I became a Canadian citizen just after 10:00 today. I was the only Scot out of 107 new Canadians.
My planning’s excellent; my UK passport expires today…
Category: o canada
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kotthu roti night in Canada!
Yeah! Amma is back open after the fire. Had my first kotthu roti in months, and it’s as great as it ever was. The place was jumping, and the Sri Lankan bachelors (reluctant) were looking forward to their first square meal this year.
Poondy Bread is back, too, so the neighbourhood smells just like it used to; bread and curry, mixed in with occasional candy (from the Cadbury plant) and biscuits (merci, Peak Freans).
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they’ll let just anyone in these days
Further to my citizenship test, I have my ceremony on the 18th!
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second place
… but not very surprisingly, the Raptors came in second. Again.
I don’t think we have enough tall Lithuanians on the team.
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heading east
Well, that’s me heading back east from Edmonton. It was fun to meet the rest of the team at EPCOR.
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In Edmonton, but no thanks to WorstJet
Jet lag, lack of sleep, and a whole day of company orientation isn’t doing much for my clarity of thought right now. What I need is steak and beer.
Last night’s flight was supposed to get in at 10:30, but what with WestJet‘s faffing around, we got in well after midnight. It was about 1am (or 03:00, Toronto time) before I got settled in the hotel room.
I’ve never been in a city with trolley buses before. Guess I can’t say that any more. It’s also the furthest west I’ve ever been.
I wonder if the snow drawing below (as seen from my hotel window) is supposed to be a hometown homage to Bob The Angry Flower?
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Photos of Toronto’s WindShare Coop AGM 2006
Paul Gipe posted pictures of the Toronto’s WindShare Coop AGM 2006.
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roti frenzy
How much does it rock that my work is within easy walking distance of Roti Boys? Their jerk chicken paratha-style roti is full-on at all times.
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snow fair
We get a little snow, and the TTC goes borked again. Gahh!
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endangered snow
Snow looks like it’ll go away soon. But it’s been a weird winter.
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my letter to etymotic
To: Etymotic Research Inc. Customer Support
I recently placed an order with you for accessories for my Isolator ER-6i headphones. I was very disappointed when UPS added an additional brokerage charge of approximately US$27 (plus taxes and duties) to the order. Since the value of the the order was only $43, your courier’s brokerage charge was almost two-thirds the value of the goods ordered.
Please consider using another courier for Canadian orders. USPS/Canada Post’s brokerage charges are much smaller, of the order of $5.
I would also like to note that none of your agents in Toronto seems able to stock these spares. I visited all three of the dealers mentioned on your website:
- Long & McQuade had no stock, and didn’t seem particularly keen on ordering any for me.
- Carbon Computers, though very helpful, only had eartips for the ER-6, and didn’t know that they wouldn’t work with the ER-6i.
- CPUsed sold me an incomplete bag of ER6-14 eartips; only 6 tips for the full price of 10. When they weren’t assuring me that they’d work with the ER-6i, they were trying to sell me a set of Shure E2C headphones, which they said were better.
Up until now, I have been widely recommending your products. Until I know that you’re serious about supporting your Canadian customers, however, I cannot recommend your products to anyone in this country.
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part of the landscape
I see that wind turbines make it on to the recent 51 cent stamp series. I guess they’re part of the landscape now.
(Would it be astonishingly churlish of me to point out that the flag is flying one way, and the turbines facing the other?) -
TTC: Platform Video Screen Survey
Take the TTC: Platform Video Screen Survey. Those video screens suck.
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mec sled dog
There was a very cute malamute in MEC today. She wasn’t too keen on shopping, so she’d lie down for a bit every now and again, anchoring her owner to the spot.
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Kelly’s Tetris Shelves
Kelly wanted the tetris shelves, but the cost was a bit steep. Her brother made these for her birthday.The image links to a gallery of three views of the shelves.
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ex-GG at the movies
We saw Brokeback Mountain at the Cumberland this evening, and who should sit next to us but former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson and her posse.
I think she wanted our seats, as Catherine had got there early, and nabbed excellent ones; centre-row, 1/3 back.
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Meet Mr Random
It seems that, every time I fly to the US, I get to be chosen as the randomly searched guy. I try not to look too terroristy, but it seems those security folks just love to pat me down. Thanks, but they’re not really my type. They also always look in my shoes, which are always teh stinky, tee hee.
Flying into Washington, to the ridiculously-named Reagan International (I much preferred the old name, as in: dull, duller, Dulles), not merely was I the designated Mr Random (comme toujours), but everyone who flies into DCA has to go through the pat down anyway. So I was searched twice, within five minutes. Oh, and you have to get to your gate super-early, as they hold you for ages in a windowless room, as a sort of this-is-what-it-feels to-be-a-bad-person simulation.
I noticed that someone was knitting. Not merely could they have flipped out and killed people with the needles in the Knitting Ninja style, but they could also have stood up in mid-flight and announced, “This plane goes to Cuba, or I knit the Holiday Robin Motif o’ Doom! Bwahaha!”
When I got my checked luggage back, I saw that they’d opened it, searched it, and left a little note to the effect of: “If anything is missing or broken due to this search, we are so not liable! Have a nice day!”
Welcome to the War on Terror, folks. Make sure you’re extra scared when you travel. And if your travel plans include terrorism, please ensure you don’t go via Reagan International.
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manitoulin sunset
There was supposed to be a picture of a nice — if low-res and a bit squinty — sunset over McLean’s Mountain on Manitoulin Island here, but 1&1’s webmail isn’t too good on attachments.
Update: Here it is:—
(The vertical lines are guy wires, btw)