Toronto Visit (1) - (11/23/05-11/27/05)

Sabrina and Hannah opening their birthday gifts given by Maaji, Ranie, and Vinie.


Blowing out their birthday cakes made by Maaji and Vinie. It was technically Sabrina's birthday but Hannah felt left out and Maaji decided to make her one too.


Kids licking the candles and birthday cake decorations.


Birthday decorations compliments of Ranie. She stayed up late on Thursday night decorating the living room.


Hannah and Sabrina.

Buddy The Dog

This is Buddy, my sister Vinie's dog. He's a Shitszu and a real nice, obedient dog. Yes, his name is really "Buddy".

Return Trip to Milton, Vermont - 11/27/05

Returned to Milton, Vermont from Mississauga, Ontario on Sunday (11/27/05). We left Mom's place at 4:05PM and arrived in Milton at 12:08AM (Monday 11/28/05). We made three stops along the way for gas and coffee, including dinner in Kingston, Ontario. It rained non-stop all the way home.

The route from Mississauga:
Hwy 403 East
Hwy 401 East
Hwy 20 East
Crossed over the Champlain Bridge
Hwy 10 East
Hwy 138
Crossed into the U.S. via the Phillipsburg border
US I-89 S
US Rt. 7 N
Voila! Home
Total trip = 433.4 miles (693.44 kms) door-to-door.

Trip to Toronto, Canada - 11/23/05

Drove to Mississauga, Ontario (Canada) to visit Mom, Ronnie, and Vinie. Oh ya, and the dog, Buddy too. We left Milton, Vermont on Wednesday evening (11/23/05) at 6:20PM and arrived at Mom's house in Mississauga, Ontario on Thursday (11/24/05) morning at 1:35AM. We made three stops along the way for gas and coffee. We encountered a snow storm 3/4 into the trip (between Kingston and Oshawa) which continued until we reached our destination.

The route from Milton:
US Rt.7 N
US I-89 N
VT 78
Crossing into Canada via the Alburg/Noyan border
Highway 15 East into Montreal
Crossed over the Champlain Bridge
Hwy 20 West
Hwy 401 West
Hwy 403 West
Voila!
Total trip = 436 miles (697.6 kms) door-to-door!

Liquid Condom - Made in China!

Chinese float liquid condom concept

More Reasons to Drink Beer!

Anti-cancer Compound In Beer Gaining Interest

Drive Home - 11/22/05

Left: My car in the parking lot at work after I had cleared it of some snow.
Right: Waiting for the lights at Mill Pond & Rt. 2A in Colchester.


Left: My car's wiper blades trying to work hard to keep the windshield clear of snow.
Right: This is my view as I was driving home after work today. You can somewhat see the road right smack in the middle. This is around 4:45PM.


Left: Pulled into my driveway. It is 5:05PM.
Right: My mailbox and newspaper box covered in snow.

Crappy Weather - November 22, 2005

Taken outside the Given building at UVM at 1:50PM. It was raining and a little cold.


Taken at the same location as the above picture at 4:20PM as I was leaving work. It was snowing as you can see and started to accumulate. The big white chunks in the picture are the snow flakes. By now, it was cold and quite windy.

Vegan Thanksgiving

Rise and Shine

Sunrise in Milton this morning. I thought the flag was a nice touch.

Drinking Hole

This is one of my regular drinking holes in Burlington, The Pour House.


Had a drink, maybe two with Tom and Paul. Tom is in the picture on the left returning after hugging a tree. Our waitress is on the right. I couldn't get a shot from the front. Maybe next time.

Old Friend Joe

I ran into Joe Sinagra at a local family fun center this afternoon. He was there with his wife, Vicky and his two little kids, and I was there for Sabrina's birthday party.

Joe is a friend and ex-coworker of mine from our days at the Holiday Inn Burlington back in 1998/99. I can safely say that I haven't seen Joe for about 6 years but have read articles about him in the local newspaper. Currently, Joe is the Executive Officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Northern Vermont. We shared some stories from the past and had some laughs. During our time at the Holiday Inn, Joe would often work double-shifts due to staffing shortage, but on one occasion, he pulled 3 1/2 back-to-back shifts (3-11PM, 11-7AM, 7-3PM, and 3-7PM)! The guy was a robot! During his third shift, his contacts were popping out due to dryness and his nose started to bleed. I'm glad I met Joe today! 

Google Talk

Google Talk is a new call and instant messaging client from Google. You can download the client here.
If you have a Jabber client, you can use Google IM service also:

Jabber ID: your email@gmail.com
Server: talk.google.com
Port: 5223
Enable TLS/SSL connection if supported.

Fast Fingers

Girl Wins $5,000 For Text-Messaging Speed.
Attempt To Set World Record Falls Short.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Ohio girl won $5,000 this week by typing out a 160-character text message on a cell phone in two minutes, 23 seconds.
Troy Field, 17, had hoped to set a world record with her flying fingers, but fell short of the goal set by competition sponsor Alltel. A woman in Singapore holds the record at 43 seconds.
For the competition, the five finalists in the contest had to tap out:

The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.

That's Me!

Yes, this is me!
How's that working out for ya?? 

ID-10-T

Read what has been reported to some major computer manufacturers.
I always ask, "Why do they suck the precious oxygen that I need?"

The Crazy Matt

This is Matt.


This is Matt on medication!


Matt as Bob the Fisherman or something for Halloween. Matt is my ex-coworker, who now lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri. His wife Bernie graduated from UVM College of Medicine and she is now doing her Residency in Kansas City. They bought a house there and live happily ever after, I hope! :-) Matt and I are frequently in touch to talk techie. He has a blog which I have added as a link in my blog's sidebar.

Tornado Leaves

I had to make a call on my cell phone and decided to do so at the gallery area at work. As I was on the phone, I saw the wind pick up and started twirling the leaves like a tornado. By the time I grabbed my camera, the wind subsided and this is all I got. Damn!

Bill - Up Above

My co-worker, Bill, setting up his new Dell D600 laptop system with docking station. Keep in mind that Mark and Bill sit next to each other, and looks like Mark's "rear" fumes must have affected Bill. One enjoys working under his desk, and the other enjoys working on top of his desk! Go figure!

Mark - Down Below

Mark, messing around with computer cables.


My Buddy, Mark, seems to prefer working from under his desk. He knows how to use a flashlight too! Woooooooo! I learnt something new about him today, he carries spare batteries for his Mag light in his coat pocket all the time. I think he's had a sheltered childhood or currently has a bad sex life!

Mark's Profile!

Mark, nice profile Dude! Geez!

Shine on 'Dem Cars

Check out the bird on the lamp post.

Day Moon

I was heading out to my car in the afternoon and snapped this picture from the parking lot of the Given building where I work. I'm assuming that's Mt. Mansfield but I could be wrong.