How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I just got back on Thursday from a 10 day trip to Holland and Paris with my siblings. Here are the highlights:

Holland was cool. Besides catching up with relatives that I haven't seen in 8 years, we went to Amsterdam and did the Heineken Experience, walked through the red light district, visited a coffee shop and ate at KFC. Also, a trip to Zeeland and Utrecht along with some laid back days in Veenendaal playing Rummikub and Toepen. It was also good to eat some patat met, bitterballen and soused herring.

The Paris experience was mixed at best for me. We did a lot of walking, saw the Eiffel Tower, did a River Seine tour, saw a concert in Notre Dame, saw the Catacombs and Sacre Cœur. Paris was very busy (granted it was a weekend in August) and wait times were just all kinds of stupid. Also there were scammers and sellers of cheap knockoff souvenirs everywhere. But the lasting memory for me might just be that I was pick-pocketed in the Metro on our way back to the airport. So, I've had to replace all my credit cards, bank card, driver's licence and health card. So far I've only got 2 of my 3 credit cards back and it'll be a few weeks before I have a real driver's licence and health card in my hands again. The lost money isn't so bad as the hassel. But the worst part is knowing that some creep in the subway had me marked out as a target. One can only learn from the experience.

I've put a set of pictures up on Flickr, which has more photos than the ones I put on Google+ and Facebook. So check that out if you want.

Summer Vacation

In a couple hours, I'll be heading out of here on the first real summer vacation (other than camping, cottages and Cedar Points) I've gone on in 8 years. Coincidentally, I'll be heading to the same place I went 8 years ago... The Netherlands. Also, we'll be doing a short weekend trip down to Paris. I'm going with my sister and brother, which will be a first as well.

We don't have any plans yet besides our flights, accommodations and visiting with relatives, so we'll see what we get up to.

This is also the exact type of trip that I bought my PlayBook for, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it holds up. I've got it loaded up with the final 2 episodes of Games of Thrones and the first season of Fringe. I also got a bunch of podcasts loaded up and I'm bringing a book, so I'll keep myself entertained on the flight, which I should be sleeping on. Departure at 2305.

NHL Realignment Idea For 2012

With Winnipeg replacing Atlanta in the NHL next year and playing this season in the Southeast division, realignment for the 2012-13 season is a necessity. I think that the NHL should take this opportunity to not just realign the divisions and conferences, but to really restructure the league in a way that will encourage local rivalries and ensure that the 2 best teams are playing each other for the Stanley Cup.I had a brainstorm today of what that could look like and was kind of impressed with myself and how it worked, I had to share it.

First of all, forget 3 divisions in 2 conferences. That's gone. In fact, conferences are gone altogether. In this structure, there will be 4 independent divisions (2 with 7 teams and 2 with 8 teams). To keep the current 82 game schedule, each team will play the teams in the other divisions twice (1 home and 1 away) and play teams within their own division either 5 or 6 times, depending on if they're in a 7 or 8 team division. For teams within the 7 team division, it's simple: play each team in your division 6 times. For teams within the 8 team division, it's a bit more complicated: you have to have to imaginarily split the division in half (play teams within your half 6 times and the other 4 teams 5 times). That will work out to 82 games in total, half home and half away. Go ahead and do the math... I'll wait.

The top 4 teams in each division will make the playoffs. The first round will be played intradivision (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3). After the first round, the remaining 8 teams will be ranked according to their regular season points and then 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, and so on, reseeding after each round, as the playoffs do now. Finally, 2 teams are left that are from any division... even the same.

Pros for this concept:

• More games vs local rivals during the regular season
• Guaranteed first round matchup vs divisional rival
• The best 2 teams in the league can meet up in the Stanley Cup Final, even if they are in the same division.  This will enable possible finals like: Montreal vs Toronto, Detroit vs Chicago, Edmonton vs Calgary, New York vs Boston, LA vs Anaheim or even the epic Tampa vs Florida.
• Games against out-of-division teams are perfectly balanced for all teams in the league

Cons for this concept:

• What do you do with the conference championship trophies? Since the ridiculously superstitious players never seems to want to touch it anyway, you could just stop awarding it and keep it in the Hall of Fame.  Or my idea is that you just designate one semifinal to be the Campbell series and the other the Prince of Wales series... doesn't have to be east or west.

Here's a possible new divisional alignment:

West Division	South Division
Vancouver	Florida
Calgary	Tampa Bay
Edmonton	Nashville
San Jose	Dallas
Los Angeles	Carolina
Anaheim	Colorado
Phoenix	St. Louis

East Division	North Division
Boston	Montreal
New York Rangers	Ottawa
New York Islanders	Toronto
Buffalo	Detroit
New Jersey	Chicago
Pittsburgh	Columbus
Philadelphia	Minnesota
Washington	Winnipeg

Anyway, that's my bright idea. I can dream, can't I?

Google+

I've been trying out the latest and greatest in social networking over the past few days: Google+.  Seems to me to be a mix of Facebook (in terms of functionality: statuses, sharing photos, videos, links, etc.) and Twitter (in terms of following people and people following you).  Also, once set up, it seems pretty simple on being able to share certain things with only certain people.

Right now, it seems to be invite only, but it also seems that there are unlimited invites. So, if you want to try it out, let me know and I'll send an invite your way.

I can't describe what it's like better than the following xkcd comic:

Update: I suppose I should put a link to my Google+ profile, if you'd like to add me.

Good Riddance Apartment Living

You may have heard most of this if you followed my Twitter/Facebook feeds for the past 2 weeks, but since it's over now, I'll summarize: Three and a half weeks after moving out of my apartment my former superintendents sent me an email asking for money. Their claim was as follows:

• The apartment was left in a mess
• They had to spend "many hours each day" for a week to clean it up for the next tenant
• They don't get paid to clean
• They assumed I was too busy with my move and work, so didn't bother to contact me until then
• They thought the (4 year old) oven was too dirty, so decided to just replace it

For that, they said people usually give them $150 - $200 to do the clean up for them.  Also, they forwarded an invoice from a carpet cleaning company for $136, saying it was a little extra because it was "heavily soiled".  The last part was the best: saying the invoice can be paid by cheque, but the cleaning part... they preferred cash.

So, I called bullshit on them.

First off, my apartment was not in total disarray when I left.  While perhaps not squeaky clean and the cupboards and fridge needed a wipedown, it certainly didn't require "many hours each day" to clean.  I didn't take a photo log of everything when I moved out, just one as memento, but you can see what state I left my living room in at least.

I know... horrible, right?

Anyway, my other beef was with the carpet cleaning.  I said that if it needed to be done, then I could have done it myself for $30 instead of just throwing an invoice at me.  They said they don't let tenants do their own carpet cleaning, because we ruin them.  My thinking is that if it's a requirement for all move outs, and they won't let us do it ourselves, then hold some of the deposit money back.  Simple.

My biggest beef was mostly about the timing of it.  I handed over the keys to the apartment a full 24 hour earlier than I had to.  They could have taken a look inside and asked me to do some stuff while I was still legally the tenant.  To throw this on me three and a half weeks later, after I had long forgotten about my move, was just too much for me.  The time to go over move out expectation was during the last week of May, not the last week of June.  The fact is, I probably would have been fine with what they were asking, if it was explained to me beforehand and I was given fair time to take care of it.  Basically, it was a lack of respect (along with gratuitous demands for money) that was the core of this whole thing.

One last thing I brought up was what a complete waste to throw out a perfectly working oven because it was deemed too dirty on the inside.  They've obviously never heard of Easy-Off.  The whole thing makes me wonder if they didn't bother to clean, then how could they have spent "many hours each day" for a week?  I called them out on that.

So, after I ripped into them with a reply email, they wrote back.  They threw all the blame back in my direction, but in the end they said to not worry about it anymore and that they were over it.  So basically, they attempted to save face and tried to look like they took the high road.  Oh, I was so tempted to write one more letter back to them, because I still disagreed with nearly everything they said, but the bottom line was that they weren't pursuing money anymore... So I got what I wanted, and to drag it out any more wouldn't be worth anything (except being a little therapeutic for me).

And now I never have to deal with Equitable Life and Beacon Tower again.

Calling All Botanists

Anyone have any idea what these plants are (the three stalks with the pointy leaves)?

They're popping up everywhere in my yards. I'm just not sure if they're friend or foe.

My Garage Smells Like An Ashtray

Since moving in, I noticed that my garage smells a little off. I chalked it up to it being a garage and how it had probably stored things that wouldn't matter if they smelled. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what smell it was. However, the inside of my car is starting to pick up on the smell, and now when I get into it when out somewhere, I can distinctly smell cigarettes.

This is unfortunate, since I definitely plan to keep my car in the garage. However, I have to get rid of the smell. Problem is that there's no one source of the smell... it's probably just seeped into the walls over long periods of exposure.

Does anyone know how to get rid of a smell like this? All I can think of is to leave the window and doors open as much as possible, but I can't do that all the time as it's an invitation to steal my stuff.

Cedar Point 2011a

This weekend I had the pleasure to introduce a few people to one of the best things in the world: Cedar Point. This was the earliest in the season I've ever been and was rewarded with some pretty light crowds, especially on Sunday. Monday was a bit busier, and besides some school groups getting in a late year trip in, I can't explain why really. We used Saturday and Tuesday as travel days.

We stayed at the on-site Hotel Breakers, which really is by far the best way to do it. A bit of extra money per night gets you so much convenience, especially traveling with a baby.

Also, we lucked out incredibly with the weather. It was mid-20's for both days in the park and when we got up this morning to leave, it was a pouring thunderstorm. The nice weather also let us take advantage of the water park.

Some stats: 5 rides on Maverick (within the first hour and a half of park opening on Monday); 3 on Millennium Force and Magnum XL-200; 2 on Top Thrill Dragster, Power Tower, Disaster Transport and Iron Dragon; 1 on Raptor, Mean Streak, Blue Streak, Gemini, Sky Hawk and Wicked Twister. Unfortunately, the new Wind Seeker wasn't ready yet.

Now enjoy a photo from the Millennium Force line at dusk.

So Long Apartment

I haven't seen my apartment this empty since I moved into it.

Yesterday I handed in my keys at the apartment and there's no looking back. Now I have to go through all these boxes and find my stuff again. It took me 2 days to find my new prescription sunglasses. Really, who boxes things in the Xbox box?

Final Painting Results

Here's what my basement looks like after a two-coat painting session yesterday.

I went with a less brown colour and more grey... and a little lighter than I had originally thought.