Frangos Family Frenzy

With Glowing Hearts

2009-12-17T19:50:00.011-05:00

The title of this post says a lot about our experience today. Our hearts were a glow with unity and the feeling of being something as big as the Olympic games.

We took the kids out of school for the day.
We took time off of work in order to get out to see the torch pass through Richmond Hill.
Many days of following the torch on the web site and then planning where we were going to stand went out the window when we drove down to see the area and found there was probably a better place to see the torch. The torch bearers where actually waiting at the community center and they let us touch and even hold the torches (not lit ofcourse). You could see the glow in their faces. Even more enjoyable was to see how they wanted to share the excitement with us.

Once the torch was coming closer we watched the bus with the participants pass by and drop them off every 300 meters or so. We quickly ran to the next person to watch the flame pass from one person to the next. Torch bearer 156 (Graham) was passing the flame to 157 (Alain). I'm glad we asked them there names as it was nice to cheer on a name rather than a number. It was a cold -10 degrees out but the feeling we shared with the people around us kept us warm...until they relay was over then we felt it I tell you :-)

I didn't want this event to pass us by without at least a try to get up close and see it. Back in 1988 I remember the torch passing by our old restaurant on Keele and Bloor. From what I remember even though it may not have been a day for us to be working we all showed up in order to take in the experience. It all happened too quickly then as it did this time but I feel we got much more out of it this time. I'm still trying to find the one picture I had from back in 88. Until I find it enjoy the ones from this year.

Update. There it is thanks to my Cousin.

Humbug, CBC chops part of classic Christmas special out

2009-12-09T10:36:00.008-05:00

Last night the family settled down at 8pm ET to watch a Christmas classic, Santa Claus is coming to town. It's something we look forward to every year and is one of our favourite Christmas shows.
The one song we look forward to is "Put one foot in front of the other" where the Winter Warlock learns a valuable lesson on trying even when you think you can't do something. A great learning opportunity for the kids not to mention a nice catchy tune we sing for days afterwards. Much to our surprise this segment was cut out. It can't be more than a minute or so long but it was cut out. We questioned. Did we miss it? Was it going to be after the commercial. Nope, CUT OUT.

The good thing is that we can probably see it a few more times before Christmas on other stations that will not cut out key parts of the show.

This is not the first time the CBC has done this. We watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a few years back and they cut out more than one key part of the movie that in my eyes ruined the storyline.

CBC, The first time may have been acceptable given the length of the movie but to do this to a show that is only 45 or so minutes long is unacceptable. You've now lost us as a family for watching any such show. I'll look to other stations to watch my favourites knowing they will not cut out key parts.

Outdoor Movie Night

2009-07-11T21:52:00.005-04:00

The weather has not been that Summery yet but we took a chance and decided to have an Outdoor movie night. It ended up being a great night for it. The temperature did drop a bit but it allowed us to use some blankets to keep warm and avoid the mosquitoes.
1 Ipod
1 Projector
1 Screen
2 Speakers and a bunch of snacks and it was better than a drive in movie. Not that I have ever been to a drive in.

Up Up and Away

2009-07-05T21:37:00.006-04:00

It was a blustery day on Saturday and up in the Wasaga area by the beach you could really feel it. For most of us this is a day you don't go to the beach but for some it is ideal conditions for what I think is called paraboarding.

Imagine being pulled along the lake by a parasail and using it to catch some air as well.

While driving up you can see the parasails from a distance. This weekend there were at least a dozen high up in the sky that beckon you to come and see what is going on.

We went for a walk along the beach to get closer and possibly see some of these daredevils in action.

I followed a few in my viewfinder as they went back and for along the lake. All were good but then one guy stood out. Silvana caught him holding on with one hand and touching the water with another and she said "Follow yellow and green guy".

No sooner did she say it than he caught some big air. He could see that I was taking pictures and I think it spurred him on. For the next 15 minutes he was up in the air for what seemed an eternity (even people with their cell phones had enough time to focus and get a shot).

Scklock Clock

2009-06-24T11:01:00.005-04:00

After some 12 years I was in the need for a new clock radio. The volume on my existing one would not allow for anything under 11 and as you know most settings only go to 10. :-) Waking up to Roger, Daryl and Marilyn (how did Daryl get in front of Marilyn anyways, maybe just sounds better) in the morning at that level is just not a good way to get out of bed.
I did some research on what I would get to replace it and found that many of the options involve some sort of ipod or mp3 player doc. I neither have an ipod nor do I think that the clock radio that is basically used to inform me of the time when I wake up at night needs to have internet connectivity, a digital picture, soothing rain forest sounds, CD player or the miriad of other feature that I will never use.
One feature that stood out was an auto dimming for the numbers. Many of the newer models the light is soo bright it illuminates the whole room. Another that is becoming more common is auto time set. Standard necessities would be a dual alarm and snooze. You think that it would be easy to find but as I said your options are limited.

Some words of advice:

Get one with larger numbers that light up. Yes I'm getting old and need glasses to see but it's easier to see in the middle of the night as opposed to a backlit one that has black numbers.
The autodimming then becomes a good feature as the 3 inch blue numbers will light up the neighbourhood if you don't do it.
If you can get two speakers good for you as one small one usually makes the sound very sharp. Not that bad when all you listen to if for is 5 minutes in the morning.
Battery backup for when the power goes out. Which makes the auto time set even better. How will you know if the power went out? Check the flashing clock on your stove or microwave.

I ended up getting an RCA that meets my needs even though the sound sucks.

Now this is a far cry from my first clock radio I got I think when I was around 11 or 12. One I like to refer to as a schlock clock, more commonly known as a flip clock. These were the ones where every minute the numbers would flip over with a loud schlock. Much to my surprise there was one similar to the picture below available at Wal Mart.

Back seat freedom

2008-09-19T19:48:00.004-04:00

We used the car instead of the van a bit more this summer when going out with the kids. Perhaps it was the price of gas that caused us to do this but I think it's because they are older now and can manage themselves in and out of the vehicle.

Who could imagine that they would get a kick out of being in the car over the van. The single most exciting part is that they could control their own windows. I know you may find that difficult to understand but it is the first step in a long journey that culminates in getting your own vehicle and being able to control all the other parts of the car as well.

That back seat freedom is not as easy as it was in the past where we would ride around with no seatbelts or lie down on long trips. You still have to have your seatbelt on. You can't kick the seat in front of you which is soo much closer than a van.

Even though you can open that window with a push of a button it only goes down 3/4 of the way down and if the a/c is on you can't open it at all due to rules not mechanics. Gone are the days that all 4 windows were open to cool off the car because a/c did not exist. I remember riding in the back seat on hot day after a shower on our way to an event and the wind from the window would dry and style my hair at the same time.

Winter is almost here so we have a few months of fall to enjoy traveling with the windows down and then the heater will be on and we night as well go back into the van.

More Niagara Falls

2008-07-12T23:49:00.007-04:00

We spent a few days in the Niagara area and the weather was great so we went on a hike in the Niagara Glen. It's about 8kms from the falls on your way to Niagara on the Lake. A set of stairs takes you down right into the Gorge. You can get really close to the river. A bit too close at times. You can hike quite a distance and the trails are challenging at points but not that bad. It would be flip flops for any German tourists.

As you hike along the trail you get to see the Whirlpool Jet Boats pass right by you. You can hear the people on them screaming and if you are at the edge they even wave to you.
We got to see many of them. We stopped at a little cove where you could sit out on some rocks that were further into the river.

But ask Brian the best part of the trip and he will tell you.

SHOE BUFFER!! Buff when you wake up. Buff before you go out. Buff when you come back. Buff just before you go to sleep. Dream of buffing again the next day. Ah, to be 6 again!!

Canada Day in Niagara Falls

2008-07-12T23:34:00.004-04:00

Some of you may find this hard to believe but up until now I have never been on the Maid of the Mist. Yes almost 42 years and this year was the first time ever. I've made countless trips to Niagara Falls but the expense of going on the Maid had me turn away. It was the encouragement of the kids that pushed me to spend the extra cash to do it. It was a great experience and you really get to feel the power of the mighty Niagara. For those of you that have yet to go I would recommend it. It's quite tame.

Many of you have probably taken a picture similar to the one on the left. From the top of the falls looking down right over the edge where watching the water makes you dizzy. You can imagine those people that went over in barrels and wonder how they survived.

On the left is a view from the bottom looking up. The top right corner of this photo would be where the previous photo was taken.

Hail Storm June 2008

2008-06-16T19:25:00.008-04:00

I got a call at work today and Silvana told me that there was a hail storm coming my way.
She also said she was not able to go pick up the kids yet due to the amount of hail that was falling. A few minutes later the storm hit us at work. There was plenty of hail but I thought there was a slight exaggeration on my wifes part in terms of the quantity that she was describing.
Move ahead 3 hours and I arrive home to see a pile of hail that is still not melted. The temperature outside is 22C and yet this pile is still there.
No exaggeration, look for yourselves.

No Burning School House

2008-05-20T22:17:00.005-04:00

I can't remember the last time I bought fireworks. What I do remember is watching a burning school house go up in flames. I didn't buy one even though it was available. I stuck with the "box o fireworks" you see in the first picture. Quite reasonably priced. I only did a per bang calculation once and that was after one of the big ones only lasted 3 seconds.
The neighbours and I recently got about 9 yards of top soil so we used a wheel barrow full of dirt as our base and put it in the middle of the street to avoid any shingle damage. The whole thing lasted only 15 minutes or so but I think it was a hit as you can see by the reaction of some of the kids.

Next year Burning School House full of some sort of explosive will be on the menu!!

Fury in the Family room

2008-04-30T21:35:00.004-04:00

Move the coffee table and get out of the room we are getting ready for the "Fury in the Family room"

In the far corner we have a member of the Kardiac Krusaders. Weighing in at 170 pounds......Killer Kosta!!!!

In the near corner we have the Boyche Boy.
Weighing in at a 41 pounds soaking wet with rocks in his pocket..... Brian the Bruiser!!

A little bit of Wii boxing was on the agenda. Both these contenders did not want to loose but the Bruiser ended up victorious with a KO in the 4th round.

Xristos Anesti (Happy Easter)

2008-04-30T21:20:00.005-04:00

Yes I realize that I'm a week or so late or for those that celebrated Catholic Easter even more weeks late. There is usually not much to write about for Easter but this year the weather was the story. Oh yes you can say that given our Easter was 5 weeks later it was bound to be warm but I can give you many a year where although we were later the weather was much colder, snowier, rainier...
The picture is actually from Palm Sunday which was warmer than Easter but this year we could not complain. It was warm enough both on Good Friday and Saturday night. The priest at the new church in Markham has some good order so that made it even more enjoyable. I'm not sure if it is just me but he seems to cater to the kids which is good for us because we have 3 (2 officially if you don't include me).
The Leafs were not in the playoffs so I though I would not hear much in terms of hockey talk but given the size of the crowd and the amount of people outside it was inevitable. I was up to date on all the playoff news within the two days.

My new favorite song

2008-04-08T22:42:00.003-04:00

Every once in a while I hear a song I like and it becomes my favorite song. I'm not your ipod carrying, digital music listening kind of guy... yet ... so most of my music listening is still in the car or on the stereo at home before dinner or on the weekends. This means I don't get tired of hearing the song even if it is popular and gets played often.

In most cases it lasts a while and even if years pass I continue to like it. Now don't think that I only like new stuff. These are new favorites, I have old favorites as well. Some of the 80's stuff is stuck in my brain forever even if it isn't that good. I think that is a teenage thing that stays with you. If you watched Scott Baio is 46 and pregnant you probably heard all the good songs mixed in quite well with the show.

The kids usually know the song as I tell them it's my favorite. Anytime they hear it they will come running to tell me my favorite song is on. They will do the same if they hear an Elvis song or see him on TV. They will do this with Silvana's favorites as well but hers don't change as often as mine do, I think.

Some recent examples:
Finger 11's Paralyzer
Pinks, Get the Party started (make fun all you want but with the kids this one is great)
No Doubt's Dont Speak

So long story to get to my new favorite which is a song by Jully Black called Until I Stay.

A little time with Mother Earth

2008-03-30T19:21:00.003-04:00

Earth Hour was spent at the David Dunlap Observatory where a member of the Mohawk tribe provided us with inspiration about the planet and the Observatory lands. There were more than a couple of hundred people there with us. We did not go into the the Observatory but after a 10 minute line up we were able to get a look at Saturn through one of the telescopes that someone had set up. It was amazingly clear. Brian said it was fake and just a picture of Saturn that someone put in front of the telescope.
I know the U of T is trying to sell the lands and I don't want to suggest that I know everything about the reasons but I do think the lands are worth saving. If this little event is any indication of what can be done it shows that it's not only valuable for heritage and historical value but also may be commercially viable.
There is a Facebook Group for those that are interested in joining. It's called

Save David Dunlap Observatory!!

Paddle to the Sea

2008-02-23T21:35:00.006-05:00

For those of you that went to school in Ontario in the 70's you may remember a movie about a carved canoe that traverses through the Great Lakes. That movie is based on a book from the 40's by Holling C. Holling. I'm not sure why it came to mind but it may have to do with a bunch of books the kids brought home from the library the other day. Of course I didn't remember that it was called Paddle to the Sea but a quick search on the net using "carved" "canoe" and "movie" and there it was along with a little clip to tease you with. I even came across a download that will add the route the canoe took to Google Earth with some excellent facts about the areas the little canoe passes.

That very weekend the kids went to the library and picked up the 60th anniversary of the book Angela is reading it to Brian. I believe she said they are at chapter 7 of 27. I'd like to think that I inspired them a bit due to my vivid story about how I loved the movie and then showing them the things I found on the web.

It may be worth getting the movie so they can enjoy it after they have read the book. It too is available on the web and I may just get it.

Snow Day... not officially

2007-12-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

Along the lines of my previous post in that this is also weather related. We had a Snow Day on Sunday, not an official one as the title suggests because there is no school on Sunday. This same storm hit parts of the U.S. and was described as having "crippling" effects. Luckily for us it happened on a Sunday when we had no plans. Some Christmas shoppers and retail folks may not share my happiness as this would have probably been a good day to hit the malls. Although they said the storm was to start Saturday we didn't get much until Sunday and then when it did hit we got over 30cms in under 8 hours. Once again luckily it was on a Sunday to give clean up crews time to clear both the main roads and the side streets. I can't imagine what would have happened if this were on a working weekday.
We shoveled at least twice and from the picture I've attached you can see that there was some play time as well.
I could use a little Global warming after this.

Global warming you say

2007-12-04T14:44:00.000-05:00

Every night on the news there is at least one piece that talks about a new study or shows devastating weather related tragedies. There is no denying that the Earth is getting warmer. Just Google global warming and you'll get tons of facts and fiction on the topic. I think climate change is a better term to use as global warming gives me the impression that in a few decades or less we northerners will be enjoying margaritas on the back porch in our shorts and t-shirts for Christmas.

This year is a perfect example of why I would say climate change rather than global warming.
So far we have had 3 snow storms. One in late November and two in December. School buses have been cancelled twice due to icy or snowy conditions and the temperature has been close to or below 0 c. This my friends is not global warming. If we continue like this we will have one heck of a traditional winter.

Yes, I will agree that our existence on this planet is causing things to change but they have been changing for millions of years.
Is it happening faster than before?
Maybe
Are the changes more dramatic?
Maybe.
Should we try to minimize our impact?
Yes!
Should we consume less?
Yes!
In the end its change. Just as the seasons change each year.
We can adapt, we can do better but it's going to take some time.
But stop calling it global warming.

At one with Nature

2007-11-07T19:42:00.000-05:00

There are people they say that can feel it in their bones when it's going to rain. You may say that that those people are old and are feeling arthritis or the change in barometric pressure but I'll tell you that there may be something else involved. Those people are at one with nature and their bodies and minds can sense things that most of us can't, or could we and we have just lost it? Today was the first snow fall in our area. Snow that actually stayed on the ground. At 6:30 a.m. Brian came to our room to ask us to look out the window. Why you say would a kid wake up at 6:30 a.m.? The only explanation is that he felt the snow. That first snowfall is something that as a kid (and sometimes as a grown up) you look forward to and when it happens you can feel it. How many other things have we lost the feeling for because we are too immersed in our daily routine?

There could have been a couple of photos that went along with this post but neither Silvana nor I were awake enough to have the sense to get the camera.
Brian at his window sitting on his toy box staring at the snow and whispering the things he will do when he gets out there.
Brian at the garage door in full winter attire holding his little red shovel wondering when the rest of us will be ready to go out and shovel.

Never enough Candy!!

2007-11-07T19:05:00.000-05:00

As long as you are old enough to understand the pleasures of candy you are willing to go the extra mile. This year the kids were able to go that extra mile. Part of it was due to the allure of the sweet confections that were being handed out but I think the bigger part is that they are older and able to physically go the distance. We ventured way past our own street to houses that looked promising in terms of the candy they would give out. I remember those days when you found out the house a few blocks away was giving out chips or chocolate bars. I don't think that really exists today as almost everyone is giving out the same stuff. I wonder what our kids will say they enjoyed about Halloween when they grow up.

A conversation between Brian and his cousin after Halloween.
So Brian what were you this Halloween?
A Power Ranger.
What colour?
Blue.
What was Angela?
A Pumpkin witch.
What's the difference between a Pumpkin witch and a witch?
Pumpkin witch has pumpkin in it the other one is just witch.

James Gardens 2007

2007-11-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

A few weeks after the fact for the post but we did make it to James Gardens again this year. Once again we lucked out and had beautiful weather. So much so that we did a little walk/hike along the Humber River. I got to see some of my old stomping grounds which included places I lost at bike tag or wiped out in the woods with my no speed bike when everyone else had a ten speed. The fall colours were amazing in the woods and the pictures do not do it justice. We even got to walk over the bridge that leads to the valley. For those of you that lived in the area you will remember the pedestrian bridge under the Dundas street bridge. Its a fun little tradition we have doing this on a yearly basis. The addition of the hike was nice as the kids want more than just pictures now. With digital pictures comparing the pictures the last few years has made it even more enjoyable. We print out a new family 8x10 or 5x7 every year and replace the previous year. Maybe a digital frame would be good so we can put them all on and watch them cycle through. For now I'll just look at them online.
See for yourself how we are changing in a collage of the last 4 years.

Too old to pick Apples

2007-09-24T21:10:00.000-04:00

Silvana and I are not too old but the kids seem to be.
We went on Friday which was a PD day. The weather was excellent. As we arrived at Chuddleighs we found that all the buses and vans that were unloading had kids that were only 3 or 4 years old. Oh yes it was a workday so maybe most of those there were mothers and their little ones but we slowly came to realize that our kids were not into the event. There was a bit of playing in the hay but they were on a mission to get apples and leave.
Luckily for us Silvana had a sense that Apple picking would not be enough and mapped a route to Rattlesnake point. This is where the kids really had fun. Listening to the sounds of nature as well as taking in the sights and smells of fall. We probably did about a 5 km loop and it was just about the right length as the walk back to the van did have a few request for a piggybacks and queries about being there yet.
More hikes and less Apple picking may be what is necessary over the next few years.

BTW, We did see a snake but it was just a garter snake.

Let's Play Ball

2007-09-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

Earlier last week we had an event at work and I entered a draw to win some tickets.
The tickets were to a Jays game but also included a 90 minute coaching session following the game for someone 6-16. As you can guess I won.
The game started at 1:07 and we got there just before that. As an added bonus it was Jr. Jays Saturday and we were given a passport. 20 minutes later and three stamps on our passport and we were given a (Gregg Zaun #9 backcatcher bobble head). This alone would have made the day but the festivities continued.
Brian only asked when the game was going to be over after the 6th inning at which point we went for cotton candy and a new baseball cap.

Following the game all the kids in the dome got to run the bases. You can imagine the line up. It wound all the way from field level to the top of section 500. Which is where we were waiting. Surprisingly it was very well organized and it only took us about 15 minutes to get to the field. At this point Brian thought this was it and was ready to go home but the fun didn't end there. He had his picture taken and they made a baseball card. Three coaches came onto the field and took the kids through some baseball fundamentals. The day ended at around 7 with some pizza and pop. We could have skipped getting the baseball cap as they go a free one during the clinic.

BTW, The jays won!

Jays Game

First day of School 2007

2007-09-06T13:57:00.000-04:00

I posted about this last year but it's such a significant day that I think I'll post about it each year.

Once again Angela and Brian started on different days. It was to our benefit this year as we wanted to deal with Brian's broken collarbone on it's own. Realizing that the first day back to school is usually quite busy for the teachers we got two notes ready explaining the situation. One for the office and one for the teacher. I think they appreciated this. I picked Brian up during lunch/recess to avoid any potential collarbone mishaps. I worry he may get used to this special treatment.

Angela has 2 other Angela's in her class. So much for a unique name.
Grade 3. I think this is the writing and multiplication tables year. The lack of things to say for Angela is actually a good thing.

Not much has changed since we went to school. Some say that schools need to move into the future in terms of educating kids. As an example if you took a teacher from 100 years ago and plopped them into a grade school class today they would not feel much of a difference. Should they? Not sure. Maybe in high school things should change. A teacher at the front of the class lecturing and handing out photocopies is probably not as useful as it was in the past. More interaction is occurring from what I can see but I believe most of the burden falls on the students. Things are changing very quickly in the real world and it's hard for any institution to keep up. I don't think everyone needs a computer but everyone should be using them regularly and getting familiar with some of the common tools. Moving beyond the common would then be a bit easier.

Update: Sept 7/07
I guess some teachers/professors are making changes. See this article that talks about podcasts, videocast, clickers in the classroom/lecture to make things more interactive. Teachers have always been entertainers. This takes it to a new level. Today's guest speaker will be Regis Filbin and is brought to you by the Redbull. Need to stay alert during a lecture, try Redbull!

Ouch!!!

2007-08-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

A big OUCH this weekend as Brian broke his clavicle (collarbone to those of us non doctor types).
In the last hour of packing up to come home from the cottage he tripped on a old tree stump in the back and landed on his shoulder. Nobody was there to see it but he had enough strength to get to the cottage and stand at the door for me to see him. The little guy was in pain and you could see it.
A trip to the Collingwood hospital and the x-ray confirmed my fears. Much to my surprise they say this is a common bone to break and that you don't do anything special to heal it. Common they say!! I guess for doctors but not for me. I've heard of ankles, arms wrists and legs but not collarbones. A quick Googeling and it's there for you to see.
I think I would have passed out or at least yelled real loud from where I was rather than running back to the cottage. Ask me some day to tell you about my falling off the bike with no shoes episode. You can see from other posts that I am not that good with pain but I'd take this pain for him if I could. The emotional pain seems to hurt just as much.
So far the doctors says a few more days of pain and then 4 weeks or so to heal. I find it hard to believe but only time will tell.
Silvana made him a Spiderman sling that is helping him out.
Hopefully he has some mobility next week for the start of school.
So far the most descriptive line from Brian. "Daddy, when I walk it feels wobbly" referring to how the bone feels inside his chest.

Movie night

2007-08-21T16:30:00.000-04:00

Last week Friday was a fun night. It was the worldwide premier of High School Musical 2.
What, you didn't even know there was a High School Musical 1. Well there was and it's big, Disney big. There was a live tour after the first one with a CD and everything. This winter you will even get to spend $60 bucks a ticket to see HSM on ice.

All this from a made for TV musical geared towards what I would guess is the tweens but has gone as low as our kids. The best part of the whole thing is that the actual movie was free or at least for those with the second tier of cable that is.

The Disney channel is great for the kids. It has a variety of shows for all ages and every Friday they have what they call a "Popcorn pick". A family friendly movie that starts at around 7:30 so you can get them to bed at a decent time. Some of them are quite lame with horrible acting. If you ever wondered where all those actors that were on Fantasy Island or the Love Boat went don't look any further, they are on the Disney channel with some up and coming youngsters.

I know you won't lecture me about kids and t.v. as you can see from my posts that we do more than just sit around watching t.v. . I think t.v. is good as long as you watch things that not only entertain but at times teach you something. Flipping a lot helps you find those shows :-) Think about all the values we learned from Fonzie or little Laura Ingalls. They don't make for good video games but they do make for good viewing.

Can't wait for HSM III. Rumour has it that they will push it to the theatre but my hopes are it will be another freebie on the Disney channel next year.

Notice in the picture above that the coffee table has been moved away to allow for dancing. Given this was the first time they saw the movie they did not catch all the moves but don't you worry as the "how to dance to HSM 2" will soon be coming out which will no doubt be followed by the "pop up video" version as was the case for HSM the original.

Worth a thousand words

2007-08-12T00:17:00.000-04:00

A picture they say is worth a thousand words. The picture here has just a few of the things you may think to bring to the beach but there are things not in the picture that probably pop to mind when you see such a photo.
There is ofcourse the prep it takes to get the the beach. Lucky for me I have a life long cottage beach goer as a wife. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty organized myself but it's alot easier when someone has the experience to know what will and what won't work. Ziplocs for example are great beach items as they can hold everything. Mesh bags for sand toys, small containers for grapes and blueberry (so refreshing at the beach and much easier than watermelon)
Here it comes.. the comparison to when we I was a kid.

Bathing suit
Towel
Giant Watermelon (seeded) that was cut on the spot

This was followed by a long ride home in an non-air-conditioned car. No DVD, No snacks lots of wind in the back seats.
Wait, we did have drinks. Giant blue cooler with a spout at the bottom filled with Cool-Aid!!

An island in the City

2007-07-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

Toronto is blessed with having many attractions for both those visiting from outside the country as well as those of us that live in and around it. The Toronto Islands are one such jem. From the heart of the city just a 15 minute ferry ride over and you seem to be as far away from the city as you can be, but if you look over your shoulder you can still see the Toronto Skyline reminding you that you haven't even left the city.

This little outing actually served two purposes as it was also a cousins get together. With many of the cousins being teachers it was easy to arrange a weekday event. Those few of us that are not teachers just took a day off and it was all set.

The day was perfect. It seemed to revolve around eating cold KFC which was purchased the night before. Around noon we dug into the greasy delight. No Superbowl ordering fiasco this time (I'll fill you in on that story at a later date) as we got just a little bit more than we needed. It was a little hot at times but enough trees and a bit of a breeze to cool you off when necessary, not to mention a splash pad for the kids.

Many childhood memories were shared and maybe a few more created.
Some more photos can be found here.

Just found this neat new feature in Picasa web albums

Simpsons Terry

2007-07-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

The Simpsons movie will be coming out sometime this week. As with any new movie these days it has a web site. There is not much to it yet but they have a place where you can create your own Simpsons avatar. I'm not sure if it looks like me but the wardrobe is pretty close. All I needed was another shirt on top of the existing shirt. If you visit different areas of the web site it them shows your avatar with all the other Simpsons characters. I'm sure the movie will be funny but I doubt I'll go and see it.

On the other hand I've seen a trailer for 1-18-08 that looks quite interesting. We'll have to wait for that date to see it though.

Ottawa

2007-07-05T22:29:00.000-04:00

We decided to spend Canada Day in our nations capital. Yes Ottawa is the capital of Canada not Toronto. Once you see Parliament Hill and all the other buildings in Ottawa you quickly realize why it was chosen as the Capital.
I had been in Ottawa once before for a grade 8 trip. I think we spent 3 days there. I vaguely remember some of the stuff we did but I think I forgot most of it. I seem to remember a photo on the steps of Parliament but that may be a trip we did to Queens Park in Toronto.
It was nice to spend Canada in the Capital. There was a certain buzz about the city and everyone was in a festive mood.
The kids once again impressed me with their ability to walk everywhere. We stayed in a hotel close to Parliament but they walked well beyond any other kids we saw.

Things to think about:

French/English

that little hike over the river taking you to Quebec

Government workers

they seemed to all be on break quite often during the day

Tim Hortons

what would we do without it on such trips. Now more that ever given their non-donut and coffee options

French Fry trucks

They were everywhere on Canada Day

Slippin and Slidin

2007-06-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

The weather has been quite hot the last few days in the GTA. With the humidex it has hit the mid 30's C. What better way to cool off than a little slippin and slidin.
Brian and his neighbourhood friends had some fun on Saturday. I don't remember ever sliding down one of these myself but I did have lots of advice for the kids as they were getting prepared. Longer runway before trying to slide, not sliding until two steps on the track, trying to go on your knees if you didn't want to go Superman style. In some cases the advice worked, in others I think I may have caused them to overthink the whole process. Nothing like and adult (yes I guess I'm and adult) to spoil the fun.

Angela also had some fun but she was at a pool party. Luckily she's not like her father and actually enjoys swimming. I think by her age I had already figured out I would not be a strong swimmer.. or a swimmer period. Hard to do if you can't put your face in the water. The temperature of the water is also a big factor. I have a hard enough time getting the shower to the right temperature so you can imagine how long it would take me to slowly wade into a pool.

After looking at many of my previous posts I've come to the realization that most of them are comparing my childhood to that of my kids. What they have and we didn't, what they do and we didn't, what we do the same, how things have changed or stayed the same... I guess my views will be plastered quite clearly in each of the posts. For those of you that grew up the same time as I did I think some of this will ring true. Some of it will just be my little neuroses and this blog is bringing them to my attention as well as those that may be reading this.

School BBQ?

2007-06-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

O.K. who remembers having a school BBQ in grade school? I'm not talking to you kids that went to grade school in the 80's or 90's but those that went in the 70's. As far as I remember we had Fun Days at the end of school, some after school activities like ball hockey but I don't remember a BBQ. I guess the fun day is the equivalent but fun day was just for students and teachers not parents. Sort of a battle of the network stars school style. Events like water balloon toss, or tug-o-war were the highlights.
We went to St Marguerite d'Youville (poor kids have to try to tell people this name, I heard some shorten it to St M) BBQ on June 7th. There weren't any games but the kids and parents had the choice of some M&M BBQ items that were quite nice. They even had a DJ. Not Funky Jo. He tried to please those of us that were in high school in the 80's by playing some tunes from "back in the day" as he would say. There were silent auctions and baked goods for sale as well, mmm cupcakes.
From my understanding the kids will also have a fun day. I wonder what games they will be competing in.

Equal time

2007-06-17T22:01:00.000-04:00

So as not to neglect Angela in the blog I'm giving her equal billing with this soccer post.
Angela started playing soccer a year younger than Brian. That is why we did not sign Brian up until he was 5. We knew that it was a little too difficult before 5. More like bumble bee soccer. That's where they all buzz around the ball not getting very far. There always is one kid that's good that will break from the buzzing and eventually take the ball to the net. There are a few of those girls on Angela's team this year. In all they are much better at playing the game and actually play their positions most of the time. Defense is Angela's favorite. I think there is not as much pressure playing defense. But the coaches are good. They get them to play most positions even goal.
I like the picture above, not just because of the girl that is in the air but the fact that almost all the girls are focused on the same spot.

Happy 5th Bday

2007-05-27T21:49:00.000-04:00

Brians 5th Birthday today!! Family get together. I think in the coming years we will have to have a friends party as well.
Seems to have been the week of Brian. With his first day of soccer, riding his bike without training wheels and now his birthday. Ofcourse they also celebrated his birthday at school. He had his own little hat/crown and some other stuff from the class and teacher.
For some reason I don't remember celebrating my birthday at school. Although I think my grade 5 teacher did have our birthdays on the calendar for everyone to see. That was good as you got to see who had their birthday the same month as you. I think that is the start for those people that read horiscopes. They found similarities to those that had a birthday around theirs and from then on believe that there is some linkage to the celestial bodies. Scorpio you say, you must be passionate and ill tempered a little shy but outgoing. Wow, you've just hit about 95% of the population with just one sentence.
More photos here

Gooooooal

2007-05-27T19:54:00.000-04:00

Brians first day of soccer. We did not sign him up last year as we thought he was not ready. Not that he was not able to play but rather that he didn't need the organized sort of environment. He did excellent for his first day and was quite excited to play. He actually knew a bit about the positions as he has played soccer in another sproty thing we signed him up for. He would go to the net but the other kids did not know to pass yet. Let's not jinx it as its only his first game and we hope he'll stay into in for a while.
BTW, we also took off his training wheels and after a few runs behind him he took to it like a pro.
He doesn't need me to push start him anymore and can even get himself going up hill. I think seeing his sister do it a few weeks back encouraged him to do it as well, not to mention a few kids his age on the street that were already riding san training wheels.
The photo was taken by Angela and she told him how to pose.

Mothers Day hike in the woods

2007-05-15T19:20:00.000-04:00

On Sunday with thanks to my cousin Angelo we went for a hike in a local forest. We've been looking on the web and in local maps to try to find some nice places to hike but all the documented places are paved and I consider those a walk not a hike "to walk or march a great distance, esp. through rural areas, for pleasure, exercise, military training, or the like." I believe this one is considered a bike trail. Mountain biking I would say as you can see from the structures we encountered.

I've always enjoyed doing this and I think it's because we grew up near a forest and spent lots of time in it, exploring, biking, hiking and building forts.

We had to drive around 5 minutes to get to this place but we also went on a similar hike just around the corner from our house. What surprised us the most was we encountered thousands of Trillium flowers. I know they are the provincial flower but I've been in and around the woods all my life and I don't remember seeing this many. The photo with Silvana and the kids has a countless amount behind them.

Look Mom No Training wheels

2007-05-04T21:06:00.001-04:00

It's a right of passage that we all go through. The day the training wheels come off and you actually ride your bike without them. There is a sense of freedom that comes with it as you can go up and down the curbs without getting stuck and places that were off limits now become a new challenge.
Angela reached this milestone on the weekend. I think it may be a bit later than most but that probably has to do a bit with her parents being overprotective. Her sudden desire came from seeing other kids younger than her as well as her classmates talking about their Training wheel less nirvana. I'm glad they are off but I'm still concerned about her safety. She has some elbow and knee pads along with the mandatory helmet which I thinked helped her get the courage to finally do it. I've also suggested wiping out on grass if you can as it's softer. Avoid bushes as her aunt learned quickly when she first learned how to ride a bike. The wobbliness is still there but it will be gone in no time. I think this may encourage Brian to get his off as well. I'll let you know if that happens in a future post.

I think I was later than others as well. From what I remember I learned late in the year and then when the next bike riding season arrived I was afraid I had forgotten how to ride. Ofcourse this was the point where I got the old "Once you learn to ride a bike you never forget" speech. Most of my friends in those days were much older than me and trying to keep up was difficult. I don't think I ever got to the point where I could do what they did. Partially because I was younger and smaller but probably more because of the " I didn't like pain" syndrome, more commonly know as being a whimp. I think I'm still that way. I'll watch others do stuff before I take a go at it. It's done me well so far so I think I'll stick with it.

Grandparents Day

2007-05-04T20:46:00.000-04:00

I'm still having trouble with Valentines, Mother and Fathers day but I guess there should be a Grandparents day. This coming from a guy who creat Accounting Slack Day (ASD then to be changed to Knowledge Behind the Numbers Day when I won a competion to update the lowly image of the Bean Counter) for those in the accounting profession to have off. It was June 15th in case you were wondering. Mid year, no month end, no year end, no forecast... In this case grandparents day was brought to our attention by the kids as they were gearing up for some festivities at school where the grandparents are invited to come hear how they are a valuable part of their grandkids lives. In many cases more valuable than their parents.. but I digress again.
They sing about the baby Jebus and other stuff and then have tea and cookies.
Surprisingly the kids were really into it and it gave them a sense of community in that they got to see the other grandparents and how they interacted with their grandkids.
My dad was able to come over on Wed as Brian insisted that he be there and Silvana's mom was there on Thur for Angela.
I could not help but think about those poor kids who didn't have a grandparent and had to bring a photo or a story about them. I guess the younger kids would probably be safe but as you get into grades 7 and 8 I could see them having lots of photos. I guess the concept still works as there is a connection with them no matter where they are. Maybe this would trigger some conversation about those that are no longer with us and inspire the kids to learn more.
So heres to Grandparents, for all the love, help and caring they provide for us. I pray that we all make it to an age where we can be grandparents and share in a day like this with our grandkids.

Cherry Blossom Festival in the GTA

2007-05-04T20:14:00.001-04:00

My friend Steve has a post here about the Cherry Blossom Festival at High Park.
We have some previous plans for Sunday but I'm going to mark this down on the calendar as something to do in the years to come. Maybe a good place to meet up with friends and family.

Funny thing is we used to have a restaurant right around High Park and in all those years I never once got a chance to go to it. Maybe it's a new thing or maybe it's that we were actually working and could not get away from the weekend breakfast crowd long enough to walk over to the park and enjoy it. By the end of a day at the restaurant we wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

Earth Day 2007

2007-04-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

It was Earth day over the weekend. If you were not aware you must have been buried under some garbage or maybe the lack of an ozone layer allowed the sun to fry your brain. As a matter of fact it was unusually warm in the city with highs around 25C. Normal highs are 12C. We invited some friends over on Saturday to help us clean up some park areas around our house and although you don't see much as you drive through the neighbourhood when you walk around there is stuff everywhere. Saturday we found lots of stuff but on Sunday we came across even more. There was a bit of everything. Bottles, cans, coffee cups, a single shoe (I've always wanted to write about the single shoe and how it came to be on it's own. Maybe in a future post) . Most annoying were the advertising signs. You can't come into a new neighbourhood without seeing signs for pot lights, basement reno, critter removal, landscaping, feng shui... The majority of them have a little wire frame and a plastic sign. I assume they are very cheap to produce as nobody comes back to pick them up and put them in a new neighbourhood. The politicians are some of the worst offenders. We should have taken them to their campain headquarters and dumped them on the front door.
We then went back home and had Pizza and wings for lunch making sure to recycle the Pizza box and pop cans we used.

Steven Brian and Trevor with just a few of the bags we filled.

Disney

2007-03-31T19:28:00.000-04:00

For today's post Angela will write about her time at Disney.

We went on our first family trip on a plane. We slept in our clothes and got up real early to go to the airport. The plane ride was 2 hours or so which is how long it takes to go to Nona's cottage some times. We had gum and candy for the ride. The ride was smooth but Brian's ears hurt when we were landing.
When we got there we took the Disney Magical Express bus to the hotel. Our hotel was the Caribbean Beach Resort. That day we went to Magic Kingdom. We stayed the rest of the day and saw the night parade and fireworks.
The next day we went to Animal Kingdom in the morning and MGM Studios at night. We went back to MGM the next day as well because mommy wanted to see Indiana Jones. It was scary at first but then we thought it was funny. We even went to see it again another day.
We saw all the parades and all the fireworks at all the parks. We left some things early when they were scary.
My favorite thing was meeting the characters it was fun and Splash Mountain.
Brian liked the Jungle Cruise boat ride or maybe Splash Mountain.
We went swimming at the resort and it had a water slide that was really fun. Even Brian went on it.
See some of the pictures here.

Ethiopian night!

2007-03-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

Went to an Ethiopian restaurant last night with some co-workers.
It was down on Bloor St in between Dufferin and Bathurst. I hate driving downtown. The roads are so narrow and even more so with the snow. People darting in front of you to cross the street, others riding bikes in freezing temperatures. Us suburbanites are spoiled..but I digress.

The food was quite good, most of us got either lamb or beef that was seasoned well and the spices were not overpowering. The portions were quite large. You eat without utensils and every meal came with a soft bread used to pick up or dip with. I say bread but it was more like a crepe but thicker and was cold. I found that Ethiopians don't eat pork which according to our Ethiopian friend is due to them being Orthodox (Greek orthodox) but I'm not sure that is the case given I know many a Greek that eats pork. It could be that half the country is Muslim and therefore the whole country just abandoned pork altogether.
There was no desserts on the menu but they did bring out popcorn and and coffee which was very similar to greek/turkish coffee. Supposedly coffee originated in Ethiopia.

The place also reminded me of our old restaurant on Bloor St. Not the decor or the food but the layout. Kitchen in the back, a couple of rows of tables against the walls, a little bar on the side. Our waitress/bartender/chief bottle washer had me thinking about the days I worked in the restaurant. Having more than one person serving in a place this size is not logical and besides a slow start it worked out very well for us and I think the rest of the customers.

It was nice to try something new and learn some things about co-workers outside of work.

Photo manipulation

2007-03-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

I played with some photos the other day. In most cases they turned out pretty crappy. It's one thing to tweak a photo in terms of light or colour and such but if the photo is crappy to start off with there is not much you can do.
In this new digital age we all have those shots that we don't print but we also don't delete as you never know when it may come in handy, not to mention it doesn't hurt much to keep them around. I did the same with my prints in the old days. They are all in a box with a bunch of thank you pictures from weddings I've attended. Close family ones you put in an album but what do you do with those other ones?
In this case I had a blurry photo of a Christmas ornament (which is actually a piece of my parents old chandelier) and I put a photo of us in it. Layers, erasing and blending and it covers the blurry spot with a nice winter shot.
I was pretty happy with the result.

ABC's

2007-03-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

A little retro family video.
Way back to 2002 for this. I asked Angela to say something to her new baby brother Brino (she couldn't say Brian yet) and this is what she came up with.
Notice how the pitch changes as the song progresses.

Snow Day

2007-03-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

Today is a Snow day in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). I'm sure most of you are aware of the concept. Lots of snow therefore schools are closed. Well, schools are open but buses are not working so many kids stay home for the day. Which is something like what we are faced with in the business world these day. We may not be able to get into the office but we can work from home.
What would it take to have a Snow day for grown ups?
Maybe a power outage like back in 2003.

On a similar topic. For a country that gets lots of snow we seem to have a hard time dealing with the white stuff. I think part of it is due to policies put in place. For example, plows don't go out until 4cms are on the ground. In theory this sounds good but if you know the snow is coming and it will be heavy and as rush hour approaches and there is 3cm on the ground maybe it would be a good idea to get the plows out. So what I am suggesting is that a policy is good but sometimes things aren't a 1 or a 0, there are some shades of gray in there. Human interaction (humans saved day for NYSE) is necessary or the policy/program needs to have some items such as this built in to it to accomodate. I find the government is first to follow a rule to the letter.
Here's a great spoof on Toronto's handling of snow.

Taking Pictures

2007-02-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

The above could have benefited with more flash

Angela took the above after she saw me take the photo below

Both Angela and I took some photos in church yesterday. I don't feel comfortable taking pictures in public buildings unless you have a valid reason. Walking around with a camera in a church on any given Sunday will probably get you some looks but if you are there for a wedding or in our case a baptism nobody takes a second glance. The problem with indoor shots and our little digital cameras is the flash just isn't strong enough. My camera has the ability to add an external flash and for occasions such as this it may be beneficial to get one, but the ease of the onboard flash and the fact that the camera is lighter without it makes me stay away from spending the money.
The Greek Orthodox Churches are quite ornate and you can get some really nice photos. This church was recently renovated as they had a fire a few years back so the colours are still very vivid.

Hot Cocoa

2007-02-22T21:10:00.000-05:00

Why is it after a snow shovelling, toboganning, skate outside or almost any winter activity do we get a craving for a nice hot cocoa?
I don't remember my first cup of cocoa but I do remember the first time I craved it after a day out in the cold. In grade school we went out to the local park/forest to look at animal tracks in the snow. I really enjoyed it because it was a park that I went to with my friends and I got to notice things that I hadn't seen before. It was through a teacher that came to our school on occasion to teach us about the outdoors. It was through Mr Nasimoks (or something like that) eyes that we saw things. We ended the day back near the school but still outside. He had a giant thermos full of what was a very watery hot chocolate but it warmed me through and through. It was shortly after this that we got to go out again but this time we went cross country skiing. Old skis, no real winter gear like today besides some long-johns and a pair of mits that once wet were worse than having nothing on at all but it was fun. At the end of the day we were back outside the school as cold as ever and I craved that hot chocolate ( I say chocolate because it's water based and I think hot cocoa has to be made with milk). I was not disappointed as the giant thermos was there again and I filled up with the warmth that I come to expect after any outdoor winter outing.

I think we have passed this on to our kids as we can't go out in the winter without a request for cocoa when we get back home. Sometimes we have to bring it with us as we can't make it home without the warm chocolatey goodness.
I wonder if those that are in tropical regions have a similar drink that they crave when coming in from the heat? Hot Cocoa seems to be universal in the cold regions of the world but I'm not aware of a universal cold drink for the hot regions. Maybe the Icecap fits the bill.

Update:
Link to a page about Mr Nasimok

Deerhurst weekend

2007-02-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

At Deerhurst this weekend. First real family overnight getaway. I don't count the cottage because that is family. It was cold -20's C with the windchill but we got alot of activities in. Tubing was the big hit but pond skating and the sleigh ride were close behind.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Frangost/Deerhurst

Superbowl 2007 XLI

2007-02-06T21:43:00.000-05:00

Superbowl Sunday was just as eventful as ever. We continued a tradition that started somewhere in the early 90's. As tradition would have it we had too much food and surprisingly actually watched the game as well.
This year Angela took the photos which I've place in Picasa Web Albums.

Superbowl 2007

California Dreamin

2007-01-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

Last week I was in California for business. In and around the San Jose region.
The weather was like the fall in Toronto. About 60F in the day with 35F in the morning and evening. We had a productive set of meetings with some new goals and direction for 2007.
I didn't get much time to tour around but I did have a chance to take a few photos during the day.
BTW, portions in the U.S. are a bit too big.

Skating

2007-01-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

Sunday was our first day skating this season. This winter has been unusually warm and the outdoor rinks were not in good shape until now. After the weekend we were hit with a blast and it's been pretty cold ever since with some freezing rain and snow the last few days.
We all enjoyed the outing as it still wasn't that cold. We spent a couple of hours at the skating trail. They've done a good job. It's a figure surrounded by trees and rocks. This year the tall grass was left uncut so it looked like you were in the woods. Once the trees and shrubs grow bigger I'm sure it will look even better. I don't have a picture from this year so I'll include one from last year. If we go again I'll try to get a new pic.

Bowling

2007-01-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

We went bowling on Saturday night. We haven't gone in about a year and the kids did very well. In our first round Angela got a higher score than I did. Now let me say that I am not a 5 pin bowler. I think 5 pin bowling is for kids only. I know many will not agree with me on this but the fact that there is the availability of bumpers on the side to stop gutter balls is a good indication. I did much better the second round after I found out I had to go lower to the ground when releasing the ball which is yet another reason it's for kids. Luckily for us the scoring was automatic because 5 pin has some crazy scoring. There were letters popping up after each frame and when the kids asked me what they were I made stuff up. Problem with that is they remember and I forget what I said so each time they were correcting me.
Bowling is actually quite expensive. I think we paid as much for shoe rental as we did for the time bowling. It's not something we do that often so it was worth it.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

May 2007 bring health, happiness and prosperity to everyone.
As was the case for Christmas things were a little untraditional or at least a bit different than in previous years. We went to Silvana's brothers on New Years eve but there was not a big party this year, rather it was a small faily affair. We ended up leaving before midnight as I felt it would be easier to get the kids to sleep without the general excitement that happens at midnight. As luck would have it I was right but they were still a bit cranky in the morning.
On New Years day we had my sister and parents over. Roast Beef was the meal of choice and once again we got to use our good china. Second time now in the new house. Given it is not stashed away in the basement it's front of mind and easy to get to.
One other tradition was the finding of the money in the pita (spanakopita) although it was not spanakopita but meat pita. I found it this year which is supposed to mean good luck for the year or something. Mom wraps it in tin foil and the kids always think it will be chocolate money. BTW, Mom's pita looks alot better than the photo in Wikipedia.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family.
Yesterday and today were quite eventful. The festivities start at Silvana's moms on Christmas eve and then usually spill over to my parents house on Christmas day. This year we spent Christmas day at my sisters. The good thing about our parents is we already had this set up from years gone by. We always had a restaurant so we did not do stuff on Christmas eve. Even though we closed early we were usually quite tired so we did our stuff on Christmas day. At Silvana's mom they always did Christmas eve. Traditional fish dinner including lobster tails at the end of the meal.
We also get away with separate Easters given the Greek Orthodox/ Catholic differences. Every few years they are the same so there is a bit of conflict. I know many families have this conflict of who's house to go to for such events but we have had it pretty easy. Not to mention that we are quite flexible in terms of time and dates. I can remember having events three weeks after they actually occurred in order to get everyone to attend.

What you can't see in the Christmas Chaos in the photo above is the socks that were thrown over their shoulders ala Christmas Story. One of the kids favorite Christmas movies and that scene in specific where the brothers throw the socks over their shoulders is now a tradition.

Games with the kids

2006-12-18T13:51:00.000-05:00

All of us have played board games and in most board games there is inevitably a part where if you land on a specific spot you have to move back a few spaces or even worse start from the beginning. Just this week we were playing MouseTrap with the kids. We don' play it by the rules as we build the trap right at the beginning and then just roll the dice to move our mice along. At one point in the game I landed on a go back to the beginning spot and the kids felt sorry for me but I explained to them that it's a part of the game and I could still catch up if I got some high numbers on my next few rolls. I kind of hate these games and I know you developmental types will tell me it's a good learning experience for them to understand winning and losing and... but when you want to sit down and get some fun time in on a rainy day there is nothing worse than someone whining about the game not being fair or that someone cheated. Stomping off and then coming back to try to destroy the evil game and those that are playing it.
As they get closer to that spot I see them counting to see what they have to roll to avoid the spot. Brian is one spot away and knows he should not get a 1. He says out loud "Jesus, please help me not get a 1, please Jesus."
At this point I start laughing and knowing that he was not trying to be funny I knew he would also be angry that I was laughing. He doesn't like getting laughs unless he is trying to get them. I know we don't usually ask for help from Jesus out loud at home so I assume the influence came from school and given we are close to His birthday I know they must be talking about it alot. The anger didn't last long and now that he knows he can get a laugh out of it he's asking for Jesus' help more and more.
Losing is a difficult thing for kids to accept and although you may want to paint it as a learning experience it seems they already have their minds made up that its not as good as winning. It's not our influence but rather a genetic thing. A desire to be first to win to do better than someone else. Probably a good thing to have as they move ahead in life.

Almost Christmas

2006-12-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

Those days leading up to Christmas are ones that are always filled with events. My previous post spoke about the Kids Christmas concert and this weekend was the weekend for get togethers as well. On Friday we went to Barb's and had a Cousins get together. We haven't had one in a while and it was good to see everyone at the same time. We will get to do it again next month at Nicole's baptism. It would be nice to get together more often but the we each have our own things to do these days. Gone are those days when we would all get together Sunday night and get subs. Speaking of other things we also got together with Anita and Jerry and Linda and Mark, they came over to our place and it was alot easier to entertain with the extra room the new house has to offer. The kids all behaved quite well which made it even easier. BTW, fingers foods is the way to go for these things as even though the kids were good it still takes some effort to keep an eye on them.

There is nothing like getting together with friends and family at this time of the year. Going through the years events and looking forward to what may be happening in the coming year.

The heart club members I spoke of in this post.

Do you remember a night when..

2006-12-14T09:55:00.000-05:00

Those nights where you had something important or special the next day. A meeting, wedding, presentation, speech, exam. You know you have to go to sleep because the next day will be full but the excitement or anxiety just won't let you get to sleep. Your mind goes through the event over and over. You check your clock every few minutes and calculate how much sleep you will be getting or not getting before the next days event arrives. You make sure the alarm is set and working properly, you even set the backup alarm just in case. At some point you forget everything you need to know for the event, you even have a hard time remembering your own name. We've all experienced these nights but do you remember the first one, the one that started you down the path to obsession. You may have and idea but I've got some good examples over the last few years that may trigger your memory.
Last night was such a night at our place. A few things were happening. The days leading up to this might have been an indication now that I look back but lets just go with what transpired last night.

Both kids could not get to sleep.
Angela has a tooth that is about to fall out, probably her 5th or 6th. Each one is a bit different but most involve some sort of anxiety. In this case the concern is that it may fall out during the night. You can imagine the scenarios that may go through your head. If you were anything like me as a kid, that tooth would be hanging on at a molecular level before it fell out on it's own due to a strong breeze.
Brian although concerned about his sister had his own anxiety. Today is his first Christmas concert. He's playing one of the wise men and has to remember the words to the song as well as some actions. As he was drifting off to sleep he hit that point I mention above and could not remember anything he had to do the next day. Calming him down took some effort. A few jokes about when I was a kid and some comforting words and sleep came quite quickly.

I'm not sure if this would have been my first anxious experience as well but I do see some things that happen at this early stage that probably shape each of us. For example I think the concert is Brian's concern but even bigger is keeping the song and his role a secret. Once he got that off his chest he seemed releaved and could move on. I too have a hard time with secrets and need to tell someone something. Usually that someone is who the surprise is for and that something is the actual surprise. In Angela's case although the tooth is the concern the things that might happen are what worry her more. The what if scenarios that race through our heads.

So am I worried about this? Not really, I think it's stuff that we all have to go through.
Is there something I should do to make it better for them? Probably, but what is that? I can't take away the feelings and I don't think I should. Trying to get them to understand and how to deal with it is probably a good place to start but they are small and my our grown up logic is not something that really works for the small ones.
Therefore I guess we just have to be there and encourage.

Update:
They did very well and afterwards wanted some sort of release. Brian asked for a donut and Angela wanted something sweet as well. When we got home they ate like they had never eaten before.

How far back do we go?

2006-12-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

There is a National Georgraphic project out there called the Genographic Project that traces back our DNA to see where we came from. As you can see from the site it says we all started in Africa. My question about how far back do we go relates to meeting people and their expression of their background.

Now I'm the first one to tell you that I am of Greek descent and not that I have proof but I would say that Alexander the Great was in my family tree (don't get me started on the Greek / Macedonian thing) but I think we pick a group of people we want to be associated with and make sure we can justify it. In some cases it's easy. Parents were from a Cornico so you have ancestors from there that go back a few generations and presto you are Cornicopian. For the last century the Cornicopians have been a bad bunch doing evil deads around the world or maybe they have been given a bad name by some questionable press so you want to disassociate yourself from them. You go back a few years before the Cornico Empire and call yourself a Precornis. Ah, those were the days, the Precornis were such a nice bunch, philanthropic, masters of art and medicine.
Is this allowed? How far back can I go or do I wait for the Cornicopians to make a comeback on the good side and refer to myself a Cornicopian again?

I'm not saying we should give up our culture or not look at the past but does it really matter where you are from or does it matter where you are today and why are you there? Oh yes we can use the past to prevent mistakes in the future but I don't see many people at an individual level doing this. Use of things like the Genographic project for benefits in health or advancement of science is great. Our background is important as there are ties to what we are and how we became who we are but lets not use this to claim we are better than others due to our ancestry. Maybe we have to prove our worth today so that future generations will want to call themselves decendents of Canadians or maybe we just say we are all the same as the Genographic project is concluding and work towards making everyone better.

Silvana's 29th

2006-12-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, 29 again!!
We had a busy few months and truthfully we don't go overboard on Birthday's. No need to get gifts for eachother as we get things when we need them rather than for an occasion. As my Brother in law says. "It's Christmas every day" Eg. Need new shoes you get them, no waiting for Christmas or birthday. We are spoiled that way but we at least we know it. Not sure the kids get it. I'm sure our parents said the same thing but we truly didn't know what they were talking about. Imagine having meat only a few times a year or not knowing what a banana is until your teens.

On Silvana's Birthday we went to her moms and had a nice lunch. We all ate well and had a cake as well. Much to my surprise the cake had some candles on it for me as well.

A Real Christmas Tree

2006-12-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

Silvana always said if we ever moved to a new house with some more room she would like to get a real Christmas Tree. Well this is the year!!Our old fake tree has been relegated to it's box in the basement and a fresh new Fraser Fir has a prominent spot in the Front room by the window. We got it early, Dec 1st and hope to keep it to at least Christmas and maybe even the New Year. The Fraser fir is soft yet sturdy and was easier to put up than the fake tree. We don't have that many decorations on it but the tree is a decoration in itself.

Ignore the Home depot blinds. By next year these should be gone.

Round A-bouts

2006-11-20T09:35:00.001-05:00

Years ago when I was in Australia, I remember making a comment to my Aussie friends about their Round a-bouts. These r.a.bs (rounds a-bouts) were everywhere instead of stop signs. Even in the big city of Sydney there were r.a.bs . I told them that this would never work in Toronto because people are not patient enough to yield to traffic.

Well, years later I moved into a new subdivision and instead of stop signs we have r.a.bs. We've been in the house for only 3 months and I surprised I haven't seen an accident. For those of you that don't know about r.a.bs let me educate you on how to drive a r.a.b.

When you approach a r.ab. you MUST slow down and YIELD to the cars in the r.a.b. If there is no car you may proceed in...but if you see on oncoming car you must STOP before entering the r.a.b. I can not tell you how many times I had to STOP when in the r.a.b to cars speeding in. NO car should have to stop while in the r.a.b.

Today it happened again while driving the kids to school. I'm in the r.ab. and I can see the car speeding up to try to bet me...but today I played a little chicken and I didn't stop. In the end I had to slam on my brakes and exchange some nasty looks.

Silvana

Santa Claus Parade

2006-11-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we got to go to the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. I specify Toronto because each little town has it's own parade but it's not like the one in Toronto. This is the one that gets coverage by all the big TV stations not just local cable 10 coverage. It's been around for over 100 years. The website sucks but you can get some interesting info in the history section. It even gets coverage at the U.S. Thanksgiving parade when they break away for a few minutes so our U.S. friends can see the real Santa. As you know Santa is Canadian given the North Pole is part of Canada. With a postal code of H0H 0H0 where else would it be.

If you speak to anyone from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) that has been here for a while they will have stories about going to the parade. How our parents would take us down on a cold winters day, hoist us on their shoulders or put us in a tree to get a good view of the parade. Things haven't changed that much as the same thing is happening today. You can even see some people on top of buildings in the photos getting a birds eye view.

What has changed is Toronto!!
We did not go around the Queens Park/ University area were the parade is actually filmed but rather went around the Bloor and Bathurst area near Honest Ed's. Most of the shops are closed, the houses around the area although worth close to $750K were in various levels of disrepair and everything seemed to be one step away from falling apart. I spare you the details of the smells as blogs are better for visual repesentations.

It took lots of planning an co-ordination to get down there on time with the appropriate amount of snacks, drinks, clothing, blankets... Most importantly the kids had fun and got to see a real parade with some excellent marching bands playing festive tunes.

We even got to visit Silvana's former next door neighbour who treated us like family with her hospitality.

Dealing with Healing

2006-11-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Over the last little while I have been dealing with healing and understanding more and more about it. I say understanding but I think it is more of an realization of things I already knew but hadn't experienced in a while.

The brochures and media available in the hospital mention that without managing the pain it will take longer to heal. This kind of goes against the "no pain, no gain" theory but that theory is not for healing. Almost all of the patients (mostly men) that I encountered in the hospital would say they are feeling o.k. or good but I knew there were in pain. I'm not sure if this was machismo in action or that they just didn't understand they did not have to be in pain. I started speaking on their behalf by telling the nurses what they had done (or sounded like) when I was there. Each time the nurse would say "you should ask for pain medication when that happens it will help the healing."

I've always tried to be proactive in avoiding pain, I won't go as far as stretching before doing something strenuous but I will take some medication afterwards if I start to feel something. The brochures say taking something on the onset of pain is good as well as it won't let the pain progress. Now don't go too far and over medicate as that is not good either but if you follow the dosage guidelines you should be fine.

The mental part of pain is probably the most difficult to deal with. Those feelings inside you that say something is wrong even though you know what the pain is from and that things are going well. You still wonder if that pain is right. You get a hightened awareness of your body. Things you felt before are now weird even though you've had them all along. "Why can't I feel my ass?"
"Wait, I think it's numb from sitting on it too long"

One of the charts the hospitals use has what look like emoticons on it so that patients can point to the one that best fits the pain they are feeling. I'm sure this was out before the internet but it's funny how some things are just universal. Whether you can read or not you could point to a picture of how you feel.

Angela's Room

2006-11-04T15:20:00.000-05:00

We got to paint Angela's room. The colours are similar to her old room but she has some new accessories that match quite nicely now.

Angela's 7th part 2

2006-11-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

As you probably saw from a previous post Angela's Birthday was a few month back but due to her bing in a new school we gave it a few months before we had a party so she could invite some new friends along with the old. It went quite well.

Halloween

2006-11-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

At the old house we always gave out candies from the garage. Given it gets quite cold this time of year hanging out in the garage makes it alot warmer. We can also display all our Halloween items in one place. So we continued with the tradition here at the new house. It was colder this year than the last few so it was a good to have the garage as a shelter. We anticipated alot of kids given all the new houses but we didn't get that many (all the more candy for us now). I think because we are on a crescent the kids avoided the street. I can understand as you want to be efficient in your trick or treating. Streets that are straight are faster and therefore more candy.

Barenaked Ladies

2006-10-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

Today is Silvana's turn to write in the blog. Is that the right term "blog". This is all new to me.
(Terry said "Silvana, it would be nice if you wrote about your evening out". A few months ago Terry and I went to see U2 at the ACC (Air Canada centre) and had an amazing time. For years I wanted to see U2. Afterwards I mentioned that the next band I would like to see is the BNLBarenaked ladies) but I wanted to see them in a small setting. Unfortunately what are the chances of that ever happening. Well, it happened. I get a call from my sister-in-law(Sandra) who asked if I would be interested in seeing the BNL tomorrow night (Oct 19th) at 4:30pm in a private concert for family and friends. Of course I said yes and then I ask the question, "how did you get invited?" Sandra works with Bonnie who is Ed's(lead singer & the cutie) sister. Tomorrow finally arrives and 4:3opm here we are (Sandra, myself, and niece Julia and nephew Anthony) listening to BNL. Only 150/200 people in the studio, bring your own lawn chair, 50 young kids sitting in the front, and best of all the band is only 20 feet away. Of course the music was awesome. Best part, the band didn't go back stage after the concert they came out and mingled with us...AH! What a night...and I have the pictures!!!

Post Surgery

2006-10-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

So lots of things happen after surgery. In this specific case you are in CSICU. (Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit). Don't let the CSI part fool you there are no forensics going on but lots of tests are happening. One of the complications that can occur is bleeding which in this case did and was being blamed on the fact that blood thinners were being used before the surgery. Necessary as you don't want thick blood to maybe cause a heart attack or stroke but post surgery you bleed alot. Plavix supposedly takes a while to get out of the system. There was an extra day spent in the CSICU and then off to the regular ward.

Now in regular care more things can happen. Due to the extra bleeding they keep an eye on you to make sure all the fluid drains. In this case it didn't and therefore they need to put you on meds to dry you out. In the mean time it gets hard to breathe with all that stuff built up in there. Also keep an eye on those hemoglobin levels. Too low and you feel very weak and groggy. So 2 more units of blood to get those iron levels up.
Having gone through this with my mom a few times I know they get an angry/mean stage. My mom is usually a Saint but wanted to punch us all and complained about anything and everything. The nurse practioner spoke to me about this a bit today and says it partly due to hemoglobin levels, post surgery meds wearing off but also said different people heal differently and not to compare.
But how can you not. We do it with our kids. What can they do at what stage. Given there were 4 other guys that had surgery on that day you start comparing. One fellow is a smoker and is recovering quite well. Whistling, doing crosswords and showering himself. He'll leave the hospital tomorrow. We are in for a bit more of an endeavour. At least I know he is in good hands because at home this would be a overwhelming.

Blog or Diary

2006-10-26T21:57:00.000-04:00

So blogging may be a new thing but it's very close to a diary. I understand it's not private but as you can see from the definition it can also be "a book or pad containing pages marked and arranged in calendar order, in which to note appointments and the like." Add a webpage or some electronic format and there is your blog.
I think this is what I've been using it as. It's easier than a diary and you can quickly attach photos and links and other interesting bits of info. So here is an addition so I can remember what was happening on this day in the future because you know that time changes the way we see things.

My dad was admitted to the hospital earlier this week with chest pain and they quickly did an angiogram and found he needs by-pass surgery. The operation was supposed to be today but it was postponed to tomorrow. A few of the nurses called in sick so they didn't have a full crew. I guess they are human as well :-)

Funniest part of the experience so far if there can be a funny part of surgery. My mom who also had this same surgery as did her brother and her sisters husband told my dad "Welcome to the club"
Worst part so far: Hospital.. do I have to say anything more.

Many folks complain about our health care system. I think once diagnosed things can and do go quickly. The problem is at the front line. Finding what is wrong with us. I've often said we have to be our own doctor. Know our body and what feels right and wrong. But sometimes we need a bit of help from that frontline to push us in the right direction. At this point I don't think they can do it and the system has to change somehow to accomodate those of us that want to know more and try to help ourselves and others.

I know there are many times I've gone to the doctor and told them I have a throat infection or some other ailment. I know they don't like the self diagnosis but I've had it before , it feels the same, I've read a bit to know what to look for and most of the time I'm right. I'd probably feel the same way after going to school for x number of years and practicing medicine for another x to have someone tell me what they think they have. But in most cases it's a few simple test to check for these things. Now I'm not saying we do this all the time. I'm sure those people that say they have Morgellons (Google it you'll be amazed) would just like someone to listen and bounce ideas off of but what doctor has that time.

So where does that leave us? Not sure. Maybe some more inbetweens.
Not doctors but people who know medical stuff and can point people in the right direction.
More and quicker tests for things that happen often.
Better resources for those of us that are interested.
All this is pointing me towards things that are happening like health records being online and searchable and other electronic means of viewing trends but it's just moving too slow.

Nothing solved but day documented without the necessity of a dear diary entry.

Plants

2006-10-16T22:38:00.000-04:00

We have received a few new plants since we got the new house. A few of our own that we pawned off on others before we moved and some that came house warming gifts.
At the old house we always claimed there was not enough space for plants as the little space we did have was taken up by necessities. That excuse does not exist anymore as there is enough space in this house at this point (due to lack of furniture and other house accessories) to have a full blown garden in almost every room.
Now I don't have much desire to tend to the plants and Silvana has even less desire to tend to an internal arboretum but people have said it's a good thing to have some plants in the house. Better air quality and some natural moisture from the plants.
So I'm documenting the few that we have now and will see how long they last. I will not try to hasten their demise but I know that I also won't be Johnny Greenthumbs either.

New Front Door

2006-10-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

So imagine this the other way. Not sure how I can set the orientation once I've uploaded the file and I'm too tired to try to figure it out at this time so turn your head to the right 90 degrees. We ordered the door a couple of weeks ago ( a gift from my parents Thanks Papou and YiaYia) and it came in just before Thanksgiving. I painted it a few days later.

So it's not really a new door they actually take out the existing window and then cut the remaining necessary piece and insert the new window.

This is what it looked like before

40 is the new 25

2006-10-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

I have always looked forward to getting older. Reaching the next phase of life. Seeing things through a new set of eyes, be they my wifes or my kids or even my own with a new pair of glasses. When a friend of mine told me that 40 was the new 25 I sort of understood what was behind it.

Turning 40 doesn't seem to have the same feeling it did in the past. Maybe that's because I'm almost there or maybe it's because of all the stuff you hear about middle age and how you should be feeling and acting. As I thought about it some more I found that "40 is the new 25" may not apply to those that are married or who have kids. I've always said that getting married adds 2 years to your age and each child adds another 2 on top of that which means I'm pushin 50.

As the days to turning 40 come closer I think to the future again and wonder in 50 will be the new 40. I still look forward to getting older but the years are going by faster and faster. See 1 year at 40 is 1/40th of your life so it goes by faster than when you are 12 and it's only 1/12th your life. Ah 12, I remember 12 quite well. Hope I can continue to remember the past as well as I do or at least the past that I've created using the same stories over and over with slight additions each time. O.K. so I digressed a bit, after all I'm almost 40.

So here's to 40 be it the new 25 or not it's coming soon.

See here on what the Dilbert guy says about aging.

Thanksgiving at the Cottage

2006-10-09T21:42:00.000-04:00

Although summer was officially over a while ago it seems that Thanksgiving is the final farewell. A feast to celebrate the harvest of which we don't really harvest just feast. Yesterday's weather was perfect and we got to eat outside.
The colours at this time of year are magnificent and everywhere you turn there is a picture to be taken. If only this weather could last until late November. Not that I don't like the winter but fall seems to go to quickly and winter stays too long. I'll keep the fall photos close at hand.

James Gardens 2006

2006-10-07T17:12:00.000-04:00

Our annual trip to James Gardens was a bit early this year. The weather this Thanksgiving weekend is supposed to get better each day so we took advantage. Most of the photos turned out very nice even with my ever expanding forehead. This year marks our 10th anniversary so there are plenty of things that are different from the first set of photos we took in October of 96.

Using my own art

2006-10-03T22:46:00.000-04:00

If you can call the pictures I take art then I guess the title is right.

Most of the photos I take are of people and places but since I've gone digital I've been more open to taking pictures of objects, things, close ups... No wasted prints if you don't want them but still keep them for some reason.
For a few years now I've stored them and catalogued them and I was never really sure why. I never showed those photos to anyone and rarely printed any of them. With the new house we found that the art work we had up (and by art I mean stuff we got at the flea market) just didn't fit in. I started printing off some of my own photos and placed them in frames and they are looking pretty good. We place them in bathrooms and hallways not a main focal area but they have been suiting our needs and look pretty good. I haven't done much editing of the photos but have used some of the effects in Picasa to enhance the photos a bit.

Brians bathroom is a gray colour and I think this orangey red will pop out nicely

Angela's bathroom is a Green apple colour with purple accents and this photo looks great in it.

TourRoad Rage!!

2006-09-29T09:43:00.000-04:00

I believe I have a form of Tourette syndrome. One that only comes out during driving. I'm referring to it as TourRoad Rage. It's symptoms are:

Swearing at other drivers for even the smallest problem they may cause
Lowering the volume on the radio so you can hear yourself swear
Continuing the swearing until a new problem occurs
Swearing only when there is nobody else in the car
Offering advice to other drivers even though they can't hear you
Yelling at the traffic guys for not telling me the traffic where I am or not informing me of the correct intersection of accidents.

I can't imagine what would happen if I had a longer drive to work. A normal drive of 25-30 minutes is fine but add a small accident, rain, snow and sometimes even the wind can delay my drive and I go mad. The other day the traffic guys all said an accident was at Woodbine and 16th Ave so I altered my route to avoid it and the delays it would cause just to find out that the accident was at the intersection I went to which was just east of Woodbine not at Woodbine.

At the moment I am not seeking therapy for this problem but as winter approaches I may have to work from home some more.

Golfing for Charity

2006-09-21T10:54:00.000-04:00

After probably 10 years I went golfing on Tuesday for a good cause. Raising money for the Employee Charitable fund. We had excellent weather and the course, Oakridge near Brooklin Ontario was very beautiful. Luckily for me it was a best ball tournament and our foursome ended the day with a +2 .

Model Airplanes

2006-09-16T12:12:00.000-04:00

Brian and I went to the Richmond Hill Model Airplane air field today . It's just a stones throw away from our house off 19th Ave between Bayview and Leslie. It was amazing to see how many people were there flying their planes. Most of the fellows were older but there were some younger guys there as well.
When learning you can connect 2 remotes together so the instructor can take over if you run into trouble. The guy we sat beside said the flying is easy but landing is difficult. He started about a month ago and crashed pretty bad. Fixing them up is part of the fun I guess :-)

Happy 7th Birthday

2006-09-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

Sept 7th, 7th Birthday.
They call that the Champagne Birthday. Your are supposed to get a sip of Champagne on this day. We'll save that for another day.
Happy 7th birthday Angela!!!

You'd think it was Brians Birthday

First Day(s) of school

2006-09-06T14:29:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. You can feel and smell it in the air not to mention the mad fury of people trying to buy stuff before their kids start another school year. Luckily for me, Silvana is quite proactive and our school purchases which include clothes, backpacks and most importantly new running shoes was done well in advance.
Take note: if you don't get runners early enough they will all be gone and the kids will be quite disappointed.

The post says day(s) as Angela started on the 5th while Brian started on the 6th.
JK is alternating full days but the first day they only go for an hour to get comfortable.
For Angela it's grade 2 in a new school and new friends. For Brian it's all new!!

Fishing

2006-09-03T18:49:00.000-04:00

We also went fishing on Sept 2nd. The weather was overcast and the fish were not biting. At least not for us. Brian was pretty good at casting on his own. His favorite catches were seaweed and a leaf.

Update: I believe it's the Nottawasaga river.

Caves at Blue Mountain

2006-09-02T18:20:00.000-04:00

We went to the Caves at Blue Mountain this weekend and it was quite fun. The kids were able to traverse the rocks and stairs without too much trouble. As their site says you have to wear hiking or running shoes and go on a dry day or you will be slippin and sliddin all over the rocks. The whole experience takes about 2 hours which included a view from a suspension bridge but we enjoyed the rocks and caves more.

We followed it with a side trip to the villages at Blue Mountain. They've done a really nice job making it look like a European ski town.

Administration fees

2006-08-30T23:09:00.001-04:00

There are many people you need to inform of your move from friends and family to phone, cable and utilities. One of those utilities is the Gas company and they happen to charge $25.00 to make sure that the changes are made. I sent a note to their Ombudsman to raise a concern about how high the cost.

Here are the latest details I replied with after the Ombudsman re-stated what I already knew. "this charge is to help recover the cost of setting up the account, the site visit for the meter reading and other administrative work relating to the change. It is fair to recover this one time cost from the customers who incur them, than to expect all customer to pay for them through a rate increase "

Thanks for your prompt response to my concern.
I do understand the fee and it was clearly stated on the invoice what it was covering. My concern was more about how high the fee was and that your company should at this point have some efficiencies built into the system to avoid the necessity for a fee altogether. Manual meter reading or manual altering of the customer information is time consuming and expensive and given Enbridge has been doing this for years it would be nice to see that some automated methods would be in place to avoid the necessity to charge the customer.

I don't believe this has much to do about fairness because I don't believe I have been treated fairly. If I called to change my phone # would I be charged? Probably not. If I called because I wanted an accurate reading for a given month because I was concerned about my gas usage, would I be charged? Probably not. But combine those two into a change of address and a meter reading and all of a sudden I have to pay $25.00.

I referred to the fee as being a hidden fee in that it is done at a time when there were other things like a bigger mortgage or larger bills and fees to contend with and Enbridge is hoping that we will just pay it and move on.

Come on, if it costs $25.00 to do this then they must be doing something wrong. Outsource the task and I be they could do it for 1/10th the price. I'd gladly read the meter for them and update their systems over the web if it will save me $25.00.

The New House

2006-08-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

Pretty happy so far with the new house. Just up the road about 5 kms from where we were before. Still close to work for me. Bigger rooms for everyone and those cool outdoor potlights that make the house look like it's going to take off at night time. The first place I'd ever seen those lights is on the building at Jane and Eglinton. As you approach the bottom of the hill. I believe it was a park storage building or something. I remember thinking it was a UFO ready to take off. The photo is blurry but you get the general idea. Oh ya double car garage that actually fits both cars but not much else. I've been waiting for 20 years to have my car in a garage and the time has finally come.

Washroom Etiquette

2006-08-30T23:01:00.000-04:00

So I work in a large office with over 2500 highly educated people in it. Educated enough to be able to help the company and the world with new and innovative software products. Then why I ask you do they have a hard time hitting a urinal or remembering to flush the toilet. It's like living with a group of teenagers in a dorm rather than a group of professionals working in an office.
Recently they installed signs on washroom doors so just before you exit it remids you to wash your hands. From some internal blogs I have found that these signs have been installed in washrooms around the world. My first thought is ofcourse that this is in anticipation of the bird flu or some other pandemic and that if we get into a good habit of washing our hands now we can maybe avoid some of the problems in the future. Then I ask myself even if we did wash our hand properly I know how that their are many folks that bring their laptops into the stalls and work on them on the floor or make phone calls while on the throne. I'm sure all that handwashing won't make a difference there.

This is stuff we learned in grade school and by now we should have it mastered although from what I have read we don't all get the same "education" on cleanliness during our younger years. Some army training involves the drill instructor actually standing there the first time and yelling orders on where and how to clean with a bar of soap. After that, it is how to brush your teeth, and then after that, how to shave. Some people don't know how to do things, so they don't take it for granted. They teach everyone everything that they want them to do. Maybe some manditory washroom etiquette should be provided to our new hires or a yearly certification for all employees.

If you have trouble with your aim practice at home by trying to hit some Cheerios in the toilet. Remember to flush the toilet and wash your hands. Easy enough eh.

Weekend at the Cottage

2006-08-30T22:58:00.000-04:00

So what's the fascination with spending time at a cottage?
It's amazing how many people are driving up the 400 on any summer weekend. All of them going to some destination that is far from the city so they can get away from the day to day routine and relax, unwind, recharge.

Let me take you through my weekend at the cottage.

The weekend actually starts early. Many people leave a bit early from work in order to get home and do some packing. For those that have their own cottage this is not a big deal as you probably have your trackpants from high school waiting for you up there. For the rest of us it involves some strategic Weather Network viewing in order to know if you need to bring both long and short pants and how thick a sweater you may need for the night time. Luckily for me Silvana has been a cottage goer for decades so I'm able to get away with just packing a few last minute things I want to bring like the camera and camcorder to make sure I capture us relaxing, unwinding and recharging.

The van is packed and we are ready to go by 8p.m. All I have to do is set up the portable DVD player in the van so the kids are occupied for what is usually just over an hour drive. I'm anticipating it will be longer and hope they will fall asleep on the way up so we can just put them to bed and start our relaxing, unwinding and recharging. Surprisingly the drive up is quite good. Only a few slow downs near the onions at Canal Road and once again as we get into Barrie. At this time of the year Silvana watches out for roadkill and hits the internal air button about 10 times to avoid the inside of the van smelling like skunk. Two or three of those times are false alarms as it's a lone shoe on the highway. How they get there is still a mystery that I will write about another time. The kids are watching out for the water towers along the way as they are the signs that we are getting closer.

We arrive at Allenwood beach around 9:30. The kids are still up and the Princess Diaries is just over. I think I've said Golly Wolly with a British accent over 30 times and the kids laughed each time. I've got at least 7 trips back and forth to get all the stuff into the cottage. Carrying the stuff is fine but doing it in the dark so that no mosquitoes get in the van or the cottage is a challenge. After about the 5th trip I am able to "use the force" to avoid the rocks, lawn furniture and about 300 old sandals that have been scattered on the porch.

This is the point where my organizational skills come into full swing. Together with Silvana we are able to put all the stuff away where it belongs in about 10 minutes. This includes time to get the kids to the washroom and brush their. Given we are only up for a couple of nights there is no use putting our clothes in the closet or drawers so we leave the bag at the foot of the bed to save time. The room is about the size of my PWA (Personal Work Area) at work so the bag takes up what little area there is to walk around the bed. The kids will be sleeping on one of those couches that unfolds into a bed. Sort of like a futon. I think they are referred to as a Divan. They've already turned the TV on and found Treehouse is on channel 58 in cottage country not 65. I quickly turn it off and get inbetween them to stop the footsy fights. Brian falls asleep in the middle of asking me a question. It's 10:45 and Angela is fading fast. By 11:00 they are both out and I can feel the relaxing, unwinding and recharging is just around the corner.

I quickly head back to our room in the hopes that my Mother in Law will not come and tell me what is planned in terms of cottage maintenance for the next few days. From what I can hear she is already asleep. Her room is right next to ours but the snoring is light. As I trip over the bag at the foot of the bed and go head first towards the window my thoughts turn to towards how much time I really saved by putting the bag there. The landing was soft and I thought I might just stay there for the night but it didn't take much to roll onto the bed. 11:15 and I'll be asleep in no time when I hear the distant rumble of a freight train. Funny thing is the nearest tracks are about 20 kms away. I lift my head an turn it like the RCA Victor dog to try and figure out where the sound is coming from and then it hits me. The fridge. A lovely powder blue General Electric from the 50's with the handle that pulls downward at the front and a freezer compartment that will fit 1 tray of ice and about 10 freezies is trying to keep the new items we shoved into it cool and is having a hard time. The sound will go on for about 3 hours and just as you are about to get into a deep sleep it gives off a flutter as if it is shivering from the cold inside. Oh well, the relaxing, unwinding and recharging can start tomorrow at the beach.

I forgot to put my watch on the milk crate / night table beside my bed but from my internal clock and the light shining in the window I can tell it's close to 7 o'clock. The kids will probably be up any second now so I should get up and get some stuff ready for them. Before I can they are both in the bed with us and asking for breakfast. Cookies fill in the gap for the time it takes the toaster to get the toast brown enough to be able to put some margarine on it. About three pushes later they've had their fill and I'm left eating 6 pieces of toast. The thimble of milk that was left in what looks like a half litre carton ( I didn't know they made them that size) of milk was used for somenes coffee so I am left to drink some grape juice that thicker than molasses.

While the kids are watching a bit of TV I notice a local newspapers on the front porch and given I don't usually get a chance to read a physical copy of the paper I thought I'd go an pick it up. It's just out of arms reach and the weather is a bit chilly so I have to step out to get it. It seems as if the sandal fairy came over night because there are none left on the porch this morning.

Off to the beach at around 11 a.m. and the temperature is still around 18C. I'd swear there is a wind chill factor. Angela's friend that moved the other year is renting one of my Mother in Laws cottages so the kids are occupied and having fun. Brians lips are blue within 5 minutes and we both get under a blanket to try keep warm. Angela is oblivious to the cold and spends most of her time in the water. Although I'm on guard around the water (yes the non swimming guy is on guard but the water is only knee high for about a half a km out) it's a joy to see them playing and having fun. I video tape some of it so I can remember the day.

There is alot that happens between lunch and dinner including a run to the grocery store that was all but empty but the details aren't that exciting. Why is it they can't get their inventory ironed out. They know there is an influx of people on the weekends. Needless to say not much of it is resting, unwinding or recharging.

By dinner I could do with a shower but am dreading stepping into the shower given the small hot water tank only lasts about 2 minutes and the water pressure that is a dribble at the best of times. I am relieved to find that the cottage is off the well and running on a public water system. The pressure is great but the hot water runs out even faster. Now my lips are blue and so are some other parts of my body, not because of the cold but because I've hit my elbows on the ceiling at least 5 times trying to rinse what little hair I have left on my head.

Our second day involves alot of planning of maintenance as well as some small maintenance tasks. It seems the cottage is a dumping ground for stuff we don't need. Old couches that smell like the roadkill we passed the other day, a VCR that is older than I am, pop bottles from the Pop Shoppe, pipes, wires, nails, wood, bikes. All strategically placed under the cottage for use sometime in the future. You never know when you might need that old banana seat bike for your retro 70's party. The task of organizing or throwing the stuff out is overwhelming so it just sits there waiting to be used. I have come across some nice finds over the years but it doesn't happen that often.

Once again the kids are having a dandy time. Talking to people even though they usually don't talk to anyone but us. Eating things they wouldn't normally eat. Trying things they wouldn't normally try both physically and mentally. The weather has warmed up so the beach is much more comfortable. We are able to play monkey in the middle with a frisbee in the water and get a few other kids to play along with us. The water is quite warm and there are areas where little sand bars have formed allowing for some interesting play.

The plan is to leave by 4 to avoid the traffic even though we know there is no such time. Somehow it takes 10 trips to pack the van on the way back yet we don't have more stuff. We stop of at Timmy's in Elmvale to pick up some snacks for the drive home. You'd think people had never seen a donut before. Brian and I have a bet on how long it will take the girls to get back to the van. 8 minutes was Brians winning guess and not that bad given the line up was about 30 people deep with 10 cars in the drive through. We finish our donuts and coffee before we even get to the 400 and are ready for the long haul. Once again the drive home was quite light with the usual slow downs in the usual places.

It was our first trip to the cottage since we got the new house and it was nice to drive the van into the garage, it made the unloading quite easy. Now all that is left is to make a quick snack for dinner, get lunch ready for work tomorrow and check up on some e-mail. I'll be ready for sleep by 11 for sure and I can start dreaming about how relaxing, unwinding and recharging the next trip to the cottage will be.

There is plenty more I could write about this one weekend, all the tasks that Silvana had to do like the laundry till 10 p.m when we got home, the extra cooking on nonstick pans that are not so nonstick anymore, the beach sand that sticks to places it shouldn't and the methods to get it out, how hard the Divan is and what it does to a healthy back or the mental anguish of certain repetitive or redundant conversations but some stuff I'll have to hold back on as it could cause some problems.

So I've come to some conclusions. This weekend is not for Silvana or I to relax, unwind or recharge but it's for Angela and Brian to play, grow, learn about life and how to interact with others which doesn't happen as much at home as it does when you are away from the routine. The two days at the cottage gives them more independence and freedom than we give them at home and they eat it up along with a second helping of food. I wouldn't say that seeing them enjoy themselves is enough to make me like cottage life but I can see why some folks may see the routine of the cottage as easier than the routine of their regular lives. Breaking the routine is good for everyone both young and old. It is those times that we break the routine that we remember the most. But if going to the cottage becomes a part of your routine you have to do something else to break that routine as well or you aren't getting the benefit you think you are. It won't be long before the kids won't want to go to the cottage as I can see from my teenaged nieces and nephews so we will try to break up the regular routine with some cottage break aways as well as other activities and maybe throw some routine breaking into the week which is hard for me as I like the routine.

If you have a cottage or frequent one let me know what you think and where I can fix things so that I can get some of that relaxing, unwinding and recharging that everyone says goes with cottage life.

Skype anyone lately

2006-08-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

Originally posted April 2006
So we got onto Skype the other week. I'd been telling everyone about it but never did it myself. The day after setting it up we got to talk to Silvana's friend Daniella and her husband Darren. It was as clear as a bell and free to boot. We hope to get some more folks from overseas on as well in the near future.

As an added bonus you can purchase Skype dollars and call computer to phone at rates that are much cheaper than local telco rates.

Dinner at Tesh's

2006-08-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

Originally posted April 2006
It's been a while since we've gotten together with Tesh and family, Frank was there as well. The guys (Bobby, Tony, Neumann, Frank and I) get out every once in a while. Speaking of which we should probably do something soon or maybe get all the families together.

Good Dinner, good conversation and the kids got along quite well. Always liked Tesh's house its very warm and inviting. The hosts have something to do with that I'm sure.

Tesh is to get his tatoos soon. I'll have to start reviewing my design over the summer if I'm to get one in October.

Messy Hands

2006-08-30T22:45:00.000-04:00

Originally posted April 2006
The Bannisters invited the kids to Isabelle's birthday party this past weekend. It was held at Messy Hands . Basically the kids do a craft in a school bus. The bus can actually come to your house but in this case it was at their "studio". Much to our surprise still in the bus. The kids made hand prints in plaster that they painted and decorated. I found this to be better than a play gym as they actually got to do something other than jump on a bouncy Castle.

Lets give this a try

2006-08-30T22:35:00.000-04:00

I started a blog on another provider a little while ago but I have had many technical difficulties that they seem to be ignoring so I decided to give blogger a try instead. I'm sure the other provider will not even know I am gone. I attempted to assist them by providing some feedback but I think it may have fallen on deaf ears.

So off we go into the Frangos Family Frenzy Blog.
Why Frenzy? Well a frenzy is "extreme mental agitation; wild excitement or derangement." .. what better way to describe a place to hold some random thoughts and ideas. I will most likely re-post the items I posted on my other blog here so I have everything in one place.

Keep your eyes open and they will appear in the next few posts.