X-treme Luge

So not only did three geeks take their kids sledding, but when we got home we pulled out the beers and the mac book and put together this little video. iMovie was sweet but what about Microsoft Movie Maker? Well for one thing, it can't read video files from a Blackberry (3GP format, which Quick Time reads natively - Firefox on a PC uses the QT plugin to play them). So this is what I came up with on my ThinkPad.
At least I remembered to add some credits!

More public than transport

Another one of my letters got published in Montreal Gazette today! Here's what the Gazette published:

The problem with public transport in Montreal is that there is more public than transport.

Last Wednesday I waited 45 minutes in the cold and blowing snow for the 168 bus that is supposed to run every 30 minutes (I should have waited 10 minutes). This morning, after a 20-minute wait during rush hour a bus drove by too full to stop. Ten minutes later another overloaded bus drove by. And finally, after I had waited for 35 minutes during the morning rush hour, a bus stopped that was able to accommodate some, but not all, of the passengers waiting.

Until availability and reliability are significantly increased we will always prefer to take our cars. I know I'll be back in mine as soon as possible.

Here's what I originally sent in:

The problem with public transport in Montreal is that there is more public than transport!

Yesterday I waited 45 minutes in the cold and blowing snow for a bus (the 168) that is supposed to run every 30 minutes (I should have waited 10 minutes). This morning, after a 20-minute wait during rush hour a bus drove by too full with passengers to stop. Ten minutes later another overloaded bus drove by. And finally, after waiting 35 minutes during the morning rush hour, a bus stopped that was able to accommodate some, but not all, of the passengers waiting.

Mayor Tremblay wants us to use public transit to ease the snow clearing operation, and I think that would be great a idea - if it were an option in Montreal! With the current state of public transport in Montreal it is the last resort, not the first choice.

Unless the availability and reliability are significantly increased we will always prefer to take our cars - I know I'll be back in my car as soon as possible.

So they took out my shot at mayor Tremblay, but I'm happy they published my rant more-or-less as I wrote it.

Snow removal will slow down with rain ahead

This is hilarious - they're asking us to take public transit so they can remove the snow, but public transit in Montreal is a crap-shoot a best. In the morning you can expect buses to drive-by without stopping because they're already full of passengers. In the evening you wait for close to an hour because the buses are stuck in traffic. This happens every day, they never learn. No wonder people take their cars.

Snow day 2007

This was awesome, I love winter when it's really winter and not sort of late-fall or early-spring. If it's winter let it snow!!! Full photos available in the online album.

Friends over for three fondue dinner

Tonight we had a couple of our neighbours over for dinner. The menu was three fondues - a Swiss cheese fondue, a "chinese" or broth meat fondue, and for dinner a chocolate fondue. Of course several bottles of wine were also on the menu.
Barry tried to bogart the beef. And Maureen got the wine.
And we all had a good time. This is why we love our neighbours!

ThinkGeek :: Wi-Fi Detector Shirt

This is insane! This is the kind of technology that I love - totally useless but brilliant application of basic, commodity parts.