Sunday, July 20, 2008

Poor Corolla...

Someone hit my car and damaged it like this, while it was parked... For those of you who know me and my ways with scratches, you know this ain't making me very happy!!!

For 4 years I parked in dinkytown, in congested roadsides, where there was like 2 inches in front and behind me when parallel parked and nothing happened... I park it in this cosmopolitan city, mind you in a very residential street, with 3 feet in front and 3 behind, and very close to the curb, but some idiot jammed in to it.... aggggg.... Welcome to Montreal I say!!!

I hope it was not purposefully done because of my MN license plate - I noticed Montreallers like to honk (didn't sound a friendly honk) not just at me, but anyone who comes with a US license plate... I have got mixed reactions to the MN license plate, mostly hostile, but the other day there were like 10 people gathered around my car at the market, and when I came they were like "you came all the way from MN?" and they were nice...

I should change it to QC license plate once my expenses have eased out...

But either way, I ain't no happy camper...

If you are visiting me in summer and are driving...

know that you'll endure such traffic jams, unless you carefully plan your arrival time in Montreal! This from my home, caused by the traffic detour because of the International fireworks festival near my home. From about 8 to 11pm Wednesdays and Saturdays June through August this traffic jam stretches for miles... And yet people decide to drive to see the fireworks, and others decide to go home at this time...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Gazette

My first ever newspaper subscription by myself, for my self...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Like mom, like daughter


This mom and her ~7 year daughter were wearing the same sandals in the metro (subway) I thought it was so cute...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

My best friend from grade school

My best friend from grade school visited me this weekend. She's the one, I did Math homework with ahead of the rest of the class - one might call us the Math teacher's pets... So we checked out the Just for Laughs fest and there were these huge sudoku boards and we both together filled one up - there was also quite the crowd gathered around telling us in French what numbers go where... But this whole thing sort of reminded me of the time we did Math homework together, even though sudoku, I still think, has no connection to Math, like most people believe. It was a very nice memory revival... She turned out to be a Math teacher...

I don't really connect with my long ago friends that well, if I haven't continuously kept in touch with them. This because I know I have changed a whole lot, which I am sure they have too, and am not sure if they realize that. But this one I connected immediately, when we talked on the phone. It might have been partly due to the fact that she teaches in this way off Indian reservation and I sort of immediately looked upto her for her humanitarian aspect... It turned out she went there for financial reasons, but I think she's still a good teacher and she loves those kids. But anyway, she and I stayed up till 4am every night, and then she stayed a day longer - so we did indeed have a good time...

Her husband though, I could have done without - he does tell some pretty funny jokes though, funny in a racy sort of way... But his opinions about the Indian kids left me confused, even though I think there must have been some truth to the corruption and feed-off-the-government tales that he told.

But within an hour of meeting, he told me how he 'hates anything that comes from the US' - and those were his exact words. Whenever people do this, oh like when our sys admin was franatically looking for the Canadian keyboard layout in my linux machine and said, 'I don't want to put the US keyboard, I don't like it' (even though technically they're both the same, just a difference in name), I don't know if people are taking a jag at me or testing to see where my loyalties are or are just plain kidding.... I am usually not offended, I ain't no American so I could care not less, even though I sort of feel for the country that sheltered and educated me for 7 years... But I am bothered by their pettiness, oh and if it's a joke, it is not a good joke you tell people within the first couple minutes you've met them...

But if I were an American, I can see how this would have bred nationalism in me... Not to say Americans have not brought this upon themselves partly. But a few Americans behave arrogantly, then the rest of the world gets defensive against them, then more Americans get arrogant... then I can so see these feeding into each other in a downward spiral...

Ah but whatever, I am slowly but steadily getting to the state where I can disregard people's wayward comments and not care about them... but apparently they still bother me enough that I will blog about them... :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

International Fireworks Festival





Just a walk away from my home, from close to the Jacques Cartier bridge in Old Montreal. This day was Portugal's day.

Every Wednesday and Saturday in July and August, each country gets to show their fireworks and be judged, by judges and the general public.

Yes, and I am one of the handful of nerds who sets up their tripod among the crowd and makes fireworks pictures.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Bored at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal



A lot of times what adults think is cool and what kids think is cool does not overlap. So when parents try to "create memories" for their kids, the effort is often lost... I remember how Jacob reacted one time when Patty and Susan took him to see the holidazzle parade in Minneapolis.

The dad of these two girls was going bazurk - he really loved Mory Kanté's show, but these two girls could not care less.... When everyone around them were dancing and being merry they just could not fathom what the big deal was... All they cared about was each other... They were adorable like that...

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal



Mory Kanté closed the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal for 2008... He had some cool African drums playing along...

Oh I did go to the Leonard Cohen tribute on opening night too, but my batteries died and Cohen himself was not there - apparently he shuns such tributes to him or something... There were raving reviews in the Gazette, but I've heard better renditions of Cohen songs...

So did you know, they serve beer everywhere and every fete... There are stalls and vendors running around with trays of beer... So at this jazz fest, more than 100,000 people, quite a few drunk, and yet not a single brawl broke out... Is it the Canadians, is it the jazz music, or is it increased resistance to booze I am not sure...

WHat I did notice is people are pretty cavalier about alcohol here. We go to the 'pub' atleast once a week... oh Montreal has some cool micro-breweries and their beer is very good. I never liked beer before I came to Montreal... And then, at school, they have a bunch of hard liquor and liqueur, so they'll go and make themselves a drink at 5p or so... And make some for me too... This is new to me, coming from a dry campus in Minnesota...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Garage days are over


For all the 4 years I owned her, (let's call her Gizzelle!!!), she was sheltered in Patty's garage... not anymore - from today she'll sit by the road, with the only MN license plate, among a bunch of Quebecoirs!

And this was the full first day in my new apartment...

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

If you are 5'1" and weigh less than 100lbs...

and you think you can put together a Queen size Ikea bed by yorself, think again...

See this picture from the manual? They are not kidding... not even if you are taller and heavier...

Yes, the physics is simple, you'll get that. What you won't though, is the balancing act when putting the 2 sideboards together with the head board and the foot board, you know to keep these heavy boards horizontal... So if there's any way, find another person to help you...

Having said that, I must say it is not totally un-doable alone! And if you do it, like I did, every time you are faced with a daunting physical task, you'll think back to this time you put together your Queen bed, and know in your heart, that nothing is really impossible... Oh and it also gives you renewed appreciation for the physics of the nuts and bolts that hold the thing together, while still having it look pretty...

Here's me going from just this
,













to this...

by myself!!!