Joe gets a ride from a Grandpa who is falling asleep as he walks

Grandma and Grandpa left for the airport at 12AM EST (10PM there) last night - they were delayed a bit leaving but the flight only took 3.5 hours from Calgary to Toronto (normally over 4 hours) - a 185 km tail wind pushed them along quite nicely. This just added to their 5 hr layover in TO and gave them time to enjoy breakfast with Kari, Cameron and Aunt Jackie.

They finally arrived here by 3PM and got a short tour of our conference hall (setup today, show starts tomorrow) before we headed back to town. Dinner was calling - so a quick stop at RJ Gators provided an early meal before bed. These guys are just dead - and a long nights sleep is expected ;-) Though ... Joe might have something to say about that ... after all, Grandpa is here to play right!!!!

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I also would like to send out a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a beautiful young lady back home. We just wish we could be there - here's to a great day! Love Cameron, Melissa, and lit'l Joe

So, Krishen passed along a task - sounded like fun, so here we go.

Four jobs I've had:

Four movies I can watch over and over:

Four places I've lived:

Four TV shows I watch:

Four places I've vacationed:

Four of my favourite dishes:

Four sites I visit daily:

Four places I would rather be right now:

Four bloggers I am tagging:

So ... Team Canada (Mens) is out of the Olympics. Gretzky is making no excuses, but the team apparently just would not preform. They were horrible on the power play and even with dozens of scoring opportunities they could not put the puck in the net. And as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand-granades.

Things were over so early I did not even get a chance to watch a game ... though I did catch the women's Gold medal match during a late and extended lunch the other day. (by the way ... women's hockey has come a long way over the years ... tis a good game to watch) I managed to get play-by-play commentary through my brother Brendan over IM at work ... which was better than the game blog which was a slow and never refreshed correctly.

On the plus note ... we stand at 18 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze) and at least one more in mens curling coming. I just miss CBC these days ... NBC just isn't cutting it.

Click to watch the movie

A new stage has been reached this month ... the fun begins.

Don't we all wish we could take a morning nap

Photo by Krishen

Well, for a weekend break we actually got quite a lot done. Saturday Melissa and I slept in a little - Joe played nicely in his crib, he is so patient - before we got up and puttered around. I eventually took Joseph out of the house so Melissa could actually get some work DONE! We have found that we can 'hold steady', but if anything happens to get the house work just slightly behind we just can't get caught up. And Joe is just soooo distracting - in a good way - if you don't like working! So, Joe and I joined Krishen and Patricia downtown for a coffee and enjoyed a little "out of the house" time.

Today, it was Melissa's turn to go out - she and Patricia caught the flick Good night, and Good Luck. From their feedback I think it is a movie we are going to grab ... I know it is one that I have been wanting to see. Joe and I, meanwhile, stayed behind and got some quality father-son time in ... you may not get a lot done while he is around - but it sure puts a smile on your face.

And this weekend I finally got some time to play again as gears turned on the next release of the Screen Saver Menu. First I need to finish the Intel support, adjust to a new embedded sales system from eSellerate, and fix a couple extraneous bugs. I have had a dozen features I would like to add to the utility - but due to the necessity of Intel support I have broken the release into two segments ... v1.1 will feature several bug fixes and go out as an Universal Binary ... a v2.0 will then bring in several new features and improved system integration. So, if you have any feature requests or general input I am still all ears. One thing I did get to was improving the web store, something I have been wanting - needing - to do for some time.

House is clean, organized, minds refreshed, and projects tackled ... see productive weekend.

The Bahan Wrecking Crew was out in force last night as we went to town on the Cavalier. Sadly, it turned out to be the Grand AM that gave us the most trouble. Even after being bashed into oblivion, the Cavalier still showed us some love allowing us to work on her peacefully - even if it was to strip her valuables - ie. the four new tires we just replaced within the last 9 months.

The Grand AM tires were actually stuck to the axle ... rusted right on. It took calling my encyclopedia of mechanical repairs - my Uncle - to get hooked into the "trick". Essentially, the tires were so stuck that (with all lug nuts off) we could not push - pull - or pry the tire off. Even bashing it with a hammer would not break it loose - so we took things to the next level. Loosened the lugs 1/2 to 1 full turn - enough to give a little wiggle but not enough to let the wheel actually go into a sever wobble or break free - then we took her for a spin. A quick drive in the parking lot broke free the front two tires, but the rears required a large parking lot - more speed - and a whole lot more fun!

[Now, this can cause SERIOUS damage to your wheels, axles, steering, and overall health - so take it easy - and remember I am not responsible for your poor judgement. You should really check with a trusted mechanic before trying this stunt]

But ... after a total of 5 hours we have all four tires switched with a standard tire rotation (fronts to rear ... rears to opposite front). We looked at exchanging the battery - but don't know which is older yet, we do know ours in only about 1 year old. Other than that, don't think there is much we can take as the car needs to be operational when they tow it away. Any thoughts of things we should snag?

The progressive guy was out to visit today (twice) to assess the damage and take some pictures. It looks like the car is a complete write-off ... a twisted frame plus the airbags have pushed the damage beyond the value of replacement.

Leaving the complex today I had a run-in ... with a white Mitsubishi. Crash ... bang ... boom - airbags were deployed and I was left gathering my senses. What had happened? I was turning left out of the complex at one of the busier times of the morning. The left lane of traffic had left a gap as they were all stopped for the light a block down the road, so I was escaping through that hole. As I moved into the center turn lane - and out of traffic - wack, I was hit by an car traveling in that center lane. He hit me on my drivers side corner resulting in a shmucked bumper, twisted panels, and lights hanging from their sockets ... my poor car ;(

This is the first time I have seen airbags in action - last time would be cool too

The passenger door won't open - but this is the better side

At least I can still type

As for me, I am just fine. My arms are bruised and raw from the airbags - at least I can prove both hands were on the wheel. And the gentleman in the other car was just fine - which is a relief. Now we will learn how the insurance system in the Florida works - est. damage today $3000.

Sticks and stones may break my bones

This morning I woke up to a tiny hand on my cheek. "Thats strange!", I thought as I rolled over to find Joe snuggling in between Melissa and I. Evidently Joe had woken early this morning (like 2AM early) to a bad dream and maybe a little gum pain. Tooth #5 seems to have finished its breakthrough and we think #6 is starting to make a move.

Other interesting things to note, Joe tried to share his drink with Melissa at lunch ... one sip for Joe and one for mommy. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen ... oh how he is growing. Apparently, this is nothing new to her ... she tells me stories of him feeding her cheerios - only to try and take it back ;) Kids will be kids eh?

Oh ... Dad, did you see that?

I have been kind of lacking in my updates of recent ... as is typical at this time of year, work is driving to our yearly conference - and with that comes the pressure of real deadlines. We did manage to get out this morning and Krishen grabbed some great pictures. But with the Super Bowl today - and Seattle as a contender - we plan to continue our fun into the evening.

However, since we don't have any new pictures I thought I would pass you a picture from home.

Alicia sent pictures of a new family member: Leo