Thursday, September 24, 2009
Toronto Zoo
I was in Toronto for a weekend for a get-together. Decided to go to the zoo with a couple of friends on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. It was really busy! We walked around for about 3 hours...also managed to roll down a hill for a bit of fun.
Cormorants?
With the fall season setting in, a lot of water birds have been flying through the area catching fish along the river. I go for walks sometimes along the waterfront and see lots of them. I was driving by one day and saw a whole bunch of cormorants (I think) sitting in a single tree. I happened to have my camera with me and stopped to take some pictures. As soon as I got close though, most of them got skittish and flew away. I took these pictures of the ones cool enough to stay on the tree:
Work
Well...I'm finally working again. An old employer contacted me about helping them with a large order of machined parts that they received. The needed help programming their cnc machines and designing the work-holding fixtures. We figured out a short-term contract arrangement.
It's nice to be working, but it's a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. I started this blog after I quit working there because I got tired of the atmosphere and knew that I could do better than working there. There was limited opportunity for growth and learning and the place is rife with complainers. I left there because I had a chat with the owner about growing into larger role, but he told me he was happy with my productivity where I was and there wasn't much of a possibility of me growing into a management position or playing a larger role in developing the business. I quit a month after that discussion and decided to go to India and the Philippines to figure out what to do next. That journey eventually led me to the MBA at Queen's. I never thought that I'd be back in the same chair doing the same work again. I'm trying to make the best of the situation, but this turn of events isn't helping my morale. Hopefully, something will develop soon.
Reading articles like these doesn't help either.
It's nice to be working, but it's a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. I started this blog after I quit working there because I got tired of the atmosphere and knew that I could do better than working there. There was limited opportunity for growth and learning and the place is rife with complainers. I left there because I had a chat with the owner about growing into larger role, but he told me he was happy with my productivity where I was and there wasn't much of a possibility of me growing into a management position or playing a larger role in developing the business. I quit a month after that discussion and decided to go to India and the Philippines to figure out what to do next. That journey eventually led me to the MBA at Queen's. I never thought that I'd be back in the same chair doing the same work again. I'm trying to make the best of the situation, but this turn of events isn't helping my morale. Hopefully, something will develop soon.
Reading articles like these doesn't help either.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Madrid?
I've been getting a lot of hits from Madrid lately. I don't think I know anyone there but it's nice to see some people exploring around the site. Feel free to make a connection...
Sailing around Toronto, NYC/QCYC Open Regatta
I had a chance to sail in the National Yacht Club / Queen City Yacht Club in Toronto this past weekend. I got a ride on a boat through a friend on a big C&C sailboat...over 35ft long. I'd never sailed on a boat that big before so I was looking forward to the experience.
It was a really nice boat with enough cabin room to stand up straight inside. The inside was nice and there was a galley and shower. I guess the boat was designed to be a compromise between racing and cruising with enough sail control and rig to be raced, but also with enough creature comforts to be able to cruise it around comfortably.
It took 2 people to manage trimming the large genoa. There's almost no way to physically reel in the sail to close to trimming position. One person had to tail the sheeting line with another to grind the winch. I alternated with my friend between grinding and tailing. It was hard to know when to stop grinding because the most effective leverage position was to face the stern without seeing the genoa. The skipper had to call out when the sail was in the right position...there's a real danger of damaging the sail and poking a hole through it against the spreaders. Sails that big are really expensive! I also helped out on the foredeck with launching and dousing the asymmetrical spinnaker.
It was neat experience overall, but I found that I was detached from the race and couldn't keep track of our tactical position. The boats in the fleet are also different and there was a handicap rating similar to PHRF. It was hard to judge your speed and point relative to other boats since some where more like sport boats than cruisers. I much prefer one-design racing I think. It was also really nice to sail around with the Toronto skyline in the background. Here are some pictures:
It was a really nice boat with enough cabin room to stand up straight inside. The inside was nice and there was a galley and shower. I guess the boat was designed to be a compromise between racing and cruising with enough sail control and rig to be raced, but also with enough creature comforts to be able to cruise it around comfortably.
It took 2 people to manage trimming the large genoa. There's almost no way to physically reel in the sail to close to trimming position. One person had to tail the sheeting line with another to grind the winch. I alternated with my friend between grinding and tailing. It was hard to know when to stop grinding because the most effective leverage position was to face the stern without seeing the genoa. The skipper had to call out when the sail was in the right position...there's a real danger of damaging the sail and poking a hole through it against the spreaders. Sails that big are really expensive! I also helped out on the foredeck with launching and dousing the asymmetrical spinnaker.
It was neat experience overall, but I found that I was detached from the race and couldn't keep track of our tactical position. The boats in the fleet are also different and there was a handicap rating similar to PHRF. It was hard to judge your speed and point relative to other boats since some where more like sport boats than cruisers. I much prefer one-design racing I think. It was also really nice to sail around with the Toronto skyline in the background. Here are some pictures:
Bayfest, Port Rowan
I was at a friend's cottage at Turkey Point for Labour Day weekend. We decided to drive to Port Rowan to check out Bayfest there. We heard that they used to have old school frog and minnow races for kids and thought that it might neat to check it out. Unfortunately, they don't do that anymore due to some animal rights issues. It was still neat to check it out for a couple of hours or so. The weather was really nice.
I forgot to take my camera and had to settle for taking pictures with my cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised about how well they turned out. I have a cheap phone so the resolution isn't good and details are hard get unless you get really close to your subject. Here are some of the better pics:
There was a family BBQ stand there too. They converted old oil containers that used to be used for oil-based home heating. They cleaned them out, cut them in half and mounted them on a trailer. They had room for 3 of these massive charcoal BBQs but only had 2 on the trailer. I tried a sample of their pulled port...really tasty! Here's what the set up looked like:
I forgot to take my camera and had to settle for taking pictures with my cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised about how well they turned out. I have a cheap phone so the resolution isn't good and details are hard get unless you get really close to your subject. Here are some of the better pics:
There was a family BBQ stand there too. They converted old oil containers that used to be used for oil-based home heating. They cleaned them out, cut them in half and mounted them on a trailer. They had room for 3 of these massive charcoal BBQs but only had 2 on the trailer. I tried a sample of their pulled port...really tasty! Here's what the set up looked like:
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Niagara on The Lake
I went to Niagara on the Lake a few weeks ago to walk around and take some pictures. It's a nice scenic area. It's located where the Niagara River spills into Lake Ontario and there's a cool fort across on the American side at Youngstown. It's a nice romantic tourist spot and there were a lot of older couples walking around. It's also wine country and I stopped along some vineyards on my way into town.
I ran out of D-76 developer on the previous roll. I didn't want to mix a whole batch from powder again and decided to go with a concentrated developer that I can dilute on the fly. I decided to go with Ilford's Ilfosol 3. Can't really get it around here...had to stop in Burlington on my way to Toronto. I liked using it and the results came out great.
Here are some pics:
I ran out of D-76 developer on the previous roll. I didn't want to mix a whole batch from powder again and decided to go with a concentrated developer that I can dilute on the fly. I decided to go with Ilford's Ilfosol 3. Can't really get it around here...had to stop in Burlington on my way to Toronto. I liked using it and the results came out great.
Here are some pics:
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