at 250km/h can easily cover that distance in 2 hours or so.. and even if you figure-in stopping at places like Smith Falls and/or Port Hope, 3 hours ought to do it. That is still better than getting stuck on the 401 in Ajax for 45 minutes.
Alas, whenever I have this conversation with anyone who is willing to listing to the rant we end up agreeing that this dream of mine isn't 100% practical in Canada since we lack the population density. The other potential patron of the rail system, cargo and logistics, don't really benefit from such centralized transportation service since they still need to use trucks to move the goods from the rail yard to their store/holding area, and that doesn't really save them time nor money. Add to that, apparently Canadians like to drive -- including me! :)
oh well.. I'll wait until we get fuel cell cars, and then at least I won't feel guilty driving while contributing my share of global warming.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
I always thought kuro5hin had better, more thoughful and thought-provoking pieces than /., and today there is yet more prove..
First, there was the piece about the art of packaging to improve package survivability through the rigors of shipping. Mind you, most of the
recommendations given both in the article and in the subsequent comments are common-sense to me, so I won't reiterate them to you. The interesting thing that struck me is the one-liner made by the author, regarding poor packaging vs. damaged shipped goods:
and the "rebuttal" offered in one of the comments regarding the author's distaste towards wooden crates used in packaging (wood = splitters):
I am not sure why it piqued my interest.. I guess in addition to putting a nasty smile on my face, it reminded me of the student / marker dilemma: When answering a question on an exam (especially one that involved either an essay-type answer, or one that is left relatively vague and open for interpretation), a student tend to write as much as possible. On the other hand, a marker of an exam (the poor, underpaid teaching assistant) would much prefer a short, concise, easy-to-tell-if-it-was-right-or-wrong-or-missing-something answer... This struck me when I first started my job as a TA back in my grad-school days -- of course, I was one of the worst offender in the overtly-too-long answers to exam questions. When the tables are turned and I was on the receiving end of such an answer, the most frequent thought was "get to the point..." :)
The second post on kuro5hin was the series written by a person with Schizoaffective Disorder.. haven't finished reading it yet, just thought I'd mention it here because it is certainly an eye-opener for me.
First, there was the piece about the art of packaging to improve package survivability through the rigors of shipping. Mind you, most of the
recommendations given both in the article and in the subsequent comments are common-sense to me, so I won't reiterate them to you. The interesting thing that struck me is the one-liner made by the author, regarding poor packaging vs. damaged shipped goods:
My apathy towards [the] cargo ... is simply this: If you don't care about your package, why should I?
and the "rebuttal" offered in one of the comments regarding the author's distaste towards wooden crates used in packaging (wood = splitters):
My apathy towards my package's convenience is not ... because I derive joy from causing needless splinters. It is simply this: If you don't care about my package, why should I care about you?
I am not sure why it piqued my interest.. I guess in addition to putting a nasty smile on my face, it reminded me of the student / marker dilemma: When answering a question on an exam (especially one that involved either an essay-type answer, or one that is left relatively vague and open for interpretation), a student tend to write as much as possible. On the other hand, a marker of an exam (the poor, underpaid teaching assistant) would much prefer a short, concise, easy-to-tell-if-it-was-right-or-wrong-or-missing-something answer... This struck me when I first started my job as a TA back in my grad-school days -- of course, I was one of the worst offender in the overtly-too-long answers to exam questions. When the tables are turned and I was on the receiving end of such an answer, the most frequent thought was "get to the point..." :)
The second post on kuro5hin was the series written by a person with Schizoaffective Disorder.. haven't finished reading it yet, just thought I'd mention it here because it is certainly an eye-opener for me.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Friday, April 11, 2003
So I've found a nice place that offers a free "comments" for my blog entries: http://www.documentroot.com
Haha. I was notified today that the company wants me to use up all my vacation time before July 2003. Apparently I have 1.3 vacation days left. WHAT?! I thought I used up all my days for my JKH trip. Yay.. and it rounds up too.. haahahahahahahahahahaahahahahhahhahahahahaha.
ok time for coffee^H^H^H^H^H^Htea.
ok time for coffee^H^H^H^H^H^Htea.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
After my chat with Alex I've decided to restart my old renderer for my thesis. I've started a blog for Caligo, so that we can document our progress on our project.. it'd be interesting as a software-development diary I suppose.
So I did my presentation yesterday and it was alright I suppose. I once read a sage advice that people rate one's presentation with the quality of the Q+A at the end and I guess I'm confident that part went well, so ok I suppose.
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Finally finished my slides for my presentation tomorrow. Oh right.. I am going back to the CGL at Waterloo with my co-workers as the pseudo-annual A|W-CGL visit, and I volunteered to give a talk about some stuff. I decided to talk about some stuff I am working on now (so it's fresh in my head and I can make myself sound intellengent). Hope the weather is nice tomorrow for my drive into Waterloo!
Monday, April 07, 2003
Due to my cold, I've put my nasal strip experiment on hold. But I must say that when I've applied the strip properly, I could immediately tell the improvement in breathing. Of course that also means that I immediately go into nasal strip withdraw when I take it off in the morning. Also, I've noticed that for me, who get acne often due to oily facial skin, nasal strips aggravates the problem on the nose. Doh.
I just discovered a gem of a game called Shogun: Total War. It is an older game but heck it works on my clunky Celeron 500 at home so no complaints here. Addictive too. For a strategy-idiot like me who routinely sends my troops to their death, I was suprised I got so far.. then the game crashes on me before I can save my successful conquest. DOH. 4 hours of work down the drain.. If it happens again tonight I'll delete the game.
I just discovered a gem of a game called Shogun: Total War. It is an older game but heck it works on my clunky Celeron 500 at home so no complaints here. Addictive too. For a strategy-idiot like me who routinely sends my troops to their death, I was suprised I got so far.. then the game crashes on me before I can save my successful conquest. DOH. 4 hours of work down the drain.. If it happens again tonight I'll delete the game.
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Urgh, this is the WORST time to get a cold. I really didn't want to wade into the whole SARS can of worms because I think readers who get there should get a reprieve from being bombarded by the news of it. Sadly, everyday when one turns on the news its either SARS or the war in Iraq. But.. now that I cannot deny I got a bad cold, it's time to face to music -- people might think I have it and do things differently around me.. Perhaps it's a good social studies exercise. First thing first. I have a cold.. Haven't had one for a LONG time, but nowadays runny noses just reminds me of the dreadful hay fever I get during September... urgh. I think I caught this cold from a co-worker I talked to at work.. Or, just thru the sheer bravado of leaving my windows open at night in my quest for fresh air during sleep. Nevermind. Last Friday in Toronto we had an ice-pellet storm.. Driving with my 91' Civic is impossible, so I resorted to taking the subway. Of course, I had the sniffles, and this time I remembered my Kleenex. It was obvious that Torontonians are gripped by the fear of catching it, there are people who avoided sitting beside me, and one person practically bolted when I brought out the tissue and wiped my nose. Ok, I am being mean here making fun of people who are simply protecting themselves...
This morning on CBC radio there was an interesting panel talking to Michael Enright on The Sunday Edition.. and someone made an interesting point -- as bad as the current statistics on SARS is, worse still is the chance that mischevious people who make use of the fear of the disease and cause mayhem. Imagine a guy running inside King station during rush hour, holding a smoke bomb and yelling that he's spreading SARS around (objectively, I think our fictitious terrorist does better if he starts chucking used Kleenex). The aftermath is not unimaginable. In fact while the medical community and the government are desperately trying to calm the fears of SARS, there are yet more people spreading rumours and misinformation around town. Most of us on ICQ has probably gotten messages that are relayed around warning of the "list of infected places".. lo-and-behold.. most Chinese malls and watering holes are metioned. Personally I've gotten 2 such emails and 1 ICQ message regarding this.. All my friends that do go out for dinner go not to Chinese restaurants, instead they head en masse to places like McD or Timmy's..
So I have a cold, and my friends invite me to dinner on Tuesday, to Alice Fazooli's. I wonder how many patrons I get to scare with my sniffles. I think I'll pop 2 Claritin-24s and suffer with the dry nose. :(
This morning on CBC radio there was an interesting panel talking to Michael Enright on The Sunday Edition.. and someone made an interesting point -- as bad as the current statistics on SARS is, worse still is the chance that mischevious people who make use of the fear of the disease and cause mayhem. Imagine a guy running inside King station during rush hour, holding a smoke bomb and yelling that he's spreading SARS around (objectively, I think our fictitious terrorist does better if he starts chucking used Kleenex). The aftermath is not unimaginable. In fact while the medical community and the government are desperately trying to calm the fears of SARS, there are yet more people spreading rumours and misinformation around town. Most of us on ICQ has probably gotten messages that are relayed around warning of the "list of infected places".. lo-and-behold.. most Chinese malls and watering holes are metioned. Personally I've gotten 2 such emails and 1 ICQ message regarding this.. All my friends that do go out for dinner go not to Chinese restaurants, instead they head en masse to places like McD or Timmy's..
So I have a cold, and my friends invite me to dinner on Tuesday, to Alice Fazooli's. I wonder how many patrons I get to scare with my sniffles. I think I'll pop 2 Claritin-24s and suffer with the dry nose. :(
Thursday, April 03, 2003
While surfing the web thru various stories featured on Slashdot, I found this company that offers a cute little application that not only reminds you to stretch after sitting in front of your master^H^H^H^H^H^Hcomputer for extended periods of time, it also has a list of exercises (with pictures, no less) to show you how. Perhaps I should get one, and do some real stretching instead of cracking my knuckles.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Had this wildest thought about mobile phones on the way home from the gym.. most due to my ..er.. disappointment with my Siemens S40.
First.. start by eliminating the screen and the keypad. Assuming I won't be making any calls where a normal talking voice is too loud, I much prefer voice-activating my phone, either by preprogramming the speed-dial, or just dictating the phone number. This way, the phone unit will only need to be as large as the battery and the circuit-board (remember that the circuit board will be smaller too now that the parts responsible for display and the keypad is gone too). Now, put the power and activate buttons onto the headset. So the base unit is as small as possible, almost wearable, and the headset can be embedded into appareals like a baseball cap for headband. Of course now the headset will connect to the base unit with bluetooth or something, unless you want to have that white phonecord coming down the side of your neck as if you are a member of the Secret Service.
Now take this idea waaaaay farther. Hmm. ok. Take the headset, and implant it inside the skull. Imagine a cochlear implant, but replace the external microphone with the input from an external source, like our imaginary mobile phone. From the back of the ear where the implant is, extend a microphone boom one to two inches from there towards the front, underneath the ear lobe. The phone will ring literally inside your head, and so you never have to turn off your cell phone in the theatre. Remember our small, strip down base unit? Make it an armband and wear it around your bicep, or heck.. make that implantable too, and place it behind the spine on your back, perhaps somewhere between your shoulder blades.
Man, I can't wait for the day when I can wet-wire an implantable PDA to my brain so I will just *know* the time, where I am via GPS, and remember my schedule off the top of my head.
First.. start by eliminating the screen and the keypad. Assuming I won't be making any calls where a normal talking voice is too loud, I much prefer voice-activating my phone, either by preprogramming the speed-dial, or just dictating the phone number. This way, the phone unit will only need to be as large as the battery and the circuit-board (remember that the circuit board will be smaller too now that the parts responsible for display and the keypad is gone too). Now, put the power and activate buttons onto the headset. So the base unit is as small as possible, almost wearable, and the headset can be embedded into appareals like a baseball cap for headband. Of course now the headset will connect to the base unit with bluetooth or something, unless you want to have that white phonecord coming down the side of your neck as if you are a member of the Secret Service.
Now take this idea waaaaay farther. Hmm. ok. Take the headset, and implant it inside the skull. Imagine a cochlear implant, but replace the external microphone with the input from an external source, like our imaginary mobile phone. From the back of the ear where the implant is, extend a microphone boom one to two inches from there towards the front, underneath the ear lobe. The phone will ring literally inside your head, and so you never have to turn off your cell phone in the theatre. Remember our small, strip down base unit? Make it an armband and wear it around your bicep, or heck.. make that implantable too, and place it behind the spine on your back, perhaps somewhere between your shoulder blades.
Man, I can't wait for the day when I can wet-wire an implantable PDA to my brain so I will just *know* the time, where I am via GPS, and remember my schedule off the top of my head.
So far so good with my experiment with nasal strips and getting better sleep. I still haven't found out if I snore still (apparently I haven't been able to keep anyone awake..) but I do think I sleep better as I wake up a bit more alert and rested. However, it's only been 2 days and it may well have been the placebo effect. I have 8 more strips so I'll find out soon enough :)
Speaking of the placebo effect, looking for a definition on the web netted me an interesting take of it at The Skeptic's Dictionary.. I think I'll go read more of this site later..
Speaking of the placebo effect, looking for a definition on the web netted me an interesting take of it at The Skeptic's Dictionary.. I think I'll go read more of this site later..
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Going thru my wallet produced a 5 dollar bill that has this big red stamp on the top right corner. Says:
"Track this bill's journey www.wheresbilly.com"
(for those who are Canadian-history-challenged, the handsome dude featured on the blue Canadian $5 bill is Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's first Francophone Prime Minister.)
so my bill here has been to Niagara-on-the-lake and St. Catherines.. not bad.. :) I think I'll take it to Ottawa when I visit my girlfriend and spend it there.. ok.. maybe I am cheating, but hey. :)
"Track this bill's journey www.wheresbilly.com"
(for those who are Canadian-history-challenged, the handsome dude featured on the blue Canadian $5 bill is Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's first Francophone Prime Minister.)
so my bill here has been to Niagara-on-the-lake and St. Catherines.. not bad.. :) I think I'll take it to Ottawa when I visit my girlfriend and spend it there.. ok.. maybe I am cheating, but hey. :)
So I finally mustered the courage to buy a block of blue cheese. Rosenborg Mellow Blue.. and it's not bad! Very mild and still a bit hint of blue cheese taste, good for strong-cheese-newbie like me.
Problem is I picked up the wrong flatbread -- with real dried garlic bits -- and so I am garlic Vince today. Sigh...
Problem is I picked up the wrong flatbread -- with real dried garlic bits -- and so I am garlic Vince today. Sigh...
Happy April Fools!
While I am unimaginative and cannot conjure up any hoaxes to entertain the masses, allow me to share the fruits of other's labour..
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/top100.html is a collection of "Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time"... I haven't been able to read all of them because I am having stomache cramps laughing at the first 10..
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/igrill.shtml.. Thinkgeek's offering of the networked grill.. I actually want one! The original Foreman Grill is surely better than my Hamilton Beach one, which tends to steam my steaks.. :(
http://compsoc.dur.ac.uk/whitespace/ is a new computer programming languages that is based solely on white space! No kidding.
Hmm..
While I am unimaginative and cannot conjure up any hoaxes to entertain the masses, allow me to share the fruits of other's labour..
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/top100.html is a collection of "Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time"... I haven't been able to read all of them because I am having stomache cramps laughing at the first 10..
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/igrill.shtml.. Thinkgeek's offering of the networked grill.. I actually want one! The original Foreman Grill is surely better than my Hamilton Beach one, which tends to steam my steaks.. :(
http://compsoc.dur.ac.uk/whitespace/ is a new computer programming languages that is based solely on white space! No kidding.
Hmm..
Monday, March 31, 2003
So sometime this week I will check out a more permenant solution to the downtown parking problem. My friend Ken at work will show me his lot, which if I remember correctly is only 2 blocks away from work. It's supposed to be $85 bucks a month underground so that sounds much better than my $8-a-day parking at the closer lot to work. Damn $8 a day x 20 days = $160.. on top of gas.. holy..
for those who ask, my airbrush is a Badger 200-3..
Hope I can be satisfied with the single-action trigger.. or else.. "D'OH! Should have gotten the 150 instead!".........
for those who ask, my airbrush is a Badger 200-3..
Hope I can be satisfied with the single-action trigger.. or else.. "D'OH! Should have gotten the 150 instead!".........
Wow, so my bro reminded me that I have been working out for almost 10 months now. (heh heh, of course I really should exclude the month that I spend on my Japan-Korea-HK trip in December..) but yeah.. time flies I suppose.. My readers are encouraged to say thanks to LurLur for introducing me to the joy of the gym, and my bro for being the better half of the workout team.
Er.. now I have to ice down my shoulder or else I won't be able to drive; and someone send me some encouragment to turn my one-big-pack to a nice 6-pack.
Er.. now I have to ice down my shoulder or else I won't be able to drive; and someone send me some encouragment to turn my one-big-pack to a nice 6-pack.
Alright, I have to admit that I have a big snoring problem. I have been told by various people that I snore big time, and hearing the recording of myself on my prof's PDA proved that I sound like the illegitimate son of a chain saw and a Honda outboard engine. Damn. No wonder my camping friends look at me funny when I say I wanna join their camping trip.
Today I decided to try something.. I bought some Breathe Right nasal strips (some reviews here). So supposedly I just stick them on my nose and they lift the top part of my nose and thereby enlarging the nasal cavity and help me breath. I've hired my trusty brother to check on me at 3am to see if I still snore.
I'll let you all know how that goes -- don't wanna "wake up the neighbours" in Algonquin Park again.
Today I decided to try something.. I bought some Breathe Right nasal strips (some reviews here). So supposedly I just stick them on my nose and they lift the top part of my nose and thereby enlarging the nasal cavity and help me breath. I've hired my trusty brother to check on me at 3am to see if I still snore.
I'll let you all know how that goes -- don't wanna "wake up the neighbours" in Algonquin Park again.
I think I am done with reading the book C++ template and I can't say I am 100% impressed with the book. Well, maybe that's not fair to say it's the book that I don't like.. Perhaps there are things related to C++ templates that I can finally admit that I don't like. Most likely perhaps it's the fact that there are a lot of things in it that isn't mature enough, and then the things template-users have to do (bending over backwards meanwhile) to get things to work.. etc.
I guess the best parts of the book for me (keeping in mind that I am not a complete newbie on the subject) is the more "intermediate/advanced" sections closer to the back on things like expression templates.. For me it was an easy-reading companion to the original literature by
Todd Veldhuizen, and the paper by Jim Blinn in IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. Also I bet I will revisit the vast section of functors later..
Like I said, I did learn a few new things and was made aware of a few pitfalls that could have tripped me over, so I can still say that $60 CAD was well spent.. if I had to pay the full price of the book (plus tax.. I do live in Canada..) I'd think I was robbed. :-)
I guess the best parts of the book for me (keeping in mind that I am not a complete newbie on the subject) is the more "intermediate/advanced" sections closer to the back on things like expression templates.. For me it was an easy-reading companion to the original literature by
Todd Veldhuizen, and the paper by Jim Blinn in IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. Also I bet I will revisit the vast section of functors later..
Like I said, I did learn a few new things and was made aware of a few pitfalls that could have tripped me over, so I can still say that $60 CAD was well spent.. if I had to pay the full price of the book (plus tax.. I do live in Canada..) I'd think I was robbed. :-)
You know what? Perhaps adjusting the time I go to work (i.e. get out of the bed/house earlier might just be the key to stress-free commute to work afterall :) At least if I get out earlier I'll miss the rush for the parents to drive the kids to that school on Bayview before Lawrence Av...
But MAN that was a big sinkhole on Bayview before York Mills Rd. this morning. No wonder the traffic was tied up before then. Still, I made it into work in like 40 mins and that's not bad at all.
But MAN that was a big sinkhole on Bayview before York Mills Rd. this morning. No wonder the traffic was tied up before then. Still, I made it into work in like 40 mins and that's not bad at all.
Saturday, March 29, 2003
urgh.. still trying to read the book on templates.
First impressions is that the ordering of the chapters is a bit weird for me.. but that could just be me reading it at midnight underneath a 60W bulb..
Man I can't wait until the weather is warmer so I can break out my hobby kits again and try out my new Badger air brush.
First impressions is that the ordering of the chapters is a bit weird for me.. but that could just be me reading it at midnight underneath a 60W bulb..
Man I can't wait until the weather is warmer so I can break out my hobby kits again and try out my new Badger air brush.
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Haha.. this is great.. now I get to bitch about things I just bitch to myself.. now I see why my friends that keep a diary say it's therapeutic.
So I've started to drive to work regularily since, oh, the week before last week, before then I've tried driving once/twice a week. Given the time I leave my house (around 8am), going onto the 404/DVP will be suicide..
so I take the Bayview extension.
During the March break it was great: I spend an average of 35 mins door to parking lot. I find it a relatively stress-free way to go to work, since there was not much congestion, and giving my annoyance with the TTC.. So life was good, even though at the going rate I would have spend 2.4x the money compared to riding "the rocket"..
But now, I guess all the vacationers came back and these few days I had so much fun jostling with other Torontonians.. Expecially fun is the section of Bayview between Eglinton and Moore (just before the Loblaws).. man, in the afternoon that section is parked with cars so effectively we have only one lane each way.. I guess even if it takes 50 minutes now it's still better than having to take the 1 hour plus door-to-door on the TTC..
I guess I'll just try driving some more and decide if I wanna spend the $98 on the MetroPass, or fork out the money to buy gas and parking downtown. hmm...
So I've started to drive to work regularily since, oh, the week before last week, before then I've tried driving once/twice a week. Given the time I leave my house (around 8am), going onto the 404/DVP will be suicide..
so I take the Bayview extension.
During the March break it was great: I spend an average of 35 mins door to parking lot. I find it a relatively stress-free way to go to work, since there was not much congestion, and giving my annoyance with the TTC.. So life was good, even though at the going rate I would have spend 2.4x the money compared to riding "the rocket"..
But now, I guess all the vacationers came back and these few days I had so much fun jostling with other Torontonians.. Expecially fun is the section of Bayview between Eglinton and Moore (just before the Loblaws).. man, in the afternoon that section is parked with cars so effectively we have only one lane each way.. I guess even if it takes 50 minutes now it's still better than having to take the 1 hour plus door-to-door on the TTC..
I guess I'll just try driving some more and decide if I wanna spend the $98 on the MetroPass, or fork out the money to buy gas and parking downtown. hmm...
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