| Hummingbird! |
[May. 5th, 2009|09:45 am] |
We had a hummingbird visiting at the feeder this morning! I only hung the feeder up last week, and felt very silly about it ("it's way too cold for hummingbirds!"), but now I'm very glad I did. I've never seen a hummingbird in spring (they're not resident here, at least not yet, we only catch them while they're migrating in late summer normally.)
I love hummingbirds. |
|
|
| typos |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|02:21 pm] |
Typos in the Economist are so rare that I especially enjoy them when I find one.
From http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12948641
"Barack Obama began drumming up public support for his stimulus package, and also pushed Congress to release funding for the second half of the $700 bail-out programme that it agreed to last October. Politicians in both parties want to expand the programme’s remit beyond banks. " |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2008|10:06 am] |
This book looks like a book that I wouldn't mind having on my book shelf (at work.)
Unfortunately, it is also the most ludicrously overpriced book I have seen in a long time. $421.66 for a book? Admittedly a 1000+ page book, but still...
Good think our library has the whole thing available electronically. To print or not to print... |
|
|
| sad sound |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|01:46 am] |
Among the things that I would rather not know: The sound that a baby bunny makes when it is being gnawed by a cat that doesn't manage to kill it.
(Whiskey is quite proud of himself. The rabbit is somewhere outside (DH brought it
outside after Whiskey dumped it, mostly living, in the basement. It may have been nicer
to kill the poor thing. Probably some other neighbourhood cat will get it soon.)
Posted with lynx and possibly badly formatted. |
|
|
| record of landing |
[Jul. 21st, 2008|10:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
Let's presume you read the following paragraph (or something similar):
"On December 31, 2003, the Permanent Resident Card replaced the paper IMM 1000 Record of Landing form as the required permanent resident status document for travel purposes.
[...]
The Card is used to prove Permanent Residence status for the purpose of returning to and entering Canada. The Card is a wallet-sized plastic card containing all the information currently found on the IMM 1000 paper document as well as a laser-engraved photograph, signature and descriptive information on the cardholder such as height, eye colour and gender."
Would you keep your IMM 1000 form after you've obtained the PR card?
--
Apparently, I didn't. At least I can't find it anywhere, and I strongly suspect I might have thrown it away once I had the PR card. After all, now the PR card is used to document that I am legally here in Canada, right?
Well, it ain't so. It's true that I haven't used the IMM 1000 since I got the card (about 5 years ago.) And I don't need it for anything. EXCEPT that for some idiotic reason you have to show it when your PR card expires and you are applying for a new one. Why? I have no idea.
I hate bureaucracies. |
|
|
| butter experiments |
[Jun. 22nd, 2008|09:11 pm] |
I churned my own butter today.
The good news is that this was a lot easier than expected. In fact, of all my self-making projects (of which I have many), this was probably one of the easiest. Buy 2 cups of heavy cream. Dump into bread maker. Let knead for about 30 minutes. Pour off buttermilk. Wash butter in cold water. Done.
The sad news is that I'm obviously missing a gene or something, because contrary to what various people on the internet (and also ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) melted_snowball) said, I can't detect it to taste significantly better than store-bought butter. It tastes fine, but nothing especially good. Which, given that it cost about twice as much as store-bought butter, means I'll not do this on any regular basis.
Why only are dairy-prices in Canada so messed up? I can get a pound of butter for $3 if I wait for a special, but a quart of heavy cream (which would make about a pound of butter) is not to be had under $6. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Aug. 21st, 2007|09:21 am] |
|
As seen at IKEA Ottawa: Parking spots reserved for hybrid cars. Nice idea! Hopefully this will spread. |
|
|
| elections |
[Oct. 2nd, 2006|08:55 pm] |
Dear Mr. S.,
thank you for your kind newsletter with the detailed number of votes given for each party in my voting district. Has it occurred to you that the final tally hasn't been given yet? More precisely, that the not-in-Austria-Austrians votes are still coming in?
I realize that there is probably only one such in your tiny voting district (since my voting envelope was marked with "exile-Austrian 1"), but still, there is one, so please count me in. (My vote should show up in your mailbox in the next few days.)
Conveniently, by comparing numbers, you will then know exactly who I voted for. Great. Love the concept of "anonymous vote."
Sincerely,
/me
(For the record, there were 565 votes cast out of 736 eligible voters.) |
|
|
| Dear car driver... |
[Apr. 21st, 2005|11:59 am] |
Dear car driver,
if you decide that the construction/congestion on the main road is just too much, and you therefore decide to take the tiny little side road, would you please consider the following:
- It's a tiny side road. Don't go 60 km/h.
- Bicycles are specifically allowed on this road. Yes, even against the one-way direction.
- The road is tiny. There is not enough space for a car to pass a bicycle. Especially when other cars are parked illegally on the sidewalks right and left.
- Bicycles can't go 60 km/h. Especially not on a cobblestone road when it's been raining.
- If you honk at a bicycle rider, you don't make them go faster. If anything, you scare them silly and they slow down.
Thank you. |
|
|
| silly contraption of the year |
[Apr. 21st, 2005|11:46 am] |
As seen recently when walking in the local park: A dog with a rain coat. Something like this. Sheesh, get a life! I can understand dog sweaters when it's really cold, and dog gloves when it's really icy, but a bit of water won't hurt a dog...
For the record, it wasn't even raining, just overcast. I had no problem letting C run around without a rain coat. |
|
|
| coffee without smoke-smell! |
[Apr. 11th, 2005|02:09 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
Pleasant surprise at one of the university's cafeterias today: as of today, all cafeterias are smoke-free. Yippee! The dining hall has always been smoke-free, but over the last few weeks I had gotten used to the concept that if you want a coffee after lunch, you run into the cafeteria, hope that the line-up is short, hold your breath as long as possible, get a coffee, and get out of there as quick as possible...
So far, compliance seems good. I still don't like to sit there, but at least I don't suffocate while waiting to pay for my coffee.
New start of term today. Nice chaos. I love being able to give the answer "sorry, I'm a guest here and have no clue". |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| |
|
|
