You're a mean one Mr. Grinch

It was an early Christmas for Kieran. That's because....You're a mean one Mr. H1N1.
He missed Hallowe'en. The poor kid was out for the count. I don't even think he knew what day it was. But he knew days later that he'd missed out on some fun and sugar.

So our neighbour across the street gave him something because she didn't see him trick or treating. Actually she didn't know we had the Swine Flu until I was allowed out into the real world about 10 days later.

One of our neighbours still won't come in the house. Because he's afraid he'll get the bug. Doesn't the virus only live on surfaces for a few seconds? It's not like we have petri dishes in our cupboards.

In any case. It was a treat. Saves me the trouble of looking for it online. He was asking about this very cartoon only a few days before Jessie gave it to him wrapped in a neat little bow.

It's Dec 1st in a few short hours. And still no snow on the ground. Thank god. I still have to put my snow tires on and I am just about done my last reno project of the year. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....light...light is good....head to the light.

This is Kieran's first letter to Santa. He was over at Steph and Chris' last weekend while we were partying with the Wong's. And this was his letter. Chris wrote it, but Kieran signed his name. We got a response this week.

Last year we sent an email because we did it so late. Every one gets a response believe it or not. Try it. Write a letter to Santa.

Here's the link to Canadapost's site where you either send a letter or click to send an email.
And Santa lives in Canada, didn't you know. Because the Arctic is part of our northern most territories. Besides Canadians are peace keepers. Not war mongers like some other nations, that shall remain nameless.


I think Chris drew the robot. But I think Kieran coloured it in.

And the response from Santa came later in the week.


I think the elf couldn't read his name on the letter.
I'm sure it was on the envelope to Santa. Darn elf.

He now B.Wong's to someone else

Our good friend Brian got married this weekend. The day arrived surprisingly fast. And we've never even known about this girl in his life until he IM'd me telling me he was getting married. I responded - "does she know you're marrying her?"

We finally met her yesterday and she is awesome.
You hooked a good one before someone else hooked her.



He had a memorable speech about this theory of ladders and you're either on the "in it for love" ladder or the "friendship" ladder. And if you are currently on the friendship ladder there no way you'll make the jump over to the love ladder. So you need to be mindful of which ladder you intend to start off with.

But apparently when they met he started out on the friend ladder but successfully swung his way over to the love ladder after he realized that - hey she listens to me and she's really nice and good looking to boot.
Cuz now they are married. So...for you guys out there on the friend ladder. There's at least 1 success story. But the odds are still stacked against you if you start out on the wrong ladder.

The Church was a centerpoint mall, because they are asian and like to shop. No, actually it's across the street. I didn't even know there was a church there. It's surrounded by retail shops, dealerships and fast food places. So you don't even notice it.

The reception was at the Heintzman house. It's in the middle of a residential area and although we had directions and GPS, it didn't seem like a likely locale. But sure enough, we it was there. Not sure the neighbours like the heavy base going on til midnight.





It was a blast. For Carman and others that know Brian from Sun alumni here's what you missed.
Click me for more photos

Videos
Brian does Guitar Hero
Brian trying to make some extra cash

Lights, wires, action

It's been crazy since H1N1 struck our household. We've pretty much fully recovered.

Our Eco-audit is coming up and I've been doing the last project before we do our follow up and apply to get our FED and PROV eco rebates.

The garage is where I'm going to have to do work as the weather gets colder. I was hoping to get all the framing and dusty work done so I wouldn't mess up our nice garage.

Most of the framing is done in the back basement, I just have to box in the pipes. And that's the last of the wood cutting that I will have to do.

So back to the garage. The back light was out. It wasn't the tubes. I suspected the fixture. When I was installing the new ones, it still didn't work. I opened the switch and noticed that one of the wires was broken. So I didn't need to replace the light at all. But these are newer electronic ballast that works better at temperatures down to 0 deg C.


I had to replace some wiring to the fixture since the existing one was too short because the old fixture entered at the end of the light and these new ones enter in the middle.

The lights are inexpensive. They were $23.00 and it includes the lamp tubes. They are ultra light compared to the old ones and they turn on instantly and you don't have to go and pound on it to get it to stop flickering.
I was looking for the cold weather versions that work at -20 deg C but they are $80 each. If I really needed to I can buy the ballasts and replace the ones in these. Which are $20.00 each. But these should work way better than what I had. They turn on instantly not like the old ones.

I needed to do it so that if it gets too cold or wet to work in the backyard I can relocate into the garage. But hopefully I can finish up in the next week and a half and get a new post.