That Kathryn Girl

This might get me to cut the lawn

I have to confess that in the year we've lived in this house I haven't once cut the grass. Of course we just bought our lawn mower in the Spring. We moved last year at the end of September and since we didn't have a mower we just left the grass alone until the snow just killed it all.

Considering we leave downtown in a semi-detached house, our lawn size isn't much more than a postage stamp. So we went with the non-gas-guzzling manual push mower that is popular in these parts. I can just imagine the raised eyebrows if I start riding around on a bike slash lawn mower like this - http://www.gizmodo.com.au/gallery/bikemowers/1_large.jpg

Neat bike pump idea for city riders

Love this idea I just read about in a Springwise newsletter - a combination bike stand and tire pump. Spotted in the Netherlands, it is a pretty standard looking bike stand for cyclists to lock up their bike. At one end is a big pump - click through to see a picture.

When Kirk and I head out on our bikes one of us often says "first stop is the gas station for air". Living downtown means there isn't a gas station on every corner, however, bike stands abound.

I can see these bike stands being very useful for users but can't really see the business opportunity. Maybe a bike company like Kona or Specialized would be interested in setting them up if their branding was on them. Even in that case the city would need to be involved to approve them going on public property so I doubt it will happen any time soon.

Celebrating the last day of summer

We talked about doing work around the house today. Mostly cleaning up the middle room for our house guest arriving on Friday and finishing up the painting left from our renovations that ended about 2 months ago. But it was sunny and the last day of summer and...well...we did a little work before packing up a couple of sandwiches and heading out on our bikes.

We rode to the beach area just east of Cherry St and climbed up a lifeguard platform to enjoy our picnic overlooking Lake Ontario. With summer basically over the beach was very quiet with just a few people walking their dogs but lots of windsurfers and sailboats out on the water.

We ended up in The Distillery District for coffee at Balzac's (my fave coffee in Toronto) and walked around the galleries before riding home with a stop at the Brick Street Bakery. All in all it was a pretty good way to spend the last official day of summer!

Couple of pics Kirk took on his camera phone of our lunch spot.

Lance Armstrong Returns to Cycling

I first heard Lance Armstrong was returning to professional cycling on some late night sports highlight show that was on in the background last night. I didn't get a lot of details but Kirk just sent me this link that confirms Lance will ride the tour again next year - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/sep08/sep10news

He doesn't address 2 points the news story last night mentioned:

• He won't take a salary. Minor point really as I don't think finances would drive him to make a comeback.
• He'll post his drug testing results online.

I find that last point interesting. Cycling is riddled with doping problems and Lance has been the subject of rumours and allegations for years. I can't see how his transparency will do anything but shine the spotlight on the issue which I think could be a very good thing as I'd love to see some clean riding. Although I seriously doubt the cycling powers-that-be will like the idea of that information being shared in such a public way. Moot point at the moment though as Lance did not confirm either of these points in his video.

In many ways I kinda wish Lance would stay in retirement. I'd hate to see him return as anything but the great athlete and cyclist he proved himself to be. But I realize that's a "glass half empty" way of looking at it. From a personal perspective, a comeback from Lance will get many Americans interested in cycling again which means we'll get better coverage on the TV networks. And if he can tie in his cancer work and bring discussions about doping into the open...well...I can't help but get behind that.

A bad week for technology in our house

It started on Thursday when I finally got around to picking up printer ink. In the middle of replacing the cartridge the whole cartridge mechanism thingy suddenly moved and shot back to the left hand side of the printer. The color cartridge lid was still raised and as it hit the top of the printer went flying in the air along with the spring that usually held it in place.

I rarely print in color so figured i could just leave that cartridge empty and print in B&W. The "colour cartridge is empty. Please replace and try again" message made short work of that idea.

While trying to fix the printer I rebooted my laptop. As I opened Entourage (equivalent of Outlook for the mac) I see this message "entire Microsoft database is corrupt and must be rebuilt". (I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist).

3 hours and many scary messages about corruption later it seemed to be happier. By that time it was too late to keep working on the printer issue so gave up for the night.

Friday night I'm at my mom's for dinner and discovered just how shallow and loose the pockets on my shorts are when my Blackberry made a spectacular dive into the toilet.  Of course at the time I just twittered that it had been submerged into water but after googling "cell phone in toilet" and realizing how common an occurrence this is, I figure I might as well come clean. Thanks to my twitter and facebook friends who responded quickly with ideas for saving it, unfortunately there is still no sign of life.

Looks like I'll be calling the Lexmark warranty line and looking for a new phone on Monday.

On the good news front I have only messed up the new PVR twice since Kirk installed it a couple of weeks ago and he was able to quickly fix it. Everyone said the PVR would change our TV watching...it's so true.

Dippin Dots and Soccer

I'm the first to admit I have some rather specific food habits and that includes ice cream. For example, when getting a milkshake from Baskin Robbins I buy a small carton of chocolate milk and ask them to use it instead of the usual white milk when making my mint chocolate milkshake. The result is a slightly dirgy looking liquid but absolutely delicious. Don't believe me? Try it, you'll see.

Weekend before last we were at the Ex for a soccer game. One of the great things about having soccer tickets is that you can go early and get into the Ex for free. Personally I'm not a big fan of the Ex. I don't care for the crowded buildings full of stuff for sale, the stinky animals on show, and not so much on the rides. Usually I'd enjoy the casino but at the Ex it feels more like a school fundraiser being held in the gym. So why go early? For the food building of course.

On Saturday we went down about 5pm and made our way through various concession stands sharing a wide array of junk food. We topped it all off with Dippin Dots which I've heard about but never tried.

What is a Dippin Dot? From their website...

Jones, a microbiologist, pioneered the process of cryogenic encapsulation...a scientific way of saying he used super-cold freezing methods to make little beads of ice cream. Dippin' Dots are made from fresh dairy ingredients flavored with fun, fruity, enticing and even exotic flavors. The mixture is frozen almost instantly in liquid nitrogen, a common element in the atmosphere used commercially for flash freezing.

So what's the verdict? It was tasty but I after a few bites I waited for the dots to melt a bit so it felt more like ice cream. I think the flavor comes out more when ice cream melts a bit and this was no exception. The dots were also a bit tricky on a small plastic spoon as a few always seemed to fall off.

Full of junk food we went to the soccer game. Love how much the fans get into it. Here's a pic of the end zone (is it even called that in soccer?) that we sit next to.

That Kathryn Girl - M. I. A.

My sister sent me this in an email this morning...

There used to be a blog full of wonderful news
It was my sisters ideas, thoughts and views.
I check and I check with each passing day,
But sadly this blog hasn’t been updated since May.
 
I keep hoping for a day when an update will come
And Kathryn will have some ideas and care to share some.
Until then I will just have to sit with my thumbs all a twirl
As I wonder what is next in the life of That Kathryn Girl.

Ouch! And here I thought noone noticed I haven't blogged in months! I should have expected this as sis also sent me this ditty back in October after another lapse in blogging.

Well l'il sis, life has been busy but I have thought about blogging a few times. I just can't seem to find the time to put fingers to keyboard. But I will try to share more ideas, thoughts, and views. Although I'm tempted to hold off as I do enjoy getting your creative poems and songs in my inbox ;)

The great bathroom renovation of 2008

If we've exchanged more than 10 words in the last 6 weeks you've probably heard about the great bathroom renovation that turned into fixing the roof, kitchen ceiling, and my future office. Everyone says you should plan on 50% more time and money than originally estimated when you start these projects. Our estimate for the bathroom itself isn't far off the original...it's all the other stuff we decided to do while our house was already pulled up that adds up!

I've been taking photos along the way and finally got around to uploading them - http://www.flickr.com/photos/10531718@N08/tags/bathroomreno/

(they aren't in order as I can't seem to change the display order in flickr and I'm too tired to read the help forums at the moment. I have included descriptions so I'm sure you'll get the gist)

Word from the contractor is that the toilet, sink, and possibly even the tub will be functional by end of day tomorrow. After 8 weeks of showering at the gym I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

Second Skin at Toronto's Hot Docs Festival

Saw my first "Hot Doc" last night. My Name is Kate told me about this film, Second Skin, and then graciously offered up her ticket since she wasn't able to make it to Toronto for the screening. (I owe ya a martini next time you're in town Kate!)

"Second Skin takes an intimate look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emerging genre of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Everquest allow millions of users to simultaneously interact in virtual spaces."

Based on the above, I had expected some discussion about Second Life. But other than a quick logo displayed on the screen, Second Life was not part of the discussion.

The documentarians followed and interviewed various people over what I think was 2-3 years. In a very "When Harry met Sally" format, they included interviews from couples who had met in the game, fallen in love, and hooked up in real life. One girl gamer summed it up by recognizing that single male gamers don't leave their houses, so meeting a fellow gamer kinda has to happen online.

I found the reaction to a new version of World of Warcraft being released eye opening. We saw 4 friends prepare by shopping for supplies: water, pop, and anything that was quick to make and easy to eat.  Pizza pops were a popular choice. Then they joined about 1500 others who lined up outside the game store for the special midnight opening.

With their new game in hand they went home and played day/night with the goal of getting to higher and higher levels (at least that's what I think the numbers stood for). Many of the gamers were unemployed but the one who did still have a job took vacation time to participate in this marathon. (His wife, pregnant with twins, didn't seem overly thrilled at this). They played until they fell asleep.

There was a lot of talk about addiction and I'd agree that gaming does seem to be an addiction very similar to alcohol or drugs. While a lot of screen time was spent looking at the negative aspects of gaming there was some discussion about the positives.

I particularly liked how they explored the idea that everyone starts at the same level with the same assets in a virtual world. There is an equality in that idea. Of course there are "goldfarming" businesses that hire people to play the game and then sell off the characters or assets they've attained. So although it's not sanctioned, you can buy your way up.

It was also interesting to hear from people who have found it challenging to find their place in the real world. Their place in the virtual world provides self esteem, confidence, and community.

The film did a great job of taking us into the lives of gamers and providing good discussion about the role and impact of virtual worlds. I would have liked to seen something about the lives of non-extreme gamers included in the discussion. I have to think there are people who play without going to such extremes as the people featured throughout the film. Maybe?

Do I really need to learn another language?

I was very interested to read about real time IM translation in a recent Springwise newsletter. The article highlighted Speaklike, a company that uses a combination of machines and humans to translate instant messages. From the Speaklike website: "You type text in your language, and others see it in theirs."

I'm no palm reader and rarely make predictions. But this does make me recall a conversation Kirk and I had while travelling in 2005.

Every time we landed in a new country we tried to learn common greetings, thank you, water, food, and one-ten in numbers (very helpful when buying the water and food!). Many of our travel experiences reinforced how much we rely on communication. We could scrape by getting the bare necessities but being able to connect with people and share stories is what made the experiences so much richer, and led to greater cultural understanding all around.

I don't remember where we were, but at some point Kirk and I talked about the importance of language and the idea that in the not too distant future we'd be able to speak into a gizmo (ie. fancy technology) and select what language we'd like the gizmo to use when repeating our words. Or perhaps a gizmo that could pick up words it hears and translate into the language of choice for whoever is at the other end of the arm holding the gizmo.

Suddenly this doesn't seem like an outlandish idea. Maybe Speaklike is the first step towards removing language barriers. Or perhaps I'm just looking for an excuse to get out of learning for myself!