A guest poster... Katherine

I've decided to give Katherine the reigns of the keyboard for a guest post on my blog. It's very late at night (for us), and we're both tired. We just finished downloading and playing with Picasa, a fantastic FREE program from Google. Anyways, here's Katherine...

Hello all you wonderful readers! This is Katherine doing a guest posting on Jeremy's blog. We've been sitting at the computer for almost an hour, playing with this fabu program from Google called Picasa.

FABU!

The original pic here had Jake with red eye. Why do all kids have red eye in every single picture?

Problem solved. Picasa changed our lives.

And any more conclussions as to what is the proper way of formatting your sentences? Jeremy says you have to put two spaces after each sentence. I say only one. And I know better because I have to learn that sort of stuff at school, and they throw people out of the program for making retarded mistakes like that.

No kidding.

Let me know what you think is the right way to do it. Jeremy will be setting up a poll within the next couple of days, so check back to cast your vote.

Voting? Seems like there's a lot of that going on these days...

Where was I going with this? Oh yes. The picture. This is Jake and I sitting on a camel. And that's all you need to know.

Good night! 

Bono and a twirp

I'm not sure if you know (or care), but U2 was in Ottawa on Friday. I wanted tickets very badly -- Bono is the one person that Katherine would cheat on me for (she's never said so, but I can guess). Anyways, I waited in line for three hours, and when there only a three people in front of me, the tickets sold out. Meanwhile, a friend of Katherine's mother was bragging to us that she has gone to 47 different U2 conerts, and that she was going to this concert as well -- and bringing her son. Katherine secretly wished that her son got sick with a violent but temporary illness, so she could take his place. Alas fate would not have it, and this boy would end up on stage with Katherine's dream date having a song sung to him. In Katherine's words, she's extremely jealous.

PS: If you look closely, you'l notice that Bonno has a magen david (star of David) on his head-band -- I suppose he's yet another star into the whole Kaballah craze started by Madonna.

Saturday morning post

Good morning everyone! This past week, I've become so accustomed to waking up super early, that it was really great to sleep in today! It's about 7:45 and Katherine and Jacob are still sleeping -- they too had a very long week and are enjoying the late wake-up today. Since I'm the only one awake, I figured that I would post a few more
pictures of Jacob. The first picture, Katherine took, and I took the second one. Both of the pictures I chose are very cute (in my opinion), and I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do. They were both taken on the same day, about 15 minutes apart from each other. If you look carefully, you will notice that Jacob is wearing the same shirt and hat in both photos. It was a bright summer day, so Katherine and I decided to bring Jacob into the back yard to play. While we were there, we luckily snapped a few photos to capture the memory. I hear Jacob wing up through the baby monitor, so I better get off the computer, and go see him -- have a wonderful weekend everyone! I hope you get to enjoy every minute of it!!! Before I go, here's a funny link for you that is full of people who look like one another. Enjoy!

Daniel son will never be the same

I read today that Pat Morita died. That's pretty much all I have to say about that. It's sad news.

Wax on, wax off, Mr. Mayagi; wax on, wax off.

One more day until the weekend

Only one more day until the weekend is here! I am going to especially enjoy this weekend, as the work-week has been very long -- I don't think there was a day this week that my alarm was set for later than 4:00, and I was usually at work by that time. Well, have a wonderful weekend everyone, and enjoy doing whatever you plan on doing.

Of (only a little) interest to some... a bit of a vent

Now that Katherine's last semester of school is paid for, we may actually have a few dollars to start putting away. So yesterday, I took a few minutes to investigate term deposits. Boy was I disappointed with my bank (caisse) -- If I have less than $5000 to give them, then for a term of one year less a day, they will give me the gift of 0.5% interest. They are a bit more generous if I give them over $5000 at 1.3% interest. Taking into account all the other miscellaneous fees I'm sure they charge, I would be much better off keeping the money under my pillow! I looked at some of the major banks, and they're dismal also. So, what should I do? Keep the money under my pillow?

No.

I was just on the ING Direct website, and their regular savings account has an interest rate of 2.5%. In comparison, my current savings account interest rate is 0.15% -- If I had over $25,000 in the account, that would jump to a whopping 0.9%. What a rip-off.

For those wondering, yes, I did look at PC Bank, and their savings rate is 2.3%. PC Bank, for those of you who are not from Ontario is a bank run by a major grocery chain in Ontario, Loblaws (sounds weird, but it's true). They often have very competitive rates, and offer free groceries in lieu of interest with some accounts (like air miles for your stomach).

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I am going to get to work.

Jacob in a mask

Here's a funny picture of Jacob taken at Jason and Christine's house this morning. Jacob is trying on a mask that Christine made in grade 7 art class (that was more than a few years ago, for those of you who don't know Christine. We were visiting Jay and Chris for breakfast; Christine made use some wonderful waffles.

When I looked at the files on Jason's camera, I noticed that there were also photos of the dinner that we had at their house a few weeks ago -- The one that I've uploaded is of Jacob's messy, messy face. He thought it would be funny to stick his tongue out for the camera. He was right.

I'm the only one awake

It's 8:00 Sunday morning, and I'm the only one awake in the house. I have the baby monitor on beside me in case Jacob wakes up. Katherine, Jacob and I spent the whole day with my mom yesterday (just like we do nearly every Saturday). We had a good time. We went to the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology -- a perfect place to bring a two-year-old. There is something new and exciting around every corner. Jacob's highlight: The real locomotives you can walk through, and the volunteers who set up shop outside one of them who helped him make a "Mr. Conductor" hat. He loved it.

After I dropped my mom off last night, Katherine and I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the new one with Johnny Depp). It was an okay movie, even though the songs were a bit weak. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but find a character like Willy Wonka a bit creepy since the Michael Jackson case.

Okay, before I got, I thought I would give you all another website to check out. It's not really a website, but a collection of (I'm pretty sure)fictitious iPod advertisements. Some of them (okay all of them) are a bit dorky, but hopefully you will enjoy a few of them.

Getting to know me

Okay, Katherine sent me this and said that I was the least likely to reply. So, to prove here wrong, I'm going to reply, and post my answers here. If you have a few minutes to spare, it would be great if you could post your answers, too! That would be great. Really great.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
5:59. That's what time the alarm is set for. Katherine tried to press snooze, but I didn't let her :)

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Uh, I would probably look funny in either, but if I had to choose, diamonds.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Finding Neverland, I think. It was pretty good.

4. What is your favourite TV show?
The English version of the Office, the American version of The Office, and House. Only, House is on at the same time as The Office, so I usually watch House.

5. What did you have for breakfast?
Large double-double from Tim Horton's and half a bagel.

6. What is your favourite food?
Katherine makes the best Shepherd Pie (also known as Gardener's loaf in some circles)

7. What foods do you dislike?
Anything with meat.

8. What is your favourite CD at the moment?
Does Virgin Radio from iTunes count as a CD? Well, if it does, than that's it!

9. What kind of car do your drive?
A 2003 Kia Magentis (the wanna-be of more luxurious cars)

10. What is you favourite sandwich?
Subway. A 6 inch veggie on Monterey cheddar with everything on it except black olives. Lot's of southwest sauce, and salt a pepper, please.

11. What characteristics do you despise?
Quitting/Giving up.

12. Favourite item of clothing:
My new winter coat from Old Navy. It's a pea-coat.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Egypt. I would love to visit the pyramids!

14. Ever unwrapped a Starburst with your tongue?
The though of doing this has never crossed my mind until now. the next time I have a Starburst, I may give it a go..

15. How many keys on your key chain?
Seven. I don't know what three of them are for.

16. What did you do yesterday?
Worked, played, slept.

17. Last time you cried?
I got my cheeks wet

18. Is your house clean?
If I had a house it would be messy. Unless I could afford a housecleaner -- then it would be spotless!

19. Favourite time of year?
Right now. I love that it's cold enough to wear a sweater, but not so cold that you have to bundle up. I also love the smell of fire's burning in fireplaces all around the neighbourhood.

20.What color is your bathroom?
It's not mine, but it's greenish/blue.

21. Where would you retire to?
My cottage. That I don't yet have.

22. Favourite time of day?
Early, early morning. Between 3-4 O'clock. The sky is always so clear at that time of the day.

23. What did you do on your last birthday?
I can't remember. Is that bad?

24. Favourite sport?
Speed typing.

25. Who do you least expect to send this back to you?
I don't expect anyone to post a comment with their answers, but it would be great if they did!

26. First to send it back?
See my answer to 25.

27. What fabric detergent do you use?
I'm very ashamed to admit this, but I don't do laundry anymore, ever since the terrible incident with the ruined clothing. Katherine does the whole families laundry, now. But I do 90% of the cooking.

28. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Pepsi, with lots, and lots of ice.

29. Are you a morning person or night owl?
I was a night owl, and now I'm a morning person. Go figure.

30. Do you have any pets?
Nope.

31. Any new & exciting news you'd like to share with your family and friends?
Yes, I have a blog! http://solojer.blogspot.com

32. What book are you reading?
The last book I read was Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. It's been a while since I picked up a new book -- work and family take precedence.


33. Where are your second homes?
Other than where I live, you mean? Perhaps my dream cottage, or, maybe work.

34. Favourite flowers?
I like lilies.

35 Who do you miss most?
All my family and friends. I don't speak to people nearly as often as I wish I could. That's why I started this blog -- as a way of staying in touch.

36. Last place you visited?
Montreal.

37. What are you listening to right now?
The hum of the computers in my office, and someone on the other side of the floor laughing really loudly.

38. What is your next trip or vacation planned??
I'd love to go on one of those free "please buy our time-share" weekends.

39.Favorite thing to do on weekends?
Breakfast with my family.

I love candy

Even though I don't, I could eat candy every day! My favourite candy is probably Swedish berries - a classic. I remember when I was younger, Swedish berries only cost a penny a piece -- they were real penny candies. My friends and I would collect as many pennies and nickels as we couldand go down to the corner store. Then we would take about half an hour counting out as many Swedish berries as we could afford (always taking into account the tax). I remember one time, we bought over 500 Swedish berries. That must have taken us a long time to count! Last night I had one of Jacob's Halloween candies -- it was a gummy bear. They're too squishy for my taste, and not nearly sweet enough. My friends and I were probably the only people who bought the Swedish berries at the corner store, and so they were anything but squishy -- they were actually a bit hard. Oddly (or not so oddly) that's the way I still like them today.

What if I looked like my dog?

Okay, here's another site that I found that is bizarre. You'll definately notice a theme with me -- I like bizarre websites. I'm typing this as Katherine is sewing dozens of peices of paper (don't ask!). Yup, she's sewing, and I'm looking around the internet for weird websites. I think this one classifies as pretty weird. You may have seen this before -- I think I may have seen it before today, too. By the way, in case you are wondering, no, I don't have a dog. Yet.

Camping in the wilderness

Here's a great picture of Jacob running which was taken on the same camping trip that I mentioned in my first post. I don't know a lot about the technicalities of photography (that's Katherine's department), but in my own amateur opinion this picture has all the elements of a great picture. The picture has depth: The trees in the background, the girl on the teeter totter in the semi-background, Jacob (in the foreground of course), and a girl running in extreme foreground. Also, every one of those elements has movement -- except for maybe the trees. I also think it's really cool that the girl running in the extreme foreground is all blurry. And of course, the icing on the cake is the ever-fantastic Jacob (I love the band-aid on his knee). Enjoy! Come back often to see more pictures, more weird links, and more boring musings...

A joke from my boss

My boss sent me the following joke this morning. I think it's pretty
funny, so I though I would share it with everyone:

Prime Minister Paul Martin, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, and Revenue Minister John McCallum are flying on the Executive Airbus to a gathering in British Columbia when Martin turns to Goodale and says, chuckling, "You know, I could throw a $1000 bill out the window right now and make someone very happy." Goodale shrugs and replies, "Well, I could throw ten $100 bills out the window and make ten people happy." Not to be outdone, McCallum says, "Well I could throw a hundred $10 bills out the window and make a hundred people happy." The pilot rolls his eyes and says to his co-pilot, "Such arrogant asses back there. Hell, I could throw all three of them out the window and make millions of people happy."

HAHAHAHAH!!!! Ha.

Natalie Dee

Okay, Katherine wanted me to add a link to Natalie Dee dot com. It's one of her favorite websites and she goes there every day to laugh like a hyena. So go take a look if you want to laugh like a hyena too. She updates the site every day with some very funny stuff, and some weird stuff. Parental discretion advised for the website.
Man, my typing skills are really crappy tonight. Probably because Katherine is sitting right behind me while I write this. Yeah, that's it. Katherine (the current peanut gallery) also says that a double space after a sentence is bad. What do you think?

Computer Dorking

Well, I spent most of today computer dorking. About 20 minutes ago, I began the process of installing Linux Fedora (a version of Redhad) on one of my virtual PC's. I think it's going to take a while, so I will let it process through the night, and take a look in the morning. For anyone interested, I've got five computers in my office at the moment. The computer I use to access the internet (and to do this blog) is a 17 inch iMac G5, and I love it. All of the other PC's in my office are Windows based, and I must say that Mac always seems to be one up on Windows. Anyways, enough computer dorking for one day, I'm going home!!! I'll have to go slow because there's freezing rain out there today.

Here is my profile picture

This is the picture I will use for my profile. I's a weird picture, eh?

Food for thought

I remember the time when I would have one piece of pizza and feel totally full for the rest of the day -- that was when I weighed about 120 pounds.  I also remember the time when Katherine and could go to a corner store, buy a wack of candy and pig out for the next hour -- that was when I didn't weight 120 pounds.    I just got an e-mail from Katherine saying that she had a whole bagel to herself this morning, and she feels gross.  Have we come full circle?  It may seem that way, but I don't think so.  Remember: I still don't weight 120 pounds, even though don't think I'm a big eater (I usually share a bagel for breakfast, have a salad for lunch, a sensible dinner, and a bit of a snack during the evening).  I think, maybe I can just say that I'm getting older, and when you get older, you get fatter.  Period.  What a thing for someone as young as me to say!

Celebrity Stock Exchange

Okay, so I'm not really big into Hollywood stars, and I don't follow their every move, but I have fallen into obsession with a celebrity stock exchange website called Celebdaq. It's hosted by the BBC, and is totally amazing. I think maybe I just like pretending that I'm making money, when I'm really not. So if you have a second, please go to the website, sign up, and then post a comment on my blog with your userid (not your username). Maybe I can create a mini league, and we can all compete again each other in a friendly competition. Woo-hoo!

A cool karaoke website

Here's a neat website for you: www.cheerioke.com

You get to design a person, and then have them sing a song. The cool part is that you can record the song over the phone and it gets recorded
to the site. It's pretty amazing to see the interaction between the phone and the computer -- when you press the record button on the phone, your computer says 'Ready to record' or something like that. Take a look, it's cool.

Welcome to my blog!

This is my first post, so we'll see how often I use this service!!! I hope to use this site as a way of keeping in touch with everyone who I have trouble keeping in touch with (that means pretty much everyone). I'll try to upload as many pictures of Jacob, Katherine and I as I can possible muster. Check back often, because you never know when I'll make a post!!! The picture above is from when we went camping with our friends Janet and Steve this summer. Jacob got dirtier than he's ever been, and loved every minute of it!