My little one

I see you sleeping and I wonder what runs through your head. Do you dream of chasing butterflies in a field with no fences? Or perhaps curling up beside the ones who love you? I see you and I can't help but feel inadequate at times. You see us and all you ask is a little bit of time. You don't ask for much - just some food to eat, and some smiles to let you know that you are not alone. And yet sometimes I can't give you the time. I'm hoping perhaps you can teach me to slow down. Better yet, perhaps I can learn that I don't need much to get by too.

Can you understand me? Do you know that - even when I raise my voice in displeasure - I have nothing but the best for you in mind? If only I can tell you how many times I want to hold you in my arms and promise you that everything will be all right, how I long to be there for you when I see you curled up from a distance. How I wish I know what to do so that you would understand all this.

My little one - know that you are loved, the same way that you let us know how much we are loved when we come home every single day.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

And so two years have passed since the big day! And there's nowhere else I'd rather be. To celebrate this momentous occasion, here's *two* bits of trivia:

• Our wedding day was the first month anniversary to-the-day of the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage!


• The "tent" that was used for the reception matched our outfits beautifully!

Today we kicked off by having breakfast at our favourite place, Le Petit Dejeuner....still the best eggs benny in town. And the rest of the day is a family love-in with our baby with a nice romantic dindin awaiting us.

Speaking of our baby, he just had surgery last Thursday, and overall he seems to be doing well.. The first day he really hid under the bed and stayed there the whole day. Three days later, he seems to be back to his old self...except he still feels quite a bit tired every now and then...

By the way, the blu-ray player kicks ass. I watched excerpts from a couple of blu-ray discs that we have....(a) the subwoofer is really getting a work-out, and (b) some of the images were so sharp my eyes actually got tired after a while :D

'Nuff said.

Thanks, Tiggy :D

Putting the cart before the horse....

This latest bout of gadget envy came about by my latest visit to Best Buy for the latest release of 300. Imagine my non-surprise at seeing all three formats (DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray) within a few dollars of each other (it's not like I haven't been surfing their site, after all). Not only that, but there was a whole whack of hi-def titles on sale for $19.99! Heck, that's about as much as I normally pay for a used DVD nowadays....if not for the fact that the used DVD stores (all three of them now) also sell used hi-def discs for $14.99-19.99!

Players are slowly getting cheaper too...tigerdirect.ca is selling the latest HD-DVD player at $219.99 (refurbished, but still). As for Blu-ray, well, I've always said that if I were getting a Blu-ray player, I might as well get the Playstation 3. Which is a no-brainer since I've always had a Playstation and this one is a sure buy, so for sure I *will* be going Blu-ray. Given that there was a PS3 price drop (now $549 from $699) combined with the occasional $50 coupon from Best Buy, a "player" can be had at $499. Not bad.

But, of course, purchasing such a unit is hands-off at this point. However, thanks to this latest announcement, I might very well be starting to buy the software even before I get the player:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R2VT2ECILZ4O3B

Yes, my friends, geeks everywhere now have nipples that can cut diamonds.

It would have been okay to wait until I get a player if not for that limited edition version of the thing. These typically sell out faster than, well, fast. Sometimes even pre-orders don't get filled if they don't have enough.

So, cart-before-horse moment. What should A.J. do?

(1) A.J. will not buy any more standard DVD's unless they are super-cool limited edition stuff (like Alien heads or has bonus material not available in the hi-def disc). If I have to spend money, I might as well spend it wisely (laughter can suddenly be heard all around the world).

(2) A.J. will not also buy any hi-def discs before he gets a hi-def player unless: (a) he finds a really good deal on a movie that deserves to be on hi-def (like Batman Begins), or (b) there is a limited edition of a movie that deserves to be on hi-def that is in very real danger of selling out. Pre-orders can always be cancelled and they will not charge your credit card anyways until it is actually shipped. Sites like Best Buy and Amazon even adjust your price downward if it becomes cheaper.

(3) Seeing as it is a question of "when" and not "if" he will get a Playstation 3, A.J. will only stick to buying Blu-ray discs. This way, even if HD-DVD wins this format war, my possession of the Playstation 3 will guarantee that I will be able to play these discs.

Now what if a limited edition of a hi-def deserving movie came out only in HD-DVD, you may ask?

We shall cross that bridge when we come to it. Finnegan has decreed.

I close this post with the following article:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/soapbox/soap060107.html

What would A.J. do part 2?

So finally they've announced the definitive Blade Runner collection on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. This contains Ridley Scott's Final Cut of the movie, and the 5-disc edition (which is obviously the most feature-packed version of the lot) has all the previous cuts of the movie as well as a whole whack of features!

There's no question that A.J. will get the most expensive one of the lot, however.....

Seeing as A.J. only wants to spend money *once*, which version (DVD, HD-DVD, or Blu-Ray) should he get? The release date is December 2007, so would there be a hi-def format winner by that time? What, oh, what will A.J. do?!?

Here's is a guide from amazon.com that outlines the different versions. So far, the only site to offer pre-orders at this time. The prices are actually damn cheap!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R2VT2ECILZ4O3B

What AJ did...

AJ bought the limited 3-disc edition at HMV.

Happy July!!!

This was - and still is - a crazy month. I finally get have one project going live and another one going in next week. Puppy is now 9 months old and has gotten really smart. Like, he already knows if we're planning to leave and goes and hides under the bed or side table....

It's cute but kinda sad at the same time. You'd see these big brown eyes that seem to say "why you leaving me? I didn't do anything bad, did I?"
Ah well. I also have the pleasure of *finally* presenting you the "after" photos of our backyard!!

Before and after.....

Right now Finnegan just crawled onto my couch and curled up. He's staring at me. Oh yeah, I finally put up some floating shelves that now hold my precious memorabilia from our honeymoon.

Other new acquisitions - a painting of a canal in Venice for the dining room wall; a china cabinet to hold other precious stuff like our statue and wine set from Venice as well as our wedding china; KRZR phones for me and my hubby; and overnight toys for Finfin.

Overnight toys, you say? Well, toys of late have a lifespan of one full day before our little Finfin "retires" them.

That's all for today...! (or this month, at the rate I'm going)

What would AJ do?

Before I dive into this week's subject, let me tell you about something that I thought about on my way home. Thanks to our yearly objectives setting, I started thinking where I wanted to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years....then I started thinking about something a bit more dire. As in, how would I want people to remember me. So, let it be said that he lived, he laughed, he loved, but most of all, he tried.

Now, back to our question of the week. Dreamgirls the DVD came out last week and wouldn't it be a collector's dilemma. Let me rattle them off:
(a) There is the single-disc edition for 21.99.
(b) Then there is the 2-disc showstopper edition, which is really (a) plus a bonus disc of more special features for 25.99.
(c) Then there is the 3-disc limited edition for 28.99 which is really (b) plus yet another bonus disc of extras.
(d) The infamous Wal-mart edition which is the single-disc edition plus a bonus CD of club remixes of 7 songs from the movie. This for 28.99.
(e) And there are rumours of an extended edition to be out at Christmas (which looks to be integrating all the deleted scenes already available in (a)).

So.....what would AJ do?

Stress Week

As a project manager, I always call the week of an implementation "stress week". Approvals to make, things to broadcast, time to dot the i's, etc. This week also marks the first time that I'm putting in a project that was totally out of procedure and yet has a lot of eyes on it. Needless to say, this is stress on top of the normal stress I feel in a *normal* implementation.....let's just hope things go well.

On another sad note, my brother's dog Choco was put to sleep last week. It started out with the dog just eliminating all over the house, then soon not feeling too good. After a trip to the ER, they found that he had kidney stones. I suppose the prognosis wasn't good, because the next day they had him put to sleep.

Now being the owner/parent of a dog, I can somewhat imagine how hard this must be. Heck, my eyes well up sometimes with just the thought of my little Finny having such a short life compared to ours. I wish he could live forever.

He's on the floor resting right now just looking at me. *sigh*

So - spring's here and I've finally swapped the coats around. Geez, it's still a lot of coats. I'm really close to chucking a couple of them but we'll see. After doing chores for a couple of hours (laundry, some yard work involving marble chips, swapping coats) I'm finally ready for some downtime. I'll pick up the never-ending parade of chores tomorrow.

Current dilemma: solar vs. low-voltage lighting. It's getting really hard to find a package of the "normal" low-voltage lighting - it seems that all Can Tire, Homo Depot, etc. sells now are solar ones. And it doesn't help that I've got $5 coupons that I can use on anything solar....limit *5* per transaction!!!! (So I can buy a set of 6 lights plus an additional pair of floodlights and save $10) But of course, they don't shine as bright. I'd go for the low-voltage lighting, but as I said, it's getting hard to find them. I'll try out Zellers tomorrow when I travel to Meepland West.

Finally, 52 is coming to an end tomorrow!! What is the secret of 52? I've read somewhere that the multiverse still exists, somehow. I guess all will be revealed. Sad thing is that this series took up 2 of my magazine files....and with another weekly series coming up, one shelf of mine is sure to fill in fast. C'mon, kill them all already!!! What everyone really wants is a *permanent* change of status quo (like Captain America - of course we all know that someone else will step in to fill Steve Rogers' shoes, but at least it's fun to keep guessing who *cough*Bucky*cough).

Now to read some comic books. 52! 52!

(For ye all who wonder what the heck is 52......www.52thecomic.com)

Earth Day 2007

*whew*

This weekend was one of the busiest we've had for a while! Lessee....decided to take Friday off since the weather was so great, and we figured it's the best time to get some deck work done. So once we decided that Friday was hooky day, Thursday night we went to pick up deck stuff at Home Depot over at Gerrard. Lo and behold, if a few other people didn't have the same idea....so renting a truck to take the stuff home was out of the question.

Scooted over to the Home Depot at Eglinton and Laird - we were lucky enough to score a truck! Then we went and bought all out manly-man stuff (a circular saw, a drill, and a workbench...oooooh). Of course, I'd never driven a truck before, so that was a first.

Friday - skirting around the deck. First, the frame - and that took us the whole day!

Saturday - dad-in-law came to help and add to the manly-man factor (certainly no construction work is complete without the experienced hand). Put the boards around the deck and spread some stones on one side of the deck. Again, the whole day!

Earth day Sunday - built the planter boxes against the right side of the yard against the fence. Halfway through, we had to stuff and bring our bun-bun (read: puppy) to Petsmart for his graduation. And he passed!!!! (We have the certificate to prove it!) Finally went back home, completed the planters, and planted our cedar trees.

As I said...*whew*

Sad to say, the yard is still a work-in-progress, but we are already amazed at the improved look of it. So, here's some "before" pictures to give an idea as to how little the previous owners did to the back yard. Hopefully, we'll have some "after" pictures in a month or so....

Happy 2007!

9:45 p.m.

Ho-kay. So it's been a while (yet again) since my last post. I guess I was too ambitious when I thought I could keep a puppy log. But as I always say, if I can barely keep up with my laundry, how could I have thought that I could pull this off?

Finnegan is sitting in my hubby's den staring at me. 6 months old - time sure flies. He's grown to be a real cutie pup.

Before: After:













As I said - a cutie!!!

So far he's managed to let us know that he wants to go outside by going to the back door and sitting there. And - except for a couple of times - he does not poo in the house!! He's such a long dog, though. We used to put him in a medium-sized crate which was fine when he was smaller. Since we both worked and were gone 8 hours a day, we'd put paper in the back half of his crate and bedding in the front half. We didn't really feel comfortable having someone come in midday to let him out. But now, he's grown so long that - although he still fits very comfortably in the crate - there is no more room for his "pee papers" (as we liked to call the freebie papers we pick up now and then). Although he has proven time and again that he can hold it for 8 hours (he really didn't have much of a choice), 8 hours is just too long for him for a pup to hold it on a regular basis. Could lead to kidney problems and all that.

The solution? Well, at night we normally put him in an exercise pen in the master bedroom (he still hasn't learned to stay put in his bed for bedtime). In its full size, it's a 4' x 4' pen - virtually a doggie condo! And luckily enough, it comes with an optional top so that they can't jump out (this one's turning out to be quite the jumper). So, with top in place, we've started leaving him there - bed in one corner, pee papers in the other.

And did I mention we bought this really cool internet camera? We can now check up on the pup from anywhere via the internet. We noticed that he seemed to fuss a lot less than when he was in the crate. Plus, it looks like he can stretch out to his heart's content without his head in (potentially) wet paper. My colleague at work says that he fusses less because (a) we spend a lot of time in that room, and (b) he's already used to spending extended hours in that pen.

He's still bitey, though. Partly 'coz he's teething, and partly 'coz, well, God knows. We've started puppy class with Petsmart a few weeks ago, so he seems to have improved a lot since we got him. But, boy, there's still quite a way to go.

On another note: I *finally* finished my comic rebagging project - all 5,825 of them. It took a couple of months, but there you go! So now I have between 10-15 years before I have to replace them again. But on the good side I managed to clear some of the deadwood in my collection. But wouldn't you know it - now they're coming out with entire comic collections on DVD-ROM. For instance, I have the Amazing Spider-Man from #1 (1963) to June 2006.....that makes for a lot of catching up! Does this mean that I will eventually get rid of my paper copies? I don't know - I still derive a lot of pleasure from the tactile sensation of reading through a magazine. But then again, I only have so much square footage in my den.....

Speaking of square footage, we've got a few things happening in our backyard. Bought a BBQ, a patio set, having some guy hook up the gas next week, getting quotes for our deck/carport (So far it's going between $20,000 and $40,000.....ay caramba!).......I suppose we could build it ourselves someday, but as I said, laundry.

Ah well. Hubby and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary of being together last month. Wow - even got a dozen roses shipped while he was away on business. Imagine my surprise coming home with a wonderful arrangement of roses on the doorstep for me (and imagine his surprise when he found out that they were left there when no one was home!!!!). Such a sweet guy! I did try to get him roses soon after, but the ones I've managed to see where pretty crappy. Oh well.

It's getting late tonight - stay tuned for my next entry! Hopefully it won't be too long from now.