Things that I miss

Okay, so turns out I do have a soft spot for Toronto after all.

Top 10 things that I miss about Toronto:

10.  The Ossington strip
Nothing beats a flight of tequilla from Reposado, or the random back dance room at Levac Bloc.  Also, who can pass up cookies at Delux?


9.  Shopping along West Queen West
Oh how I miss the trendy, emo hipsters that are part of the West Queen West world.  


8.  The Lakeshore Boardwalk
Torontonians forget that we actually do have a nice boardwalk to walk, bike and blade along.  I miss driving along the curvy windy lakeshore road, seeing the city appear slowly.  Next time skip the Gardiner and take the lakeshore.


7.  Riding on the street car
I didn't think i'd develop an appreciate for our streetcars.  Their dirty, noisy, and always late....but they're oh so unique to Toronto!  Now...if only dedicated street car lanes could be installed along Queen and King....


6.  Crazy ethnic food
Yeah, you know the crazy ethnic food is awesome.  Toronto's got all the ethnicities pretty well covered.  However, I admit, MTL does Thai food better.


5.  Court Volleyball clinics
I miss having Chris yell at me, and make me spike when I can barely lift my arm......oh how I miss being fit.


4.  Knowing all the fun places to eat and drink
I miss the fact that I can roll off a list of places to eat and drink on any given night.  I'm bringing a bi-weekly 5 a 7 to Toronto when I return!!!

3.  English (or Engrish depending on where you are)
I appreciate French, I really do.  But, I miss being able to hear, read, and speak English everywhere.  I even miss Engrish!  I was so excited seeing bad Engrish on a menu last time I was in Toronto....oh the little things.


2.  Our Condo
Martin says "Home is where your stuff is".  I miss our condo.  I miss ground floor access.  I miss being able to play Rock Band without noise complaints ... home is NOT where your stuff is!


1.  Yeah yeah yeah, you guessed it Family and Friends.
Y'all are not replaceable, and you understand my cynical, moody behaviour :)


I don't regret the move to MTL, in fact I think the move to MTL was awesome so I could get a different perspective of Toronto and everything else.  Everyone needs to live somewhere else once in their lives.  You don't need to be a world traveler, but stepping away every now and then is a good thing.

Apple OS4 information

Here we go with the new OS for the Apple iPhone.....and yes there's multitasking!  Follow Engadgets live blog for more details.

I will still not give up my android phone for an iPhone.  Speaking of Android, I've been using my new Milestone for about a month now, and my love affair for Motorola has started over again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still an HTC fan-girl, and trust me I was struggling at the thought of leaving my beloved Hero, but I'm really impressed with the thought that went into the Milestone.  So my Hero has found a good new home with Martin, who is now officially a convert and on the Android bandwagon.

BTW - I can still get deals with phones, so if you need a new phone let me know, and I will hook you up with a TELUS discount.

Random thought for today

Given the number of social media outlets that are now available to everyone, how long will it be until we can just think "update: I want to eat a burrito" and it will be automatically updated in everyone's mailbox, twitter, facebook, buzz and everything else that's out there "feed" ?

Am I the only one that's cool about having electronic devices embedded in me in order to geotag and update everything that I'm doing?

Come to think of it....does anyone really care?  Bueller.....

Apple sues HTC over 20 patent infringments

So, I know I don't post much, but I decided this was news enough for me to resurrect the blog.

As you all know, I am an avid Google promoter and a phone geek. When Google and HTC combined forces, I fell in love.

I find it interesting that Apple would decide to sue at this time, and why they're only going after HTC. Perhaps Google's OS does have them shaking in their boots now, especially because HTC's take on the Google OS is mesmerizing.

Anyhoo, I just felt like throwing my arms up in the air to throw a big hug around HTC and Google. I will continue to support HTC and Google, even if this lawsuit takes years to settle and even if this changes the landscape of Smart Phone OS'

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/apple-sues-htc-for-infringing-20-iphone-patents/

Bargains Bargains Bargains

Hey All,

My bud Carl sent me over this information and I thought I'd share. If you want to buy anything from furniture, to clothing to electronics check out this place first http://consolidatedsalvage.com/

It's like buying off the back of a truck, without having to look for that truck!

Example bargains:

8GB iPod Touch - $180

6 person dining table (expandable to 8) - $80

80GB PS3 - $250

The products are changing all the time, meaning you will not have any idea what you're going to find. But that's the fun!

Happy hunting.

$9 flights with Westjet between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal

Hey Guys and Girls,

Westjet is having a seat sale today only:

Fly these routes through September (each way, per person, plus tax):

• Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal .... $9
• Montreal to Toronto .... $9
• Ottawa to Toronto .... $9

The seat sale is now through September 30th. Looks like the sales are for Tues - Sat. travel.

go to www.westjet.com to check out prices. I checked out MTL - TOR flights, and everything came to about $120 roundtrip, taxes in.

Happy Flying.

For Dan RE: Laptop

This one is for you Dan!

After some thought, I've decided that a netbook is something that you're not going to want long term. Sure a netbook is great if you're travelling but really what are you going to do more, work on lesson plans or travel? Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Therefore, I've looked at computers that meet the portability criteria because that's still important, and i've also looked at longevity and bang for the buck.

After some searching i've narrowed down your laptop choices to the following 3, in order of preference:

1. Acer Aspire AS3810-4630 (13 inch) or Acer Aspire AS4810TZ-4129 (14 inch)

- easily bought at Best Buy or FS

- Weighs only 3.5 lbs / 4.2 lbs

- Take note that the 13inch version does not have a DVD drive, the 14 inch does however.

- Has a battery life than can last up to 9 hours (via a very easy simple button on the computer)

- It doesn't have built in bluetooth, but meh you'll survive

- $749.99 - $799.99

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10124072&catid=20354#

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10124146&catid=#

2. Dell Studio 14Z

- Comes in pretty colours :) (May I recommend hot pink?)

- It's a Dell so it's reliable

- Weighs only 4.3 lbs

- Easily Customizable

- Starts @ $799

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/laptop-studio-14z/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-14z&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&~ck=mn

3. Dell Inspiron 13

- Same as above, but no pretty colours only comes in a very nice masculine blue

- Weighs only 4.9 lbs

- Price starts at $699 for the base model (which I think is fine for you)

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/laptop-inspiron-13/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-13&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&~ck=mn

I hope you like these choices. If not, this gives you a good start in finding that perfect traveling companion (other than Caroline of course).