Weekend of August 19th

This weekend was Mel's last at her Waterloo student house.

Over the course of about 30 hours we packed up all her belongings into my car until they nearly spilled out the windows. We filled the trunk till it had to be leaned-on to close. We filled the back seat till I could barely see out the window. We strapped two bikes to the back. We had plants at her feet and chinchillas on her lap. Then we went to Oakville.

Oh yeah, and we watched V for Vendetta on Saturday. That movie absolutely rocks!

"Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Back in Oakville on Sunday, we emptied the car in about 20 minutes and then headed to Ikea in Burlington before they closed. We bought two more dressers to match the two we already had, as well as two bookshelves. By midnight we had the four pieces built and the living room somewhat cleaned up. The chinchillas were also looking happy in their reassembled cage.

Today will continue to be a big cleanup day...

Paintball and Running

Yesterday after work I went to a company-sponsored 3-hour paintball marathon at Paintball City in Toronto. (Ow! My nipple!)

When I got home, M and I went running to try out her new running shorts and shirt.

There's also a great article on Kuro5hin today about how American Muslims face discrimination.

Court

Yesterday I fought a parking ticket in traffic court and won...Sort of. I plead 'guilty' to the charge of parking more than 3 hours where prohibited and got the fine reduced from $30 to $0. However, since I plead 'guilty', a conviction was entered in some obscure ledger somewhere. Big deal. It's a parking ticket.
Why did I fight a $30 ticket? To experience being in court with no possible negative consequences. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to defend myself in this way.

What a waste of money to the city, too. Three people (judge, court secretary, and city prosecutor) are employed at the traffic court. Meter maids are called in to give testimony. But I suppose the alternative is a system that gives you penalties without the option to defend yourself, which would be worse.

Oh, and for those who are curious, my defense was that I had moved into the property only 2 weeks before the ticket was issued, and was not aware of Oakville's bylaws.

Court tips: Dress up in business casual attire (please don't wear a t-shirt!). Wait your turn quietly. Speak clearly and coherently, without rambling, whining or resorting to slang. Be concise! Prepare what you are going to say ahead of time. Be aware of the facts of the case. Respect the court.

Weekend Update

Friday night, I drove to Waterloo to pick up M. Her friend told us all about her recent hiking trip in BC, including how she got engaged. Congrats!

The two of us then drove to Woodstock where we had a rushed dinner with my parents and then went to the sidewalk sale. I picked up a few CDs and two ties, and by then it was 9:15 and the sale was over for the day. Eddy and Cathy were supposed to be coming from Toronto but they ended up turning around near Kitchener because they forgot a pair of shoes.

The next morning we drove to the outskirts of London to watch Eddy and Cathy's ultimate tournament. They must have gotten up ridiculously early to make it on time for their 9am game! We also went to the nearby farmer's market where I learned more about bark spuds.

On the way home, we went to Wal-Mart and Staples where my mom bought a digital camera and a new phone. M and I went to Canadian Tire to check out some tools and gardening supplies, and then we walked home for dinner. Cathy and Eddy had arrived by then so the six of us ate and talked. Later, Cathy and Eddy went back to London and the four us went for a walk and some stargazing.

On Sunday, I got up early to run with my dad. We then rushed to get ready and drove to Toronto (stopping first in Oakville at my house and in Mississauga at M's parents' house) for the Taste of the Danforth festival. I hadn't been before but I'll now recommend it to anyone who doesn't suffer from Enochlophobia.

Now I'm back at work and waiting for 10 when I'll leave for Burlington to attend trial for a parking ticket I'm contesting.

Running

I went for a nice run with Erick last night. Using this handy tool, you can see our route.

I also made vegetarian pasta sauce:

- 10 baby tomatoes (from my garden!)
- 1/2 an onion
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 package of Vegetarian Ground Round
- spices (pepper, garlic, rosemary)
- 1/2 a can of traditional pasta sauce

Stew tomatoes and onion for about 10 minutes until tomatoes can be crushed with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Mmmm...Good for you and high in protein too!

Updated Side Bar

As you may have noticed, I've updated the sidebar with some new links. These include some other sites I run as well as a few now-defunct sites I used to maintain. As well, I've thrown in some external links for good measure.

A quick update on my life over the past few weeks:

M and I have been spending a lot of time looking into purchasing some property up North somewhere. My preference is for the HW6 area on the way to Owen Sound, but most of our results so far have been in the Muskoka region. I'm looking for a large wooded lot (at least 3 acres) where I can go camping, do some hiking, and (hopefully) build a log cabin. This is a significant project that has the potential to present a challenge for years to come.

Last weekend, M and I went camping with her entire family, their significant others, and her sister's dog. Car camping was a bit subdued when compared to the camping I've gotten used to since starting to hike the Bruce with M last year. We camped near Grand Bend from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning. On Sunday, we roasted on the beach and then walked around town for a bit. This weekend coincided with M and my second anniversary, and we shared an inside joke that her family was very nice to have all come together to help us celebrate.

I spent the previous week in Decatur, Illinois on a business trip. This was my second trip to the US in a month, and I'm hoping I don't have to go back soon. I may soon be assigned to a large controls project based in Cuba which would, on top of offering a great opportunity for growth and travel, prevent me from going on business trips to the US (I think). That is, of course, unless Castro passes away and leaves the country ripe for a revolution.

I ran another Urban Quest race on July 29th. This time, our team did not place at all. A new race format and a major miscommunication by the race directors at the beginning of the race caused us to return to the start looking for the next clue only to find the race volunteers already gone. While this was certainly disappointing, I still enjoyed the day. It was amazingly hot for running though, and the lack of water stations during the race forced us to buy a total of 12 Gatorade bottles (in addition to the four we started with) while on the run. I consider this lack of water to be the biggest (and most dangerous) failing the TCSSC had that day.

During the weekend of July 22nd, M and I joined numerous Lawrence family members, Erick, Selena, and David Zach as we rode our bikes from Grand Bend to London and back to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. M did really well using a bike she borrowed from a friend, while Erick and Selena had great success with a tandem bike they rented for the weekend. Dave and I, however, both experienced knee problems and lagged towards the end. I'm hoping a neoprene knee brace will help me avoid these problems in the future.

A number of us also recently attended Dave Gulas's wedding in Ottawa. As the wedding was on Friday afternoon, M and I opted to leave Thursday at noon and spend a long weekend in Ottawa. Highlights include some enormous hedge mazes, walking around downtown Ottawa and Byward Market, visiting the National Gallery of Canada, seeing the light show on Parliament Hill at night, and of course, the wedding itself.

Over the Canada Day long weekend, M, Chris, Vijay, Erick, Selena, Arick, Dave Gulas and myself took a [long, long] trip to Algonquin for three days of interior camping and portaging. After some initial stress due to my lack of canoeing skills, the weekend was a blast! My admiration for early Canadian explorers and fur trappers has gone up immensely, as those men carried weeks worth of equipment on their backs and didn't enjoy the benefits of modern ultralight technology.

Upcoming plans:

This weekend is the Taste of the Danforth event in Toronto. The following weekend, M and I (and possibly Jordan as well) might be ready to head North to look at some properties for sale. Within the next three weeks, I'll also have to help M move out as she's leaving her Waterloo room behind for good.

Now we are faced with a tough dilemma: We both want to travel for a significant (perhaps 2 or 3 years) period of time, and waiting will only make the decision to uproot ourselves harder. However, traveling costs a lot money (despite working odd jobs while traveling) which we of course have a limited supply of. Additionally, I'm at a point with my current employer that makes me want to stay here at least one more year. Alternatively, I could put a down payment on a house. However, to avoid the nightmare of a 25 year mortgage, I would prefer to wait until M is employed and can help with payments. Decisions, decisions.