paulyblog

I got the chance to play around with the new iPod Touch today.  The 2nd generation of the iPod Touch is pretty sweet because it has a built in speaker.  It actually sounds pretty good for being totally enclosed in the iPod.  I helped my brother sync his music and download some apps from the App Store since it’s his first iPod.  I’m not a huge iPod listener person but I actually have an itch to get the new Touch.  I currently use the previous version of the iPod Nano when I go for runs.  It’s handy with the Nike+ iPod adpater since I can track my runs online.  The new iPod Touch has the Nike+ iPod receiver built in by the looks of things.  So technically all you need is the transceiver that goes in your shoe and you’re all set to run.  I’m not sure if I would feel safe running with the Touch though.  I think I would be too scared that it would get damaged.  It’s amazing the amount of technology you can fit in such a small device.

Apple, gen 2, ipod, speaker, touch Apple, ipod, speaker, touch

I think I might just change my blog to a photoblog…  It would update it a lot more than I have been lately.

Useless Photos, pictures, vegas

A week after I got back from my Eastern Canada trip we decided to go to Vegas.

Friday, August 29th, I get an MSN message on my blackberry.  It’s my old roommate Scott from college.  He was just killing time.  He told me he was in Denver waiting for his connector to Vegas.  I was eating a slice of pizza at the local pizza place.  As our conversation progressed he jokingly said “you guys should come to Vegas”.

I’m bad for impulse purchases and spur of the moment decisions.  I said sure, well be there tomorrow.  After our Pizza we went shopping downtown and I decided to stop by my office to check flights online.  I checked out how many Aeroplan points I had and checked to see if it would cover my flight from here to Vegas.  Luckily for Jenn and I to go it was 50000 points.  I had 40000 but was able to buy the extra 10000 points for about $300.  The total price for flights for both of us was $685.

Jenn and I both kind of looked at each other and started to smile and laugh.  I told her “well if you want to go, call your boss to see if you can get Tuesday and Wednesday off” since Monday was a holiday (Labour day).  She called but her boss wasn’t home so she left a message.  Her boss called her back at around 8pm and said it was ok to go.  I did the same and also go the ok.  We booked our flights and started packing at around 9pm.  By the time I got to bed it was 11:30pm but couldn’t fall asleep until around 2am because I was way too excited.  My mind was thinking at 100 miles an hour, I was trying to think of things that I forgot to pack.

My alarm clock went off at 4am.  That was rough.  We were at the airport at ten after five and on the plane to Toronto at 6am.  From Toronto our flight to Denver only left at 3ish because of mechanical problems.  That was kind of scary but the plane got us there.  We made it to Vegas at 7:30pm.  That was a long day, especially 7:30 Vegas time is really 10:30 our time.  We tried to get tickets for the 11pm Chris Rock show so we could go with the rest of the people that we met up with but they were sold out.

While in Vegas we went to see two Cirque Du Soleil shows.  The first one was Mystere and the second was Zumanity. They were both really cool.  I would go see another Cirque Du Soleil show any day.  We went to a bunch of casino’s and checked out the strip.  We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.  That was better than whe I expected.  One night we checked out Studio 54 at the MGM Grand.  It was a good thing that my friend Scott had VIP tickets because the lineup was huge.  It was $30 cover for Jenn and I to get in.  $20 for me, $10 for her.  When we got in, I ordered a beer and a drink for Jenn.  I gave the bartender $20 and he gave me a receipt.  Beer was $8 and drinks were $12.  I was sober at the start of the night and drunk at the end.  It was an expensive night.

Towards the end of our trip we decided to rent a car to go check out the Grand Canyon and the Hoover dam.  Kyle and Ian came with us and Clint and Scott stayed back since they had already been.  We went to the West rim of the Grand Canyon since it was only 2.5 hours away.  The Hoover dam was wicked.  I’m really happy that I got to cross on the dam before the bridge opens up.  I took a bunch of pictures.  The Grand Canyon was pretty incredible but I found it a little expensive.  Parking was $20 but once in the parking you had no choice but to get on the bus to go to the lookouts.  That was an extra $30 something per person.  Before leaving on the bus you also had to buy your tickets for the Skywalk at an additional price of $30 something per person.  So for parking and admission it cost me $155.  The biggest disappointment was that I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera on the Skywalk to take pictures.  They were the ones taking the pictures and tried to sell them to me for $100.

Overall our trip to Vegas was excellent.  We spent a lot of money but it was worth it.  Next time I think I will spend less time in the malls because I did end up getting all kinds of clothes.  Maybe I will waste more money at the Casino.  I’m happy to say that I didn’t lose any money on gambling.  Actually Jenn found $100 chip on the floor at the hotel we were staying at, Planet Hollywood.

I think we will go back to Vegas next year.  We enjoyed it.

Pictures to follow.

cirque du soleil, grand canyon, hoover dam, impluse, studio 54, vegas grand canyon, hoover dam, impluse, mgm grand, mystere, new york new york, paulyblog, shark reef, skywalk, studio 54, vegas, zumanity

If were wondering if I was gone well the answer is yes.  That would also explain why I haven’t updated anything in a little while.  I went on a road trip with my Dad.  That’s right, just the two of us.  My dad has been wanting to do this ever since he got back from a trip out West with my brothers in 2003.  This time we went out East.

Some of the places we saw during our trip were Monteith, North Bay, Ottawa, Montreal, Valcourt, Quebec, Rivière-du-Loup, Matane, Rimouski, Gaspé, Percé, Moncton, Prince Edwards Island, Grand Falls, Edmundston, Mont Laurier, Val-d’Or & Rouyn Noranda.

I took lots of pictures but haven’t sorted through them or uploaded them yet.  I will do that in the following days and post some on here.

Some of the highlights of my trip were (not in any order):

• Visiting the Bombardier Museum and factory in Valcourt Quebec
• Visiting the Biodome in Montreal
• Visiting the Olympic Tower in Montreal
• Camping with my dad all over the East coast
• Seeing the Fleuve Saint-Laurent as we drove around Gaspesie
• Going on a boat tour with my dad in Vieux Quebec
• Visiting my cousin and her family in Moncton
• Getting a replacement wide angle lens at Future Shop after I broke mine in Mont Saint-Pierre
• Seeing real live penguins at the Biodome
• Taking pictures by a lighthouse
• Eating the best cod I’ve ever had
• Seeing Nova Scotia even though we were on the way to PEI
• Seeing the new Dodge Challenger 500
• Crossing the Confederation Bridge to PEI
• Seeing the longest covered bridge in the world located in Hartland, NB
• Checking out the falls in Grand Falls
• Visiting the Saint-Joseph’s Oratory with my dad
• Going to see Mont-Laurier with my dad
• Being on holidays for 2 weeks, only being disturbed a few times by work

Now it’s back to the madness we call work.  Summer hours are almost over.  This Friday is my last one off.  Next week is going to be long.

Useless biodome, bombardier, brp, Canada, confederation bridge, gaspesie, museum, pei, quebec, trip, vacation, valcourt

This weekend was pretty cool.  We got to play Amazing Race.  A co-worker invited us since they were looking for an extra team this year.  The guy who set it up spent months of thinking and weeks of planning to get this race organized.  He did an amazing job at it.  I mean we had to dig through sand piles, go into a loon shit infested lake and race all around town to get clues.

The race started at 10am and finished around 8pm.  It was a long rainy day.  We drove way faster than we should have and probably pissed off tons of people but it’s hard not to when you see your competitor is right behind you.

Some of the challenges were pretty cool and some just took too long to do in the pooring rain.  Overall the race was wicked.  I hope to be invited again next year.  Who knows, maybe I will organize something like it in the future.

amazing race, game, paulyblog amazing race, game, paulyblog

I got an e-mail last week from the salesman at Subaru that I was dealing with a month ago when I was looking at the Subaru Impreza 2.5i.  For the month of July they are having a $4000 cash rebate on all 2008 Subaru Impreza models.  The monthly payment would have been a little more than the Civic but the car is all wheel drive.  Still, I have no regrets with the Civic.  I can get it service locally and I know the service is great.

Cars impreza, rebate, subaru

I want the Blackberry Curve.  When I got my 8830 World Edition the Curve wasn’t out with Telus yet.  I kind of regret buying my phone because now the Curve is $149 on a 3 yr contract vs. $299 on a 3 yr contract for my phone.  It’s also smaller and it has a built in camera.  I didn’t think I would miss the camera all that much but I do.  Especially the ability to geotag photos and upload them directly to my flickr account from the phone.  I have posted my phone for sale online with all the accessories (skin, case, battery) and will try to sell it.  I will pay full pop for the Curve if I can sell my phone.  I would like to be able to geotag photos and upload them instantly during my August road trip.

Useless

It’s 2AM and I can’t sleep.  I am in the same boat as I was last night.  Actually it was the same exact thing as last night.  I was super tired after supper and at around 8:30PM I passed out for 2 hours.  Now I can’t fall asleep.  I was lucky enough to pull it off on Monday.  I passed out at around 8PM, woke up at 11:22PM and fell back asleep until morning.  Lately I have been super tired and I’ve been having a hard time to fall asleep.  It might be because my mind is wandering all night.  I have so many things to do, so many things on my mind and don’t have enough time to do it all.  So when I go to bed that’s all I really think about and the things that I haven’t accomplished.  I need a break

I talked to my dad today about our August trip.  I will be going to Ottawa, Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Gaspe and maybe Moncton with him.  He wants to go check out the Grand Prix Molson in Trois Rivieres with me.  He remembers when he was younger and went to the Grand Prix with some friends and would like to do it again.  After the Grand Prix Molson we will spend a few days in Quebec city.  So far we don’t have it all planned out but I will do that in the weeks to come.  I think I might have convinced him to take my our (mine and Jenn’s) Civic for the road trip instead of his truck.  Gas is at $1.40/Litre here and my Civic get’s 50 MPG.

I am kind of looking forward to morning as we are supposed to go canoeing down a scenic river nearby.  I hope it doesn’t rain.  I don’t want to cancel this excursion.

I will try to sleep again.

paulyblog, personal, tired paulyblog, Road trip, tired

Rogers announced this morning that it will offer a 6GB data package that you can add on to any of their existing voice plans for $30 per month.  I think this is Rogers way of accomodating power users as they do not have any unlimited data plans.  Myself, I am with Telus and was fortunate enough to get unlimited data for $15 per month. The only downside is I cannot connect to my Blackberry server at the office because that rate plan is only for personal e-mails.  However I can still receive my e-mails wirelessly with the blackberry internet service and my calendar with google sync.

Effective July 11, and as a limited time promotional offer for customers
who activate by August 31 on a three year contract, a data-only offering of
6GB of data for $30 per month is being made available that can be added to any
in-market voice plan. For example, with 6GB of data, iPhone 3G users can visit
35,952 web pages, or send and receive 157,286 emails, or watch 6,292 minutes
of YouTube videos each and every month.(xx)

Apple, Canada, iphone, rogers Apple, iphone, phone, rogers

We picked it up last Friday.  It was pretty cool to buy our first car.  The official mileage after the pre-delivery and inspection was 11km.  Now it’s at about 150km.  It rides nice, way better than my older 96 Civic.  The best part is the MP3 CD player.  I doubt I will ever need a satellite radio again.  Jenn has been making MP3 CD’s like crazy.  The fact that you can fit about 200 songs on one CD is pretty cool too.  I won’t need a dozen CD’s anymore.

Last week we were also supposed to buy a 2000 Nissan Xterra.  On Friday I went to the bank to get a bank draft for the price of the Xterra and the safety certification.  I was told by the dealer that all it needed for the safety certification was a few lights and the safety would only cost $205 plus taxes.  It sounds too good to be true since I remembered the brakes pulsing during the test drive.  The person in the service department assured me that the brakes were fine to pass the safety and that the pulsing was probably due to fact that the vehicle was sitting on the lot.

On my way to the dealer on Friday I was called back into the office to help someone with an e-mail server problem and I didn’t make it to the dealership before closing.  I was alright with it because I was told the safety certification still needed to be completed before the vehicle could be licensed.  I also was second guessing myself and wanted to take the weekend to think about it.

On the weekend Jenn and I went back to see the Xterra and decided that we would get it.  The price was right, it didn’t need much to safety and we were in the need of a more reliable vehicle.  The weekend went by and this morning I went to the dealer and dropped off the bank draft.  The vehicle was supposed to get its safety certification and I was to be called once it was complete.

This afternoon I got a call from the head of the service department and was told that the person that had done the safety check last week didn’t have time to complete it because he spent too much time lubing the gear for the 4wd because it wouldn’t go in 4-low.  That’s when I was informed that the front brakes, rotors, wheel bearings, pinion seals, and a few more critical things needed to be done for the vehicle to be safetied.  It went from $205 to an extra $500 for the safety certification.  The dealer did give me a good price on the work that needed to be done but I just couldn’t spend an extra $500.

I was already cutting it close since I was using the money that I needed for my basement repairs and this would have made things way too tight.  I was hoping to get most of that money back by selling my 2 older vehicles but I haven’t gotten any offers on them yet.  I just couldn’t risk being stuck with 4 cars.  Disappointed, I picked up my refund at the dealer this afternoon.  I wish I would of known this earlier on because I really did want the Xterra.  It got my hopes up.

I am doing my basement wall in 2 weeks. I hope I sell one of my vehicles by then.  Now I am not sure what one to get rid of.  I have wheel bearings coming in for the older Civic.  Once the wheel bearings are installed the car will be good to go.  The S10 is in rought cosmetic shape but it runs like a dream.  Doesn’t burn an ouce of oil.  It has never given me any problems.  I will clean up the rust and give it a coat of tremclad rust paint.  I guess I will just have to wait and see which vehicle sells first.  The one that’s left will be the one I end up keeping.

Cars, civic, decisions, paulyblog, s10 Cars, civic, decisions, paulyblog