PEER Group Christmas Party 2007

Last Saturday night was my company's annual Christmas party at the Walper Terrace in Kitchener. The party was done as a cocktail party for the second year, and again I can say I like this format. No need to be isolated at individual tables--doing so is entirely at your own discretion.

Before the party a group of us met at Caroline's house for a little pre-party of our own. This gave the ladies a chance to consume a bunch of Tequila Rose and other various beverages of choice (thanks Caroline). With this rare occasion that we were all looking in fine form we captured some group photos--it is surprising with all the photographers in the group that we didn't really have any shots of us as a group.





After taking an extensive number of shots at Caroline's it is sad to report that I didn't pull the camera back out until near the end of the evening at the Walper. Perhaps Richard or Andy will post some photos to fill in the gap. I've posted a few of the decent shots into a set over on my Flickr account.

Nicolaas the Puppy

So, as most of you know, Joy has been asking for a puppy since the beginning of time. Well her dreams have finally come true. The last 3 days we have been at the Cambridge Humane Society look at the puppies. This morning we came home with Nicolaas, Nico as we call him, or by his old name "Roy".

As you imagine the cats are not terribly impressed. Nico didn't try to chase them or anything, they just thought it best to hide. And since we first got home they've been hiding out under our bed. Hopefully it won't be long before they got over the fact Nico is here to stay.

I have posted a few pictures on my Flickr account. I have included the following picture as a teaser...

Joy's Annual Pumpkin Carving

Personal News

I would like to announce that Joy and I are now engaged.

Details, I suppose people like details; I guess I'll fill in a few details since people don't like to know such a small portion of such news.

On September 8th, at Sandbanks Provincial Park, atop a sand dune overlooking West Lake I asked Joy if she'd marry me and put up with me for the rest of our lives; she said yes. And in her enthusiasm she decided she'd maul me causing minor scuffs as my leg was folded behind me and under a root of some dune plant life. After a moment or two I was able to convince her she could let me up to free my leg from its trap.

Since we have the technology, I am going to include some photos from the area in which it all went down.

Upon coming across this point I decided it was the spot


Our footsteps leading to the spot


A photo of my Joy just moments before I made the big proposition


The view from our hiding spot in the shade; I'm just about to dig out the ring from the bag masked as returning the camera to the bag


Walking back (along the dunes not through) on the edge which is slowly moving into the lake

Leeuwenburg in Canada

This past weekend the Leeuwenburg family celebrated 50 years since they first immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands. So to mark the occasion the family had a big party at Joy's parent's house. The day was full of food, fun, and a bit of water.

Many photos were taken, 362 by me alone, I have done a very quick pass of the pictures and uploaded a few (almost 30) into my Picasa Web Album. Below you'll find a couple of them linked directly.

Jackson son of Reuben and Rhonda Leeuwenburg

Annika and Ellora taking a break

Joy's Uncle Jake

Pay-back against Gerard

All the descendants and loved ones

On Sunday a bunch of us (Fred, Gerard, Reuben, Tanya, Joy, and I) got up bright and early for a round of golf at Whisky Run golf course in Port Colborne. Gerard ended up with the best score, but everyone had a great time. Thanks goes to Jenneke (Joy's mom) for looking after Gerard & Tanya's herd of children, which allowed us all to go golfing.

Sunburst Honey Locust

So last weekend Joy & I decided we wanted a tree for our backyard. So we went for a drive down to the the local tree farm, J C A Trees, to find ourselves a suitable tree. After a little searching we decided on the "Sunburst" Honey Locust tree. A lovely tree with new leaves coming in bright yellow, and turning yellow again in the fall. We claimed on that we liked, and it got tagged with our name; we just had to wait until the following Friday to receive it.

Friday morning eventually came, and as I was leaving for work the J.C.A Tree folks arrived to plant our tree. As I was leaving for work I did not get a chance to see it until that evening. 

The tree was Friday's excitement; on Saturday Adam, Alex, George, and Graeme aided me in moving a concrete step from Jeff's house into our backyard. The back door no longer had the long drop. :) Thank you everyone involved.

Laurel Creek Conservation Area

So I haven't posted any house photos yet--I know I'm a terrible person--but I really do hope to get some decent photos of the place before posting them (the ones I currently have are from when the place is in disorder). Well, enough of that, onto the point...

Tuesday George and I left work with the intent of some photography. Since George was just the idea man he didn't have any input on where to go to take photos, just that we should, so I ended up deciding that we should go to Laurel Creek Conservation Area (just a few minutes drive from my house).



We had intended on going to take some sunset photos over the lake (actually a reservoir) but due to time constraints and the fact we were on the wrong side of the lake, we did not get any sunset photos. However, we did manage to get a few other shots.








Note, I do realize that the last photos is not straight, this is intentional. The photo is from the perspective of another of a segment of the fallen tree looking up at its live brethren.

A Week in the Sun

Today marks my last full day in Arizona for this trip--maybe for ever. It has been a quick week full of work and some fun. Most of my week has been spent working from about 7:30 to 6:00 each day doing the training course; each evening was highlight by some of my favourite feed holes. :) Lacey and I made it to Pasta Pomodoro, Shimogamo, Abuelo's, and BJ's. The weather has been ranging from about 27 degrees during the day--which I didn't see much of--and down to around 12 through the night. I noticed that the weather back home is only -3 to 4 degrees. :(

Other than the work and food, Lacey and I made it out once to take some photos at South Mountain. Unfortunately we didn't manage to leave work as soon as we hoped, and ended up with little light to take any photos worth noting. That said I did take one, waiting for Lacey, that I like.



Well might flight is tomorrow at about 12:15pm (US 262), which will have me back in Toronto before 8PM EST. Like I said, it has been a short trip and a part of me hopes that I have the chance to return to the desert when I have time to go see some of the sights again (i.e. have a least one whole weekend here). We will let time determine what happens.

Travelling Again

So tomorrow I'll be traveling again for work. Unlike most--almost all--of my previous work trips I will not be gone for weeks, or months. I will be down in Arizona, until Saturday the 14th, providing a training course to one of our customers. The course I am providing is the same course I presented in Malaysia last year, with a few additional/extended topics.

Since I am not there over a weekend I won't have a chance to go do any extended sight-seeing. I will take in some of the old favourites, such as South Mountain and Cold Stone Creamery.

As with most of my travels you are likely to see a post or to. So until later, good-bye.

Punctuation Lesson

As you all may know, I'm not the most astute writer. Earlier today, I came across a how-to site on the use of English punctuation and thought I'd share the find with others.

Our House

Our house is now our house. Joy is on her way right now with a car full of stuff and keys in her hands. :)

Follow-up Victoria Park Photos

As I promised, here are some more photos from my walk in Victoria Park last week.

Dusk on Victoria

The other day George and I went to Victoria Park to take some photos (it was a beautiful day with very warm weather). We never really ended up finding each other in the park but I still got some nice photographs.

This photo is actually from my walk back to the apartment and is of the houses across the street.


I have gone through and reviewed all the photos from this particular outing but I'm at work and only have this one photo since I e-mailed it to myself so I could use it as my background. I'll upload some more from home.

Rain versus Snow

So today marks the first real rain storm of the year. This morning was rung in with a thunder storm and heavy rains. Thankfully the weather was kind enough to ease up the rain so that my umbrella was unnecessary (though in hand).

The work-day was highlighted with a beautful blue sky and nice and warm weather. A glorious day.

My walk home was not as glorious. I escaped the morning but just a few metres into my walk home came the rain. Oh, and did it ever rain.

FYI, an umbrella is pretty well useless below your waist. From about my knees down I was soaked, shoes drenched and all. This is where snow comes into the story.

Snow is a lovely form of water in which it will nicely stack up, and even allow you to brush it aside, or pile it high. Rain on the other hand likes to flow...everywhere. And when you get dumped on, it has a tendency to create streams of water along the sidewalks and roadway which mere shoes can do nothing to save you from. Ah, poor snow I do wish you fell in the warm weather.

A Pet's Persepective

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favourite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favourite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favourite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favourite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favourite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favourite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favourite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favourite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favourite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favourite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favourite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

[Edit: This wit is not my own, but that of an anonymous e-mailer]

Memory

I have increased my memory, well my computer's memory. I have nicely installed an additional 1GB of memory for my Mac Book Pro. I compared the price of $210 for 1GB from Apple, or $109 from Canada Computers. Guess where I bought it from.

Installation was nice and easy. It only took two tries. The first attempt I did not follow the directions and apply pressure to ensure it was seated properly in the socket. After the second attempt I was presented to a OS X with an additional 1gb of memory.



Now I just need to put it through its paces. So time to do some managing of my photos in Lightroom.

Lightroom

I just checked the delivery status of my Lightroom software and noticed that Joy signed for it at 3pm today. I suppose I'll have to go home and get it installed.

Tracking summary
Current Status Shipment delivered.
Delivered on 2/26/2007 2:59 pm
Delivered to
Signed for by J LEEUWENBUR

More news to follow.

Our House

So I suppose we can finally say we have a house. Today we had the house inspection and also received the signed offer (yay, it has been accepted). So as of April 2nd Joy and I will be the owners of 523 Chablis Drive in Waterloo. :)

Router Update

This is a nerdy post, so anyone who isn't interested in computers and technology may freely ignore this post without worrying about missing anything exciting.

So tonight after a couple occurrences where my Linksys WTR54G router hung I decided to look into whether there were any new updates to its firmware. And as a matter of fact there was, so I switched over to the wired computer (the PC I am preparing for my aunt Betty) and downloaded the latest firmware. When doing this I went through Linksys' Canadian site, rather than the US, and discovered a discrepancy in the version numbers between the US & Canadian versions of the site. In trying to figure out if there was any differences between the two versions I recalled there being some alternate 3rd-party firmware for my router.

A quick search on Wikipedia yield some information and a few different options. After a short time humming and hawing I decided to give it a go and try out DD-WRT. After a check, and than a couple more double-checks, I did it...I upgraded my Linksys WRT54G with the latest--v23 sp2--DD-WRT software.

So far I have no complaints about the switch, in fact the interface provides a lot more status information and seems to have features which weren't found in the official firmware. One of the most notable being that you can run the router as network bridge (I paid a pretty penny for a stand-alone device which does this).

Hiking in St. Jacobs

This past Sunday Caroline, Carolyn, George, Joy, and I went for a winter hike down by the river in St. Jacobs. We have done this previous years and still to date we have never gotten past this one point...I suppose it has something to do with the fact we only go when it is really cold out.

The difference between this hike and previous winter hikes is that Joy & I had snowshoes--thanks Mom & Dad. The snowshoes were great. "The path means nothing to me!" was a quote heard coming from my lips.

[Joy making her own path]


[Joy enjoying the freedom of snowshoes]


[Carolyn bundled up against the cold]


And last but not least, the ever so required artistic photos.

Eek! Posing

I just recently downloaded my pictures from my camera and found these photos of the kittens that I took the end of January. You'll find a couple of photos of Eek! since he is so much easier to photograph--it has to do with how lazy he is.

May the House Hunt Begin

Last week Joy and I went into TD to get a pre-approval for a house mortgage. Today (unofficially yesterday) we got confirmation that the pre-approval was successful. So at this point we can now start the hunt for a home of our own. :)

Adobe Lightroom

Well I just pre-ordered Adobe Lightroom (LR) a couple hours ago. About a week or two ago I started using the LR beta to manage my digital photo workflow--basically going from importing, to rating, labelling, adjusting, and archiving. The initial reason behind my adoption of LR over iPhoto was that LR allowed me to manage the organization of the photos on disk. But through using it I found it much easier to actually "process" my photos and also be able to find them afterwards.

I will leave the in-depth details behind the switch once I have the 1.0 release (should be mid-February).

Eek! Sitting Pretty

So Eek! is becoming quiet the lazy kitten. And I thought I would share with everyone an example of it.

Snowboarding Follow-Up

Well Joy and I successfully made it to and from Holiday Valley. The drive from Kitchener to Wainfleet (in the Niagara region) wasn't the fastest due to the amount of snow falling in the Kitchener area and all the way to Hamilton. For that leg of the journey we were limited to about 70-90 km/h. However, once we went over the Niagara escarpment the weather got much nicer and the trip from Hamilton (the point at which we transferred from 6 onto the 403) until we arrived at Joy's parent's house was much nicer...and quicker.

Saturday morning had us up and on the road to Holiday Valley by 10am--not as early as we hoped but we got a nice visit in with Joy's parents. During the 130 km trip we were presented with rain and such, but by the time we had arrived at the ski resort it had shifted back to snow.

The conditions on the hill were alright. It was hard-packed snow however there were a fair number of places where the snow had been scrapped off, by boarders and skiers alike), leaving ice. This was much better than last time when we went to Holiday Valley, which consisted of mostly man-made snow and ice patches. It was a fun day, and enjoyable increase in run variety and length (Chicopee is just a convenience).

There were a couple things we noticed different about the patrons. There seemed to be a significantly lower percentage of snowboarder (Chicopee had around equal representation), and much less people wore helmets, whereas at Chicopee the majority had helmets. We'll have to take a census at Blue Mountain to add to the sampling before drawing any significant comparisons.

The trip back from Wainfleet from Holiday Valley was slower going due to the fact it was now snowing throughout NY state (or at least the parts we saw). I don't think that the US219 highway had any kind of preparation for the snowfall since the lanes weren't cleared and didn't notice any salt/sand on the roadway. Which was very apparent once we crossed into Canada and we could hear the salt on the road (oh and we actually saw the trucks out ploughing and salting/sanding). With all that we only saw one crazy SUV/minivan driver go into the ditch, however I suspect if we spent any more time on that road we would have seen more.

Oh, the roof-racks work marvellously. It is so much nicer to just stick the boards on the roof and not have to cram them into the back of the car. It was definitely a good purchase.

Snowboarding News

So in the past week Joy & I finally managed to make it out to the ski hills for some snowboarding. It had been next to impossible previously due to the lack of snow and unusually warm weather. However, last Sunday, and again on Tuesday night, we made it over to Chicopee Ski club in Kitchener.

Now it isn't the best hill in the world, but it is close to home--15 minute drive--and isn't very expensive. We really just wanted to get back into the swing of things before heading out to the real ski hills. Joy wanted to try out her new board and get a feel for it before venturing to far.

We've also made the smart move and purchased helmets, so now we are safer on the hills. Oh, just last night we received the roof-racks with ski/snowboard attachment. We installed it and ensured our boards fit nicely--which they do.

So, now that we are all decked out we are off to Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, NY this weekend. With a stop-off at Joy's parent's Friday night and Saturday night, with daytime Saturday for snowboarding.

I'll post how it goes.