Tuesday

I was scheduled to teach Outlook this morning. There were four people signed up and no one showed. I waited for an hour and then headed to St. Lawrence Market for an early lunch (a yummy peameal sandwich).

There were six people signed up to learn Intermediate Excel this afternoon and only one showed up so I gave her a one-on-one.

I'll still charge the client for my day.

I finished reading Blood Thirsty this afternoon.

Gord and I spent a quiet evening watching TV. We watched The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. It was made in 1964 and is what I am Legend with Will Smith was based on. I'm not a fan of old movies and this one was really bad.

Book ~ "Blood Thirsty" (2008) Marshall Karp

From LomaxandBriggs.com ~ Barry Gerber, one of the most hated men in Hollywood, is a no show for a red carpet event. The next morning he turns up dead, killed in such a bizarre way that neither Detective Mike Lomax nor Terry Biggs nor anyone in Forensics has ever seen anything like it before. Two days later, the prime suspect – another despised Show-business Bad Boy – is found murdered in the same sadistic manner.

The list of suspects is as long as the credits in a summer blockbuster. Everyone hated the murdered men. Terry Biggs jokes that this could be an elaborate public service effort to make Hollywood a better place to live and work. But he and Lomax soon find that all jokes are off as they wade through a daunting number of leads to uncover who will be the next victim. What they stumble upon is a motive far more primal than they had ever imagined.

This is the second in the series of three (I read #3 first, then #1).

I like mysteries and I enjoy Karp's comical writing style.

I didn't get a chance to figure out "whodunnit" because we find out about halfway ... but it's interesting to see the twists and turns before the end.

Definitely a series I'd recommend.

7 designer dogs you've never heard of

There's a fun article in today's Toronto Star about designer dogs.

"The Taking of Pelham 123

I worked from home today. I printed off the freelance assignment I got on Wednesday. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

I met Trish this afternoon and we saw The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garbe into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

Gord and I had watched the original a couple weeks ago and I was curious to see how it compared.

It's a good movie ... lots of action. I like John Travolta as a bad guy.

It's kinda the same as the original (1974) but it's been updated to include the Internet, laptops, etc. Plus the ending is way different. I'd recommend it.

Afterwards Trish and I went for a water and a chat for a couple hours.

Chia Kitty and Trish

It's been a while since I saw her so it was great to catch up!

Swimming

There is a small beach just below us.

I had thought about going swimming yesterday afternoon. The air and the water were warm. But I ended up sitting on the deck having a cocktail instead.

Angie and Pat went swimming this morning.

I'm already packed and I didn't feel like digging out my bathing suit, showering afterwards, etc.

Despite the grey sky, they said the water was nice.

Amanda didn't feel like going in either.

Saturday

Amanda, Angie, Jen and Pat and I have gone away for the weekend for the last celebration of Angie's 40th birthday.

We are staying at a resort about 90 minutes north of Toronto.

Chia Kitty came with me.

Here's where we ware staying. We usually come up every year in the winter so it's nice to see what it looks like in the summer. It's gorgeous!

There are clouds (yes, clouds!) of black flies ... something we don't see in Toronto! Very annoying!

Jen and I did a cruise around the Point with Captain Brian. We liked it so much that we didn't get off the boat and we did it again!

Here's the view from my deck:

Here's Jen, Amanda, Pat and Angie:

Angie gave us all gifts ... mine is a magnet that says "It's all about me".

Chia Kitty likes the view too!

Here we are at supper ... me, Jen, Angie, Amanda and Pat.

There is a DJ who spins the tunes every Saturday night in the dining room. He's about 100 years old! The dining room was really quiet tonight and the tunes were lame so we headed out of there early.

Friday

I conducted four retirement planning seminars for the same company in Scarborough today.

Just before the third one (1:00pm), Mary walked in to attend it. She is the wife of one of Gord's good friends ... the friends Gord went away with a couple weekends ago.

For some reason, I've always thought she worked for a law firm ... so it was a surprise to see her (cuz this wasn't a law firm). She was just as surprised to see me! I haven't seen her for a while so we caught up. Small world!

Traffic was freakin' brutal getting home from Scarborough.

Gord and I got groceries when we got home. It's out of the way ... yay! I'm heading out of town tomorrow to spend the weekend with Angie, Pat, Jen and Amanda ... Gord's not going to starve.

Then he BBQed pork steak for supper (I was in charge of the Kraft Dinner). It was delish!

The rest of the night will be spent relaxing ...

Thursday

I conducted a retirement planning seminar in Vaughan at 2:00pm. I went up early and checked out Vaughan Mills. I wasn't a fan of this mall but I didn't find it too bad tonight ... lots of stores seem to have changed. In my quest to refresh my wardrobe, I bought two tops and two pairs of sandals.

I conducted a retirement planning seminar in Concord at 10:00pm. The manager of the company had worked all day and then played a volleyball playoff game ... then snoozed during most of my seminar. Ha! After I was done, he proceeded to repeat everything I had said. Sigh ...

Wednesday

I taught Excel Formulas this morning and Word Mail Merge this afternoon.

Remember the phone interview for a freelance Instructional Designer I had last week ? I received an email today from her with a contract (18 pages!) and an assignment (80 hours of work due the middle of July).

Whoohoo!

Since I live nearby, she had asked me to come in around 5:00 to meet to put a face to name.

I just finished reading The Rabbit Factory.

So it's been a good day!

Book ~ "The Rabbit Factory" (2007) Marshall Karp

From LomaxandBiggs.com ~ Welcome to Lamaar Studios. Once a small Southern California animation house, it has grown into an entertainment conglomerate encompassing movies, television, music, video games, and a sprawling theme park called Familyland.

When an actor portraying Familyland's beloved mascot, Rambunctious Rabbit, is brutally murdered on park grounds, Lamaar executives fear that their idyllic image of '50s America will be shattered. Feeling pressure from the studio, LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs must conduct their investigation while avoiding the public eye.

But as more murders are committed, Lomax and Biggs uncover a sinister plot. Someone has a vendetta against Lamaar, a vendetta worth killing for. With the media closing in and political pressure mounting, the partners must race to discover the Lamaar-hating madman before he brings the family entertainment giant to its knees.

After reading and enjoying Karp's third book in the Lomax and Biggs series a couple weeks ago, I wanted to read the first two (this is the first one).

It's quite long (632 pages) but good ... I didn't find it dragged.

Interesting twists along the way and I didn't figure out who dunnit 'til the end when it was revealed.

And it's not just a murder mystery ... you meet Mike Lomax whose wife had died six months earlier and how he is getting on with his life. His wife left nine letters for him to open, one a month (similar to PS, Cecilia's Ahern's PS, I Love You).

So if you are looking for a mystery with humour, you should check it out.

Obituaries

Does anyone else read the obituaries?

I skim them everyday in the newspaper. Not because I'll know anyone ... Toronto is too big. And not because I'm morbid.

I do it because I'm interested in their stories. It's the same reason I'm attracted to old graveyards.

Were they old? Were they young? Were they loved?

And it is especially interesting how their passing is described. Usually it's "Peacefully ..." or "Passed away in his home ..." or "Following a courageous battle with cancer ...".

Today, though, there are some odd ones (at least I think so as I'm not religious). "Peacefully promoted to Glory ..." and "Peacefully while traveling through the clouds on her way home ...".

It's funny to see the ones that say "Reunited with her husband, Bob, in Heaven ..." and you read on to see that she married Bill after Bob passed on and was still married to Bill when she died. Will Bill be reunited with her AND Bob when he passes on? Hmmm ....

What do you think about writing your own obituary so it expresses everything you want said?

I love shopping ... NOT!

I'm not a fan of shopping.

I do it when I have to.

I needed some tops ... mine are getting tired.

So I headed out first thing this morning. I went to Dixie Value Mall, Square One (Ontario's largest mall) and finally the box stores at Weston/401 before I finally bought anything.

Everything was either too young, too old, too ugly, etc.

I came home with eight tops, though, from Mark's Work Wearhouse and Reitmans. Success!

I'm going away with friends this weekend and needed to pick up some wine and there was a liquor store at Weston/401. The LCBO (our liquor stores) are threatening to go on strike at midnight and I thought I could breeze in since it was 2:00 ... everyone would be at work, right?

Wrong!

There were line-ups and the shelves were looking pretty empty. One guy in the next line-up had two shopping carts full! I imagine it will be crazy at the LCBOs tonight as people stock up at the last minute.

Here in Ontario, the LCBO sells hard liquor, coolers, beer and wine. Our beer stores are separate and they sell beer. The local wineries have their own stores selling wine and coolers. So if the LCBO goes on strike, it will just be hard liquor we won't be able to get.

If your liquor stores went on strike, what would you do?

Niagara Falls

I hosted a Single Horizons event today to Niagara Falls ... I had a busload of 55 people.

We stopped at Magnotta Winery in Beamsville for a while for some wine testing. Then we were off to Niagara Falls.

Gord and I played a bit of Roulette. Rather than playing the tables where there is a $15 per round minimum, we played on a machine that has a $2 per round minimum. I put $30 in the machine with the intent of playing 15 rounds and quitting. My number came up the first round so I won $72 right away! I played just a couple more rounds before cashing out at $90 ... I was happy with my $60 profit.

Gord and I had a late lunch at Taco 'n Tequila. We've had drinks there in the past but this is the first time we've eaten there.
We both had chicken chimichangas ... there were delicious!

Chia Kitty enjoyed a Corona.

Here's Gord as we were leaving.

We did the SkyWheel.

From the SkyWheel, there are some great views of the Canadian side ...

And the U.S. side ...

Then we walked to the Falls. Here's the Canadian side.

Chia Kitty had a good view.

Here are Gord and Chia Kitty.

As we were walking, this little girl ran past us crying, obviously lost. It was great the way that people stopped to help her. Here they are handing her over to a cop.

We got closer to the Falls. There's the Maid of the Mist.

We took the incline train back to the casino to catch the bus home.

Crop update

We got a lot of rain the last couple of days.

No doubt my plants were loving it!

It was sunny and warm today ... no doubt my plants loved that too!

My tomato plants

My chocolate mint

The Proposal

Gord and I saw The Proposal this afternoon.

When high-powered book editor, Margaret, faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she's actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant, Andrew, who she's tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade but with a few conditions of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family and the always-in-control city girl finds herself in one comedic fish-out-of-water situation after another. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences.

It just opened yesterday and the theatre was packed!

It's a cute movie. Not deep at all but a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.

I was buying Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds being in that predicament together.

It's a two hour movie and it didn't drag at all.

Great Lakes Brewery

As you know, Gord loves beer!

So before we went to The Proposal, we stopped at Great Lakes Brewery, which is just around the corner from the theatre.

Founded in 1987, Great Lakes is Toronto’s oldest craft brewery.

Here's Gord sampling.

Their logo on the windows is fun!

Their seasonal, Orange Peel Ale, is now available. Refreshing, zesty and unique, it’s best served with a fresh orange wedge.