Kickoff to Summer

Three years ago, I first heard of Kamado-style grills from RFD where a whole bunch of crazy guys were running around town trying to get a BGE from Costco on clearance.  I was curious to find out more about this thing that people were going bonkers over when they're "on sale" for $900.  I mean, who pays this much for a bbq?  Especially when it looks like this:

The BIG. GREEN. EGG.

That's... one... ugly... thing.  Then I found out that it retails for something like $1,500 and "Eggheads" around the world swear by them.  Never going back to gas.  It's a hardcore community of followers and diehard fans out there.  What irks me even more is that this Egg comes with absolutely no accessories, meaning you can't even use it out of the box.  To make it remotely useable, you'd have to spend a couple hundred more on it and yet people still go crazy.  There must be something I'm missing here...

But it got me interested.  I haven't bbq'd in ages and I was in a condo but I wanted one.  Eventually.  Like when I'm no longer in a condo.  So I started researching Kamado grills and found the one I wanted:

Kamado Joe - just as good as the BGE but with all the bells and whistles.  For less money!

So I juggled the idea of getting a Kamado Joe when I moved but didn't realize (until recently) that they are still $1,300!!  When I first started my research, they were around the $1,000 mark but mind you, that's when the Canadian Dollar was less pathetic.  Trying to get 文生 to agree to a $1,300 bbq would probably mean it'll never happen so I just kept the thought on the back burner and hoped for a sale.

Thanks (or no thanks) to the RFD community, I found out that Can Tire was clearing out their Vision brand of Kamados.  Online reviews seem to be quite positive and the more important part, it was less than half price of the Joe!

Vision Kamado Pro C

The first step was to get 文生 to agree to the new addition.  Check.  Kinda.  Then it was trying to find one.  Check-ish.  Well, apparently Vision ended their agreement with Can Tire so hence the clearance, meaning the entire GTA was pretty much out.  Stores were showing phantom stock or only have heavily damaged floor models left.  I really wanted to have a Miss Vicky Day bbq this year so the Friday before the long weekend, I decided to look further away from the center of the universe and found a brand new in box one in... get ready... Peterborough!  Okay, Peterborough is far, but not unreachable right?  So I called the store, told them I'm driving two hours to get there so please have the bbq on hold for me because I don't want to show up to find out it's not there.  Great, all set.

I proceed to borrow a van because yes, this thing is a monster and weighs 200lbs (240lbs with the box) and there was no way it'd fit in my buggy (right?).  Fast forward to Saturday morning, when I woke up both 文生 and CLM at 6am to begin our long scenic drive into cottage country, all was fine and dandy until we got to the Peterborough Can Tire and... they... sold... my... bbq.  OMG#@^*@!#(*&#$(&@@!!!!!  Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper.  The attitude at the store just did not help the situation either.  We were told there was only one more in the area so fine, we'll go to yet another store.  Apparently "in the area" meant BANCROFT, an hour away from OTTAWA.  I was not only livid at this point, but in much disbelief that the Bancroft store, which showed only 1 in stock (usually that meant floor model or non-existent), actually have it brand new in box as well.  文生 was actually the one to make the executive decision to go to Bancroft so another hour and a half later, they were lugging the big box into the van.  *Side note:  I thought people in the 'burbs are generally more pleasant and it was true up to the point when they see you in person and realize you're not white...

Took us what seemed like forever to get back into town and I really didn't feel like assembling the bbq so I waited until Sunday to finally put it together.  Thanks to YouTube, where this guy basically did a complete unboxing of the same Kamado, I was able to set up the grill with Tinlop in a relatively short period of time.  We did a test run the same night and grilled peppers, zucchini, wings, pork chops and stuff.  Boy it was yummy!  There is absolutely no comparison to gas/propane grills.

On Miss Vicky Day, I fired it up again and made steak, pineapple, more wings and chops, zucchini, asparagus, potatoes, roasted garlic... it was good!  I'd say it's well worth the money for the grill, even when we had to drive to Bancroft.

Wut?!? November Already?

Dear Blog,

I have neglected you.  I'm sorry.

Love,

me

PS, I'll be back soon, but I just can't believe it's already November...

The Inevitable

The inevitable has happened.

CLM called 911 today. 

Sigh.

For the record @2Y7M11D

聼話啦 PLEASE!!

媽媽們，我好累啦。 妳哋可唔可以聼話啲，等做子女嘅可以擔心少樣嘢呢？

做女嘅處處都為您着想，以您生活安息作大前題，但偏偏俾您看為針對丶阻礙。 當媳婦嘅三更半夜陪您入院坐到天光，您竟然怕麻煩同醫生隱瞞事實，令我同您個仔都好擔心丶失望。 做孫女嘅好心叫您運動多啲，飲多啲水。 您話冇精神，費事去廁所。 點知您轉個頭唔舒服，嘔都唔去睇醫生。 成日就EE鵝鵝話人睇都唔睇下您，電話都冇個。

妳哋明唔明如果妳哋乖啲啲，我哋可以擔心少啲啲，就可以徙多啲精神去啲有需要嘅地方。例如0係公司打仗或者簡單啲 - 搬屋呢？ 避到埋身啦!!!

I'm so sick and tired of all this BS.  媽媽們, 聼話啦, 好嗎?!?

凍凍凍!

What a great way to start the new year:

... not.

I've been having dire trouble falling asleep because my feet are so cold.  The thermostat's turned to 26C (never gets there) and it's still freezing.  CLM has 4 layers on plus a sleep sack and another blanket so he's fine and toasty.  I have my duckie duvet, another blanket AND a human beside me and I can't seem to get warm.

Winter sucks.

Rant over.

I Did It!

小芬 is a little techy, a little geeky and a little handy, even if I say so myself.  Recently, I've taken apart my Roomba to service the clunking sound the brush assembly was making; I fixed a flashlight in which I removed a couple of corroded, exploded, stuck batteries; I installed two light fixtures and two dimmer switches in Tinlop's new condo; and my newest accomplishment: fix the scroll wheel of all three of my malfunctioning MS mice.

Following the powers of the interwebs, I found some pretty detailed instructions on how to tweak and fix the issues and now I have a whooping four functioning Arc mice (including the new red one).  Stupid MS just had to make things difficult by using one torx screw (out of 7, in which the other 6 were all Phillips) so I had to make a special trip out to Home Depot to pick up the right screwdriver.  So much work!  LOL~  The fix was actually really easy once the screw is out, took all of 3 minutes per mouse.

All fixed, yay!

On another note, I haven't worked a crazy opening in years nor have a worked a project where we sold out entirely in 20 hours.  Despite not having a complete APS (I had to make the schedules), no disclosure docs, faulty internet connection, computers that couldn't connect to our server, photocopier that stopped working, we still pulled off selling them all.  The paisans started lining up at 3am (yes, I was still at work) and it was funny to hear them exaggerate about being there since 2am.  Typical paisans.

Reception area of the sales office

Dining area

Kitchen - I love this kitchen

Living area - with a $15,000 upgraded fireplace built-in

Spacious 20ft wide, so atypical of a townhouse

The mob of people, angry that they didn't get a chance to even come in, let alone buy one

Time I left work on Friday - yes, I'm dedicated

Nick got us each a bottle of Veuve Clicquot for all our hard work!  We all deserved it!

Condo townhomes, 2,100sq.ft., $700,000... a little hard to swallow but people inhaled all 69 of them nonetheless.  Wish I had that kind of money to burn.

I'm Impressed

My MS mice have been driving me bonkers for a while now and I've been wanting to see if they're still within warranty for replacement.  I have three (3) Arc mice and all of them are doing the same thing: while scrolling down, the page will go down a few lines and then go up.  Now, can you imagine how frustrating it is when you physically take two steps forward and three steps back?!?  Now why I keep buying the same mouse over and over again is another story but I've been putting off calling Microsoft for the last few weeks partly because I've been swamped at work preparing for the occupancies at Upper Village and running the South Asian Expo (aka Code fork).  Swamped is probably an understatement since I worked until at least 10pm most of last week.

I finally decided to take a few minutes to call Microsoft just now, the entire time keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get the doorknob that I dealt with last time (hate to say it but that was also Code fork).  That was a freaking long, tedious, facepalm kind of experience.  To my great surprise tonight though, an English-speaking, local Torontonian answered my call after 2 minutes of MS pre-recorded switchboard, dealt with my concern, took down serial numbers to check their warranties AND recorded my info to send me a new mouse (only one was still under warranty), all within a 13-minute phone call.  Did I mention he was local?  and spoke perfect English?  Win!

Now can anyone fix this scrolling issue?  If so, then I'll have a few mice to spare because they didn't ask me to send the defective ones back again.

I hope the new one is problem-free... or is that wishful thinking?

Update: the new mouse arrived on Monday, September 23!  and in red!!!  That was faaaasssst!

Self Mutilation

Oh, my lack of sleep... am I ever going to sleep more than 4 hours anymore?!?  CLM is a poor sleeper and always has been.  I keep telling myself it'll get better, it'll get better but I just don't get how he can function with such little sleep.  Not to mention waking up 2-3 times every night still.  Sleep through the night?  Hell no... Don't even start or attempt talking to me about that unless of course you want me to slap you.  LOL~

I've been very hostile toward a lot of people lately, mostly strangers (good thing for 文生 and unfortunately for the "victims") and I blame it all on my lack of sleep.  My temper is short to begin with and couple that with 15 months of sleepless nights will definitely release the vicious beast in me!

Last night, CLM didn't want to go to bed despite being completely exhausted.  Fussed around, refused to nurse, rolled around in my bed, wanted me to hold him while wanting to play on the floor (?!?!) - yes, it doesn't work!! - and eventually I said F it, left him screaming and for the first time EVER, he managed to fall asleep without me.  Kudos to 文生 because I thought CLM wouldn't ever go to him at bedtime.  Mind you, he still screamed for a good 15 minutes before falling asleep so I have a feeling he just passed out from exhaustion.  That was 2am.  FML.

After hanging up all the laundry, made lunch for today, tidied up the kitchen, got ready for bed, and it was 3am already. CLM was up at 5:30am.  FML x2.

To make things more interesting, CLM stuck his finger up his nose this morning and must have ruptured the membrane because he got blood EVERYWHERE (yes, it was so bad the word "everywhere" deserves all caps and italics).  Hands, face, clothes, highchair... he was a mess.  I really hope he doesn't have a psychological disorder, like self-mutilation (OMG), because between pulling out his hair at only a few months old, to ripping up his ear, poking his eyes out, scratching up his face until it bled and now self-induced nose-bleeds, I really have to keep my eye on him now.  點解啲脾氣咁臭嘅呢?

Right, 似老母.

Moving along ...

Aaaannnnddd....I Jinxed It

Of course when I said, "I hope I don't jinx it" meant I'd only jinx it.  Sigh... Wednesday night CLM woke up at 3am (on the dot) and didn't go back to sleep until 5am (on the dot)!!  Wide awake.  Crying.  Won't sleep.  Now what did I do wrong except JINX IT?!?!  Then last night he woke up every two hours.  On the dot.  It's like clockwork.  I can't believe how accurate his biological clock is.  I think he might be a bit congested so I'll just blame his night-waking last night on congestion.  Yes.  But no... I think I jinxed that too!  I was just saying the other day that it's great CLM hasn't been sick.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO..................

Family Matters

家家有本難念的經.

難明咩?

我只要媽咪開心.

很難嗎?

唔明點解有啲人咁自私.

醒吓喇! Grow up!

Vent over.

Twenty Twelve is Half Gone

This is it!  Week 26 is officially done.  Meaning 2012 is half over.  Where did the time go?  Good news is I'm still caught up with P365 despite lacking interesting photos to scrap (then again, CLM is interesting enough to dominate my pages).  On the contrary, my HK October 2011 is still stuck on day 2 :( poo.  Gotta get on it!

Yet another CLM dominated page.  Life as a mom is not too interesting for me is it?

So a heat wave hit us this week, bringing us HK-like summer temperatures.  Other than trying to stay cool, I pretty much had another uneventful week.  Wait, there was poor Curtasee's hospital visit and Sofia's BBQ yesterday.  Okay fine, not too uneventful.  LOL~

Yes, I'm still very Starbucks-hooked.  For the record, I just O-嘴'd at the fact that there are people who buy Starbucks gift cards (no monetary value on it) on ebay.  Four bucks a piece, plus shipping.  O-M-G.  Now I know why my local sbux ran out of the limited edition Canada Day gift cards so easily.  Maybe I should give this a shot and try and sell a few myself ;)  Sheesh.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Canada!

Crazy Weather

After a nice week and a half of nice, toasty, almost-warmer-than-HK, summery kind of weather, we're expecting to drop a whopping 20+C down to a high of only 3C (low -5C, feels like -10C) tomorrow. Crazy! Perfect recipe to get sick too. I hope 文生's co-workers don't get sick because as soon as they do, he catches something and then I'm screwed. Yup, unleash the selfish b***h in me! Muahahahaha! Actually, I'm just concerned for poor CLM who now has a really bad case of eczema. Poor dude! He's scratching his face like crazy so it doesn't help the situation at all. Don't want him to get sick too!

Week 12 already!

Hot Hot Hot!

Wah, March ja bor... my living room thermostat registered 30.5C! Melted Curtasee! Not that I'm complaining since I do not, I mean totally dislike, cold weather! But CLM will tell you otherwise... by screaming. Then again, I guess I don't really blame him. 30.5C is pretty uncomfortable without AC. So that means I have to be creative this week and find things to do and places to go, just to be away from my greenhouse of a living room.

Fan coils suck. Heat pumps rock.

Super Trio Charity Master 超級慈善獎門人

上個禮拜四同美珊去到超遠嘅 Brampton Powerade Centre 睇 『超級慈善獎門人』. 當晚除咗獎門人曾志偉獎、獎老金剛、江欣燕同Otto之外，還有我的至愛三哥苗僑偉!! 我喳車喳成個鍾去到咁遠都係為咗睇佢!! Well, then again, 仲有戚美珍、黃日華、商天娥、米雪、湯盈盈、騰麗名、梁靖琪、梁烈唯 (唯唯!) and then the bunch I didn't really care to see: 周秀娜、Alin、Hotcha、賈曉晨、徐偉棟 and 食神林澄光.

8:30pm 開 show

超級無敵啜乒乓 - yep, that's me :D 獎門人 looks amused.

Upon getting up on stage, I had made eye contact with 唯唯梁烈唯 so when 曾志偉 asked who I wanted to pair up with, he actually thought I was going to pick him! Oops~ When I told 獎門人 I wanted to pair with 黃日華, he was like: 「佢年紀大你好多喎!!」 Hahaha!! He's my 郭大俠 man!!

So playful~ 嘻嘻!

OMG OMG OMG ~~*Swoon*

Most of the activities involved the various artists singing and yes, EVERYONE sang. Just before 黃日華's turn to sing 『中國人』, they were playing 人肉 Hoolahoop. At first, NO ONE wanted to play. 湯盈盈 even had to drag her brother up on stage. The guys who volunteered thought they could toss 周秀娜 around (*rolls eyes). Well, after a few rounds of female body swinging, 曾志偉 put 黃日華 on the spot and said: 「不如搵番頭先嗰位觀眾來同華哥玩喇!!」 GLADLY!!

Again, 獎門人 looks super amused.

同 Stone Sir 玩人肉 hoolahoops = 爽!

Getting old eh?

Ah Miu!!! *faints*

Sexy 唯唯!

Needless to say, I had tons of fun! So glad Meishan brought her bro's camera as my lens didn't zoom enough despite us being in row 7 from the front. Just a little pissed that they skimped me out on my prizes!!! -_-""

Municipal Elections 2010

I haven't really followed the Elections this time around (not that I did previously, lol) but one thing for sure: Ms. Hazel McCallion will probably be mayor of Mississauga until she lies on her deathbed!! Which is probably a good thing for those who live in 'Sauga (like 細V) since I heard the 89-year-old's the greatest mayor (and longest serving in Canada, at 12 terms) despite the negative publicity this time around.

and who is Rob Ford? Don't think I'll recognize him even if my life depended on it. LOL~! The Ford campaign sounds promising but really, I'll believe it when I see it all happen. Hopefully TO will become a better city and less expensive to live in.

Incumbent Sandra Bussin lost her seat for Ward 32 and somehow I feel good that she did. Although she's been school trustee and then councilor for as long as I remember (since days of elementary school), I didn't know how much of a biatch she is outside of her work! Saw her at Waterview a few years back when she attempted to buy a condo. What a snob!

As for good ol' RHill, I have to now remember this name: Dave Barrow. I won't remember, LOL. Especially since I only found out 10 minutes ago I live in Ward 5. Dave who?

and Vaughan is no longer run by Linda Jackson... but then again, I don't know who she is either. If it wasn't for work relations that allowed me to know the name, I wouldn't. Now I have to remember Maurizio Bevilacqua. Heck, I can't even pronounce it. Somehow, I keep seeing baklava. LOL, I think I'm hungry.

But the real O-嘴, 跌眼鏡, jaw-dropping result is finding out that 廖立暉 won the seat for Ward 3. OMG, he calls himself 暉哥 Fei Gor on his website. Gag. I guess the elections really is a popularity contest, huh?

With my complete ignorance, I'm now kinda glad I didn't vote yesterday. Or maybe I should have. Then again, I didn't get a voting card nor did I know where to go. See, I only found out I live in Ward 5 10 minutes ago...

Random Facts

I received my Summer 2010 copy of the U of T Magazine in the mail yesterday and while I almost never flip through them, the small hamster print that read "Beijing Diary" caught my eye so I brought it to work. This is probably the reason why I still subscribe to the magazine that seems like a scientific journal more than a casual read to most people: I do read some of it... in a blue moon...

I flipped through the magazine scanning the pages and pages of print just barely big enough for hamsters to read (I guess you can probably read it unaided before the age of 40, I suppose) and came across an interesting science article (which happen to be the feature of this issue, not Beijing Diary LOL) and came across these somewhat intriguing facts about human infertility:

• Toronto has one of the country's highest concentrations of infertility experts (ya mun, we are the 權威!)
  
• Approximately one in six couples are affected by infertility
• Cancer treatments (chemotherapy, radiation and surgery) can compromise fertility
  
• Almost half of all pregnancies miscarry before six weeks (wah, that's a high number)
• Researchers identified more than 2,000 different proteins in semen, some of which may be markers for everything from prostate cancer to infertility
• Freezing sperm can leave it viable for at least 20 years but freezing eggs is more of a challenge
• Pierre Trudeau fathered a daughter at 71
  
• Oldest lady had twins at 66, who then died of cancer before her twins turned 3
• Studies show a higher rate of schizophrenia, autism, Down syndrome and other birth defects in children of older men, independent of mother's age
• Cost of each IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatment cycle is about $10,000 (so if it doesn't work this month, fork over another 10 big ones next month!)
  
• Quebec will fund up to three IVF cycles per patient (why just Quebec?!? While the rest of the country has to pitch it over)
• Women over the age of 41 has less than a 10 percent chance per IVF cycle of having a baby
  

- source: Parents - At Last!, Summer 2010 feature article, U of T Magazine

Flipping along, this book caught my eye:

ngap! What are you looking at?!? ngap!!

How Pathetic

I've been having problems with my netbook mouse lately so I finally decided to call Microsoft Support to see if I can get it fixed before the warranty expires. Called last Monday, was placed on hold forever and got cut off -_-"" Just my luck. Tried to send an email to support but their webpage kept giving me this stupid message:

"Our system is not responding right now. We apologize for the inconvenience. Our technical team has been alerted and is working on resolving the problem."

My ass. Their system has not worked ever since I tried for the first time 8 days ago. Typical Microsoft. So days pass and I didn't get to call back until now, so while I'm still on hold waiting for a "technical support rep" (who the hell did I call in the first place then?), I thought I'd jot down the contents of the pathetic conversation for the record.

MS: what are you calling about?
me: Microsoft Arc mouse.
MS: what is that?
me: a mouse.
MS: can you spell that please?
me: (wtf?) A-R-C m-o-u-s-e
MS: what brand is your Microsoft mouse? Dell? Toshiba?
me: (am I on the wrong planet?!?) uh, Microsoft?
MS: what brand is your computer?
me: Asus.
MS: Acer?
me: no, Asus.
MS: is it Acer?
me: (I'm not getting anywhere) no, it's Asus.
MS: can you spell that please? Is it a-c-e-r?
me: NO! a-s-u-s! Asus!
MS: did you buy your mouse with the computer?
me: no.
MS: where did you buy your mouse?
me: (what difference does it make?!?!) at a computer store.
MS: oh, a computer store. Nice. Please stay on the line while I retrieve some information.

25 minutes later...

MS: thank you for holding Ms. Joyce, I will have to transfer you to technical support. Please continue to hold...

Argh! At least the next hold was short and sweet. The hardware tech rep actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about and didn't talk to me like I was an idiot, although he did ask me if I put the batteries in correctly (*facepalm). After the entire fiasco, I should be getting a new mouse in 7-10 business days. Nice enough of him to remind me that I have 3 years warranty on the mouse instead of 1.

We'll see how long that one lasts...or if it ever gets here...

Sixteen Years

After 16 years of collecting Airmiles and not one single redemption, I finally made the 10K mark. Sigh....this is pathetic. Time to really think about redeeming it all before they either jack up prices even more or cancel the program altogether (hope that doesn't happen anytime soon).

夾死你呀!!

I don't remember playing in supermarket turnstiles much when I was a kid. Maybe I did but just don't remember. I'm sure I've never had my head stuck in between one for sure.

文生 and I was at 兆豐 yesterday and just as we approached the entrance, we saw three little girls happily playing in the turnstile; running in and crawling under the bar, just to circle in again, giggling the entire time. I'm guessing two of them were about 4ish and the other one was about 6 or 7. Parents were no where to be seen. They were all over the floor, filthy, yuck! Just as I was getting impatient, the older girl of the three climbed over the rod instead of crawling under (I'm guessing since she's older and bigger so she didn't want to crawl under) but the other two were too eager to take their turn to go around so she got her head trapped between the rotating gate and the rod. Now that she's stuck, panic slowly crept across her face. The other two girls were still pushing the gate, squishing her even more but luckily she was smart enough to push against them to save her neck. So at this point the two little girls realized their playmate is stuck and sat in silence as she tried to free herself in the small little gap that's left to keep her breathing. Seriously man, kids are flexible and all but they can shrink their heads too! So as she held back her tears from embarrassment and miraculously slipped through the what seem like only a 6 inch gap, the other girls starting laughing AT her!! So while a passerby 婆婆 looked on, I glared at one of the laughing girls and said, "笑咩呀, 笑?!?!" Now all three of them sat on the floor, speechless and terrified, and stared at me. I continued, "Now move out of the way so WE can move!!" They scurried under the turnstile and stood there almost in tears and as I passed through, I turned to glare at the trapped one and added, "玩咩呢, 玩?!?! 夾死你呀!!" 文生 was nice enough (and had the patience) to see if they were okay while I stormed into the supermarket, cursing their parents for not looking after their kids.

When 文生 caught up to me, he looked at me in disbelief and said, "You really freaked them out! 三唔識七你都鬧成咁!" Geez, I think they freaked themselves out! If the trapped girl didn't push against the younger ones, she would have suffocated! Pfffmmmmph! I still believe if I didn't yell at them they'd never learn.

Well, now I know I traumatized 文生...greeeeaaaat.....sigh....

So Sad...

What sad news to hear about the passing of 陳鴻烈...although sometimes I hardly understand him when I'm not reading the subtitles, he was a great actor. My favourite is his role of 孫清華 (林保怡's dad) in 金枝慾孽.

『66歲無綫電視藝員陳鴻烈，下午在將軍澳電視城服裝間內突然表示心絞痛然後昏迷，期間有人為他進行急救，當時他仍有呼吸及脈搏，之後送往將軍澳醫院搶救，延至晚上7時11分不治。』 - source 香港電台

What really did me in was his striking resemblance to my dad. I've always wondered if they were long long long lost relatives. Being only 2 years younger, 陳鴻烈 looked like Daddy in his younger years as well. The freakiest was watching 刑事情報科 because he looked so much like Daddy I had to do a few double takes!!