“Last” night

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Mike

It’s been a pretty bizarre thursday overall. I wasn’t too ready for the day’s sessions but luckily had a great time out for lunch when my uncle-in-law came to pick me up. We went to “El Gato Nero” and I had a great Calzone! 🙂 He even took me for a quick stop at The Beguiling. Maybe I’ll stop in at Silver Snail before I leave tomorrow…

The afternoon was a bit of a blur and now I’m waiting for the Banquet to start. I’ve already packed my suitcase (way too full!) and am ready for tomorrow morning’s checkout! Our flight out of Toronto is at 12pm. As soon as I land, Chantale picks me up and we head off on a 6 hour car ride up to Lac St. Jean to pick up the kids! 🙂

I’m really looking forward to seeing/hugging/kissing my family!! Homesickness kicked in today so i’m REALLY looking forward to going home!!

The boat cruise last night was a lot of fun. I didn’t expect Toronto’s skyline to look as nice as it did from the water 😉 I took a number of pictures and hope they come out. I’ll upload them on Sunday night if I can 🙂

It’s been weird not having access to the Internet on a regular basis. I can assure you I felt like a leper being one of a handful of people at a techno conference WITHOUT a laptop! 🙂

I almost need a vacation from this conference 🙂 Next week’s gonna be a hectic work week! Thank goodness the end of the month is fast approaching! A week in New Brunswick is going to be sweeet! 🙂

Be seeing you!

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Protected: Boo!

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Mike

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In Toronto…

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Mike

I haven’t been in this city in years… and I definitely haven’t spent as much time walking around Yonge, Queen, or Church in many more… it sure has changed a lot…

Staying at the Sheraton. No real access to the ‘net – this is the first time I was able to get on the “public access” station in 3 days!! 🙂

But just wanted to pop in here and say hello.

… Hello!

🙂

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Protected: Love you…

Posted on August 3, 2008 by Mike

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Geeky Gushing

Posted on August 1, 2008 by Mike

I have not had the energy (or truly been in the mood) to talk, chat, post, or share anything for the longest time now. Even this post -of which I was very excited about- was supposed to go up on Saturday. I just… I guess I’m just feeling burnt. Overloaded. Overwhelmed. I need to recharge. I’ll be out of town next week so that *might* help, but we’ll have to see. I’ll be attending the Agile Alliance 2008 conference in Toronto. The Sheraton has a really great-looking fitness area that I’m planning on making good use of.

Anyhow, onto the story.

Last Saturday was a rather gray day. Overcast skies made the house rather dark and sombre, yet pleasantly relaxing. I think it helped that it was the first weekend in a LONG time (either past or to come) that we had NOTHING to do. It was the kind of Saturday that actually felt like a Sunday. So, after the kids’ naptime, Kyle had wanted to watch a movie. I informed him that there would be no “movie” and that instead he would learn about The Starship Enterprise! 🙂

See, the ST:TNG collected edition arrived and I had been itching to put it on. Kyle was curious but excited as we all settled down on the couch and started up the 1st DVD.

He *LOVED* it!

He sat there totally captivated by what was on the screen, asking question after question about the “star ship” and “cap tin pee card” and just OH! ing every time the ship warped 🙂 It was (really) such a nice moment and Chantale and I just loved the feeling of “passing on” our love of TNG to our son 🙂

As for Charlize, as she was toddling around playing in the living room, the minute the theme song began, she stopped, turned to the television, and started to dance! LOL!! 🙂

Needless to say, once the pilot was over, his first question was “Again Starship?” 🙂 The other really cute (if strange) thing was that every time he asked questions about the captain, he would phrase it as “your dad?” He obviously knows that his “Nono” is my Father, but it seems that Captain Picard is my “dad”… LOL! I think he slowly made the connection this week that I am his Daddy, Father, and Dad and it all means the same 🙂

Since Saturday, he has woken up every morning asking if we could all watch “Starship” together 🙂 It was just so much fun 🙂 I managed to catch only a couple of shots, though:


Kyle – very much “Engaged” in Star Trek The Next Generation


Charlize – like her mother, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Captain Picard 😉

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What a morning!

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Mike

Went to bed around 1030pm. At 2am, Chantale calls to let me know she arrived safely in Vancouver. At 4am, my internal clock wakes me up. I hit “break” and force myself back to sleep. At 530am Charlize is awake and crying to get up. Not a problem, I feel refreshed after sleeping an hour more than usual 🙂

So, I go get her, give her her morning bottle, and by 550am Kyle’s up. Again, not a problem, let’s get ready to go! So, get the squirt changed, get the munchkin ready, feed the dog, start getting dressed… and the phone rings!

Our daycare provider’s sister is in labor and since she’s assisting, she was calling to let me know that she had to go! Oh wow! Okay, good luck!

I’m standing in the stairway, holding the phone, trying to figure out what to do. I have a full 2-day implementation workshop session with some vendors at work and there’s no way I’m going to make it today.

I hope I’ll at least be able to attend the webinars from home…

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Birthday!

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Mike

Guess who turned 3 today!! 🙂

To see more Family Birthday pictures from 2008, just head over to my Family Portal 🙂 (it’s a direct link to the Birthdays – the main portal is still http://www.aragona.info)

Happy Birthday little guy!! 🙂

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Posted on July 21, 2008 by Mike

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Global Purchasing Power

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Mike

I’m laughing today. Not so much in a ha-ha-funny way, but more in an “unbelievable” way 🙂

See, I’d been thinking about how much fun it is to have Global Purchasing Power, specifically in regards to Amazon. Let me explain.

A couple of years ago Adam Ant released a box set of his works but I had trouble finding a copy. A few weeks ago I tried once more to get it off Amazon but it was unavailable at .ca and at .com I decided to try their market place as a last-ditch and found the best price to be from a .ca one who was starting at $38 (plus s&h) whereas .com was at $48 (plus s&h). However, in reading the details and realizing it was coming from the uk, I smacked myself in the head in realization that Adam is from the uk which means it should definitely be in stock at amazon.co.uk. Guess what? It was. And after purchase AND s&h and conversion to Canadian funds, the cost came out to $35. Score!

I’d been using the .com and .ca trick for a while now, getting stuff from .com for a lot less than .ca in many cases. This was my first foray into .uk and I must admit it’s great being able to get “accounts” at each of those sites with all my info intact.

Now, the funny part. I won an amazon gift certificate recently and was asked my choice for either .com or .ca. As I’m won’t to do, I went through my wish list to get those expensive items that I’ve always wanted but didn’t think I could allow myself. The first, namely, being the complete ST:TNG series. The difference was about $50 cheaper at .com so I asked for that (there were two items on my list, the second being about $50 less at .ca)

My certificate came today and I applied it to my .com account and then checked my cart… the price had gone up by $45!!! ack! I gained nothing by having a .com certificate especially if it ends up that I pay customs charges on it when it comes in! I could have gotten a .ca account and easily paid for both items from there.

Too funny. But at least it’s also more fun than playing Gas-Lotto these days (trying to find the cheapest gas station in the area…)

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Donating Books…

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Mike

…is so bizarre sometimes…

Last week I brought copies of both my novels to donate to the local library. I went in, introduced myself, explained that as a resident of NDIP I wanted to ‘give back’ to the community and donate a copy of my books to the library I myself frequent. The administrators there just basically did a “oh, thanks” and took the books from me and walked away.

*scratching head*

Made me think they probably hadn’t understood what I was telling them since the librarian had been excited when she referred me to them. Maybe it was a language thing. Anyhow, whatever.

Yesterday, I noticed that that ING branch around the corner from where I work was having a Book Donation drive to support The Montreal Children’s Hospital and Children’s Literacy. So, today at lunch time I walked over and donated a copy of The Mysterious Minute-Men Omnibus. I basically did the same thing, introduced myself, explained that I wanted to donate a copy of my book to the children stating that the kids would enjoy it. The two agents who were there were so excited and appreciative that it made me smile all the way back. “You wrote this?! Oh wow, that’s great! Thank you!” It made me regret not autographing it to the hospital and/or kids.

Like I said… it’s bizarre sometimes how some folks react to a similar situation…

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