iCracked

This was my old iPhone 3G. I couldn't transfer my contract over from my current provider to another provider without paying a huge penalty, and ended up ordering a new one for work from my new provider.

Since the exit fees were so high, we decided that Tresa should continue to use it. As with all phones, accidents happen. This phone has been dropped a few times, but it wasn't cracked when I gave it to her. It was cracked 3 days after I gave it to her. Some boxes fell on it at her work and the impact of those boxes cracked the screen. That's the story I got. Surprisingly it still worked, although it had a massive crack, from an impact.

But the battery life on it sucked. It would be dead within a day.
Even my new one, is now experiencing battery consumption problems. But this is a common iPhone problem. Hopefully fixed in the 4th gen.

A coworker sent me a link to a place where I could get parts.
I think to replace a cracked screen it's $200.00 if you take it to the Apple Store.
I also had to replace the battery. Which was crappy to begin with. So for those two things. I'm sure it would run me almost $300.00.

A new iPhone costs about $500.00-700.00.
And this one doesn't have a data plan. It's only voice. You can't get that anymore. If I were to renew my contract with Fido in order to get a replacement iPhone, I would be forced to pay for a data plan. You can no longer opt out.

So today I received my repair package in the mail.
I got a battery, new screen and case opener tool.
It took me less than 1 hr to replace the screen and battery. And that's with watching the YouTube videos that show you how at the same time.
Crossing my fingers on boot up.
And it's working!

Click me for more photos on how to do it.

I had ordered 2 batteries (one for now and a second for down the road), the first replacement wasn't charging at all. The second seems to be working. Once you know what to do, it can be done in less than 30mins.

Singaporean style birthday

This is Kieran's buddy Xander and it was his birthday party we went to today.
It was a Singaporean style birthday - hot and humid and sweaty. Just like in Singapore.
With weather like this, they'll be climatized to the Singaporean weather before they get there.


I was looking forward to all the goodies that Song has prepared. But she put me to work instead.
It was like a class reunion of all the rowdy kids in the class.
Except that the Montessori teachers that kept them in check were on vacation.

But it wasn't bad in the church gym. It was actually quite cool.

Click me for more photos.

Happy endings

It was a day of happy endings.
Our Montessori Casa teacher must be happy that school is out.
No more time outs to give, no more stubborn kids and no more sore knees from squatting down to their level.
Now she gets two months vacation.
NICE!



And so do these two.
No more work for at least 2 months.







Starting next week it's 2 months of summer camps and fun stuff.
Swim camp, nature camp, cottage camp, play camp.



And our friend Gin is finally heading home after 2 months of filling out this form and that form and getting this card and that card, and looking for a place to live, all for getting their PR status here in Canada.
All the while her husband sets up a FIFA room in their home back in Singapore and enjoys the World Cup on their big screen tv.

She said this was a good trip for her. In all the times she visited Toronto. They never got to see a lot of the non-Scarberia areas of Toronto.
We were glad she stayed with us, so we could show her the Toronto we know and the areas we really like.





Although we were doing construction while she was here, I think she felt at home, because she left behind her house slippers.
Guess she will be back soon to stay again.

Stairway to demolition

This was going to be an awkward job. The height on the stairwell was going to be challenging. I was debating on how I was going to get to the top. It's not like a regular room with a level floor and 8ft ceilings.

The top landing was probably 10ft high and the main floor landing was 7ft, and in between there was up to 15ft of wall to take down. I knew it had to be done no matter what. I was committed when I ordered all the building material in January.

So this is what our stairs originally looked like. This area is always chilly in the winter. There's no insulation in the walls so the cold outside conducts it's way in really easily, chilling this whole area. There was some cracking. Not sure from what. But it's significant. You can clearly see it in the photo. Maybe from the house settling. I'm not sure.

But it doesn't matter. It's all coming down.

On Saturday morning we set up all the plastic to limit the dust to just the stairwell. The first thing I did was take out all the trim. And I did this carefully since there will be lots of traffic in this area and it need to show well.

And the trim came out intact, some with a slight crack but nothing too severe, that a little glue and wood filler couldn't fix. Probably from all the practice of the 3 bedrooms I had just done.


It took two days to remove all the gyprock and plaster, but it's done. It was a little awkward getting to the top parts but we got to it. We're done with demolition. Now it's a matter of insulating and putting up the drywall and reinstalling the trim. And repainting everything again.


Click me for more photos of Stairway to Demolition.

West End Kids of Steel

We West End kids did this event today. It was an early morning for Kieran and he always goes to bed so late. So it was a bit of a struggle but he was looking forward to racing today.


It was the East End Kids Triathlon Club KOS. There will be photos of this years event on their site. So check back often.

It's a small venue, but it's so great for the kids. Everything is around the Birchmount Community Center and they swim in the wading pool that only goes up to an adults butt, and they ride their bike in a parking lot and run on the track. And the finish is in the field, which is astroturf.

This year Kieran did it with his buddy Xander.
They were in the same category, and an adult can assist, which was exciting for me. They were like lost most of the time and I stayed ahead of them to show them where they had to go.
Xander was riding his bike in and out of the blue pylons.

Even after they finished they were still lost.
Click me for more K.O.S. photos.

Next year I won't be able to assist them at all. So at least they have done it once. But there are volunteers that will help the kids out.




I promised them DQ, after the race, but it wasn't open until 11am.
We finally made it and these tri-athletes were digging away like it was another event.

Hey they got up early, worked hard. A medal is nice, but they deserved a treat.

Black Spec

This is what I went to get. I even had to deal with that crazy EuroT guy with the liquor breath, to go pick it up. They came all the way from Japan, not the kid. The specs. I usually stay away from plastic frames but these ones are handmade in Japan and designed for people who have a round head, flat-ish face and no bridge.

I was going to go with this other frame from the Netherlands, that were a blue/baby blue two tone colour, but these were just way too cool beans! And they fit my face perfectly. You should see my last pair of plastic frames. I think they covered 60% of my face.

And the other I was considering was sort of on the same line as my (Belgian) Theo's.

So I opted for something funky and a little bolder. Somewhat more bolder than my old (France) Eye-DC frames that were cool too but so fragile. The nose pad arms have broken twice. First time was under warranty and I received a new frame. Second time was not and I paid to get them soldered back on.

These are my new Theo's. They came via Singapore. But they are from Belgium. Very different from the Black.jp ones I just got. They are almost invisible.
There's a japanese warrior statue in our garden referencing my other glasses and disregard the neighbours laundry in the background. Didn't know it was there. And it was there in the downpour. And it looks like rain today too.

So these are my second pair of Theo's. Great frames and very durable. I still have my last pair of Theo's from 2002. And when my Eye-DC frames went kaput. I went back to my trusty Theo's.
My new Black.jp frames are very solid. Very different from the Theo's. I see the frame in my periphery.
Two frames, two different looks.

I was considering these Alain Mikli frames too, but they are so expensive and they never seem to go on sale and the price is the price. Non-negotiable.
We were at Spectacles on Queen St. I think I was dropping off my Eye-DC frames to get repaired. Kieran was trying on anything and everything. He said he wanted glasses. But I told him that glasses can be a pain.




These are Kieran's flowers. He thought the one on the right was dead, but it is a little saggy from the downpour yesterday that I rode in.
He chose these to be planted in the garden. We have a brand new watering wand and it looks purple to me, but I don't see colours like normal people.

A little water never hurt anyone

Isn't it bike to work week?
It was a rainy day. It's 20 deg C and pouring.
At least it's been warm. I had to do an errand and it figures it's nice outside until I have to venture downtown.

It usually takes me about 30-40 mins to get down to King and University. To pick up my package. So I leave with about 70 mins to get to my destination before it closes. Plenty of time. Even with the rain slowing me down.

I am heading east on Annette and my rear wheel feels odd.
I look down and it's flat. I'm virtually riding on the rim. Great.
I get off my bike and call Tresa to meet me and bring my pump.
I replace the inner tube and I find a sharp stone has pierced the rear tire causing a slow leak on my rear wheel.

I replace the tire and by the time Tresa gets to me at Annette PS, I'm ready for the pump and lickety split Barbatrick. I'm back on the road.

I should have pumped up my front tire too though. Dang it.
Anyways it's not flat and just low on air. But good enough.

I got there with 12 mins to spare. It took me 30 mins from where I was. Even with the rain and even with the flat.

Me and my wet cycling shoes and clipless pedals.
Can't ride without them.
They are the best things once you get used to them.
Your feet are secure and won't slip off the pedals when they're wet and ring your shin like a gong. And once you get use to clicking in and out. It's second nature. And you'll wonder how you ever rode with out them.

I was back home an hour and 30 mins after I left. Pretty good time. Considering what happened. If I had driven it probably would've taken me an hour to get downtown.

And then getting out of downtown by car in the rain is worse. I motored across Lakeshore from Bathurst. It wasn't too windy just rainy. I was wet but it's better than frustrated in traffic. And I saw a lot of other cyclists today too. It's only water.

Ride your bike. You'll be glad you did.

Black Toesday

Finally! It's not where it's supposed to be, but it was killing me where it was.
It took some effort and a little pain but it finally came off. It was painful.
man... this thing was bugging me for a while.
It was hanging on for dear life and wouldn't let go.
Runners get this a lot.
I even went swimming yesterday and hoping that the water would soften the area so that it would come off easier.
Instead the flutter kick motion of my legs was making it go up and down and it was bothering me the whole time I was swimming.

Now I finally got it off. It's like pulling a tooth. I was ready to go get some local freezing done.

Can you guess what it is?

Who took my dirt?

Outside garden project.
Not my project, Tresa's garden. She dug up about 6 inches of topsoil because it was constantly wet. Maybe it's wet cuz some half-asian kid keeps peeing in the corner there. Any ways she dug it up and piled it up on our driveway.

And what kid, can't resist a big pile of dirt? Break out the digger and the trucks.
There were at one point 6 kids playing on here, making museums, hauling away clumps of dirt to make buildings, making a volcano. Throwing dirt around.
And I brought out some beer for the parents.

We eventually hosed them down. But it was fun to watch. I wished I had my camera on me to record a video. Although the hose was connected to our faucet, we had the other end on Hela and Ola's side so the dirt wouldn't turn into a mud bog. And one of the kids kept trying to turn on the water with their faucet. He'll figure it out one day.

Kieran was wondering who took his dirt?

But the dirt was hauled away just in time. It rained the next day.
Now we have to get some stone and cloth and grade it to drain properly.

The Last Room

Well the last bedroom that I have to insulate. I still have 2 other insulation projects remaining. The stairwell and the basement stairs. The basement one will be easy. It's the main to second floor stairwell that I am trying to figure out.


But this room was done quickly. Relative to the other two. We started on the Saturday of the May 24 weekend. And I just painted up all the trim last night. I still have to cope the baseboard and nail the trim around the window and there will be some touch up and caulking. But that's all little stuff, easy peasy.n 9 days it's 99% done.

Every time I do a room the stuff in the room has to migrate someplace else. So we're in the spare bedroom right now sleeping. Well Tresa and Kieran are there, I'm on the couch. Actually I'm getting sleep. So I'm not complaining.



And Kieran's allergies are getting bad, so I was motivated to get this done to minimize the dust and fumes that he'd have to breathe in. So it's done. Now it's just clean up and put back time and preparing for the stairway to hell.





Click me for more photos