Camping Vacation

Well Joy and I are just about all packed (just waiting for a few more clothes in the dryer). Tomorrow we start our 10 night camping trip along Lake Erie and Huron. And to go along with the camping I just bought a new bike today (yes we are taking our bikes with us).

This is just a short message to mark the start of the trip, which will begin at Long Point. George and Carolyn will be joining us at our next stop, Rondeau, for Friday through Sunday. Pictures and all will follow, but probably not until June.

Oh, and in case you were concerned, we did make reservations at all the parks (we did it this morning).

So Long Arizona

Well I'm currently on the verge of boarding my plane back home. This is a bitter-sweet departure as it is highly likely to be the last trip here ever (for this client at least). You'd think I'd be happy to be finally rid of this place, however it did serve as my home for the better part of last year. I have to put out thanks and appreciation for the friends I made here. And a special kudos to Lacey, if you weren't here I don't know that I would have been able to manage the long stay here. :) I hope you find your escape soon.

Farewell Arizona!

Brain Age

So I picked up the Brain Age software for my DS yesterday (at the discount price of $20). On first startup I was ranked a DS Brain Age of 56. :( Not very good, eh? Well this morning I started it up, did a little of the days training, and did the Brain Age Check (i.e. test) and today's score was 41. Still not the ideal 20 (lowest Brain Age you can get), but moving in the right direction.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you can find out more here.

T-Minus One Week

So I've now been here in AZ since Sunday, and have but a week until I'll be back home. Unfortunately a week is still a long time. :( The good news about the next week, is that when I return I have two weeks off (19th through June 2nd) and Joy officially moves in. :)

So what are we doing to mark this occasion? Well we have planned 10 days of camping in 5 different provincial parks--not including the long-weekend on Wightland Acres. We'll be starting out in Niagara at Long Point on the 24th and ending the following Saturday at Point Farms, with stops at Rondeau, Wheatley, and The Pinery (2 nights at each). I'm really looking forward to the trip, vacation, and being home. :D

In the AZ

Well just so you are all sure I made it here safely, I arrived here yesterday at 10:15 PM EDT. So far so good, it is quite a bit warmer here than there. And it seems that the air conditioning isn't working at 100%...well actually it is going 100% of the time, but it isn't much cooler for it. I suppose no one before me noticed, or bothered to let the maintenance people know. ;)

Well I'm just about to head out for dinner, but before I do I thought I'd post a couple pictures from George and my walk through Victoria Park two weekends ago.

[Kitchener, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Back and Gone Again

Well I know it has been a very long time since my last post. And as a matter of fact this post will have something in common with my previous. What is it you ask? Well I'm off to Arizona for 12 days (I'll be back on the 18th). It is a nice and short trip so that is very nice--however it is yet another trip. The good news is that after this there should be much of any travel for quite some time. :)

Hopefully while I'm there I'll take the time to do some posting (highly likely due to the smaller number of distractions there). I have a bunch of photos I took with George during a visit to Victoria Park, so hopefully I get them posted either before I leave or shortly after arriving in Arizona.

Part Way Home

I just arrived in Hong Kong--I'll assume some of you already knew that. I'm just going to do a little wandering around the airport before heading to the Cathay Pacific lounge. I'll probably have something more to say then.

Trip to Penang v3.0 Complete

In a mere 12 hours I'll be leaving Penang for the third, hopefully final, time. It has been another long trip which I'm glad is about over. The work while I've been here went well, both the project support as well as the training, it is just that it was another 5 weeks away from home, family, and friends. I can't wait to be back in the balmy 7 degree weather (warmer than when I left). I'll be arriving in Toronto just before 10PM Sunday night with a quick trip to retrieve my car from Kitchener than down to Niagara.

I have next week off so I'll be doing some rounds and primarily dealing with getting my stuff moved into the new apartment. :) So it will be a busy but fun week...and so nice to have a break from work.

So just to make people like Dad happy I'll try to ensure that I blog an entry while in HK, just so everyone knows I didn't miss my flight.

See you all soon. :)

One Day Down, Four More...

Well the first day of the week-long training course I'm giving is over. And surprise, surprise it seemed to have gone quite well. There was no fainting or anything. :) Seriously though, it really wasn't nearly as bad as I had worked myself up to believe. Heck, it can be considered kind of fun. ;)

We have gotten a little behind our schedule, but I don't think it will be anything we can't make up in the coming days.

Well, so just four more days of training left, and in about five and a half I'll be on a plan back to Ontario. :)

Oh, and all that training material my colleagues and I create looks quite impressive when printed up. :)

Photo: Cara & Michael with a Cake

The happy couple cutting the cake with a small knife. :)

[Newcastle, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Merry Bunch

We have Murray (dad), Pat (mom), Joel (brother), Joy and myself at Cara & Michael's wedding.

Notice our fancy outfits. ;)

[Newcastle, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Jolly Old Man

Jolly ol' Dad at Cara & Michael's wedding. Like his pimping costume?

[Newcastle, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Joy Tracks

Joy making tracks in the snow during our winter wander around the farm.

[Auburn, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Animal Tracks in the Corn Field

Some random animal's tracks through the corn field. Maybe someone wiser will know what kind of tracks these are...

[Auburn, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Archived Grain Wagon

An old abandoned grain wagon sitting in the barn yard.

[Auburn, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Photo: Wightland Acres Barn

The family farm as seen from the fields.

[Auburn, ON -- Nikon D70s]

Random Photos

Well just as a treat to you all, I will be posting some random photos that I've taken over the last little while. Most of them will look like winter, so if you are faint of heart you may wish to look away. ;)

New Look

Inspired by George's updated, yet minimalist new look, I've updated the look and layout of my blog.

News from the East

I know it has been a long time, but overall it hasn't been to exciting here. I probably have something to do with that...but that isn't the point. Well I quickly ran out of books to read while here--I finished the trilogy I brought last week. So without any books I had taken to playing games, and ended beating Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, so I needed something else to occupy my time.

One of those things is I just posted an entry on Through the Viewfinder for the Form project. I intend on posting an entry for Texture shortly.

I also went to the neighbouring mall to find some cheap DVDs, alas it looks like police must have been there cracking down on piracy, as almost all the DVD stores were closed. With that avenue closed I did wander into a book store. After a short while finding the English novels I came away with two books by Terry Pratchett. He comes highly recommended by Joy, so I thought I'd give them a shot. They have a style which is not unlike Douglas Adams--of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame. I ended up coming away with two of his books: Going Postal, and A Hat Full of Sky.

And as a treat I think I'll share a little quote from Going Postal:

'Now...will you take the job?'

'Oh, all right. Of course, I accept as natural born criminal, habitual liar, fraudster and totally untrustworthy perverted genius.'

'Captial! Welcome to government service!'

Jungle Living

As you all know I'm back in the jungle land of Malaysia. Well, I'm personally in no jungle, but actually just my 3rd home the Shangri La George Town. And as in previous trips, it has been a week without to much in the way of exciting news. Just the typical 11 hour days this country always seems to bring.

Once my work week was over I pretty well settled into a weekend of reading. Haven't really gone anywhere other than downstairs to eat. I have gotten through many, many pages of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. I know have books I & II behind me, and almost 20% through the third and final book in the series. So my real concern now is what do I read after the remaining 380 pages are behind me? I really should have brought more than 3 books, especially with 27 days remaining.