Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Author: Garry

  • Changes in Kenora

    It’s the first summer weekend at the lake and we stopped in at Safeway to pick up a couple of things that were forgotten at home and some things are changing.

    For many years not too much wold change in Kenora from year to year, but then things started to happen. A new Canadian Tire on the waterfront, Tim Hortons, and then a Wallmart and a bigger Canadian Tire. This year it seems to be Safeway’s turn.

    As we pull into the parking lot the outside of the store is getting a make over and it seems to be pushing out a little farther. On the inside, they are getting the same Safeway look that came to stores in Winnipeg last year. But the best change is just in side the door, it’s the Starbucks kiosk!

    That’s right, thanks to Safeway, Starbucks hits the little town of Kenora. A couple of years ago a place called HoJoes

    HoJoes
    HoJoes
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    opened on the main drag, and we thought a good cup of coffee had finally come to Kenora, after all Tim Hortons can’t really be called coffee. But despite the free internet access and the nice atmosphere the HoJo coffee is still awful. Granted, Safeway ambience is lacking quite a bit but you can step out side and across the road and gaze out over beautiful Lake of the Woods.

    I think I’ll need to do more grocery shopping this year, and Safeway makes a nice biking destination for a 20km round trip for a cup of jo

  • What’s in a name?

    Find out how your name ranks over at The Baby Name Wizard’s NameVoyager. “Garry” was a big hit in the ’50s, how appropriate.

    In February 2005, IBM researcher Martin Wattenberg created a Web-based visualization applet, the NameVoyager, to help call attention to his wife’s first book, The Baby Name Wizard, a guide to American baby names. This effort to support his wife’s project swept the Web and became a hot topic of conversation – for those searching for the perfect baby name and for others. Without any advertising, the applet drew more than 500,000 site visits in its first two weeks. It has been downloaded more than 900,000 times as of mid-April. Also in April, Google found more than 11,000 references to the NameVoyager.

  • Got Backup?

    An updated tool from IBM to help us backup up our laptops. I thought I’d give it a try but backup up over the network doesn’t seem like a viable option. Check the bottom right hand corner.
    moz-screenshot-1

  • Treasure Hunt

    I’m initiating a treasure hunt, complete with rewards. But, you’ll need to be family to participate. Here is the deal. Have a look at the map. There are 8 objects to be found. Please don’t move them. Each one, when you are the first to show it to me is worth $20. So all up, there is $160 to be won for a little bush wacking.

    Good luck treasure hunters. Of course if I find them first, well no money for you!

  • Hot Wheels for Rent

    You can rent one of these from Hertz in Las Vegas for a mere $150-175USD/day. Not bad for getting an opportunity to drive a legendary car.

    Shelby Automobiles, Inc. – NEWS

    Palm Beach, Fla. – April 1, 2007 – Lightning has struck again, the Ford Shelby GT-H “Rent-A-Racer” program from Ford Motor Company, Shelby Automobiles and The Hertz Corporation has returned with a special run of convertible versions of the performance-modified Ford Mustang GTs for rent exclusively through Hertz. Unveiled and sold for $250,000 on the block at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in West Palm Beach, Fla.,., the companies announced that approximately 500 convertibles, a first for the GT-H program, will be available through the Hertz Fun Collection at select airport locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Hawaii, later this year. Proceeds of the sale will benefit the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

  • Famous?

    You be the judge.

  • Smells

    Smells can really trigger strong memories. Occasionally I’ll catch a wiff of something and it will instantly take me back 30 years to a very specific time and place. Sometime, I’ll smell the perfume my mom used to wear and a flood of memories will instantly come back to me. It’s quite an experience.

    Wow, that was a little of track from how I thought this would go. A couple of days ago while riding to work in the morning I was really hit by how much closer to life you are on a bike vs. a car when moving around the city and it was the smells on the ride that gave me this thought. As I went up the street there was a freshness in the air, a smell that would be hard to describe, a spring quality. To me it was as if I could smell the “green” of the grass.

    Well, at the top of the street the relaxing and refreshing scent of spring was quickly swept away by a VW TDI diesel exhaust stream. We’ve been looking at a new vehicle and the TDI has caught my attention mainly because of it’s incredible mileage, but I’d forgotten about the exhaust and diesel smell and the clanking of the engine. This car was almost out of site and I was still sucking in the fumes.

    From there it was back into a brief reprieve of fresh air on a bike path and then into the fragrant mix of heavy rush hour traffic downtown. Actually, this is the most fun part of the ride as I get to pass most of the cars, weave in and out of traffic and try not to get hit or be too obnoxious, but it is a bit of a rush. I’m certainly awake when I roll into the office.

    Technorati Tags: smell, cycling, spring

  • First cycling commute of the year

    It rained.

    Last year I never rode in the rain all summer.

    I was soaked but not too cold. The challenge will be to see how well my gear dries during the day and if I have to put on soggy cold clothes to ride home in. I hope not. Other that that, it was a great ride with no problems with the traffic. The Seine river was up from yesterday flooding a short section of the path which was easily circumvented by a bush trail. So far the bridge is still out of the water. If it comes up too much I’ll need to detour around that section completely.

  • Would you like Oil with that?

    So, this is Tempus Fugit, Time Flies in latin. Well today was another lesson in time flying by.

    If you’ve been around for a while and I won’t define how long “a while” is you might remember getting your oil changed for $20 – $30 at a fast food of oil franchise. Well I hadn’t changed the oil in the van for some time and I was starting to feel guilty about it so I went to the local Mr. Lube.

    Now I’m not unaware of their marketing strategies to up sell you on everything they can while your captive in the oil change bay, so I went in with my “no thanks” all ready to go. However, I must have been weak, or was it the nice your lady who was the supervisor of the motley oil change crew with the silver nail polish that swayed my judgment?

    “Good afternoon Mr. Stewart” as I’ve barely rolled down the window. Darn those computers, they’ve run my plate and I’m a marked man. “Wow, your really over due for an oil change, you haven’t had it changed since 2005!”. Well I have been known to get my oil changed at other locations from time to time. “You should really consider an engine flush”. OK, I had gone a little long between changes, but not 2 years. “How much is that?”. “Just $19.95 and it does this that and the other thing and you really should do it”. (Not exact transcription). “OK”. What? Did I say that?

    I’ve been given a newspaper, but I can’t get a chance to look at it with all the questions and turn you lights on, turnsignals, start your engine etc. Then the nice lady inform me that a hose on my PCV valve is loose and they will fix that. Next thing I know I’m looking at the PCV valve and being asked “When did you last change this? It look kind of old. The manufacture suggests every 40,000 km.”. How should I know, that’s a long time ago and I don’t have a photographic memory for all my van repair, of which there have been many, but that”s a different story. “How much is that?” I hear my self saying. “Just $12”. “OK.”. Did I do it again? Now I’m starting to hope I can get out of here for under $100!

    A few minutes later, I pull away from Mr. Lube $109.58 lighter in the wallet, and they want me back in three months. Time flies.

    Technorati Tags: oil, time, Mr Lube, maintenance

  • Recommended videos

    Robert Newman History of Oil, very clever and thought provoking.

    Tony Campolo with Strombo on the Hour – HT to Bill. Wow, there is good programming on CBC TV.