Slow Down Spring!

Posted by pookzilla on April 8, 2008

As much as I was looking forward to spring I wish it would slow down a bit. Our snow is only about 30% gone and our sub pump is already going off every minute or so. I suspect by tomorrow it’ll be going constantly. We’ve moved up from the basement some stuff we care about but there’s still a whole lot of stuff down there. Sigh…

 Queen of the Mountain

Posted by pookzilla on March 11, 2008

 The pile of snow directly in front of our house.  I have tamed it.

 Ottawa family flees home as snowy roof splits

Posted by pookzilla on March 10, 2008

Ottawa family flees home as snowy roof splits.

What a nightmare!

 I Have Seen Heaven

Posted by pookzilla on March 8, 2008

And it is called Home Outfitters.  Man.  I could spend so many thousands of dollars in there…

Also, today is going to consist of baking and eating cookies, watching movies, warming up in front of the fire, and hoping and praying that the roof does not come down under the weight of the snow.

 Winter

Posted by pookzilla on March 5, 2008

I am past the point where this winter actively bothers me.  I have achieved a mental state where I am 100% convinced it will never, under any circumstance, end.  It’s Groundhogs Day.  Get used to it.

 Depression

Posted by pookzilla on January 31, 2008

This winter is becoming one of the longest and most depressing that I’ve ever known.  In many ways I feel like this winter began last January.  After we decided we needed out of our rental and into our own home life kind of went on hold for me.  All of the time from the moment we bought our house until we moved into it was spent with me wishing it away.  What’s more, once we moved in the next few months flew in ways that make them seem like mere weeks.   I crave a normal summer in our new house desperately and some days I feel like this winter is never going to end.  I think tomorrow is going to be one of those days -  we have another 30cm of snow plus freezing rain plus wind coming our way.

Guh.  I am going to go mad.

 Acclimatization

Posted by pookzilla on January 6, 2008

You may be acclimatized to Canadian winters if you find yourself outside shoveling snow for half an hour, while sick, wearing nothing more than a bathrobe and boots.  I swear I’m not usually this stupid – I only went out to put some salt down and got distracted by the huge MOUNTAIN of snow our roof cleaners left covering our front downspout and path to the back yard.  If I was feeling better I’d still be out there moving as much of the snow from the side of our house/downstairs window as I could be I’m capped out for today.  Nothing more than hot chocolate and whining are in my future.

 Christmas 2007

Posted by pookzilla on December 28, 2007

This has been another awesome Christmas.  No stress, no fuss, just good eating, great company, and a crazy amount of presents.

First, the presents.  I wont enumerate them completely but the items relevant to what I talk about here include three video games (Super Mario Galaxy, Assassins Creed, and Folklore), Wii remotes and Sixaxis controllers (shared), and a Hello Kitty Stratocaster with practice amp and numerous Hello Kitty branded accessories(!).

First, the games.

After about 3-4 hours of playtime I feel the negative reviews of Assassins Creed are unfair.  It’s not the second coming of video games but I find it quite enjoyable, particularly jumping from rooftop to rooftop like a medieval Batman.  For nothing else I’d stick with it just to experience the story, which in my opinion, is probably the freshest new game IP in years.

In the past three days Lexy and I have put in about 21 hours of Mario Galaxy.  It’s my opinion that this is indeed the best game ever made.  Despite being on the Wii I have to say it’s probably the prettiest game on the current generation of consoles (not accounting pixels of course – but design).  It is a bit on the easy side, but I do not consider this a fault.  I’ve yet to think to myself “this game isn’t fair.”  When it does become difficult you feel that with just a few more tries you can accomplish what’s vexing you.  This is SO unlike Mario Sunshine.   If I had one complaint it would be that the hub area (the Starship) isn’t as rich as Delfino Plaza in Sunshine.  You could spend hours just tooling around Delfino sniffing out secrets.   The secrets that are in the Starship, such as they are, are quite shallow in comparison.

I can’t yet comment on Folklore – I haven’t had time to put it in yet.  But from the demos I’ve played I’m going to enjoy it quite a bit.

Now, the guitar.  I’ve been keen to take up an instrument again lately.  My last foray into music (despite being limited) was great if only for one thing – it really helped boost the self esteem.  On a lark I suggested that I might want a Hello Kitty instrument and lo – there it was on Christmas morning!  I haven’t managed to learn a thing so far but I suppose it’s early yet.

 Civic Duty and/or Paranoia

Posted by pookzilla on December 22, 2007

Perhaps it’s a side effect of being a new home owner, but I’m really paranoid lately.  This past week has been a real chore for me – dealing with the snow has left me worried perpetually.  I worry about the weight of the snow on our roof, I worry about ice buildup on the roof (which we are now experiencing the effects of – we have our first leak in the living room window), I worry about the Big Melt coming tomorrow and where all the snow is going to go.  This worry was alleviated somewhat today the fact that the city removed the 20+ foot snow mound that had built up in the middle of our street.  Although the hill is gone, they did nothing to clear the drains on the street, both of which are quite close to our place.  Again, feeling paranoid (and perhaps overly self reliant) I went out not long ago and cleared both drains of all the snow around them.  Without a proper ice shovel this was no easy task but it’s done – if the Big Melt is as bad as I hear it’s going to be tomorrow we should be better prepared.

What I find funny is that none of the other neighbors thought to do this themselves.  It’s not like we’re the only ones that could benefit from a little drainage tomorrow.  Perhaps it’s because I hate relying on other people for my own well being.  If the city doesn’t clear the drains and I get fucked because of it I can’t help but be held responsible for some degree – I had the ability to affect some change on the matter.

Oh, when I said that the pile in the center of our circle was about 20 feet high I wasn’t kidding.  I decided to trek to the top of it yesterday to get a better look at the height of snow on our roof.  When I reached the top I discovered that I was looking down onto almost the entirety of our roof.  I was scared shitless and came back down on my backside.  These bones aren’t as rubbery as they used to be.

 I Am Furniture

Posted by pookzilla on December 21, 2007

With the help of some family I was able to clear the snow off of the house. This involved soaking my arms up to the elbows in ice cold water in the gutters, but it was done. After coming in and getting my snow clothes off Jack decided to use me as furniture. He’s very warm, so I was happy to oblige.