Days LVIII and LIX

I headed out on day LVIII with Ed, Pauline and Nerys to Tesco Extra around 1 pm. There was much juggling to get all the luggage and baby accessories in... but when I got there I was rewarded by pushing Alice in the pram!

Shopping at Tesco Extra is a bit like shopping at Superstore back home. There's everything you really need. I actually needed to pick up a golf shirt for Countdown (you have to bring x number of outfits, in case some don't work) and I ended up buying a suit. Yes, a suit. When a suit, even one that needs a bit of tailoring costs you 24pound50 and is actually of good quality, you buy it and you get it mailed home. I would have bought more but I really don't want to blow the wad... quite yet!

I got to Bristol, my next stop, around 6 pm. Could have easily taken a bus but really... I was tired and didn't feel like it, so I paid three times more for a cab which pretty much got stuck in traffic. The hotel I stayed in was quite nice... if a bit cramped. But it would pay the dividends the next day, trust me. And what does supper equate at this time? Yay! A visit to sandwich world at Sainsbury's. What fun. Really though, I'm a sandwich kinda guy. I was actually wanting to watch Britain's Best Brain on Five but it figured the hotel couldn't get it.

So let's cut to the chase. I'm sure Bristol is a nice city. And sometime I'll go back. However, I was in Bristol for one reason and one reason only: it's where they record the British version of Deal or No Deal on Day LIX.

I was the first to make it into the reception area at 8.30am ish for a 9am "arrival". "Arrival" is a bit of a misnomer in the tv taping world. It could mean get there at that time. Probably it doesn't though. Back in the days when Barker hosted Price, if you arrived at 9 am, at it suggested, you would never get in.

There was a nice couple, James and Paula, from nearby Bath behind me. We got chatting, and when we got put into holding we continued our conversation. We even got to take our picture with Noel Edmonds, the host...

... in a manner of speaking. It's a display they've set up in the holding area. There were no cameras allowed in the studio - I certainly wasn't going to challenge that. They also had a Deal ticket game and fruit machine... plus other assorted props (Grandmama/Grandpapa artwork from Trick or Treat Week, the photo props from Seaside Specials back in June, etc).

We headed into the studio around 9.30 am. The audience members are called "pilgrims" and the studio is called the "dream factory". And it truly is that. The guy warming us up was great... at one point he asked who came from afar... I raised my hand and was introduced as "the guy from Canada who said one of his main reasons for coming to the UK was to see Deal". Which was true. I was also used as the example for how to clap and "whoop" a lot. I've been to many game show tapings - I know what to do and I do it well :)

After the first show we had perhaps 10 minutes to go back to holding, go to the loo, and then load back in the studio. I sat the first game in the audience section closest to the East Wing (if you've seen the show, you'll understand) and got "promoted" to the centre section for game two. The warmup guy chatted with me further and introduced me to Noel, the host, and I got to shake his hand and say a quick hello. I was further pointed out to the crowd when I said I was due to appear on Countdown... and the sound techs even through on a music clip from the show! It was quite fun as after the taping several people wished me good luck.

I was only scheduled to see the first two shows in the morning... but the opportunity to be in the audience for the third and final show of the day was too much to pass up. As I was leaving to go back to the hotel to grab my luggage to bring it back to the studio (as I had left it there for safekeeping) I was pulled aside by a production associate of the show... who gave me a Deal or No Deal cue card and an autographed picture of Noel! I didn't even ask. I was gobsmacked.

I literally ran back to the hotel to get my bags and ran back with them on (too, too heavy, must pack MUCH lighter) to the studio. As I was dripping of sweat, someone came up to me and asked me if I posted at a certain website... which I do... and it turned out it was someone who posted there as well. We had a nice chat and ended up sitting next to each other in the studio.

When game three wrapped up it was time for me to head out. As I was leaving, one of the contestants came up and shaked my hand - we'll call him K - and said he was very happy that I had been in the studio because he could tell that I was very energetic and that added to the game. Actually when it was pointed out that I was from Canada I got a huge round of applause from all 22 contestants on stage.

I have to say this. I have been lucky enough to attend, I would say, in the range of 40-50 television tapings in my short life thus far. While I realize that this is the most recent one, I would be hard, very hard pressed to not say that this was the single best experience I've ever had a tv studio. Everyone - the audience staffers, the security crew, the tech crew, the contestants in the East and West wings, Noel... and even the banker - made this a PHENOMENAL experience. I just wish I could go back sooner rather than later... but don't worry Endemol, I'll be back.

And you can watch the results of the shows on January 28th, 29th and 31st. I can't say how they went - I'm actually contractually obligated not to - but I look forward to seeing how they turn out on screen, because damn, they were awesome to watch in the studio.

The rest of the day was walk to the train station, take a two hour train to Weymouth, check into the hotel. 'Nuff said.

I'd write some about Day LIX... but it's late on Day LXI and I'm knackered. Coming this month... no more roman numerals!

Cheers,

Vick.

Days LIV, LV, LVI, and LVII

We all took it easy at the Nyall Court compound on Saturday morning. I had a bit of a lie in myself! Around mid morning though we started to decorate for that evening’s Halloween party with Emily and Chris and their friends. We put up many different things that Em bought when she was last home at the Dollarama.

In the afternoon we picked up Em’s workmate Jenn and out went out to do some shopping. We went to Tesco’s Extra (which is pretty much your run of the mill hypermarket)… but look at the deals… make up kit 90p! Long sleeve white shirt 4 pounds! Glow in the dark fangs 7p! Four pack of mars ice cream bars 1 pound! Okay… so that last one really doesn’t count but I did share them with the rest of my car-mates.

The guests started arriving around 7.30 pm and so did the fun. Emily was Marie Antionette, Chris was an executioner, Jen was Wednesday Addams and I was Dr. Horrible. Or at least as close as I could be, given that there was no dentist or barber’s outfits to be found! The place looked great and we were ready to party.

Emily had set up some party games, and probably the most fun was had during something I’ll call Project Runway: Halloween. Each group of four had 30 minutes to dress up their chosen subject in a Halloween costume made entirely out of newspaper. Our group had an absolute ball – we just laughed hysterically the whole time. We didn’t win but really who cared.

The guests were a great bunch. Most of them were teachers and their spouses from Emily’s school with a good couple of ex-pat Canucks (yours included) thrown into the mix. The party progressed with great food and drink, more games including bobbing for multiple apples, and wound up around 1 am in the morning.

Thank goodness, then, that day LV started with a one hour fall back. That made it a bit more tolerable to get up and get out and catch a train around 8.25 am. And this will become key.

The train route was Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street, and then a tube to London Paddington. I made good time, and then proceeded to lose time fighting with the automated ticket machine. Also key.

I got on the train to London Paddington. And it was the wrong line – the Metropolitan wouldn’t take me to Paddington, so I got off at Moorehead and switched to the Hammersmith and City line. Here’s the third key.

I get off the train at Paddington and about to head up the stairs when I look up and am, as the Brits say, gobsmacked. There, walking down the stairs, is a former coworker from the school I work at! I am a big believer in things happening for a reason, and a bit of fate thrown in for good luck. We had a quick catch up chat and switched emails to hopefully meet up again in London later on when I was passing through.

I hopped on a train around 10.30 am at Paddington and found myself in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, about two and a half hours later. I met up with my friends Ruth and Gareth and we headed over to see the rally car exhibition that was going on by the quay. It was really cool – the first thing we saw was stunt driver, Paul Swift, drive on two wheels of a four wheel car! And he was nice enough as well to pose for a quick picture, as you can see.

We then headed over to the stunt car area, where we could actually sit in these cars that I don’t think I would ever be able to afford.

Following that we found the Citroen tent where we played a virtual car racing game which I was pants at. But there was free hot chocolate! Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I always say. Plus it turned out one of the workers had a friend who was a teacher that lived one half hour away from me back in Canada… unfortunately we weren’t able to stay and meet her as she was running behind.

Harry Ramsden’s was our next stop. While this restaurant offers a chance to clean the biggest plate of food to win a place on their wall of fame a la Great Outdoors, I stuck with an order of chips. Three teenage girls were fascinated with my accent and promised to watch my upcoming tv appearance. Whilst eating the chips, we passed by an eight foot butterfly, her hopefully captor and a man juggling… so he let me have a go!

After all that we continued the exciting afternoon jaunt to Barry Island, where we had a nice walk along the beach (even though it was quite windy). When we got back to the house we all crashed for a bit, as it had been a long day already!

Following an excellent dinner – sorry, ‘tea’! - of beef stew and rice pudding with homemade jam, we settled in for a night of Singstar. We must have played for about two, maybe three hours (actually it was two – after we finished off the X-Factor results show). Ruth and Gareth are as hard core as I am about this game and we had quite a few laughs – especially when we got to the Rock Ballads version and I proceeded to crank out the Literal Video Version of I would do anything for love(but I won’t do that). And screeching out Black Velvet.

Singstar: the only game where you almost guarantee you will be the best if you sing really really loud.

Day LVI featured as its main dish a cooked breakfast including, among other things, black pudding. Someone was going to tell me what was in it – but I figured that wasn’t what I wanted to hear (it’s actually got blood in it – fact). Following some more Wiiing where I hit 20 points on basketball, Ruth’s parents came over. We had a small chat, and then the five of us headed over to meet up with Mark and Sally in the ‘Pont’, near Swansea.

How I know Mark is a testament to the written word. When I lived in the Mumbles, at which time I was about 6 years old, I received a chain letter. This was back before the time of email, so there was no chain lettering of how to order little blue pills, or how a Nigerian prince needs your money. The letter said to send a postcard to one person, and that you would get 80-100 back. Well, sufficient to say that I didn’t get 80. Not even double digits… I got one. From someone named Mark who lived in Wales.

That was 1984 – so Mark and I have been corresponding for 25 years now. We’ve met in person twice in Canada when he and Sally were visiting, and this marks the fourth time that I’ve been to the UK and had the chance to meet up.

It was quite exciting to pull into the drive and meet Mark and Sally’s children – neither of whom were born when I previously visited. Will is 7 and Tom is 3 and they are about the nicest kids you could want! Mark and Sally had prepared a nice spread of lunch including wonderful cakes… the orange ones were a personal fave.

Following lunch the group of us headed out to the Mumbles Pier. As we got closer certain parts of the area started looking familiar from my last visit here in 2002. We parked and then much to the amusement of Tom and Will especially we headed over to the arcade. Will played a few racing games, then we played skittles (read: bowling). It was quite difficult for me to get in a good rythym – the balls were five pin size but there were ten pins that weren’t really ten pin size, and there wasn’t much lead up space, and you used your own shoes. After a while I just figured it was best to whip the ball down the lane.

On the way out as is my tradition I played a dance machine, and sufficiently impressed the crowd. Next was ice cream… then the day continued with a mad dash to find a Barclay’s cashpoint machine (called “hole in the wall”, natch),

getting soundly beaten by Will on a Playstation racing game, discovering the kids were surprisingly good at Singstar Disney,

and once they headed to bed, a few rounds of Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Party Edition which uses the Buzz! buzzers and should be ported across the pond. We got to a million… although here’s a fact, we had to use a dictionary to look up what a “thaumaturge” was – I actually was right in my reasoning but we wanted an official source to confirm that it indeed was a sorcerer (playwright is one of the choices – but that’s a “dramaturge”).

On Day LVII I was awakened by Tom when he decided to jump on my bed! I let him type his name on Bort (my netbook) and then let him hear the synthesized speech: he was quite excited! After breakfast and a visit with Sally’s parents we headed down to the Mumbles so I could meet up with a friend from my dive club back in Canada for a dive.

And imagine my surprise when the dive site ended up being at the bottom of Plunch Lane – the street where I lived way back when! I was tickled pink at that fact, and at the fact that Steph and her aunt had arrived from Swindon safely. We then met up with Dave, the owner of Bay Divers, as well as his assistants Tony and Leigh, along with Dave’s daughters who were doing shore support. I was very impressed with his philosophies, as they were very similar as mine, so I felt very comfortable diving with his organization instantly.

I’d love to tell you the dive went great, but unfortunately that’d be a lie, because we got in the water, realized it was too rough (which we were told later was extremely rare) and we had to call the dive. Which really stunk… but you can’t put a price on safety. Yes it was horrid that we had to lug all of the gear here there and everywhere but what are you going to do? Nevertheless the six of us then sat down, had some hot drinks, and swapped diving stories. Dave was even nice enough to drop me off at my next destination. While we didn’t get to dive, I was SEVERELY impressed with their organization, would highly recommend them, and will most certainly come back to dive with them again. And perhaps one day they’ll come and dive on our side of the pond!

Dave dropped me at Ed and Pauline’s house. Ed was my dad’s rotary mentor when he first came over in 1977 and they have been great friends ever since, and have always warmly welcomed me in when I have come back to visit. They also made sure to call Nerys, their daughter, her husband Johnathan and their new baby Alice – six weeks! – to come over for dinner. Again much swapping of stories was done, and many laughs were had. Alice even loved my Mr. Bean and Kermit the Frog impressions – oh, that kid is so nice… she doesn’t know any better!

I apologize dear readers for the long post but what are you going to do? I hope you are enjoy the blog and I will continue to entertain as much as I can!

Cheers,
Vick.

Day LI (which pretty much blended into day LII), and Day LIII

I awoke at 5.50 am on Day LI with a pep in my step! It had finally arrived, the day that I was headed to Europe! I knew there was lots to do, so I cracked down and got the dishes done (again?), put the garbage, green bin and recyclables out, and did a final check that I had everything (and by all accounts, too much – typical).

Mom arrived around 9.30 am so we buzzed around town getting the last few things necessary. We did discover that indeed Zellers had a “Canadian” section, much what the cashier said to the contrary. We also discovered that the postal system doesn’t want to be as quick as you want it to be. Plus it is possible for me to visit 8 people in two minutes when I’m in a time crunch at work. Seriously.

We got back to the house, unplugged everything, did final cleaning - including making sure the toilet wouldn't implode (long story) - and then left around 1pm. Picked up lunch at Extreme Pita, got to the airport, checked in, sat for a few minutes, and chatted with a gentleman from England who loved Millionaire. I am very excited that I get to see two more tapings of this fine quality product next month!

I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to carry both my small daypack and my pelican case with my underwater camera, but they did get through. Problem number one adverted. My alterness was further caught seeing someone being escorted through security by Canadian Border Services... who ended up on the same flight as me!

In any case, check in was at about 5.10, approx 35 minutes before the flight hit. I have never flown KLM before and was severely impressed. The food was awesome - dinner was pasta and cherry tomatoes, tuna and chick pea salad, a brownie... plus the wine was complimentary. I figured, when in Rome... Wait, did I say wine? I meant root beer. Yes, root beer.

The only thing was that my flight was one of the few that didn't have seat back teevee... but it wasn't bad for two reasons - they played The Proposal and an old Mr. Bean (the one where he blows up the paint) and my seat mates Keith and Desmond were phenomenal storytellers. Desmond was on his way to Lyon, France, to visit his daughter who was on exchange, and Keith, who shares most of the same life philosophies as myself, was on the way to Glasgow to meet up with friends that shared the same love of a band. Plus he was doing a Beatles-themed tour in Liverpool!

I got into Amsterdam about 45 minutes earlier than expected. On the way out someone spotted my Pelican case and asked if it was dive gear... and thus I met someone from Buffalo who was in Amsterdam visiting friends.

I actually was holding up well at this point. I should explain that it was significantly cheaper for me to fly YYZ-AMS-LHR then it was direct. Weirdness insues. So while the 3 hour stopover was slightly draining it worked pretty well. I met a nice couple from Kitchener-Waterloo of which the husband used to live in a town just near where I live now. I would tell you about the flight... but (a) it was an hour long and (b) I slept through it.

Getting into Heathrow I had to clear customs. One thing that having the stopover created was a short hop flight that had mostly EU passport holders on it. As such, I spent a whopping three minutes waiting for a customs agent. In fact I spent more time filling out the form. I did get a good grilling, although near the end of the conversation the nice customs lady asked what else I was doing besides visiting my friend in Gidea Park... I chipped in about Countdown and she was very surprised! Maybe I should have started with that...

In any case I got my luggage, got a ticket and headed onto the tube (North Americans read: subway) and headed off to Liverpool Street station. The ride was fine... until I got into Central London. Not much space inside that there tube! Although that being said the switch to the Central line (I started on Picadilly) at Holborn was very efficient. Got a train to Romford at Liverpool Steet and hopped a black cab to Emily's school. It was so nice to see her! She gave me her keys and then I made it back to her flat.

At this point I was still holding up pretty well... although I felt like I was in a bit of stupor. I actually made it through Countdown although my score was really horrible but I guess that didn't matter because I had been up for the better part of 36 hours at this point. I did manage to take a small nap while watching Deal or No Deal (although not intentionally as it is better than the US version - yes, I said it).

Chris, Emily's partner, got home around 5 pm and we caught up, I having met him when he was in Canada previously. He is a teacher as well so we swapped war tales. All teachers love students, never forget that kids! He decided that I needed a proper meal, so we went and got fish and chips at a proper takeaway called:

In any case as you might imagine I pulled out anything and everything that was even related to a saying in Newfoundland at that point which I do believe enriched the cultural experience for everyone, natch. And the portions were huge! They don't wrap them in actual newspaper like they did when I was a youngin' living in the Mumbles. Sigh.

Emily's open house night at her school finished around 8.30 pm so we picked her up and went out for a pint. Chris and I were feeling very patriotic...

so we broke out the Canada apparel (and yes, readers, I had changed at this point, this wasn't what I wore during my travels). I fell asleep at about 11 pm, which I thought was quite good for the time change.

I awoke at about 7.45 am on Day LIII, which I thought was pretty bizarre, as I usually have a much longer sleep in (that being said it's Day LIV when I'm typing this, and I made it to 8.06 am so really that's consistent) when I travel abroad. HOWEVER! I had a lazy morning after Chris and Em left for work. It was a 'booking' morning as I tried to clear up a few more locations. So Weymouth is booked in full for next week. I rebooked Paris - I was in a hostel but figured I should go to a hotel because of my luggage situtation. And possibly most exciting, I booked a hotel in Stuttgart. Why Stuttgart? Well, I also booked a ticket to see WICKED: Die Hexen Von Oz! Yes, although my language skills are limited, I am going to see Wicked in German! I figure why not? I anticipate I'll be singing along in English but I want the experience nevertheless. I am going to make sure to buy the soundtrack as well, as Kari B mentioned that she wanted to see how "Popular" played in German. I heard a clip, plays just as well as the English version :)

I headed out around noon to do a bit of exploring, mostly to find the train station. Well as it turned out I went completely the wrong way but I did enjoy my walk about Gidea Park. I did make it to the train station eventually (right where Chris said it would be, natch) and did pick up a lotto ticket as I am going to win it today. Sure sure right.

Em came home around 2 pm (it was a PD day for her) so we watched Countdown, Deal or No Deal and (The) Weakest Link. While I realize that's there not a lot of 'freeview' tv as it's called, at least they know how to have good game shows! Even the CBBC show Keep your enemies close seemed to pass the time (although inflating rubber dish gloves does not a good game make).

All three of us were sluggish at this point so we decided to order in pizza and just play Scrabble. I got my behind severely handed to me on a platter... with Emily getting to start and Chris bingoing (played his entire rack) on his first turn, I was playing catch up the whole game, although I saved face by at least getting past the century mark.

So all in all a good trip so far! And it will only get crazier, I'm sure!

Cheers,

Vick.

Days XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII, XLIX, L

Ok so I've been a bit deliquent in my postings but for the last week it's been AHHHHH I'M GOING ON A PLANE ON WEDNESDAY AND I'M NOT EVEN READY AHHHHHH kind of mode.

Day XLVI I said goodbye to the car. It's been a good run. 207,500 km (although the first 96,000 weren't driven by me) and it got donated to a good cause. So I'm pleased... although what's the first thing I did? Got me a rental car. Got a weekend special... was supposed to get a Suzuki Swift (or as I would call it a "box on wheels" because I would barely fit in the driver side) but instead got a free upgrade to a Mazda 3! So the drive to and from my friend's house for her birthday party that night was slightly better.

Day XLVII I headed up north in the shiny new (ok, fine it's a rental with 5500k's on it, but still) car and volunteered at my friend's farm. It's a real fun time - I just helped people off and on the wagon ride for a few hours and that's my kind of thing. Those of you who know me (which is probably most) know that I'm a people person and it was nice chatting with the visitors.

The day was even more exciting because I got to go for a dive. We had a nice dive Saturday afternoon and I didn't even have to hold the float and flag (which I do most times). Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't dive without it but I enjoyed the freedom of having someone else do it! Such great viz in the water as well. Later on we headed back to my friend's house for pizza and... um... root beer? Yeah, let's go with that.

Day XLVIII was another catch up day. A good chunk of it was spent running around doing errands town... and getting "Canadiana" gifts for friends in Europe. Which included razor cartridges and Advil. You know who you are!

The evening brought Amazing Race... and saying goodbye for a while to some good friends. Not before going out for nachos and... um... root beer? Sure.

Day XLIX I got a call about 9 am... it was Endemol Germany! I now officially have tickets for Wer Wird Millionar?, the German version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire! So if you're playing along folks, I now am seeing 6 game show tapings in the next little while before the new year! Not bad.

After all of that excitement I headed back up north. My friend helped me pack my dive gear and then we marked some tests... and I said goodbye for awhile again. This I find is the hard part! I am a bit nervous about being away from my friends in the dive club... because it is such a great group. BUT! Adventure awaits.

I dropped the car off at the rental agency and then got a ride back (SHAMELESS PLUG: I get no money for saying this but I really really like the service at Enterprise. Plus their "we'll pick you up/we'll drop you off" is brilliant and I can't quite understand why others don't do it). Monday is ultimate frisbee night in the fall, so I went out, walked to the field, actually made some decent plays (including an awesome huck near the end of the of the game, natch), and then went and hung out with some of the players for chips and... um... root beer? Third time's the charm.

Day L, today, was filled with a lot of "check, check" moments. Laundry is done. Floors are cleaned. Documents are printed out. Flight is confirmed (and my luggage situation averted). Luggage is packed. The special projects I'm working on (which, if and when they get to the "go" stage, you'll hear about it) are completed as far as I can tell at this point. The only thing that is annoying me is the fact that I haven't got my Season Five Mole soundtrack yet. I ordered it three weeks ago. Dear mail system, can I please have it and my staycation prize? Thanks much, The Vick.

So it was a bit relaxing when I got picked up around 5 pm to head out for eats with my good friend from work... we went out for pad thai, it was AWESOME! I have driven by this restaurant hundreds of time but never stopped until now. I'll be going back frequently!

And this night wrapped up with some good, old school, $100,000 Pyramid game playing. It made me flash back to one of my OUPIR visits where in an absolutely stupid moment I said "A rotary club!" for "Things that rotate"... which is a no-no! I pride myself on being quite the pyramid player... not that night!

So there we are dear readers. It's 9.30 pm on day L. Fifty days in and I'm really having the time of my life. And the next fifty days will take me on quite the ride... and it is almost fifty days. I fly back on day 99 - IC. I see myself having a great time.

Cheers,
Vick.

Days XLIII, XLIV, XLV

Well Day XLIII ended up being a Tuesday, so it was cheap night at the movies. So I called J, my good friend from work, and we went over to see Zombieland. Yes, you might think it's a schlocky movie about zombies, but I love zombies and it was great. I would go see it again, very well written - it was the two guys who wrote my personal favourite spoof of everything reality television loves to exploit, The Joe Schmo Show. How many of you knew that?

Earlier that day, however, I thought it was a good idea to go run errands on my bicycle. Yeah no. It would have been fine, except for a wicked, wicked northwind. However it was some great exercise!

Day XLIV was a Wednesday... so it is dive night! Which is always good. I headed up in the afternoon and knocked off a few of my "dive list" items which I need to get done before next week. And I had an awesome dive. I haven't done a night dive in awhile, it was very very peaceful.

So then I headed home on the major highway. Just south of the city I'm listening to some tunes and I hear a really bad noise and there is smoke coming out of the front of the car. So I calmy slow down my speed, pull over and put my four way flashers on, and then I call my friend.

Me: So, you remember how we joked my car was going to die?
Him: Yeah?
Me: Yeah, I think this is it.

So he, his son and another friend came out and helped me. Sufficient to say it was a bit scary sitting on the side of the highway in the pitch dark, however my friend's son can change a tire with no problem. I am thankful it was the passenger side though, so at least we could sort of do it safely.

We ended up parking it at Tim Horton's overnight and then I drove it back home (about 60 clicks) using the spare. It's been in the driveway ever since, and is leaving within about a half hour of me finishing to type this.

So as you can see Day XLV was full of excitement to start. It also meant that it was me and the public transport system to get to the dentist! Good news, no cavities. Did a bit of shopping but not too much either.

Those of you have rode in my car may leave your comments :)

Cheers,
Vick

Days XL, XLI and XLII

One of the nice things about being away for the weekend is that you can just sloooooow dooooooooowwwwwn and take it easy. The hotel we stayed in had an indoor pool and jacuzzi so that helped things! The continental breakfast that morning was BUSY however because there was a convention of "Les Filles d'Isabelle" (which, I'm told, is the feminine equivalent of the Knights of Columbus) so we were jostling for everything cerealesque. They also had a toaster with a digital timer. I suppose a watched pot never boils, but this is ridiculous!

We went to the downtown mall and the first thing I saw was this sign. The "Jelly Jump" in its heyday was at another mall (which now is "box stores" only) and was held around halloween every year. 25-30 people were picked to jump into a humungous (sp?) six foot deep pool that was filled with green jello. And not just one big bowl - we're talking lots of little You Can't do that on Television-esque pieces of green jello. And back in Grade seven, much to my surprise, I was pulled out of the random draw to be a part of it. It was quite the experience - to cut to the chase I ended up getting in 29th out of 30 people, wouldn't stick my head under, took six minutes to find a hockey puck, and won $150 in mall gift certificates (which I used to buy a phone and an electronic chess machine with). The lasting impression is that I'm pretty much traumatized by jello and can rarely eat it. In any case, I went to customer service and told the lady I had been in the event many moons ago and she really enjoyed hearing my story. Sadly, this year, the pool is only 2 feet deep! Sigh.

ANYWAY where were we? I got a ride out to see my old drama teacher C and his wife. It's always nice to catch up with them and they are some of my best friends.

Ironically, I have several of these pictures in the same place over the years. I don't know why but it's nice to see the progression! I think I will be able to get C to try out for Countdown, he was quite impressed!

Saturday night me and the rents went out for "thanksgiving dinner" - traditional schnitzel! It was tasty as heck. Plus the Kronenbourg helped things go down easy...

Sunday we all went to our old church in Cornwall and it was great to catch up with a bunch of old friends. My train ride and GO bus totalled about 6 hours... I was pretty knackered when I finally got home (in time for Amazing Race, obviously).

Yesterday I sent H&H off for their vacation in Florida. I look forward to hearing their stories when they get back! I flip-flopped on a couple of options of what to do and in the end I ended up heading up North for Thanksgiving Dinner. My friend and his wife are always nice enough to open their home for Thanksgiving... and it wasn't just me - there was his parents, her parents, her sister and her family, their sons, their older son's girlfriend and her mom, and probably about 8 others of us from the dive club. NINETEEN people all told!!! It was nuts but it was a wonderful spread of food, let me tell you.

And to those of you who celebrated yesterday, HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Cheers,

Vick.

PS - For those of you who made it this far... and by special request... enjoy the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKztA_ACaL4

I'd embed it, but it's not allowed. This is the first part, and just check the sidebar for the additional parts. I don't know if I should be honoured or scared that combined I've gotten over 50,000 hits in less than a year since this got posted...

Days XXXVIII and XXXIX

I thought I would start with a catch up picture... this is a nice shot of my coworker enjoying her lunch before seeing Cyrano de Bergerac.



Day XVIII was spent running around, again, doing errands. I did get my hair cut though! And I was happy that I did... a much improvement on the buzz cut I errantly got this summer. Played some more Countdown ... and got another conundrum done! This is good.


Day XXXIX was a hit the ground running day. I got a ride from H to the GO train station, and was met by Jo and Deb, two of my GO train groupies! I was flattered to have a welcoming committee! We had a fun train ride but the question is where was Sheila? This is the question that we were all asking!


The VIA train ride to Cornwall was PACKED. Sold out to be precise. So it was quite busy, but I had a nice ride nevertheless. Turned out that there was two graduates for my old high school that I was travelling to. Got to the train station, grabbed a taxi and chilled at the hotel (with its indoor pool, jacuzzi and entire conference of the Ladies of Isabella!).


The rents got in about 4.30 pm and we ordered a pizza shortly thereafter... and it took forever. They didn't bring us plates so we resorted to tissues from the hotel bathroom... and used it as a kitchen counter (read: place to put the pizza box). Here's pops being resourceful.

We got to the R-O grad around 6.30 pm for a 7 pm start. My old school is a K-12 school, so is my current school that I teach at. So it works out pretty well.

There were forty graduates, of which twenty were Ontario Scholars! That's an average of 80% on your best six grade twelve courses. This is quite incredible for a small school. I was there to present the Theatre Arts award that I sponsor. I give a small bursary each year at grad, this is the third year that I have sponsored it and the first one that I was able to be present for. Even more exciting for me was seeing the new stage, plus lights and a great sound system that the school has been fundraising for years to install. Well done, R-O!

It was also great to catch up with some former educators of mine. Mme. Martin was a french teacher of mine and also coached me on all of my public speaking contests in high school (I actually won in grade 12 but couldn't go to the provincials because of some family commitments). She now works at the board office as a FSL/ESL coordinator.

One of the other meet ups that I got to do was with my former neighbour. She is now enrolled on a hockey scholarship at Princeton! She's a smart cookie, no doubt about it. It was really neat as my dad got to present her with her diploma.

And finally a new meet up! I had been emailing the guidance counsellor at R-O for the last few years because of my sponsoring of the award, and I finally got to meet her! She's hysterically funny and was very happy to answer all of my questions.

And here endeth my experience at the 2009 R-O grad. I had such a wonderful experience, and I hope to go back again for 2010!

Cheers,

Vick.

Days XXXIV, XV, XVI, and XVIi

I have realized that I have to be more up to date in blogging... I have been busy and suddenly the days are blending together!

Day XXXIV was just another day where I was just trying to get things done. Europe is coming closer... and my hectic travelling schedule will somewhat resemble The Amazing Race which again I am enjoying this year. Although without going into it too much, Lance has been most definitely as the villian.

PLUS! The Vick makes a HUGE cameo on Sunday's Le Banquier... take a look at this folks!

Not too bad, eh? My friend Tanya is to my right. I would imagine that was taken in the preshow warm up... but hey, who cares. It was a great episode, and it turned out a broadcast time of 74 minutes (?)

Day XV was pretty low key too. Running around, getting things done. Plus ultimate... much, MUCH dryer than last week. Only a few Angry Gorillas are still kicking around, but if you're in my area, there's a nice picture in the SNAP! October edition.

Day XVI was a nice day out. I had been asked by my coworker to drive some of her students (and some of my former students!) to Stratford to see a production of Cyrano de Bergerac. It was great. Both the drive, catching up with the kids, and also seeing the play as it was wonderful as well.

Day XVII... today... more errands. I spent about 2 hours this morning just researching trains... at one point I might be going from London to Stuttgart by train and ferry... IN ONE DAY! Yikes.

Went out for lunch today to Applebee's to use my gift card from my B101 cohosting gig. Even bought for my friends... why not! Share and share alike. We were supposed to go for a dive this evening but we got it scrubbed due to the crummy weather. Ah, such is life!

Thanks, by the way, to the GO groupies for pointing themselves out. Look forward to seeing you again!

Cheers,

Vick

Day XXXIII

ATTENTION TO MY GO TRAIN GROUPIES: I am riding the train on Friday, getting on the train that starts up north at 6.50 am, and I'll be getting on in Newmarket at 7.22. Please drop me a comment at the end of this post to let me know what car I should be getting on so I can sit with you folks!!! Or you can just yell out the doors :)



Yes, I know it's different, but all of you can work with roman numerals. C'mon, it's adventurous.



I got a call on Day XXXIII from a coworker and good friend - she was stuck and needed someone to stay at their house to watch their daughter. I said sure, no problem. Their daughter - hello, V! - is a fun person so it was bound to be a night of board games and what not.



I left around 12.30 to drive up north to get some last minute things done before the potluck awards night that I was going to. It was not 10 minutes after I arrived that I realized that I had forgotten the certificates I was supposed to bring. So it was back down south, and back up north. 90 minutes later my carbon footprint is pretty big for the day!

We had the potluck at my friend's farm. The farm is all busied up for Halloween... so I went through the haunted barn and as per usual, screamed alot (yes, I am man enough to admit that). It was fun... and I wanted to go through as I won't be in Canada for Halloween this year.

The food was great at the potluck... and I am happy to say that my quiche (sorry, 'egg pie' for some) was a hit! People were very complimentary and thus I am encouraged to cook more. The awards went to very deserving people, and my friend teaching kids to repeat scuba signals was hysterical. I would say a bit about the divemaster choir effort... but I think that's one you had to be there to understand it.

I got back down south to meet my friend's daughter around 9.30 pm. We played a few rounds of "Say What?" (http://www.amazon.com/Radica-L7273-Say-What/dp/B000OKT3KY/ref=pd_sim_t_2) and then some "Racko", which I played for the first time years ago at 3 am in the morning with Chis in the line for The Price is Right. Good times all around!

Oh... depending on when you read this, I'm in the audience of Le Banquier this evening - screen caps of that and Millionaire to come soon!

Cheers,
Vick.

Days XXXI and XXXII

We're going to play a bit with pictures today kids. You'll see in a bit!

Day XXXI started the usual way - get up, chill over breakfast, play Countdown. But I did some more chipping away at my European vacation. I scored more tickets - this time to see Who Wants to be a Millionaire? - the original version while I'm in the UK. Plus I booked accomodations in Paris and Strasbourg! At this pont I have about 5 out of my 7 weeks all planned out, which makes me feel much better and relaxed!

In the afternoon I went to play tennis with H, but my ankle was acting up a bit so I didn't really want to push it. Around 6 pm other H announces "We're going for ice cream!" Who am I to complain?

I kid you not; they know us by face there and are not suprised to see us!

This morning - Day XXXII - I called my good friend Chis to wish him a happy birthday. Of course I got his machine and left him a Price is Right-esque message, which of course he enjoyed! He called back and we had a great chat. He tells me that he enjoys the blog - I'm hoping that the rest of you readers do as well!

At about 10.30 am inspiration struck. I'm going to a potluck tomorrow and I decided, what the heck, I'm going to make quiche.

From scratch.

No premade mix. No premade crust, either. Inspired by desktop_gourmet and her cooking adventures, I figured I should give it a shot. Here are the results!

I made tarte flambee once in teacher's college and I found making the dough ever so stressful. It actually wasn't that bad this time around, although I managed to get flour all over the counter. Such is life!

Just as I was about to start rolling out the dough I discovered that I had no rolling pin! And neither did H. So we just improvised with a bottle of water. Seriously!

But it didn't go too bad, although I think next time I should make some more dough! It barely made it in around the pie tin!

I found that there was quite a mix to make for quiche Lorraine (I did live in Strasbourg, part of Alsace, which is twinned with Lorraine - did you think I was going to make Florentine???)

Of course, I had to cut the onions my way...

It looked very soupy going into the oven. And it took practically FOREVER to cook.

However we have results!

I don't think it looks too bad! I look forward to trying it tomorrow!

Just as I'm typing this, I'm watching Le Moment de Verite. One of the challenges that just went was to memorize 150 street names and origin from the city of Montreal. Usually they will post a countdown to see how much of the challenge they've got done. I was so intensely watching the show that when the host, Patrice L'Ecuyer shouted "C'est reussi!" ("You did it!") I practically jumped off the sofa.

Speaking of which, I made a cameo appearance in the audience during Who wants to be a millionaire on day XXXI and I will again today on day XXXII. Plus on Sunday - day XXXIV - please tune into Le Banquier on TVA at 7pm EST to see me in the audience of that show! I'll get some screengrabs up early next week.

And before we go, here's a picture of me at the bird aviary in Niagara Falls! You really can get close to those birdies!

Cheers,

Vick.

Day Thirty

Well considering I've had a GO GO GO September it was kind of nice to wind it up with a low key day.

Of particular note is that I finally sent off my application to study at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. So I decided to expresspost it, at a nice tidy sum of $51. Yes, it's expensive, but there were no application fees so I really can't complain. I also found out that the library only charges 25 cents per printout, which is good if I only need one or two (Staples, while efficient charges $1/rip fee per file plus 10 cents/page - I've learned to use only one file).

Theoretically I should have had a dive, but the weather was crumbs so we scrubbed it. And that might have been a good thing; I was pretty knackered by the time that 7 pm rolled around. I drove home last night somewhat zombified but kept trucking (HA!) with some dance music.

Bring on October! T-minus 3 weeks until my Europe trip!

Cheers,
Vick