Long time no see

Did ya miss me?

I'm still around. Busy and stuff  but otherwise well.

Here are a few pictures from Canada Day weekend with the family in Ottawa.

Enjoy!

Scammers at large!

Yesterday I posted a few things for sale on kijiji and Craiglist.  Later in the evening I noticed an email in my inbox with the following message:

Please contact Ms. Juninho my tenant at smithkate328 at gmail.com for your final price and where to pay. Thanx...


I wrote back with the details. The last thing I expected was to start receiving this type of email, from somebody called "Charlotte Wellington":

Good to hear back from you. I'm satisfied with the price and the
condition. Presently, i am out of town with my WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION TEAM to raise funds for People Living with Diabetes and i
won't be able to come for the inspection due to the nature of my work.
I will be paying you through PayPal as it is the only Medium at which
i can send Payment at the Moment.if you don't have a PayPal account,
It's pretty easy to set up a PayPal account at www.paypal.com . it's
just a few minutes away from signing up. it's safe and secure for both
Parties and i have been using PayPal to buy and sell for years now
without problems. Pls get back to me with your PayPal email and FINAL
SELLING PRICE so i can proceed with the payment and contact the Pick
up Agent who will come
for the Pick up

I look forward to your Positive response.


Understand of course, I had already confirmed the price and advised to pay through paypal. Why they needed to reconfirm this, I didn't quite catch on. But then I got this:

I have just completed the payment and i am sure PayPal would have sent you a
Confirmation email. Please, check all your mail folders(INBOX,SPAM and JUNK
mail). I sent a total Payment of $1,350. I added $600 but $500 will be
sent to my Pick Up Agent via Western Union. The extra $100 is to cover the
Western Union fee and PayPal charges. PayPal will not release the funds
until you email them the Western Union details for verification and also to
enable my pick up agent to come for pick up and inspection. Here is the
agent's details where the money will be sent.


AGENT'S NAME: TASHAS KELLY

CITY: AUSTIN
STATE: TEXAS
ZIP CODE: 78719
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES


Please get the necessary details sent to PayPal : 10 DIGIT Western Union
MTCN, Sender's Name and Address used to send the $500.00USD so that they can
release the whole funds into your account. Please get back to me once it's
done.

That's when it clicked. I checked my paypal account of course no funds had been transferred. So I let it sit there unanswered. It came as no surprise to see this in my inbox this morning:

i'm a STRUGGLING mother, my younger sister who is starting
college this fall also lives with me, and we share one car. I think it is
pretty low for another human to try and take advantage of another
human. Why do you do this to people

The kicker though, was the next email, from the "FBI":

You have been reported to the FBI TEAM and Local Sheriff Police division for none response  for the Transaction between you and a PayPalverified Client  Charlotte Wellington. We have had series of fraudulent issues in recent years and we are putting preventive measure s to wiping them off thereby affiliating our team to PayPal and Western Union to help them solve fraudulent issues which tend to occur often. If the WESTERN UNION  details needed by PayPal is not received at the PayPal customer care desk in the next 3 hours, we will be visiting your home address and you would have to come with us to our base for further queries. We look forward to hearing from you soon.


Attorney James Mcfadden 
200 McCarty Avenue

Strangely enough, nobody has visited my house from any police or enforcement agency. Shocking, I know! Haven't received any other emails since then and am quite disappointed they've given up so easily. I was having such a good laugh. On a Monday and everything.

Clearly I will not handing over $500 to anybody. Except maybe the notary next week when I sign for the new condo.  And then it will be significantly more than $500. 

Sorry Charlotte ;)

Pre-move sale

Long time no see.  It's two weeks until my move and I have a few things to sell.  Here are the links to my ads on kijiji:

Washer & Dryer

BBQ

Videotron HD terminal

If you know of anybody looking for these items, please feel free to forward. 

A year ago today

A year ago today, I was in a plane somewhere over the Atlantic, on the first leg of my trip to India.  Where has the last year gone?!

What a lot can happen in a year. I still think of my experience in India almost every day and am still amazed that I did it. It was hard. If there were 2 days when I didn't learn something new about India, its culture, people, language, etc., it would be a lot. I feel that I learned a lot about myself too. And about my own culture and norms.

When will I stop thinking about it? Someday, I suppose. But for now I relish thinking about it and about the day I can go back. That next trip may be years and years away. What I've found though, is the big stuff in life is definitely worth waiting for. 

Day 30 - House Hunting

Have you been wondering what's going on with my house hunt? I know I have!

This morning I reserved a CommunAuto for a few hours and drove out to a couple of neighbourhoods that have a number of places I'm interested in visiting.  I started off in Mercier/Hochelaga/Maisonneuve area and quickly crossed the first address off my list. An hour later I'd crossed two others off my list and was unable to locate another.  Then over to the Cote-des-Neiges neighbourhood where I had a look around the streets for four other properties. One is a definite no, another is a probably not and the remaining two are distinct possibilities.  Of the 150 or so properties that my real estate agent's "system" has sent me, I've narrowed things down to 10 properties. Guess that means I need to let him know that I'm ready to start poking my nose inside a few condos.  March 1st will be here before I know it.

And that's all, people. For National Blog Posting Month, I posted here every day for the month of November. My updates will go back to being as sporadic as usual. But probably in the next month I will mostly write about baking, or maybe the house hunt.

Thanks for reading. Keep warm. Peace.

Day 29 - TGIF

TGIF, people!

It's been a crazy couple of months at work but I think at long last I see the light at the end of tunnel. Things will slow down a little. She said, forgetting that busy season starts in about 2 months.

Due to all this busyness (the business of being busy, is that really a word?) a certain date has flown by me without even realising it.

It's now been over 5 months since returning home from India. I've been home longer than I was there. This time last year I was counting down the days (about 60) until my departure. Now I'm questioning why I came back, what I'm doing here, when I can go again.

It's not that I'm unhappy to be home. I'm incredibly happy to be home. As much to see my family and friends, as to live in such (comparative) luxury, and be able to move around freely and confidently without worrying about my personal safety at all times.

But I'm still planning to go back one day. The people I met in Hyderabad made a difference in my life. As I follow a few of them now on facebook, it makes me happy to see their pictures and read about their activities. I would love to hang out with them and go caroling in the neighbourhood. (Who am I?!)  What I wouldn't give for just one of Marthamma's dosa with some peanut chutney and a good cup of chai.

So for now, I will keep my eyes open on facebook, maybe buy a lottery ticket more than once in a lifetime, and be open to whatever new adventure comes my way. I'm confident one will.

Day 28 - Spaceman

Commander Chris Hadfield!

 I met an astronaut! Is that crazy or what? I still can't quite believe.

Last night after work, I wandered over to my favourite post-work hangout, Indigo, got my coupon (Group 5) and then strolled around the shops until 7pm when Commander Chris Hadfield would appear for a book signing. Not just any book signing, but his own book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

It was a long wait. I won't deny it. Was it worth it? Yes. A hundred times, yes.

Mr. Hadfield was kind, smiled and apologized for the long wait. How Canadian of him, eh?


Our conversation went something like this:

Shaking of hands (!)
CH:  Hi there. Sorry about the long wait tonight.
ST:  Hello. No please, it's an honour to meet you.
CH:  Thanks. (Takes my book to sign it.)
ST:  Sooo ... what's your personal best on a 5km?
CH: (Looks up, surprised) Oh, I don't know! I just run until my heart goes fast.
ST:  Alright. Well, thank you very much. Have a good rest of the evening.
CH:  Thank for coming, have a good night.

I MET AN ASTRONAUT, PEOPLE!!!!

Day 27 - Youth Unlimited

Last night I attended the annual fundraising dinner for Montreal Youth Unlimited.  My longtime family friends, Joan & Keith Wight, have been inviting me to this event for a number of years now and every year I am happy to go and hear and see how the kids at these centres are doing.

Their vision is this:  "We empower the youth of Quebec to attain their full-life potential…by responding to their relational, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs and by encouraging them to pursue a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ."

Whatever your religion or set of beliefs, you cannot deny the good that is done by this organization and the concrete proof of the change in these kids' lives. It's been impressive in the past and this year was no exception.

What marked me in particular last night was a young woman, Natasha, who is now on staff with Youth Unlimited. She spoke briefly but well. She was dynamic, enthusiastic, and a joy to listen to. I don't know her background but she seemed to me to be a natural public speaker and leader. I will be anxious to how many lives she will change over the coming years.

Last night's theme was "one". Ultimately, all it takes is one person to change one other person's life.  I like to think that even I have been fortunate enough to make a difference in at least one child's life, and if I can, you can too.

Day 26 - Sunday cooking (little late)

This Sunday's cooking: only ended up with some soup. But it's one of my favourite soups - sweet potato, coconut and shrimp. Also, how could a soup with peanut butter in it be bad?! It's deliiiiiiiiiiiiiicious. If you're a fan of the Looney Spoons sisters, Janet and Greta Podleski, you will probably like this.

No picture of it - but trust me. It's good.

Did bake some Irish soda bread on Saturday night:  it's a Barefoot Contessa recipe and it's great too.

I'm out for dinner a couple of nights this week (tonight was the first one - will tell you about it tomorrow) so didn't want to have too much food sitting around for no good reason.

Stay tuned: next week I will probably start some Christmas baking.

Oh, and by the way, it's doing this.

Day 25 - Bestest Friends

About says it all

Today is my best friend's birthday. She's 45. Happy birthday, Old Woman! (hahahaha)

Also, sorry your birthday card(s) (there might be more than 1 in the mail) is/are late.

To the left here is one of the funniest pictures of us together. The following link though is probably my favourite picture of the two of us.  I would've liked to scan a few pictures from our early years, back in 1982-83 but all my picture albums are packed away in preparation for my move this winter.

Thanks to technology, yesterday we were able to talk via Skype for a little over an hour (short, by our standards) and it was like no time has passed at all. Despite the time difference, the months since my visit in June, we always seem to pick up wherever.  There was, of course, the obligatory laughing so hard that one of us didn't understand what the other was saying and it didn't matter because just hearing the other laugh made us laugh too.

How did we meet? We met in grade 7, in music class. I was playing the clarinet and I think Yvette (who prefers to go by the nickname Why) was too. Either that or the oboe or the flute. Anyway, we were learning this piece of music called Goodnight, Ladies and for some insane reason (what other kind of reason would there be?), during a break, I was singing into my clarinet and swaying to the song. (As I write this I realise how crazy it sounds. This should give you a good idea of what will follow in the next 30 years.)  Well, my swaying and swinging caught the attention of Why and she soon joined in. And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

We have probably gotten into more trouble from laughing and causing a ruckus than from any actual bad behaviour. A few examples:  we got detention for waving in biology class (Why was telling a story, I was acting it out); we knocked a shelf down in a Hallmark card store (trying to look at some book); we started using fake voices/accents (and still use them to this day - and now when I do one of those voices with my niece & nephew, they crack up too!); then there was the time Why got her shirt stuck on a horse saddle once and ended up hanging off the horse; we would double over with laughter after having photo booth pictures taken. I don't know who says what or why some things happen but we can almost guarantee when a situation requires good (quiet) behaviour, something will happen that will have us poking each other in the side or lifting our eyebrows at each other.

Sometimes I find it incredible that we've been friends since we were about 13 years old but have only lived in the same city for the first 8-9 years of that friendship. She went and married a good Swiss guy and has lived near Zurich ever since. We do manage the occasional visit, but they are few and far between. Still, it makes us appreciate our friendship very much and we take advantage of the times we do get to spend together.

Happy birthday, MyWhy!

Day 24 - Part 2

The update I'm sure you've all been waiting for:

Eric came over and helped me get the back wheel off my bike but we're not able to remove the pin. It will not move. I will have to wait until I can get back to the shop on Thursday night, when they're open late, and have them change the pins.

How much do I love having pieces of bike all over my nice clean house? That would be: Not. At. All.

Now I'm going to ease my troubles in the kitchen by making some soup.

Day 24 - Sunday cooking - or not

The Sunday cooking post will have to wait (maybe I'll get to it Tuesday). I have more urgent things to say.

1. Finally bought myself a bike trainer. The purpose of this is so that I can train on the bike all winter long and not have to pay gym fees to ride a bike when I already own one.
2. I researched. I asked questions. I got recommendations. I budgeted. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I know.
3. So, here we are. A cold November Saturday. But it was sunny and I decided to just do it already and get training. Lucky for me the bike shop is less than a 5 minute walk from home. Bought the trainer. Brought it home. Went back to the bike shop with my bike and had them change the back tire for a special tire to use on the indoor trainer. Brought that home.
4. After a pot of tea and an online chat with Yvette, I mixed together the ingredients for some Irish soda bread, threw that in the oven and figured in the 45 minutes it would take to bake, that surely I would manage to put a few screws in a few holes and get the whole thing set up.
5. What planet do I live on?
6. Not earth. Clearly.
7. I spent the first 20 minutes trying to figure out how to read the damn pictures on STEP 2.
8. Then had to find a measuring tape and try to figure out what size wheel I have.
9. Then had to text Brother #2 (Hi, Nick!) and ask him, if I was supposed to measure from the inside of the rim or the outside of the tire. Where was that helpful piece of information written? Oh yeah, NOWHERE.
10. As I was obviously out of my depth, Nick called me and while trying to get to the earphones (yes, the ones that fall out of my ears all the time), so I could plug them into the phone and be able to talk and do things at the same time, I promptly tripped over the Styrofoam packaging from the box and may have dropped a swear word or four.
11. Only to discover during this brotherly consulation that I also needed to change out the pin holding the back wheel in place and insert the pin that came with the trainer. For the love of chocolate, people, it's an indoor bike trainer, not a frigging space machine! (Editor's note:  Do you [I] mean space ship? My note:  Probably.)
12. Then found the bike tool bag Brother #3 (Hi, Marc!) which contained, among other things, such as old greasy rags, some kind of multi-sized ummmm.... tools for ummmm ... unscrewing things. (Honestly, how I even manage to speak some days is beyond me.) 
13. Of course, I had to go through all three of these "tools" and the last one was the one that fit but the nut/bolt/whatever (I have no idea what the difference is and will not pretend I do) was on the wheel so tightly, I couldn't budge it. And as soon as I tried to turn it too hard, I could feel my trusty messed up right shoulder start shouting at me not to do that. Yes, with those exact words.
14. Some more consultation with Nick. Mostly consisting of Nick laughing at me because apparently it sounded like I was getting pretty violent.
15. Oh yeah, and while this was happening - I am not even making this up - the oven timer went off to let me know that the Irish soda bread I was baking was ready to take out. So yeah, 45 minutes later and I still didn't have a bike ready to ride.
16. Nick suggested I get Brother #1 (Hi, Eric!) (Good thing I have lots of brothers, I know, right?!) to come and help me and ask him to bring a ratchet set with him. 
17. After putting the tools away, pushing the bike and boxes and training stand out of the way, I texted Eric and he will be able to help me Sunday.
18. Then I noticed I'd screwed fly wheel (oh look, I learned a new term today, way more technical than "round metal thing that screws on to training stand thing") onto the stand backwards.
19. Yes, backwards.
20. So I left it there.

Let's hope things go a little better today. Updates to follow.

Day 23 - Care packages

My BFF (Hi, Why! This is a picture of the two of us taken this past June) and I have a tradition that goes back a few years now. At Christmas, we don't exchange regular gifts but rather care packages. So today I'm going to tell you about what goes into a care package and how long it can take to put such a package together.

At various times throughout the year we will email each other and ask the other to put this thing or that thing on "The List". I like to keep a list going all the time so that I'm not stuck trying to think of fun items to package up for Why's Christmas package.

Here are a few items I usually include for Why (and I'm sure she'll correct me in the comments if I'm wrong):

• Advil Cold & Sinus tablets
• Cheezies
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Tea or coffee
• Dishtowels
• Specialty kitchen items
• Books
• Crackers or snack type treats
• Spices
• Cereal (Cheerios or Corn Bran)
• Magazines
• Mugs
• Ugly present of any type (tacky thermometer, note paper, etc.)

Usually early in the summer I start looking at my list for Why and little by little, shop for a fun dishtowel or kitchen item. By October I badger her for any in particular she might like (crackers or chocolates or something). By November I should have the package wrapped and mailed to her but I am often late sending it. My poor ol' Why has been known to receive the Christmas care package in late January or even February. Terrible, I know.

This afternoon I finished buying all the little bits and pieces for Why's care package (no ugly present this year, sorry!) and will have it in mail to her on Monday. (Monday also happens to be her birthday and I have a special post planned about our friendship.) With any luck, she might get it by Christmas, and if not, it will be early in the New Year.

Day 22 - Tea cozy lady

Day 1 (Black bag and green bag)

White bag and green bag

Guess who I saw in the metro again this morning?! Tea cozy lady! I know, eh?!

I see the hat's the same, the scarf, the jacket. But are the pants the same too? Huh. At least she changed her bag, so we know it's two different days.

Wonder what we'll see next week ...

Day 21 - My weird ears or Apple's bad design

First things first:  Got my bangs trimmed tonight and I can see again. It's very exciting.

Second thing:  I could have weird ears. Let me explain.

Until they started making these "earphones" instead of "headphones" I had never been aware that I have weird ears. But apparently so. Ever since my first iPod, some years ago now, I have never been able to wear a pair of their earphones comfortably or properly. They just seem to fall out of my ears before I can even breathe. It's a right pain in the hoo-hah.

Or ... is it the design of these earphones that's weird and my ears are just fine? Is it similar to the way they make clothes to fit a multitude of sizes and shapes and in fact, they fit none? Maybe what I need is custom earphones. These would be pricey, I'm guessing. Kinda the same way custom clothing is (unless you're in India and then you can get a custom outfit made for less than $15.)

I'd seen an article in the news about some company (local Montrealers? I don't remember) and they'd designed these little clips to help keep the Apple earphones in place. My brother (Hi, Eric!) got me a pair for my birthday. I was soooo happy to try these. They do work. Kinda. But not great. The earphones still fall out if my scarf (again with the scarf!) brushes against them or if it's too windy.

The only pair of earphones that ever truly stayed in place for me, were by Sennheiser, and of course that model has been discontinued. The closest thing I've been able to find are these. They were pretty pricey, especially as they'll probably only last about 2 years. But honestly, right now the cost would be worth it not to have to fiddle with stupid earphones every time I attempt to stick them in my ears.

Any other suggestions? Or do I just have weird ears? Wouldn't surprise me if I did.

Day 20 - End is in sight

I am making stuff up to tell you now. Just so you know.

Well, not really. I have nothing much to say so I'll tell you about my completely mundane day.

Gave this training this morning that was supposed to be recorded, but as with the last 2 sessions, there have been some kind of technical failures and they have not recorded. Guess what I get to re-do?! *Sigh*

On the bright side:  this big project I've been working on for the last little while is nearing its end. Quite glad about that.

Also - I nearly got my hair cut tonight except that I left it too late and my hair guru was all booked up.

That is all. Now to go and stand in front of my fireplace to warm up.

PS - Hair guru herself just this second called back and will take me tomorrow night! Woot, I will see again!

PPS - That is really all this time.

PPPS - Has anybody else noticed that it's so cold it makes your thighs cold when you're walking? I hate that.

PPPPS - OK, really done now. Bye.

Day 19 - Tuesday

Remember when I was in India and I gave you a random daily schedule? How about we do that again, except for here at home? Here's how today went.

6:30:  Alarm went off
7:00:  After hitting snooze every 9 minutes, got up
7:46:  Left home
7:48:  Caught bus to metro
7:50:  Arrived at metro station, ran down short staircase, looooong escalator, and one other staircase to miss it by a second
8:20:  Arrived at work, ate breakfast, drank coffee, read email and started on work not finished the night before
8:45:  Regular work day began - work stuff, and work, work, work
12:00: Conference call to discuss issues on current big project
1:00:  Work
2:00:  Dry run of Wednesday's training
3:00:  Work
5:00:  Finished preparing for Wednesday's training, went through course once more, tested examples once more
6:00:  Crawled to metro, missed bus, crawled home
6:45:  Washed, changed into pyjamas, heated dinner
7:00:  Ate dinner
7:15:  Cleared up dinner, prepared breakfast and lunch for next day
7:30:  Decided what to wear tomorrow, decided against ironing the necessary items, found a sweater to wear instead
8:00:  Decided against walking to pool/going for swim, decided to stay home, stay warm/dry
9:00:  Read/watched something on Netflix and goofed around on computer
10:30:  Lights out

Day 18 - Sunday Cooking

Another week gone by. Another week of food to plan, buy and cook.

Here's what happened in the kitchen yesterday:

Mushroom, spinach and red onion mini-frittata

Mushroom, spinach and red onion mini-frittatas: 

This is pretty tasty. Admittedly, I did add more spices than the recipe called for, just because I know myself.

Now, I don't know if I didn't spray the muffin tins enough or if maybe I need a new muffin pan (likely) but the frittatas stuck to the bottom like crazy. Could also be that they were so jam packed with spinach & mushrooms, that the egg mixture couldn't work it's way down through everything. Could be.

They're great for lunch at work, with a big salad on the side, or a bowl of soup to warm you up on a horrible November day.

Sweet potato & goat cheese puffs

Next:  Sweet potato & goat cheese puffs:

Fun to make, if time consuming. Could use more cheese, for my liking, and more ... spices too.

Turned out well though.

Tried both of these recipes to see if I might use of them for a potluck at work next month. Still undecided. Next weekend I will try something else.

Day 17 - fashionABLE

 Did I write about this company around this time last year? If you haven't heard about them, go check out their site right now.

Last year, through the power of internet blogs, I found out about this company that trains women to weave as a way of helping them earn a living outside of the sex trade in Africa. Awesome concept, right?  Right!

The cherry on the cake though is that the scarves are beautiful! And soft! And each one is unique. I simply love them and am dearly tempted to buy one of each. My budget doesn't stretch that far and so this year I only bought one.

I can also tell you that the one (yes, one!) scarf I took to India with me, was a fashionABLE scarf. It was the best decision. It was perfect for the weather, the style of clothing and matched so many of my outfits.

Of the other two I bought last year and had to leave at home, one I wear a lot with my trench coat - the colours go together so well. The other one I have used as a picnic cloth, wrap and scarf. Did I mention versatile?

You know how people can be known for something they always wear? A statement ring, or big necklaces, or ... whatever. I think I'm becoming the scarf person. I always have one with me. I probably have more scarves than I have necklaces and shoes combined.

Anyway, looking forward to wearing this new scarf proudly and mentioning the good work they do at fashionABLE. Looking forward to next year's collection!

Day 16 - Hair cut

I need a haircut. My bangs are too long right now. They were too long for my Grandma's 99th birthday party. They are even longer now. Terrible, I know.

I could show you but I'm too embarrassed to take the picture.

Maybe next weekend there will be time.