Merry Christmas to All

Here's some kind of a xmas dnd thing.

Power Door Locks

And now it's time for the internet (aka, an excellent spendation of your time):

Power door locks in the cold are horrible on my pathfinder. When I start my car to warm it up (which, kids, you really should do when it's -30) here is what I need to do:

-Carefully wrestle my passenger door lock to about 90% unlocked position. If I go all the way, the "unlock all doors" option tries to work, but because it's cold, they all lock down. Note that I do not have a driver's side lock because I think someone "borrowed" it about two years ago.

-Leave keys in lock barrel, while holding them at 90% position, use other hand to open door. This is especially awesome with full hands or a broken arm.

-Reach over and hit the driver's side "unlock button" then lean even further inside and open the driver door (important, see next step.)

-Close passenger door and watch the doors all magically lock again. Hope I opened the driver door last step.

-Walk around the vehicle and start it up. Maybe the doors locks randomly unlock as you start the vehicle.

-Gently close (but do not latch) the door as you leave it to warm up in the parking lot. If you close it guess what: all the doors lock with you keys in the ignition and the motor running. Although this feature only seems to work when you are not inside the vehicle.

-Hope a friendly coworker doesn't say "hey, I walked by your car and the door was quite shut so I gave it a nudge closed for you."

-Thanks.

At least they have a sense of humour!

Click image to see their temporary fix. I kinda chuckled, gotta admit.

Colours in Edmonton

I was going to make it b&w but the irony might get lost

This morning on my way home from work I was going to stop in and pick up some supplies from my favorite art store. I don't know much about art supplies, but they're across the street from me so I like this one. Today, Colours appears to have been driven into with a car.

They're one of the oldest businesses along this 107th area, apparently. Although I'm sure thy're insured, it kinda sucks because it's -35 outside, and they'll probably have to shut down for a bit. As for specifics, if memory serves me correctly, it looks like they crashed into the back of the expensive acrylic paints, so there might be a sale on this week for "damaged tubes." Probably not.

Anyways, there's your news update for the day. Also, Tiger Woods quit golf and don't do tae kwon do in Edmonton.

Ten years ago

The recording industry sued Napster.

We all loved you Napster, and we'll always keep those files you once gave us.

update: I also learned it is the 68th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor thing. Which had more pirates?

Orion

One of my favorites from a recent photo-night earlier this week. Natural colours right outta the camera with a long exposure.

Marzipan Balls

Although some people may know her as Homestar Runner's girlfriend, Marzipan, the food, is quite delicious. The little Italian bakery near me sells rectangular slices of chocolate cake layered with marzipan for $2. If you're lucky enough for me to drag you over there, I'll likely buy you a piece (or make you buy yourself one.)

Today, while perusing the sweets aisle of the Italian market, I found these:

The middle ones are in focus. Clever.
They were simply labeled as "Marzipan" and had a gold pirate ship on the packaging. A win-win in my books. They rang up as "marzipan potatoes," which I also think is kinda awesome.

Anyway, that's my story. And a wicked title if you ask me. Did I make you go see Homestar for the first time in years?

Coinage

Canadian Tire is releasing a $1 coin. Kinda awesome, I think. One of those things we'll show little kids when we're super old.

I like when they describe Sandy McTire, "the company's tam-o'shanter-bedecked and mustachioed fictional mascot," in this article here.

We'll see 'em at the end of 2010, and they'll be made at the Canadian Mint (just like the bills.)

This guy's gonna need a coin counter:

Update: Apparently you can get them this weekend if you spend $25 bucks. Do you think this marketing scheme is gonna make me spend $25 I otherwise was not gonig to spend at Canadian Tire? You bet it is.

Christmas is soon!

click for larger
Happy December everybody! This time of year offers awesome blurry pictures of colourful lights, which I think is pretty sweet. My roommate and I have been preparing by listening to Prisoner Christmas repeatedly (um, mild language? And humour some may not appreciate.)

I dunno about you, but I'm pretty excited about Christmas this year.

First night playing with new lens

This shot is from exactly 1.75Km away as per the GPS co-ordinates.

Muttart at Night
Click the image for a bigger (about 1/3 of full size) image. I got this lens for nature photography, but my first chance to play with it was at 2am in the city. The Muttart lights look kinda interesting because (surprisingly little-known fact) the lights shift colours every five or ten seconds, and this was a thirty second shot.

It's a Nikkor f/4.6-5.6 70-300 VR, if you're curious.