tap my glass

So every day i change, and every day gets a little different, sometimes harder, most of the times easier. I’m coming to terms with things better now, not so angsty, more understanding. Running long distances helps put things in perspective, and i’ve been doing a lot of that lately.

I can scoff instead of resent the brooding 17 year old fashionista i pass at 7am in the percy underpass, with her frail grip on her morning smoke. I can accept that most smokers live in complete denial that their butts are garbage and pollution, and they’ll always be on the sidewalk to be avoided or flattened once again by my heavy feet. I can smile at the 20-something hip government dude on his way to the archives, halling back on heaven - his initial reason to get out of bed in the morning. Or the older more somber folks outside early in the morning at that weird group home with the awful green awning and park bench on glebe ave.. And all my friends and family and everyone else i know that smokes, i can accept it. I will probably still get annoyed if they interrupt a perfectly good conversation, activity, or pastime, to “take a break” and satisfy their addiction, but i’ll learn to deal with it.

Its really amazing though how long it took my body to recover from it, but now that i’m through the worst, how much more efficient my body is… its really great, i wished i had done it sooner, but am very thankful its at least done with. My lungs work way better, my digestive system is definitely more functional, and i’m stronger. And i get more done because i’m taking less breaks… an arguable benefit.

When something has been a part of me for almost half my life, its hard to let go, and i’ll be doing it forever (or at least as long as i did it for). And now, i’m happy about that too.

I do have to say though, without the smoke breaks to take from hardcore renovations, beers sure are going down smoother.

So the subfloor is done, i finished it mostly last weekend. Now to the walls.

Found this electrical nasty in the wall… not cool. I was hoping to resuse wire, but when i found this i realized the whole chunk had to come out. Luckily theres ton’s of junction boxes waiting to be poked in to in the basement so i don’t need to run it back to the main breaker, but its still annoying.

Ate this x2 one night this week, it was large - leftover bbq chicken thigh, mango, sweet n hot mustard, bun, it was delectable:

Thats all for now, back to work!!!

The kitchen reno is underway. As with most kitchen renovations, i’m quite eager to get this overwith. I’ll just post pics for now, discuss later, too tired… quite drained today as works busy and i have many issues to work out.

Heres the snakiness that is the plumbing coming from the floor:

Heres the whole first layer of floor torn off (more to come):

Heres the old rad - before cleaning:

Heres where i pulled the cabinets from… now to fix *this*:

The uppers removed:

Tags: renovations

So this morning, i was greeted with a missing car and a parking ticket.  Totally my bad.  55$ because one of our cars was parked on the street, and of course (i should know!), street sweeping was in full force.  The car was moved about a block away, with a 55$ ticket attached.  Not the end of the world, totally my bad.

After i brought the car back, i went for more running.  On my way back, this time at the dead end planters of clemow ave. just east of bank, i found another John’s Sweeping truck parked and running.  I think there may have been a reason it was idling - there was a worker wielding a hose attacked to the truck, and blasting snow and ice with water.  Hence, its possible the truck was idling to charge a compressor or something, in order to facilitate pressure/heat/etc..

I may be very wrong, but this is how this looks to me - burning gas on a truck, to pressurize water stored and trucked around in its tank, to blast ice that will easily thaw on its own, to then clean the streets with the truck that is burning gas.  Does this strike anyone else as ridiculously counter productive and so anti-green it makes me want to vomit?

I don’t want to see anyone loose their job’s, or get in trouble, or anything, but things have to change, and in my opinion, the city should start with stuff like this.  Just like i’d be more than happy to shovel my sidewalk in the winter to save a few bux, i would LOVE to save a buck or 2 (or not even!) and sweep my own road.  I’d even pay the bylaw charge for not sweeping my own road!!!!

Tags: ottawa

Isn’t there some bylaw in ottawa that prohibits engine idling for vehicles when the temperatures are not extreme?

I was on my way home from a run this morning, and midway through the glebe i could smell diesel fuel.  Once i finally got to the percy underpass i found the source - right outside the city’s vehicle lot (or whatever there way) there was a “John’s Sweeping” truck sitting in the middle of the road, idling.  No one in it, it was just sitting there running.

I probably should give the benefit of the doubt, by my hippocratic hypochondriac lungs despise anything other than tasteless or fresh smelling air, and i was pissed.

If there are such bylaws, they should be doubled for gas guslers such as these.  If these types of trucks/services “require” their engines to warm up/idle before service, the city should give incentives to companies that do not use these types of trucks.

Lazy idlers…

Tags: ottawa

The cats are getting a little out of control these days. In an effort to be “stern” and to convey my sense of disapproval, i often grimace or put on a mean face. I also attempt to “shush” the “meeeooeeehhh’s” and “reeeeehhh’s” that are meant to convey something to *me*, that i’m too dull or incognizant of.

It got me thinking this morning. Human’s have this incredible ability to smile and form a variety of other highly elaborate facial expressions. Cats (and most other animals i’m assuming) do not. I’d like to think my cats are smiling sometimes, or are frowning, but the reality is they lack this ability to convey emotions with their faces (i could be wrong, please let me know if your cat can smile for real). If they’re happy or they’re sad, its the same face (although their eyes being slightly closed or twitching or whatever may convey something, their mouths/cheeks do not seem to). This begs the question - can cats sense our emotions through our facial expressions?

I think cats can sense emotions, or at least i’d like to believe this. Before i ever had cats, i’d heard they’re great at sensing when your down, and spending some quality time snuggling with you. What are they using to determine this? The sad look on your face, or is something deeper? Or is it total nonsense, a coincidence brought on by human’s sponge-like emotions willing to accept any gesture as one of love when we sorely needed reinforcement?

I think another scientific cat experiment is in order. The next time i need to be stern, i’m going to do so smiling. If i get a different response, i’ll have to conclude that my cats are in fact, cognizant of my facial expression. If not, i’ll have to scientifically conclude that they are not, and it will be a great day for science. I likely will fail to mention the results here, you’ll have to see the journal of nature for that.

btw, the title is inspired by when you smile by the flaming lips

Thinking of housing recently, combined with the fortuitous position of owning (well the bank owns most of it) property in an urban core, add on to that the fact the structure is not well built nor brick, i’ve been toying with the idea of knocking it down and starting over. Building 2 semi-detached in its place, or convincing one (or more) of my neighbours to do the same and build some kinda modern/oldstyle/eco dwelling structure.

My imagination does wander when i consider the possibilities. 2 properties on my street could easily house a 3 home townhome unit, one where the original owners of their properties might (in theory) be able to pay off a good chunk of their mortgage with the profits from the sale of the extra unit.

Now may seem like the wrong time to be thinking of this considering all the work i’ve put into it. But that type of mentality lacks vision, and i’m very pro-vision. Perhaps not now, but it must always be an option for the future. While it would sadden me to lose some of the charm of these old houses, many things can be rebuilt using old styles (at a price of course), and the practicality gained with new building methods (little drafts, warm walls and floors, cleaner air, better concepts (open anyone??)) certainly outweigh the loss of charm.

Now THAT would be a big project.

I’ve been recently informed by the dear Aggie, that she would like it if i blogged more. I really should. Here’s a start.

I’d blog more if i had an iPhone and an unlimited data plan. Those things are likely quite sweet (never actually played with one, only iTouch, and it is sweet), but apple annoys me. iTunes annoys me. The macbook air is a pretty sweet looking and feeling computer though. I definitely see an additional mac product in my arsenal within the next 2 years (i currently have a first gen iPod mini, that is all).

Similarily i would also blog more if i could do so via SMS or text messages… or perhaps i wouldn’t. I’ve been using twitter here and there, mostly just to get techcrunch’s tweets on my cell. They’ll send you the tweets of any individual via SMS, and thats pretty sweet. I should really look into more useful tweets, ie for the weather in ottawa or something.

I got a letter from rogers today about their new charges for excessive downloads, my plan will run an extra 2$/GB for all GB’s over 60 up to a max of 25$. Apparently my nov and dec were under, but i used ~180GB in januaray, ouch. As of only yesterday i was talking to them to reduce my monthly bill, got 10$ off by giving up tbs (or peachtree, whats up with that). Now i’ll likely have another 25$ on it every other month. Ahhh cable monopolys. Is it time to go DSL? Likely yes…

I have work to do tonite, so i was planning on hitting up some dirienzo’s sandwiches as they’re cheap and easy. But my lunch today consisted of a loeb greek salad and one of their ciabatta demi-bagettes. Its a lot of tasty bread really (and good value too, 1.39 per), i didn’t feel like any more. So what did i do? I stopped by sazloves and got some of their chicken souvlaki skewers. I wanted to make a recent recipe i learned from the Urban Element’s indian class (an amazing experience i shoud’ve blogged about), a very high taste to complexity ratio’d basmati rice recipe, but had no basmati rice. I did have reserve minute rice. Which worked great surprisingly enough. I was missing a bunch of other stuff, but in the end the rice was perfect. I bbq’ed outside with no jacket, broke some hard ice away, drank some sleeman, and had a merry old time. When it came to eating, i positioned the rice chicken and taziki (i forgot about the taziki, they recommended it on their label, i fell for it, no regrets), put the leftover chicken in the microwave (not to cook, but so the cats wouldn’t hair all over it), and i sat in front of my computer, read local ottawa blogs, eat scrumptiously, and feel very rich for the experience.

I also should say that the spring/summer will be an exciting time, hopefully some reno’s, lots of work (its been busy lately), getting my summer tires on (yay!!!), etc..

I have nothing concise to say.

Oh, i do want to get jamie olivers’ newish book, i had a peek at it and it talks about skills/notes for growing misc veggies and stuff. The part about the british hunt kinda turned me off, but i think i can look past it into the sometimes vain mr. olivers dreamy pictures of cooking food over an open garden barby. 40$, but i think i’ll actually learn something from it.

Here’s a misc picture i’m really happy with, but whose tone and attitude totally does NOT jive with that of this posting:

One final thing. I’ve been going to the gym, and listening to some podcasts, cbc’s search engine for one. I may or may not of heard this there, but when i read a blog posting and want to refer to it i say “you should check out so and so’s latest blog posting”. I don’t say “you should check out so and so’s latest blog”. Am i wrong? I would assume that someone’s “latest blog” means they started a new blog with a separate URL and so forth, and it has new/different content than their other blogs. If anyone agrees with me please honk.

On my way to work today someone drove inappropriately. Shortly thereafter i drove past him and gave him the bird. I don’t think he noticed. Then i realized i was wearing mittens. So even if he had noticed, he likely would’ve thought me weird. Then i laughed about it as what he did was not all that bad, so i was glad i was wearing mittens.

I was just outside breaking ice on top of the drainage grates near my house. I’m practically equidistant from the grates on either side of me which kinda sucks. Hopefully this winter will wash away soon, and i’ll do everything in my power to speed the process.

Just as soon as i mentioned my adoration for #705, an era has come to an end.  Why is it all good restaurants must go by the wayside?  Hopefully if this is anything like stoneface, the new tenant will be just as good…

To the point, Cam Kong is no longer - it has been replaced by a similar Vietnamese restaurant called “Fuscian” i believe.  Apparently the owners retired.  We went there a couple nights ago, and were shocked and bewildered for a few minutes before we sat down in a blur and decided to stay. 

They do have a hot n sour vietnamese soup, and were very happy to do a veggie variety upon our request.  The staff was very helpful, and very accommodating.  And the food was pretty darn good.  The soup was not quite like a #705, slightly less tangy and oily, not as addiction satisfying, but good nonetheless.  They told us that we can ask for extra hot stuff for next time, and i definitely will.

When i was in the Dominican, perhaps even on the day they shut their doors, i had a dream.  I had a dream that Cam Kong was closing (i only knew at this point that renovations were occurring), and i actually tried to get a job there in order to learn their secrets.  This is how obsessed i was/am.  I was desperately in need of that soups power, and was frantically dreaming of the 2nd to worst case scenario.  The worst case being, they’d be closed when i go home, no chance to sneak in and steal a peak at their fantastic flavours…

Rest in peace Cam Kong, i’m sure i’ll think of you always.

In related news, for lunch i chopped a tomato, an avacado, and a green mango.  To them, i added lime juice, and salt and pepper.  I then scooped it into tortilla chips and had a splendid time.  Thats what i call a goooooooood lunch.

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Tags: foodottawa