Cancun, here I come!

I love this interweb thingy. It's so handy since they put it on computers.
I've already checked in with Air Canada, and got my boarding passes printed (seat 12A on both flights, Ottawa-Toronto and Toronto-Cancun -- window seats!).
Now I just have to finish packing, go to work, get home about midnight, up about 5:15 for my niece to pick me up at 6:15 to drive me to the airport, and mes vacances begin!

Take care of yourselves while I'm gone, and give Ma Horton a shot in the ribs once in a while, to keep her awake. If she snores during N@'s appearance at the va-jay-jay performance tonight, N@ will be soooo embarrassed.

(Hey! I just had an idea! What if The Vagina Monologues teamed up with Puppetry of the Penis for a double bill? Mind-boggling.)

Anyway, adios amigos. Must also practice my Spanish: "Una cerveza, por favor. Una cerveza, por favor..."

HAPPY EASTER BOXING DAY!

I just got back from Giant Tiger (the original from 1961, right across the street from work), and all the Easter chocolate is on sale! I bought a hockey player bunny and a Spiderman to share with everyone at work. Now I have to find the strength not to go back across the street between now and nine o'clock, when Humungous Pussycat closes.

Happy Easter? Bah, humbug!

I do not begrudge you and yours the long weekend. But please, dear fellow bloglodytes, allow me to wallow and vent.
I'm working all weekend.
That's tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Monday.
Yeah, I know, sucks to be me.
But adding to the frustration is the fact that there's a full moon right now, and the nutbar calls to our newsroom have already started -- and guess who gets to answer the phone? I've had two already, and I still have five hours left in my shift.
Oh, well, after Monday, I only have to work on Thursday, then I'm off to Cancun for a week.
Happy Easter!

I've been wanting to share this one

...and I finally found it over the weekend, as I was trying to organize the hundreds of pictures I have on my computer, with the view to some day saving most of them on disc.

I took this on January 30, 2005, while walking along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Ajax. At the time, I had no idea that within a month, I would be living in Ottawa.
Ajax is a beautiful town, with several parks and a beautiful trail along the lake. It's actually part of the Trans-Canada Trail System.
I hope you enjoy this pic as much as I do. I took it with my Canon PowerShot A60.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A couple post-storm pictures

Of course, I would have rather been out with my camera during the day on Sunday, before the clean-up actually got very far, but I was working, informing the Ottawa TV market of exactly what had happened, and letting them know that they were among hundreds of thousands of people inconvenienced by the wrath of nature.
Notice that the Metro newspaper box is totally blocked by snow; and that 24 Hours and the Ottawa Sun both use the same word in their headlines: WALLOP. Naturally, the French version of 24 Hours doesn't have the word, so that makes two out of three. I used my considerable power and authority ;) at A-Channel to banish the word from our coverage. It was so overused all weekend in print and broadcast, and there are so many other good words to replace it.

Proud? Who? Moi?

Check out this link http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=936329&auth=Brandon+Walker and keep reading until you get about halfway down, and the young paramedic named Dan makes his entrance. That's my Dano!

I also know Don the veteran. He's from Iroquois Falls, I coached a Midget hockey team with his Dad for a couple years. His brother was on that team.

Coffee's traumatic morning

Coffee just had her first visit to the vet -- at least, the first time since we became a family. The worst part was getting her there and back. She does not like the cat carrier (it's like a sports bag with mesh windows). She was breaking my heart with her crying on the way to the vet's (a five-minute ride from home), so I let her out of the carrier, but then the car ride was freaking her out. Luckily, she was not taking it out on me, she was in the back seat crying.
Inside the vet's office was okay. She didn't even feel the rabies needle. And she wasn't crazy about getting her nails clipped. I thought all women liked getting mannies.
Then, when she knew we were leaving and it was time to get back in the cat carrier, she hid behind some filing cabinets. The vet's assistant -- a lady of about 60 -- crawled on her hands and knees to get her out.
Coffee was pretty good on the way home, still crying a bit, but not minding the carrier all that much. But you should have seen her when we got inside and I opened the end of the carrier. ZIP!--Right to the litter box for a major dump!
She's now obviously back in her comfort zone, sleeping on the bed as I write this.
By the way, she's very healthy, although I'm supposed to switch her to a lower-calorie food for indoor cats, and only feed her about half the amount I do now. She weighs 4kg (which is just under nine pounds), but shouldn't get much heavier.
We don't have to go back for a year. On one hand, I hope she forgets about this time. On the other hand, I hope she remembers, and realizes it wasn't all that bad.
For my part, it appears that I'm not only a cat person, but a good Daddy, too.

Cancel the rest of the American Idol season

Just give the Archuleta kid the title.
Wonderful rendition of "Another Day in Paradise" and picked with a social conscience.
AND he was thirsty and had to pee! Imagine if he hadn't!

A significant day in our family

This beautiful young lady is the "baby" of the McIntyre family. Caitlin is the youngest grandchild/niece, and today, she turned 18 years old. She is headed to university this fall to become an elementary teacher.
As if her birthday isn't significant enough, there is added significance to March 1, 1990. That's the day my Dad ("Paw" to the grandchildren, including Little Bro Dan) quit smoking that same day. He went for a laser treatment that afternoon, about ten hours before Caitlin was born. In his words, the laser was probably bullshit. He decided that if he wanted to live long enough to see that little girl grow up, he had to quit smoking.
Cait and Paw have always had a special bond. It is eternal.
I love them both very much.