This is a rather interesting way of getting your point across! You know if these huge companies would just listen to their customers folks would not have to take such drastic measures. I hope they are listening now.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Verizon Prank: Look How Easy it is to Get the CEO's Private Cell Phone Records and Address
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The House Oops!
Oops!
July 24, 2009
I just love road trips, not the kind that take you from point A to point B with time constraints but the kind where you start off at point A with no time constraints and never know where you will end up or what you will see. Just look at this great photo opportunity! It is certainly a subject you don't see everyday and was well worth making a 3 point turn to go back and get a few pictures. We've had some fairly high winds with the recent storms but this house looks like the owners were starting demolition then the winds caught it toppling the poor thing over. I don't think this was done on purpose as the rooftop is touching the laneway where it landed. Just out of range to the right there was farm machinery. I'm sure there was a good bit of flying debris when the house topped as well.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Foodie Road Trip
Lake Erie
July 24, 2009
Last Friday I took a foodie road trip (read more here) along the historic Talbot Trail in southern Ontario. Despite the day starting off overcast and quite foggy it ended up being warm and partially sunny. This is such a beautiful drive with many gorgeous photo opportunities. Along with several stops to buy locally grown fresh produce, I made many more stops to take pictures. Pictured is Lake Erie that is easily seen from many points on the Talbot Trail.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
BYBS - Local Produce
I watched an episode of the 100 Mile Food Challenge. This series shows the ups and downs of a group of families trying to eat foods grown within a 100 mile radius of their home. Several times I just found myself thinking this is about the easiest challenge so why were the families finding it so difficult especially when locally grown foods constitute about 85% or more of the foods we eat. Then it dawned on me that your home location plays a huge role as to what you can get within a 100 mile radius. Within a 100 mile radius we can easily buy locally grown/produced: most produce (fruits/vegetables), mushrooms, table salt, curing salt, white sugar, honey, maple syrup, wheats (whole grain/ground), dairy products, eggs, beef, pork and poultry. In addition to that we grow as much as possible and we can fish right in our own backyard. Unlike the families who couldn't use yeast because it wasn't produced locally, I'd simply use my sourdough starter that is easily made by capturing wild yeast in your kitchen. We are also surrounded by an abundance of wild edible plants. What we can't get locally pales in comparison to what we can get! We are so very blessed to live in such an amazing area!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Learning to Be Still
Garden Visitor
July 19, 2009
I am by any stretch of the imagination a chronic muli-tasker to the point it is close to being a flaw. While muli-tasking allows me to get a lot done most days on an off day the lack of focus is rather apparent. As a way of learning to be still aka muli-tasking I have decided that television during the day has to go!
When I was growing up we got 4 channels on a black and white television. My Mom never had a colour television until she was in the nursing home and by then she had no interest in watching television. As newlyweds we had an upside down television that was rather unique looking with an almost round black and white screen. Somehow over the years television has whittled its way into our lives to the point now the kids have grown leaving us empty nesters I will turn the television on as soon as I get up out of habit. Now the television is simply giving the illusion of someone else in the house because I seldom actually watch it. I'm doing two things wrong here. First I am wasting electricity and even though the cost to operate the main television works out to 2¢ per hour it is irresponsible of me to waste any kWh. Every kWh counts! Second I really am over stimulating myself by the constant bombardment of noise and images. Even though I'm not actively watching the television the sensory stimulation is still registering in my brain. This more than likely creates sensory overload sometimes. In this case learning to be still with a bit less sensory stimulation will be a positive change for me.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Natural Diapers
[from my email files]
This little gem found its way into my email inbox so I forwarded onto the kids with the little ones. Apparently being foodies the only way they are going to try this is by hollowing out the watermelon first. I will say our youngest grandbaby would look adorable dressed like this :)
[note this picture is not mine so I claim no copyright to it]
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Date Night
My husband and I have re-established date night. During the nice weather that has meant going for a boat ride, stopping for dinner then enjoying the sunset before heading home. In the winter months it means enjoying a nice home cooked meal then curling up on the couch to watch a movie. Really it's just a fancy excuse for spending quality time together :)
Last Saturday was date night. The weather was cold and wet so I made an early dinner from left over venison chili I had frozen. Then we headed to the theatre to take in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As a Harry Potter fan this was a must see movie for me! The movie was excellent but in comparison to the previous movies it was somewhat lacking. Don't get me wrong as the essence of the book was captured nicely and the film work was wonderful but it was still lacking with respect to the other movies. I quite enjoyed seeing how Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson had matured not only in their portraited characters but as actors/actresses. I noticed that the years have not treated Draco (Tom Felton) kindly which in the fictional world is rather fitting given his character but in the real world not so good. It was quite sad to see the visualization of Albus Dumbledore's death. Michael Gambon excelled at his role as the headmaster of Hogwarts so I'm sure he will appear in flashbacks during the last Harry Potter film which is now in production. The last movie will answer a lot of questions remaining from the previous films.
If you want to get the most from the Harry Potter movies, read the books! I'm serious! The movies by default cannot possibly cover all the details of the books. This movie was two and a half hours long yet skipped over an awful lot of details. So before going to see the movie, read the book first. That way you will get maximal enjoyment from the movie.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
BYBS - Cooler Summer
This year Mother Nature has thrown us a bit of a curve ball with the cooler summer temperatures and a lot of rain. I think the cooler, below average temperatures have been on everyone's mind this summer and they certainly are the topic for conversation. It's so easy to complain about the weather even though we can't do anything about it. But let's put the cooler summer temperatures in perspective. It is as if Mother Nature knows there is a recession and has stepped in a bit to help out! Despite a late start getting my new raised garden beds in they are looking quite lovely. I have a bumper crop of salad greens that usually by this time of year would have bolted (pictures here). I will also have peas this year later into the summer thanks to the cooler weather. At the same time with the cooler temperatures and rainy weather we have done less boating saving us a bit of fuel money. This has also resulted in a bit more time at home to get work done around the house and gardens as well as do a bit of troubleshooting. We've had more time to sit on the dock to marvel at the beauty of the water while enjoying the company of our neighbours. The stormy weather is not all that pleasant but it sure has saved on watering the gardens and as a reward Mother Nature has provides some of the most amazing sunsets yet! Cooler outdoor temperatures combined with cool breezes and lower humidity levels have kept the main lower living level of the house at a balmy 19ºC (67ºF) pretty much the same temperature we keep the house at during the day in the heating season. We are now half way through summer and have yet to turn our air conditioning on! So in many ways the cooler, rainy weather has been quite the blessing this year! Mother Nature sure is a smart, old cookie :)
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Storms A Brewing
Turning LeavesJuly 16, 2009
Skywatchers know that when the leaves turn a storm is a brewing! Thursday afternoon the leaves once again turned and that night we were hit with yet another storm. A prudent person pays attention to the signs of storms brewing whether it be weather or in some other aspect of their lives and acts accordingly. The young and/or foolish person does not. The biggest news in the blogosphere is the 'sale' of Entrecard to ZipRunner Inc. Now technically this wasn't a sale it was an acquisition due to a default note despite what former owner Graham Langdon says. Storms have been brewing at Entrecard for quite some time!
It definitely was time for Graham to leave Entrecard! Like a comedy of errors combined with an immature egotistical joke of the day, ex-members and members alike tuned in just to see what stupid thing he could come up with next. I honestly don't think he realized what a joke he had become in the blogosphere! He even bragged about being homeless and how much he enjoyed sleeping on a park bench. Now tell me what founder of a business they are trying to sell for a million dollars would even make mention of that? Then and one of his biggest downfalls was he played in Photoshop® changing his ad using filters. A EC member made a comment on Twitter regarding Graham's hat along with calling him an 'asshat'. Now Twitter has nothing to do with EC yet Graham went into overdrive, banned the member and put out a new rule that EC members could not say anything negative about EC on any forum, social network or blog or else they would be banned earning him the reputation of being a Nazi. This censorship did not sit well with members who either made it known vocally or quietly left. As if he had the right to tell others what they could say outside of EC. Well, from there it went from bad to worse!
He was making very poor business decisions that drove away a lot of good bloggers by running unauthorized paid ads on blogs and dictating where the widget had to be placed on blogs. Mind you as long as the content agrees with the TOS of your ISP and blog host, no one has the right to tell you what to put on your blog or where you should put it. In the past three months under Graham's guidance Entrecard lost one third of its traffic. That is a fairly large chunk of traffic to lose! There has been some speculation that some of these bloggers might return now that Graham no longer owns entrecard however with his announcement that he is staying on as advisor (possibly untrue) I doubt many will return. In fact on the July 17 Entrecard blog post by Andrew Te of ZipRunner he politely thanks Graham and while he specifically acknowledges that Phirate with stay on with Entrecard makes absolutely no mention of Graham remaining as an advisor. What I find interesting is Graham doesn't even have an EC widget on his new blog! It is more likely Graham blowing a bit of smoke than a reality that he will be staying as an advisor. What investor who gets a company through a default note would keep the person responsible on as an advisor? If Andrew does keep Graham as part of the management team it will be Graham's continued association with EC that will hurt the new ownership. ZipRunner would be well advised to cut all ties with Graham. The reality is the very bloggers that Entrecard depends on for its success want Graham gone! At any rate they have an awful lot of damage control and damage repair to do. Any signs of being wishy washy, showing lack of respect for their members, making rule changes without notice, excessive censorship or any of the other nonsense that has been going on in the past will show Andrew Te to be no better than Graham so EC will continue its rapid downward spiral. Don't forget under Graham's management EC has lost 1/3 of its traffic over the last 3 months. Now ZipRunner will have to earn that traffic back. Time will tell at how successful they are at that. I wish Andrew the best and hope that they can turn EC into what it was meant to be.
In the meantime there are many questions regarding the credits members have earned. It has already been noted that new members and those who did not sign-up for the cashout prior to the acquistion by Zip Runner will not be eligible for cashout. This is bound to tick-off a lot of people who have spent hours and I do mean hours dropping cards to build up points to cash out. These are people that went into a que under Graham's system and have been sitting for weeks waiting for approval for cashout eligibility. At the same time members are still complaining as late as today of unapproved paid ads running on their blogs. This is not a good way for the new ownership to start off!
Would I put my 5 blogs back into the Entrecard system? I was with Entrecard from almost the start. I saw its downward spiral. At my peak usage I was dropping 450+ per day spending upwards of 4 hr daily spread throughout the day depending on my connection speed. When I left Entrecard (reason here) I suddenly felt very relieved despite the fact they continued to spam me and refused to remove my blogs I found I enjoyed blogging more. There is a life outside of Entrecard! More importantly my traffic has increased while my bounce rate has decreased. It has taken me less than 3 months to build up a higher quality of traffic than Entrecard was providing and that's across all 5 blogs. So unless Entrecard dramatically changes under the new management and there is no association with Graham Langdon, no I would not return to Entrecard. See the way Entrecard is currently designed all that dropping takes away from adding precious content to your blog. Without content you don't get traffic. Without traffic you don't get readers.
For those interested in who ZipRunner Inc. is, here are the details:
ZipRunner Inc company information:
Company name : ZipRunner Inc
Number : C2322843
Date Filed : 12/12/2000
Status : Active
Jurisdiction : California
Address : 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232, Monterey Park, CA 91754
Agent for Service of Process : ANDREW H TE, 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232,
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Visitors
Chicago Cardinal Red
July 15, 2009
My garden despite a late start is growing nicely. We still haven't added the other raised beds which will likely be a fall project now. The past couple of years we have been dealing with mice, voles, centipedes, pill bugs and earwigs indoors. This is the year of the earwigs! So far the battle has been going rather good as we drive these critters further from the house. The massive sealing and removing any debris from around the house has been an ongoing project since we moved here as is ripping out idea rodent hiding spots near the house. On a larger scale of critters we have a family of swans that visit regularly. The mother Mallard and her seven little ducklings visited last night. The rabbits visit daily. We didn't see the skunk but knew he was there! We hear the raccoons chit chatting at night but have seen them yet and the possum that frequents the area hasn't been spotted either.
The first year we were here, it never dawned on me to treat the lower level as if we were camping. Four of the lower level windows are pretty much at ground level including the large kitchen window. The patio door in the kitchen in on ground level for the back of the property but well below ground level for the front of the property. The kitchen is tucked into one corner completely open to the family room. There is no way to get to either the patio door or window without going through the kitchen. I was watching television on the couch when I smelled the presence of a skunk. Now the kitchen window and patio doors were both opened and it doesn't take much for a hungry critter to get through the screens. The fresh apple pie I had baked for my husband was sitting on the counter cooling while the skunk more or less wandered between one screen and the next. The problem was there was no way for me to get to either to shut them without triggering the skunk. I used a broom handle to flick on the patio lights. Sure enough there was the skunk! Then I remembered a trick from our camping days. If you shine a light directly at their eyes they will mosey along. So I quietly got the big Mag flashlight and prayed that trick would work. Thank goodness the skunk headed towards the edge of the water. I could still seem him as I quickly shut the patio door. Had it been a raccoon instead of a skunk it would have been in the house after the pie! Come evening in the warm weather if the windows are open the patio door and kitchen window are shut to leave only an inch or two opening for air to get through but not the critters.
Yesterday I heard a bit of scratching in one of the upstairs rooms and discovered signs of something in the pantry. Nothing had been gnawed on that I could see. More than 90% of all the food is in glass, heavy plastic or metal containers but there are a few things a hungry mouse could get into. I did a walk-around and discovered a bit of wood coming out from under the eaves directly corresponding to where the noise is coming from in the house. So my husband is currently poking around in the attic to see if he can see anything. He'll put out more bait then get up on the ladder to see if he can get the hole plugged if there is one. What we think happened is we discovered a mouse free-for-all run under the side entrance. Three bags of cement later that problem was solved. What it looks like we did was trap a mouse in the house and the mouse is trying to chew its way out. In the meantime it looks like I will be spending a bit of quality time in the pantry organizing and doing more rodent proofing.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Family Events
Lighting the Night Sky
July 11, 2009
My gosh we had such a busy but relaxing weekend! Friday night we went to Sam's Club and out for dinner in the US. Saturday morning we were awakened by a horrendous thunderstorm that threatened to cancel the day's planned activities but it cleared up late morning and actually turned out to be a grand day spent in good company. Sunday we spent the day with friends at the swim hole so will be blogging about that later.
As you know I am Canadian and love to share any Canadian content with even a blog Canadian Perspective dedicated for this purpose but Canadian content sprinkles through onto this blog as well as my other blogs. Saturday's annual event was hosted by a family member. It always falls in July as close as possible to Canada Day. The number in attendance reaches around 150. This really is a wonderful event held on their picturistic, farmland property in southern Ontario. Local foods and talents are always a feature which is something I really appreciate. After dark everyone settles in for a gorgeous fireworks show that would out do many communities! Some of the fireworks are originals made specifically for the occasion. It is just a lovely event with a good time had by all!
This year's featured band was SUDS (Shed Union District Standards) featuring D'Arcy Sloan, Brad Fishleigh, Darryl Twigg and Danny Wright. The band hails from Chatham, Ontario.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Learning Curve
Evening Skies
July 7, 2009
Virtually everything we do in life is a direct result of learning. Learning involves a learning curve which is simply the time it takes you to move from not knowing anything about performing that task reasonably well. The steepness of the learning curve depends on the complexity of the task as well as the intelligence level of the individual. Thanks to technology we are bombarded with ample opportunity to expand our knowledge on a daily basis. That doesn't make the learning curve static!
Several years ago I got my first digital camera with no flash or memory card. It simply took 8 to 10 pictures then I had to download them in order to use the camera again. The learning curve for that camera was by today's standards very minimal yet it was there and it formed the knowledge base to go onto the next camera. Over the past few days I have been put back onto the learning curve with the new Panasonic DMC-TZ5.
I'm one of those people who does read the manual. There is a lot more to this camera as far as settings go in comparison to the Canon A540! I am quite impressed with the quality of pictures I'm getting already but hopefully they will improve further as I learn more about using the camera's features effectively. Pictured is the sunset from Tuesday night and it really did look like that (without the frame and signature of course)! The Panasonic captured the colours in amazing detail and clarity which I attribute to the high mega pixels. I'm excitedly reading through the manual to learn everything I can about this camera. Now I need to find a forum where I can ask questions!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Wordless Wednesday - Diamond Crystal Salt Company
Diamond Crystal Salt Company
June 14, 2009
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
My Newest Toy
Panasonic DMC-TZ5
July 6, 2009
About 11 years ago I encounter my first digital camera. By today's standards it was very amateur not even having a flash or ability to a memory card. If I recall correctly the internal memory stored up to 8 low mega pixel pictures. It didn't matter to me. I was hooked! About a year later I upgraded to a FujiFilm FinePix that if I recall correctly was a 2 mega pixel camera with very low zoom. It was a lovely point and shoot camera that gave relatively good results without a high learning curve. After that I was on to a Canon PowerShot A530 that met an early demise a couple of months after buying it because apparently digital cameras are not supposed to be slightly bumped. I replaced that with a Canon PowerShot A540 which is a 6.0 megal pixels 4X optical zoom digital. Learning from my previous experience I got into the habit of hooking the strap securely to my wrist when ever I was carrying the camera EXCEPT once a few months ago. It dropped breaking one of the catches on the battery door. So I used painters' tape to hold the battery door shut. This solution worked relatively well while getting a few funny looks but the real problem was the failure to latch properly caused my rechargeable batteries to last for all of about 20 pictures at best. The solution wasn't because I was being cheap either, it was because I essentially didn't feel like doing the research for a new digital camera! Compounding that problem is my husband thought a nice digital SLR camera would be great so we just kept putting it off.
Last night we stopped at Sam's Club and checked out the camera section. You know how you pick up a camera and it just feels good in your hand, something like the right fit for a knife handle in the kitchen? Well I picked up the Panasonic DMC-TZ5 and it was love at first sight. Unlike the Canon with mostly plastic casing the Panasonic has a painted metal casing. To me not only did it fit my hand nicely giving me the point and shoot capabilities it added a lot of other features including higher pixels and zoom capabilities all in a much sturdier feeling camera. We bought it! This is a 9 mega pixel 10X optical zoom digital camera in navy blue and gosh despite the steeper learning curve I'm already taking a few great pictures. What a difference!
We are going to repair the battery door on the Canon. It will make a great back-up camera. My main camera will be the Panasonic so now we need to go shopping for my husband's camera. He's still wanting an SLR digital but that might change. The worst thing about buying digital cameras is the performance does change from year to year. One year Canon will be the top performer then the next year Panasonic will be the top performer. I actually paid less than half for the Panasonic and got a better camera than I paid for my FujiFilm! At the same time digital camera have basically become toss aways! A fairly descent digital can be found for around the $100 mark! If it breaks you can likely go out and buy one even better for less than what you paid. Oh the miracles of technology!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Old Landscape Relics
Relic of the Past
July 2, 2009
July 2, 2009
We've been on the road a bit more over the last few days so I have had a lot more photo opportunities. I've been know to pull over on the side of the road just to get a good picture even if it means turning around to do so. True it takes me (us) longer to get where we are going but we arrive in a much more relaxed mood. Taking the time to truly enjoy your road trips in this manner is well worth the little extra time taken to stop.
It never ceases to amaze me what a beautiful and diverse area we live in. Not only can we enjoy the splendor of the Great Lakes waterway, a nice jaunt through rural Ontario will get us to some of the nicest cities you can ever visit. Rural Ontario is just a delight to travel through! Scattered throughout the landscape are relics of days long gone. I love taking pictures of these relics if only to preserve a bit of Ontario history.
Pictured is a long abandoned cement silo I discovered last Thursday. I think is is a gorgeous relic that hopefully will be preserved for quite some time however, like many old relics that likely won't happen. At some future time the owners of the property will likely tire of it or need to plant that land so it will be leveled. Even in rural Ontario there are signs of vandalism that marrs old relics as well as natural features like hugh boulders. For unexplained reasons some individuals seem to think they have the right to mark up these features using paint. Someone obviously left their mark on the silo. While I could have Photoshopped it out, I didn't. I think it symbolizes the underlying conflict between youth and elderly rather nicely.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Road Trips - Self Important People
Fire in the Sky
July 3, 2009
I was scheduled to pick-up my husband late Friday afternoon in the city. So that means a chance to pick-up a few things I can't get at home. The car behaved nicely on the way there as it should but when I started it after my first stop it made this horrid noise. I immediately thought the power steering fluid must be low so called my husband to let him know. I finished all my stops arriving where I was picking him up just a bit irritated with traffic, the car and timing. I had about 20 minutes to kill so pulled into the meeting spot and decided to check out the outdoor plant section of one store. I spotted a Brandywine (heirloom) tomato plant, like I really need another tomato plant, and an eggplant so grabbed my two purchases and headed to the check-out. All of a sudden Miss Self Important with a fully loaded nursery card almost ran me over trying to get to the check out. Had I been walking just a bit faster she would have hit me for sure!
Here I am with my two pithy plants while she had a good 10 flats plus extras! Do you think she could have let me go ahead of her and check-out like any other considerate shopper would do? NO! I stood there 10 minutes with my two plants while her and the check-out person chit chatted while the cash registered remained silent. I got frustrated with Miss Self Important and the check-out person but said nothing because I do strive to be polite but honestly there is a limit! I quietly put my plants down, all 2 of them and walked out a bit sadly because I really wanted them. About 5 minutes my husband arrived, we chatted then he added the power steering fluid then we drove by the outdoor garden centre. The same Miss Self Important was still there. Little does she know her rudeness cost that store a possible customer. They could seriously have the best plants around and I would still not shop there! Customer service would dictate that a polite "let me ring her through with 2 plants" before I "ring through your 100 plants" or even oh I don't know how about "another cashier"!
To Miss Self Important bad karma does follow you. I believe karma can be a b---- but I really do hope you enjoy your plants. You likely did me a favour by preventing me from buying diseased or unhealthy plants but I will never know that. In the mean time bad karma has been known to affect whether plants survive or not. See if you are so important that you cannot be considerate to your fellow human beings I really doubt you have a green thumb!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Happy Canada Day!
Bobby Gimby's Canada Song
Oh Canada! You are 142 years young this year and what a fabulous history it has been!
To each and everyone of my fellow Canadians both home and abroad, I'm wishing you a very Happy Canada Day! It will be a day of celebrations here so we are looking forward to it. For those wanting to learn a little more about Canada please visit my Canadian blog.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
