Our Lady of Halibut

There's an awesome fish 'n chips place a short drive from my home where they practically know my name, probably because it's my go-to place for dinner on those nights when I don't feel like cooking.  I personally think they serve the best fish 'n chips in my city--both fish AND chips are made of awesome!  And the tartar sauce has nothing to be ashamed of either.

But here's the weird thing--I think the fries might be magic.  Every single time I open the box and look at the contents I think to myself, "Hey, they kinda skimped on the fries."  But somewhere between the box and my plate a miracle happens--the fries seem to double in number (I don't know how they do it, therefore it's a miracle).  The fries that seemed inadequate in the box are now so plentiful they are falling off the edge of my plate.  The only thing that would impress me more would be if the grease-stains on the bottom of the box were in the image of the Virgin Mary.

I think it's my destiny to figure out the secret behind these amazing, self-replicating fries.  It's becoming pretty clear that this is going to require a lot of eating of fish and chips research.

Humidity is a Bitch

Living in Southwestern Ontario, you get used to humidity. There are days where you'd swear you were slogging through the rain forests of Borneo; you pray for rain to fall so the torture will finally end.

Today is one of those days.

While it's not especially hot out (currently 18 degrees Celsius), the humidity is at 96%. This means that you are sweaty and sticky without actually being hot. Very disconcerting. It also tends to have some other unexpected side effects. For example, this morning I thought I'd treat myself to some homemade pancakes. I've made this same recipe with the same ingredients dozens of times, but this is the first time the batter has looked like this:

Not it's usual consistency. That probably should have clued me into the fact that something was wrong, but I double-checked my ingredients and measurements and all seemed fine, so I decided to plow ahead. When I plopped the too-thick batter on to the frying pan, it just sorta sat there, taunting me:

Looks really appetizing, doesn't it? Mmmmm! It refused to bubble on top which gave me pause, but I persevered and ended up with these lovely pan-biscuits:

They sorta look like toasted crumpets. Fortunately they tasted fine, although a bit filling, so it wasn't a complete failure, but from an aesthetic standpoint I think I'll wait for better weather before trying this for company.

Something to Celebrate

I've been racking up the frequent flyer miles lately with a trip to California and then a trip to Edmonton to attend the wedding of a long-time friend to his perfect woman.  Now that I'm home I'm still feeling a little jet-lagged but no worse for wear overall.

The California leg of the journey was wonderful as always.  The famous Bay to Breakers race was on while I was there and while I did not take part, my Honey and I and a friend went to an after-party in the Haight-Ashbury area where we danced to some decent music and enjoyed the ample people-watching opportunities.  Traditionally, those participants in the race who aren't hardcore runners will dress up in costume and compete for various prizes.  They also tend to consume copious amounts of alcohol/drugs which makes them even more entertaining.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so you'll just have to use your imagination.

My Honey and I flew together to Edmonton on Wednesday to join several friends (and even more complete strangers) in celebrating the wedding of Howard and Laura on Saturday.  We were meeting the bride for the first time and she is a wonderful, beautiful person who is clearly smitten with our friend Howard.  Laura is Mexican and Howard is Chinese so it was a colourful, interesting and multicultural event.  I've posted a few pictures from the ceremony over at my photoblog and there will be more to follow, including some taken at the reception which came after a traditional ten-course Chinese wedding banquet.  All together I took over 500 pictures but clearly they didn't all make the cut.  I will however leave you with this gem:

I've Got Nothing

Sorry guys, blogging has taken a bit of a back-seat to real life lately.  Which sounds like I should have lots of interesting stuff to blog about, but sadly that is not the case.  I've just been really busy with mundane stuff and I've needed to take a bit of a break from having to be witty and amusing ;)  May is gonna be about as much of a write-off as April was, but I have a trip to Cali and a wedding in Edmonton coming up later this month so hopefully that will provide some great blog material and some new pics for the photoblog.

So in closing, I'd like to thank you for visiting and ask for your patience while my life plays itself out over the next few weeks and I promise I'll be back, better than ever, after I get some focus and R&R.  Hopefully you'll be there waiting for me when I get back...

Cat in a Box

My cat (like all cats) loves boxes. Sadly, he seems to be a little too big for this one. Please don't be alarmed by the loud noise at the end--it's coming from an application on my computer called Poke the Penguin.

Sisters

I spent a wonderful day Friday with my two beautiful nieces. They're growing up so fast, every time I see them it's like meeting new people. Two-and-a-half year old Rylie is a baby no more and she's talking up a storm. She follows her older sister around everywhere, copying her every move. Amazingly, they get along wonderfully and Hayden is enjoying her role as big sister and teacher. I'm sure my brother and sister-in-law hope this will never change, but of course it will and before we know it they'll be fighting like cats and dogs. But for now we'll enjoy the peace and joy of watching them explore the world together in sisterly love and companionship.

I'm Probably Blowing This Out of Proportion

As I've already covered in this blog, I work in an in-bound call centre.  Generally speaking the callers are the agents who sell our investment products or their assistants, but occasionally we get clients calling in as well.  Many of our clients are elderly and are often confused by our automated attendant and they either push the wrong button or don't push any button at all and end up speaking to me because apparently I'm the switchboard.

I had to transfer one of these clients to another product queue just today since she couldn't count to 3 and pushed 2 instead.  I conferenced over to the correct area and got my colleague, Wojtek (pronounced VOY-tek).  Wojtek was born in Poland but raised in Canada and speaks flawless and completely unaccented English.  Arguably, he speaks English better than I do.  When I conferenced in the client and introduced Wojtek, the client asked, "Does he speak English?"  My answer:  "Yes, he speaks English," but I was stuck by the sheer stupidity of this question.  I'm pretty sure the ability to speak English is a prerequisite for our job since it involves talking on the phone all day to people who expect you to speak to them in English, regardless of how you pronounce your name.  So here (in descending order of snark) are the answers I really wanted to give this client:

1)  Yes, he speaks English, but he has trouble understanding "bigot" so make sure you speak sloooooowly.

2)  No, he doesn't speak English so he'll be using a translator. But don't worry, you won't even notice the 4 second delay.

3)  Yes, he speaks English but if you ask nicely he'll teach you how to say "fuck you" in Polish.


Sorry for the rant, but this really pissed me off.