The driver is ok, she got loaded up into the ambulance but she was able to stand and take two steps to the stretcher when they got her out of the flipped car.
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Holy moly
This just happened outside our flat:
The driver is ok, she got loaded up into the ambulance but she was able to stand and take two steps to the stretcher when they got her out of the flipped car.
I said to Keith immediately, never mind your pedantic opinion on jaywalking and how it's allowed in the UK... no more jaywalking. There be crazy drivers out there.
The driver is ok, she got loaded up into the ambulance but she was able to stand and take two steps to the stretcher when they got her out of the flipped car.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Broken Stuff
Internet and wifi and TV at home... it's like paradise!
Our nest building is almost complete, but after quite a lot of strife. We have had the worst luck possible in terms of defective goods and things breaking on us, all of which required driving half an hour each way to the stores we went to in order to return things. I think this is the full list of things that broke on us:
1) Keith's Samsung Galaxy S3. This is supposed to be one of the nicest phones out there right? The girl selling it to us even made note when trying to get us to buy extra insurance that without the discount when you join a mobile provider, the cost of buying this phone outright was a lot more than the iPhone and without insurance could be quite onerous. Well, that did NOT stop it from being a piece of crap. Keith rapidly discovered that every application and function on the phone would crash and provide error messages.
2) The biggest nightmare: our Ikea sofabed. It got delivered in 3 full-size 6-ft tall boxes (i.e. too big to get into my little Honda Civic). After a day of building, we got to step 21 of 32 and found that the arm refused to attach itself to the seat and the back, only one or the other. we forced it the first go, leaving it not fully aligned and wobbly. So we had to drive all the way back to Ikea to exchange the arm, thinking that was the problem. Came home with a brand new arm which STILL did not attach to the seat and back simultaneously - the pin holes simply did not align. We have currently left it with the pins connecting the arm to the back left completely out. We await its imminent collapse.
3) Pleather bench - cushion had a rip in it
4) 46" TV - only 6 screws to fit stand to flat screen. And yet, one of them refuses to affix itself. returned, same day, after some tantrums.
5) Floor lamp with side reading light. Bought two. one of the reading lamps, no worky.
We still need to buy a dining table... but I bet whichever one we choose only comes with 3 legs.
Our nest building is almost complete, but after quite a lot of strife. We have had the worst luck possible in terms of defective goods and things breaking on us, all of which required driving half an hour each way to the stores we went to in order to return things. I think this is the full list of things that broke on us:
1) Keith's Samsung Galaxy S3. This is supposed to be one of the nicest phones out there right? The girl selling it to us even made note when trying to get us to buy extra insurance that without the discount when you join a mobile provider, the cost of buying this phone outright was a lot more than the iPhone and without insurance could be quite onerous. Well, that did NOT stop it from being a piece of crap. Keith rapidly discovered that every application and function on the phone would crash and provide error messages.
2) The biggest nightmare: our Ikea sofabed. It got delivered in 3 full-size 6-ft tall boxes (i.e. too big to get into my little Honda Civic). After a day of building, we got to step 21 of 32 and found that the arm refused to attach itself to the seat and the back, only one or the other. we forced it the first go, leaving it not fully aligned and wobbly. So we had to drive all the way back to Ikea to exchange the arm, thinking that was the problem. Came home with a brand new arm which STILL did not attach to the seat and back simultaneously - the pin holes simply did not align. We have currently left it with the pins connecting the arm to the back left completely out. We await its imminent collapse.
3) Pleather bench - cushion had a rip in it
4) 46" TV - only 6 screws to fit stand to flat screen. And yet, one of them refuses to affix itself. returned, same day, after some tantrums.
5) Floor lamp with side reading light. Bought two. one of the reading lamps, no worky.
We still need to buy a dining table... but I bet whichever one we choose only comes with 3 legs.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Update imminent
Sorry for the lack of updates. Tomorrow we rejoin the 21st century and have wifi at home again (hopefully), which means I will be much more able to upload photos and blather on incessantly about nothing again from the comfort of my own home, not on a tiny device that counts my data usage and threatens to bite me in the butt for it, etc etc etc.
Even my iphone was screaming at me today - something about my iCloud not having been updated and synced in two weeks, and how iCloud syncs automatically when I'm on wifi and my phone is locked. Well sorrrreeeeeee iCloud, sorrrreeeeee.
Even my iphone was screaming at me today - something about my iCloud not having been updated and synced in two weeks, and how iCloud syncs automatically when I'm on wifi and my phone is locked. Well sorrrreeeeeee iCloud, sorrrreeeeee.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Progress day 3
Half a couch - screw set was found to be incomplete
Bed frame with the wrong slats so can't put the mattress on
2nd bedroom sofabed is a wonder though , as Keith lounges on it! (yay no more sleeping on foam mattress on floor!)
Back to ikea we go tmw to exchange slats and get screws. And to the furniture store that sold us a bench with a rip on the side. After we already returned a Samsung galaxy 3 that was defective. I guess when u buy a lot of crud, some of it is bound to not work.
Ooh and here's a shot of me drinking a tiny overflowing tumbler of wine at Rodney's Oyster House. Yum oysters
Bed frame with the wrong slats so can't put the mattress on
2nd bedroom sofabed is a wonder though , as Keith lounges on it! (yay no more sleeping on foam mattress on floor!)
Back to ikea we go tmw to exchange slats and get screws. And to the furniture store that sold us a bench with a rip on the side. After we already returned a Samsung galaxy 3 that was defective. I guess when u buy a lot of crud, some of it is bound to not work.
Ooh and here's a shot of me drinking a tiny overflowing tumbler of wine at Rodney's Oyster House. Yum oysters
Progress - both fast and slow
Sorry for the lack of updates lately!!
Since Keith arrived last Thursday it has been absolutely manic. We went to the Ahlborns' beautiful wedding of course, and even brought along my bridesmaid bouquet and some of the flowers from centerpieces along to pick up keys to our new rented flat. They are now the only pretty thing in the place and completely surrounded by chaos!!!
That first day the flat looked nice and tranquil and now it looks like some boxes ate it. Added to our UK shipment are a billion boxes from Ike's that we got delivered today.
As u can see, the first day there was the progress of one chair and a lot of boxes to unpack.
On day 2, the progress of the chair is literally and figuratively hidden by the Ikea invasion.
... And I keep wanting to buy more stuff. Next step, 46" TV.
Since Keith arrived last Thursday it has been absolutely manic. We went to the Ahlborns' beautiful wedding of course, and even brought along my bridesmaid bouquet and some of the flowers from centerpieces along to pick up keys to our new rented flat. They are now the only pretty thing in the place and completely surrounded by chaos!!!
That first day the flat looked nice and tranquil and now it looks like some boxes ate it. Added to our UK shipment are a billion boxes from Ike's that we got delivered today.
As u can see, the first day there was the progress of one chair and a lot of boxes to unpack.
On day 2, the progress of the chair is literally and figuratively hidden by the Ikea invasion.
... And I keep wanting to buy more stuff. Next step, 46" TV.
Sunday, 9 September 2012
The Tintiweb is magic
It's my niece's 7th birthday next week and she had her birthday parties this weekend (yes, plural). I asked my sister what my niece would want for her birthday, since she gets so many presents and already has so many toys and art supplies (she loves drawing).
My sister asked me to get her some chapter books that are a little more grown up but still have drawings and short chapters that they can read a chapter at a time before bedtime.
Have I said this before? I LOVE BOOKS.
I especially loved books when I was a kid.The library was only a 5 minute walk down the street and I would go there on a regular basis with a big cloth bag and come home lumbered with books. I remember one summer we went to Hong Kong and my carry on for the 12 hour flight was a dozen paperbacks, most of them Baby Sitters Club books. I used to spend my recesses in Grade 4. That probably was taking it too far. I probably should have been getting some fresh air or something. But I didn't. I just wanted to read my books.
So I tried to think of all my favourite books around that age. I ended up getting her the the first out of the Ramona Quimby series, as well as the first of The Mouse and the Motorcycle series. Both are by Beverly Cleary, which I'd completely forgotten! I also wanted to get The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, but that wasn't stocked by Chapters. The whole section reminded me how old I was, given it was stocked with these fairy ballerina series and a whole shelf of stuff by some guy named Stilton. What is all that stuff?
But what it got me thinking about was one of the books I'd gotten at the school Scholastic bookfairs when I was 10 or so (not quite appropriate for my niece and nephew yet but it goes on the list for future) but all I could remember was the following:
1) it had a brown cover
2) it was about time travel by two kids
3) the time travel had something to do with an old house
That didn't leave a lot to go on, but this afternoon I suddenly remembered:
4) someone was stuck in a birdcage elevator
so I googled "time travel birdcage elevator novel" and the miracle of the internet is that someone had asked a similar question on a forum in goodreads!!! By that random far-fetched search I was able to determine that this book I was after is called Voices After Midnight by Richard Peck!
What did people do back in the day when you couldn't google random crap like this? did they just go crazy wondering and never find out?
My sister asked me to get her some chapter books that are a little more grown up but still have drawings and short chapters that they can read a chapter at a time before bedtime.
Have I said this before? I LOVE BOOKS.
I especially loved books when I was a kid.The library was only a 5 minute walk down the street and I would go there on a regular basis with a big cloth bag and come home lumbered with books. I remember one summer we went to Hong Kong and my carry on for the 12 hour flight was a dozen paperbacks, most of them Baby Sitters Club books. I used to spend my recesses in Grade 4. That probably was taking it too far. I probably should have been getting some fresh air or something. But I didn't. I just wanted to read my books.
So I tried to think of all my favourite books around that age. I ended up getting her the the first out of the Ramona Quimby series, as well as the first of The Mouse and the Motorcycle series. Both are by Beverly Cleary, which I'd completely forgotten! I also wanted to get The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, but that wasn't stocked by Chapters. The whole section reminded me how old I was, given it was stocked with these fairy ballerina series and a whole shelf of stuff by some guy named Stilton. What is all that stuff?
But what it got me thinking about was one of the books I'd gotten at the school Scholastic bookfairs when I was 10 or so (not quite appropriate for my niece and nephew yet but it goes on the list for future) but all I could remember was the following:
1) it had a brown cover
2) it was about time travel by two kids
3) the time travel had something to do with an old house
That didn't leave a lot to go on, but this afternoon I suddenly remembered:
4) someone was stuck in a birdcage elevator
so I googled "time travel birdcage elevator novel" and the miracle of the internet is that someone had asked a similar question on a forum in goodreads!!! By that random far-fetched search I was able to determine that this book I was after is called Voices After Midnight by Richard Peck!
What did people do back in the day when you couldn't google random crap like this? did they just go crazy wondering and never find out?
Monday, 3 September 2012
Beam me up!
After a beautiful wedding (which led to 10000 hugs handed out by Keith and whoa vomit #2 by me) with lots of crazy dancing, two visits to a brand new baby Paige (who I held for two hours and then got a sore arm, to which my mother expressed some concern over my potential mothering abilities), and just a few nights at the pub which were fun as ever, my London week is over and I am back in Vancouver. Siiiiigh
Thankfully we have a long weekend in Canada as kids prepare themselves to go back to school.
That means the last day of the Pacific National Exhibition, a fair of sorts with performances and, what do you know, exhibits. On the menu, a Star Trek exhibition!!! Of course I was in, as I often express, I am a fan of all things Star related except for Star Wars.
It was mostly pretty cool, with the costumes and a timeline that I have decided I need to have as my living room wallpaper, but the best part was the recreated sets with official photo ops (ka-ching ka-ching)
.JPG)
.JPG)
i can't figure out how to rotate that second photo so just tilt your head sideways.
Ta da!!!!
My conversation with Keith when I emailed him these pictures with just the headers Engage! and Beam me up! went as follows:
K: what the heck? Where were u?
M: Why, on the Enterprise, of course!
K: no but WHERE were u?
M: in SPACE Keith it's the starship Enterprise!
K: grrrrrrrrr!
Please note that is a Tribble that my friend Stef is cradling. But that was the only trivia that she knew more than me due to catching the Tribble episode on rerun in a hotel on a business trip. Hahaha!
Well now that we are on the same topic I might as well show u all my photos from the London Harry Potter studio tour, which I highly recommend because they have taken the care to lay it out with lots of additional info, in clear displays, with extra commentary and insight front the actors!! Love it!!
Thankfully we have a long weekend in Canada as kids prepare themselves to go back to school.
That means the last day of the Pacific National Exhibition, a fair of sorts with performances and, what do you know, exhibits. On the menu, a Star Trek exhibition!!! Of course I was in, as I often express, I am a fan of all things Star related except for Star Wars.
It was mostly pretty cool, with the costumes and a timeline that I have decided I need to have as my living room wallpaper, but the best part was the recreated sets with official photo ops (ka-ching ka-ching)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Ta da!!!!
My conversation with Keith when I emailed him these pictures with just the headers Engage! and Beam me up! went as follows:
K: what the heck? Where were u?
M: Why, on the Enterprise, of course!
K: no but WHERE were u?
M: in SPACE Keith it's the starship Enterprise!
K: grrrrrrrrr!
Please note that is a Tribble that my friend Stef is cradling. But that was the only trivia that she knew more than me due to catching the Tribble episode on rerun in a hotel on a business trip. Hahaha!
Well now that we are on the same topic I might as well show u all my photos from the London Harry Potter studio tour, which I highly recommend because they have taken the care to lay it out with lots of additional info, in clear displays, with extra commentary and insight front the actors!! Love it!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)