Yes, I'm still alive

Haven't been writing for a while. Somehow, I got busy. It's a hard, hard habit to break.

A brief recap:

1. Garden is coming along. Had quite a few setbacks with the seedlings started indoors. I really do need a better set-up for next year. I may just bite the bullet and buy plants to replace them this year. I have found an interesting set-up in a back issue of MAKE which uses an Arduino micro-controller to control watering and lighting for an indoor garden. This intrigues me greatly.

   My outside garden, as I mentioned, is coming along well. Radishes are just going hog wild, and my carrots sprouted. The beets are looking good too, though the mesclun is a bit slow.

   I picked up asparagus roots from Richters, and am attempting to grow them in an extra large container. I'm not that optimistic, but we'll see how this experiment goes. I am quite hesitant to grow anything in the ground, since we're right off of the old Ottawa-Montreal railline. There's contaminated soil right near the Crighton Park, so I just don't want to take the chance.

2. My Know-It_All bag is coming along nicely. I started sewing in the LEDs last night. Been getting some ribbing from Stephen about mixing geekery with knitting. It would be nice to do a geeky project sometime without him making remarks. I am a geek and I like to putter.

   At any rate, I've started sewing on the LEDs. What's nice about this project is that it uses a LilyPad micro-controller, which is the wearable electronics version of the Arduino. And the .pbe code is written in C++, which is quite nice. So I'll be able to take the skills this and apply it to item #1.

   I think my next piece of wearable electronics will be a modification of the Turn Signal jacket up on the MIT MediaLab LilyPad page. I want to use red LEDs for the lights, instead of white, and maybe change how it's activated and controlled.

3. One of the interesting bits about living near the river is that we're neighbours with two raccoons. One of them happens to be a mother, which we found out last night on our post-dinner walk last night. We were walking up Sandy Hill, when I caught sight of her, carrying one of her babies across the road to the river. According to the city, there's not much we can do. Fortunately, they're not that bad of pests, provided garbage is kept outside securely. So, we'll just have to live with the furry bandits. As long as they stay out of my garden, we'll get along just fine.
4. Finally, I'm back to work on my DBA certification. E-Learning is my friend. Free E-Learning credits are an even better friend to me.

Pics later. I have plenty, so I really should post them.

About time

Helena Guergis quits cabinet post

This whole matter has been getting more sordid by the day. Yesterday's report on Rahim was pretty much the tipping point.

Makes me wonder what's really going on behind the scenes. And I would love to get my hands on the ministerial-issued Blackberry he was using for e-mail and phone.

ETA: Now the RCMP is involved. Must be related to the Blackberry usage noted above.

Is it here yet?

I would like to confirm that refreshing the track parcel page at Canada Post does not make your package be delivered faster. The more you know.

*click*click*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*

WOOHOOO! Wood!

This weekend, the sound of powertools will echo through my neighbourhood as I BUILD THINGS. In particular, I'm building the boxes for the garden.

My order with a local lumberyard is in, so all I need to do is to pick it up as soon as it's finished, which may be as soon as this afternoon. There is something to be said for small businesses; quick turnaround is one of them. Plus the price is excellent: $1.10/linear foot for 1"x10" rough-cut cedar? That's awesome. I think I'll look to them again for when I figure out my plans for a cedar chest I want to build, I mean BUILD.

The nice thing is that they're cutting to size for me, though that'll mean that I won't be picking up a circular saw to cut things. Maybe I will, anyways, because powertools mean that I get to BUILD THINGS.

So, the lesson for today is: wood + powertools = awesome. Rar

Mmmmmmm....meeeat

So, with Stephen out this weekend, I am in the mood to roast some meat. Are there any good tips out there for roasting excellence? I'm already going to be dry aging the hunk of flesh prior to rubbing. I'm also purchasing an electronic meat thermometer that goes beep once it hits 180F inside.

Hungry already.