Goodbye 350 Albert...

Today was my last day in the office at 350 Albert, next week is a new office. Today's photos are partly to remember my office space, might look similar to photos a few days ago, except, I'm in one of the photos, and everything is now packed and ready to go to the new space.










I had not been there very long, but I will miss you, especially the view out the back window which has made a photo or two (the kids playing outside).

Goodbye

Packing up: 1 more day before the move

Since today is the before last day in my office as we are moving down the street, I figured I'd capture a few images of the move and of my messy office as a way to remember this space which I have occupied for more than six months.

I decided to take a few angle shots and a shot down the aisle to show the moving boxes and the working environment.

Canadian tradition: pond hockey

I wasn't sure what photo I was going to take today. I went through my normal day, and there wasn't anything in particular that caught my attention, and after my volleyball game, I figured I'd go for a little ride up the street and thought I'd go for a little walk and take a few pics of the outdoor rink on Preston St, next to the Plant. This is definitely one of Canada's biggest tradition, to see people out on the pond, playing pickup hockey, hearing the laughter the calls, the puck hitting the boards, the skates grinding the ice, it's just a comforting feeling. Something that I consider to be truly Canadian!

Robbie Burns Day ~ Rebecca Blake Day

I had already posted my photo for today, however, after meeting with some friends to celebrate a good friend's birthday, I figured I had to put up a few more photos.



My good friend Rebecca was celebrating her birthday at the Royal Oak on Bank, and since it's also Robbie Burns Day, they were having a special on scotch, where you could taste a flight of half once portions, so I decided to try three different scotch's. The three scotch's where Oban, Dalwhinnie and Lagavulin.



I decided to drink them in the order of age, going from the youngest to the oldest and a friend at the table suggested I wait to drink the Lagavulin last which made sense for me as I'd start with the 14yrs, then go to 15yrs followed by the big and bold 16yrs which as it states on the sheet: "intense".

Oban	Dalwhinnie	Lagavulin
Sweet taste, almost a bit like apple cider tasting	smooth going down, good after taste that make your taste buds come alive	strong! an experience, something I wouldn't go first, but I imagine that MAYBE with time I could like

Dedication or craziness: winter cycling

Dedication or Craziness?!?!

This morning as I was waiting for the bus, I saw someone riding down the sidewalk and thought to myself, is this just craziness? It's currently -17C (0F) and with the wind -25C (-13F) and on top of that it's snowing and slippery outside. Again is this just craziness or dedication? I had posted about a week ago regarding a bicycle that I had noticed outside a gym where I play volleyball and though, this is just ridiculous, and again this morning I see another cyclist riding down the street with his white toque. Some people just surprise me, and it just happened to be my caption for today.

Bitter COLD Monday...

Some of this week's photos will probably highlight some of the features from my office as our group is moving to another building. I hope to take some photos from my work environment as it will forever change, as I doubt I'll ever be in this office again.

Today's photo is called: empty playground. My window view as featured in a previous photo was the kids outside playing, however I doubt I'll be seeing kids out today. The weather is currently -29C (-20F) but even crazier with the windchill as it's currently -39C (-38F), which is very COLD!

Ottawa's large igloo's...

Another bitter cold day in Ottawa! Today's temperature was -29C (-20F) plus windchill which resulted in a VERY COLD -34C (-29F)! I wasn't sure what photo to take, then I passed by the big huts where skaters can put on their skates and go skating on the canal, or Dow's Lake. I didn't drive by earlier, but I imagine that there weren't that many skaters that braved the cold today. However, the large bubbles aren't like true igloos, as they are not very warm. Igloos surprisingly hold in a lot of heat as snow is a really good insulator. These are just made with some sort of tarp material and un-insulated. They are still nice as they provide a little bit of a wind break, and a place to sit down when putting on your skates. I haven't gone skating on the canal yet, but as soon as it's not -29C and the temperature becomes a bit more bearable, I imagine I'll go out for a nice little skate on the canal.

Saturday night treat...

Tonight's photo was my Saturday night treat. I had some artichoke asiago dip, some wine and watched Machete. Not a bad combination if you asked me :)

Morning frost...

This really reminds me of my childhood. It's something simple, it's about winter, but it's neat to see what frost can do to a window or the effects of frost on a window. I remembered seeing this last year on this window and thought to myself, someday I'll try to take a photo of it. I took some photos this morning. I'm not truly doing it it justice, but it was my first attempt at capturing the frost.

A victorious evening!

Our team won at soccer! This isn't an unusual occurrence, we win about half our games, but tonight just felt good. We went out as we usually do, but we went to a different spot. We went to the Clocktower Pub. The food was pretty good, but the service was pretty crappy!

I decided to take a few team photos from within the pub and at Lansdowne Dome where we play.













and then we see the violent Sara!

A long day...

Today's day at work was a long day, and no better way to finish it off with putting up my photo :)

Here's a couple of creative shots that I took. I decided to play around my subject for today. It was well worth it and well enjoyed with good friends :)

Winter street view..

Wasn't sure what photo I was going to take today. I decided to take a street view, a winter street view. A bit boring, but what can I say, I came home with a headache and decided to stay home. Had a nice long nap and then realized I had to take a photo, and at this time at night, I figured I would look around and see what I could take. So here's my photo for today.

Winter dedication or just craziness!

Some people just make me wonder. Is it really worth it? I hadn't selected my shot for the day, but I figured I'd get something in the downtown area as I was playing volleyball tonight at a high school gym downtown. I had a few minutes to spare before the game and after I parked my car, I looked around and nothing caught my eye. As I walked closer to the school entrance, right next to the entrance I noticed this bicycle. At first I was thinking, oh my, someone left their bicycle here before the snow, and then took a second look and realized, nope this bike is got here tonight. If you look under the lower frame section, you notice dark glob, well that's dirty snow that has gathered from splashing from the front tire. The person riding this bike even has a contraption to keep his hands warm over the steering wheel! Now, I might do silly things and some people might even think they are crazy at times, but I would not be driving my bicycle at -29 degrees Celsius (including windchill and that is -20 Fahrenheit for those readers South of the border) in the winter. The non windchill weather was around -19 degrees Celsius, and figure the -29 is with regular windchill, not the extra draft/wind that the bicycle produces. Well, not sure what else to say other than this made for an interesting photo today.

Another gaming Sunday...

Tonight was another gaming night. My friend Tariq wanted to host a gaming night, and 7 of us decided to come in and play. Tonight's game was Arkham Horror, which isn't the easiest game to understand, when first looking at it, but it is a fun game. If you ever feel like playing the world of H.P. Lovecraft, try this game out!