Winter Weasel

Check out this little guy:Erik and I came across him at the top of one of the bowls at Fernie Alpine Resort. We spotted him from afar but couldn't really tell what he was, so we skiied closer with the expectation that he might run away. However, he turned out to be quite inquisitive and came closer to us once we stopped moving. I snapped a few pictures of him.Erik and I weren't quite sure what he was at first. A ferret? A mountain squirrel?

I went onto Google and did some brief searches until I came across these:Yup, looks like the same critter, hey? Turns out we came across a long-tailed winter weasel. A WEASEL! Awesome! I've never seen a weasel in real life before. Now I have.

Ski trip - part 2

Enjoy some pictures of the mountain!
Overlooking the valley and Fernie town site.One of the powdery bowls on the mountainside.Afternoon break on the hillside at the Bear's Den.The girls on the hill.

Ski trip extraordinaire - part 1

We got back today from our ski trip and it was great! The roads were clean and dry for both trips there and back. The drive down, in particular, was beautiful, sunny and clear. We stopped frequently and took pictures along the way. I will put up some of Garrett's pictures once I get them off his camera.

Fernie town is cute and quaint, and the ski hill is only ten minutes from the town. Fernie Alpine Resort is a great ski hill - it's absolutely huge and offers a wide range of routes for all skill levels. There are lots of ski lifts so line-ups were minimal and we found this neat little cafe on the hill where we enjoyed hot chocolate near the fire mid-afternoon. Very alpine-y, that's for sure. The absolute best part about Fernie, though, was the SNOW!! It was amazing - there was so much powder we didn't know what to do with it! The ski connoisseurs, however, were in ski heaven and enjoyed some areas that hadn't been opened for two weeks. Here are some pictures of the ski resort:
Here we are at lunch in the lodge:Evan, Erik and Garrett at the base of hte hill:Enjoying a beer at the end of the day:Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow!

Potty Sign

Some of you out there might have heard me talk about this before, but I haven't brought it up in a long time so I decided to put it in my blog.

I've been living in my apartment for almost two years, which is a record for students like me who tend to move far too often. When I moved in, my landlady stressed to me that if I caused the septic tank to overflow, I would have to pay for it to be pumped. Thus, I should be vigilant about what goes down the toilet.

The last tenant, however, felt that this knowledge was not sufficient in and of itself. What if a guest decided they had to flush some large unsavory without knowing the dreadful sewage backup consequences? So she came up with a 'fabulous' idea and told the landlady: "Wouldn't it be great if there was a sign you could just leave in the washroom, so that any guest would know what and what not to flush down the toilet? That would allow the renter to avoid discussing said distasteful subject with every individual who visits."

And wouldn't you know, my landlady thought this was a great idea and was very excited to show me THE SIGN when I moved in:
I'm not sure what all of you think, but to me, this was the tackiest thing I'd seen in a long time and I had absolutely no desire to put that in my bathroom for guests to see. As well, the main question that comes to mind is this: why was the sign made so large? It's a foot by a foot and a half in size! Would a small sign, say 6"x6", not have sufficed? I *might* have put that sign up, but this one resides behind my toilet facing the wall. I currently trust the good sense of my guests to use the toilet appropriately.

Cat Owner's Manual

Yesterday at Chapter's, I picked up a book that was on the 5$ discount table. It was titled the 'Cat Owner's Manual', as seen below:This book is really cute, because it describes the cat as it would in a computer manual, using terms like 'interfacing' (eg. Interfacing with Children, in the 'Home Installation' chapter), 'docking ports' (nipples, found on both male and female models) and 'output port' (well, you can figure that one out). Here is the cat diagram:I've already learned a lot more about cats. Did you know that a kitten's sense of smell is so fine-tuned as to differentiate between different nipples on its mother? Or that cats can be 'left-pawed', 'right-pawed' or ambidextrous (ambipawtrous?)? Other chapters that are cute include Basic Programming (eg. self-grooming procedures, training options), Fuel Requirements, Emergency Maintenance and Advanced Functions, although I have yet to make it through all the chapters and can't share tidbits just yet. However, I did skip ahead to the Troubleshooting appendix and will leave you with some neat ones:

Malfunction: Cat gets stuck in tree.
Cause and Solution: (abbreviated) Easy for cat to climb tree, not designed to descend. Don't call fire department. Cat will find its own way down, often by backing down rump first.

Malfunction: Cat kills mice and/or birds then brings them to you.
Cause and Solution: (abbreviated) May regard owner as family, chooses to honor you by having you share in kill.

Malfunction: Cat makes a point of pestering visitors who fear or dislike felines, yet ignores guests who love cats.
Cause and Solution: (abbreviated) People who like cats tend to stare at them. This is an aggressive challenge in feline world. Cats don't like it, and will go towards people who don't like cats and who do not stare at them.

Malfunction: Cat displays complete lack of autonomous function, refuses to clean itself and displays subpar intelligence.
Cause and Solution: Consult your veterinarian. You may have accidentally acquired a dog.

(All the above is taken from Dr. David Brunner and Sam Stall's 'The Cat Owner's Manual', 2004, Quirk Books, Philadelphia PA.)

Holy Jackpot Batman!

My mom is out visiting me right now and we're having a great visit. The weather warmed up and the sun has been out. While it's no February in Cambridge (see my sister's blog under Links: Life Without A Gogglebox), it's been a pleasant change from our two week stretch of minus 20 temperatures.

Yesterday, my mom and I braved the long weekend crowds and went shopping at West Edmonton Mall. We managed to find most of what we were looking for, but had to duck out mid-afternoon because we couldn't take all the people anymore. After dinner, we decided we would try our hand at some gambling, so we went to one of the (many) Edmonton casinos and spent an hour and a half there. Now, when it comes to gambling, I'm not lucky nor gutsy enough to risk it to win it. My mom, however, is both lucky and gutsy, thus she often wins in the casino. Perhaps yesterday the Chinese New Year was working for us, because not only did my mom win, but I WON as well! And not just pennies. I won 50 BUCKS!! After losing ten in order to win it, I walked away with fourty dollars in my pocket. SCORE! It doesn't convince me to gamble more, though, but I guess that's a good thing! We felt pretty good after our stint on the slots.

Dead Man's Chest

Recently, Garrett surprised me and bought me "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". After meeting up with some friends tonight to celebrate Catherine's birthday, I retired home and relaxed on the couch to watch this movie for the first time. Has anyone seen this already? What did you think?

For the most part, I think I liked the movie. It was very fanciful and silly, as was the first one, so at least they stayed true to the style. The special effects are great and as usual, Johnny Depp does a stand up job. Orlando Bloom isn't too annoying, either. However, it's odd because this movie and the next one (which will come out sometime this year?) are actually all one story, so when you watch Dead Man's Chest, you really only watch the first half of the story and then it ends. It almost leaves you feeling ripped off. There's no resolution, and you have to wait a year or more to see the end. How frustrating!!

Update: Failed kitty mouser

Apparently Pumpkin is no good at catching mice. She didn't nail a single one while at Joelle's, although she did keep them out of the apartment proper and limited to the storage room. I guess she's not a mouser after all. What can you expect? She's only ever caught ONE bird before - that does not really demonstrate much hunting prowess, does it?

Now she's back at my house, again earning her keep with cuteness, playfulness and cuddling.

Kitty for Rent

Last night, I lent my kitty to my friend Joelle and her roommate. They moved into a new basement suite a few weeks ago, shortly after which they discovered they weren't the only inhabitants in the suite - mice! Little micey guys who climb into their orange box and cupboards and sleep in their storage room. They tried mouse traps (sticky pad type) but had no luck over several days, so we thought that perhaps a cat could get the job done. Pumpkin isn't a super-hunter, but she has caught a bird before, so we know she has the capability to catch wild animals. Plus, she's really quick and likes to chase things, so perhaps she might be able to score a mouse. We'll see. In any case, she's over there for a few days, earning her keep with some hunting tasks. This means that it's pretty lonely around my place, without my little buddy there to keep me company. I'll get her back tomorrow night and then it can all go back to normal. I will update you if she manages to catch anything!
Oh yea! And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Beer-fest!

Last night a group of us went to the first annual Beer-fest on campus. With a hefty cover charge (which Garrett and I avoided because our friend at Alleykat Brewery got us on 'the list'), tickets were 50 cents and were used to sample beer from a number of micro- (and not so micro-) breweries. We really enjoyed the event, as it allowed us to sample a ton of different and really unique beer that we'd otherwise not get to try. Some of the beers we tasted included a Brooklyn lager, a triple ale, a chocolate porter, a blackberry porter, a herbal lager (my favorite), a Guatamalan lager, a Thai lager (Singha), a German lager, a cranberry ale and several varieties of amber ales. As well, I had some of my favorite Alleykat Aprikat lager. Yum.

Molson and Coors also had a booth, but even the scantily-clad hot chicks serving there didn't attract many samplers...I mean, who goes to a Beer-fest to have Molson Canadian and Coors Light?

At the Beer-fest they had a number of raffle draws you could enter for free. However, as Garrett was filling out a ballot for a trip for 2 to Florida, he noticed this fine print at the bottom:

"Call 1(866)619.7768 if you DO NOT wish to receive information from our affiliates.
(If you do call, you will exclue yourself from being qualified for the Vacation offer.)"

Does that seem wrong to any of you? Basically, if you wanted to enter this contest, you HAD TO agree to let their affiliates use your personal information, including name, home and work numbers, age, gender, address and credit card type (not number though). Surprisingly, they didn't ask for your email, but this just implies to me that you will get telemarketers calling your home number. Garrett didn't enter his ballot in the draw, and I brought it home to tell you all about.

Scone surprise

Looks like a regular scone hey? In fact, it's a blueberry/raspberry creation straight out of my oven - well, er, last week anyway.Don't let this little pastry fool you - check out the bottom! I was eating one of these suckers this afternoon, when I noticed a little bit of green mold on one of the blueberries. As I turned the scone over, I was confronted with a lawn of fuzzy green mold, way worse than the above example. EEK! I let the piece that was in my mouth dribble back out into a tissue while I promptly threw out the remaining two thirds of the treat (yes, I ate a fair bit of it before noticing). Lesson learned: even though it is really dry out here right now, mold can still grow. Don't eat it.

Global rant

Last night, I was watching the late night newscast and the second top story was about a lady north of Edmonton whose barn burnt down along with some of her horses and her dog.

Now, I'm not cold-hearted - I feel bad for this lady and I am sad that this tragedy occurred to her, however I definately do not feel that this story should have been played in the first 5 minutes of the news, which to me, should include the more important events of the day in our city and province. As I watched this lady sob and cry on the news (for what seemed like minutes but was probably more like 10 seconds), I started to get really really annoyed - at Global news, not with the horse lady.

What was Global thinking, to put this as their second top story of the night? Even if it was a slow news day, surely SOMETHING that occurred in the ENTIRE world was more important than burnt horses! Why couldn't they have shown some national news? What were they thinking?

It seemed to exemplify the trend that has occured in newscasting in the last decade or so (or perhaps even longer). It seems that the focus of reporting has shifted from informing the public (such as scandals in the government (Watergate!), or dishonesty in government or public bodies) to entertaining the public (including sad horse stories, cute abandoned kitten stories etc). I find it really disappointing that this has occured. When I watch the news, I want to know what is going on out there in the world. If I wanted to watch ponies and kitties and fluffy happiness I'd turn on a cartoon or movie (well, I don't really own a movie with ponies and kitties, but you get the idea). I do not need the news to make me feel good - I need the news to tell me what is going ON out there, so that I can be aware of the important issues in the world that AFFECT me.

As you might be able to tell, I feel quite strongly about this, and impulsively, I wrote Global news to tell them what I thought of their crappy programming. Here is my email:

"Hi there,

I was watching the late night news cast in Edmonton tonight and the second top story was about a woman who lost her horses in a barn fire. Half the story showed this woman crying and discussing how sad she was that she lost her animals. I was wondering how this story is the second most important story in all of Edmonton? It shouldn't even be on the news!! In fact, I changed the channel to CBC news instead of global, in an effort to get some real news. Let's stop putting entertaining stories on and get back to informing the public about what's really important in our city, country and the world.

thanks,
Kim"

I forwarded it to Garrett and he said it seemed pretty mean. I guess it might very well be. I did say that I wrote it impulsively, however I feel that it accurately represents what I feel and feel justified in sending it. I will let you know if they get back to me at all!

Saskjobs.com

After our dodgeball game tonight (which we resoundingly won), we went out for a team beer at a local pub to celebrate, as well as say farewell to one of our players (Hugo is moving back to Quebec). I was in the bathroom and on the door of the stall was an ad about how great jobs are in Saskatchewan, with a 'case study' of a company CEO who chose to move back to Saskatchewan and totally loves it.

While I don't have anything against Saskatchewan (except the fact that lots of people from Saskatchewan try to oversell it), it seemed obvious to me that Saskatchewan is desperate to stop the workforce drain from Sask to Alberta. It's pretty hard for Saskatchewan (ok, now I have another thing against that province - it's annoying to type out its name a lot of times!) to compete with Alberta for jobs, since there are so many out here and with such high wages. I figure they have started an advertising campaign to convince people to move back there, because it is cheaper to live (that's the angle they were selling in the ad). Is that enough to convince someone to leave their high paying job to move to Saskatchewan? Well, you can be the judge, I suppose, but I think it's unlikely. In any case, this actually seems like a pretty lame blog entry now that I'm done, but since I've already typed it up, I'll probably post it anyway.

New Generation Professor

Tuesday night Joelle, Garrett, Bonnie and I went to the Collip Club seminar/buffet dinner. As usual, the prime rib roast was delicious and savory, and the desserts were even better than usual - there were several desserts I wanted! So I took several...

Anyway, the talk that accompanied dessert was really quite good. The professor spoke to us about spinal cords and locomotion, which is an interesting topic, however it was him that was the most intriguing. First of all, he was a good speaker and able to really engage the audience. He incorporated a number of jokes into his talk that nearly everyone found funny (ie. not strictly biological science jokes). Most notably, he was young for a professor (he just started in his faculty position in July of 2006) and he didn't dress like a lot of stodgy old professors do. He was dressed casually but completely appropriate for the seminar. He had on some stylish shoes, and average pants (no pleats!). Although he wore a shirt with a sweater over top, the sweater was hip and not ill-fitting like a lot of professor's sweaters tend to be. His hair was a little long, but styled, so it was messy but intentionally so. All in all, he was definately a scientist, yet a younger, more hip scientist. I feel like he represented the new generation of professors - people a bit older than me, who have acheived that 'famed' faculty position but are still able to dress well, be in touch with their youth and not completely change their identity because of their position. I liked him for what he represented.

I hope that when I am finally a professor, I can acquit myself so well and still be able to DRESS normally! As in, not badly and uninterestedly.

Boring lately!

I haven't posted lately because I feel like I've been very boring. I've been working a lot when I'm home, so that's not interesting to write about. I saw a movie on Friday night with Bonnie - Dreamgirls - which we thoroughly enjoyed (it's a chick flick). We went out for dinner with Garrett's family on Saturday night for Garrett's mom's birthday - Boston Pizza, yum yum. On Sunday evening, we met up with some friends for a Superbowl party. All in all, though, there wasn't anything that was really funny or interesting that I felt inspired to write about. And, since I feel I write about my cat an awful lot, I didn't want to post another story about her. So here we are, with something relatively un-interesting and dull as my post for today. Hope something interesting happens soon so I can keep you all entertained!