Success!

I'm successfully acquired a secondhand bike. I have also successfully commuted on it (this morning). It took just about an hour including multiple stops for map consultation. Which, really, is of the same order as my public transit commute which averages about an hour. The ride today suggests that I require more training and once I get back into riding shape it will probably be closer to 45 minutes. I'll take pictures and post them when i get home.

Cheers
Dan

My place

Hi,

Just wanted to share some pictures of my place. I'm really happy with it.







This is the view off the balcony - looking south so we get lots of sun (when it's out). These pictures were taken when I moved in a couple weeks ago, and since then the leaves on the trees right outside have completely filled in. It's quite nice actually.




Went into the city yesterday to watch the Oilers/Sharks game from Saturday - that series is certainly looking up for Edmonton. Hopefully they can keep Cup hopes alive for Canada. It was definitely nice to see some hockey again.

In other news, my flatmate is leaving for Monaco this week, for a couple weeks leading up to the Grand Prix. She works for McLaren F1 (hospitality) which is pretty interesting. At some point I'd like to go down to the McLaren testing facility for a tour - they do all their aerodynamics testing as well as manufacturing in this sweet location not terribly far away - it's pretty slick. Maybe I'll bring a CV with me.

Also Graham, who is from Edinburgh, but lived in Kingston for a couple years, is heading to London for a few days this week. Looking forward to meeting up with him.

Talk later
-Dan

Feed working?

Hopefully the feed is now working. If it is, I have my Mom to thank. Have you considered a job as an IT consultant?

The Sultans Elephant

there's been this very large-scale performance piece going on in london for the past 4 days called The Sultan's Elephant. It's basically these two huge puppets walking around the downtown core - and when i say huge i mean huge. It started on Thursday when a rocket crashed into the ground near Trafalger Square, and this girl emerged to explore the surroundings. I don't know the whole story, all i know is that there is also this MASSIVE mechanical elephant (12 m high, weighing 42 tons!) that has been walking around. So a whole lot of that area downtown has been closed to traffic for the duration while this massive elephant walks around. So I went to go see it today, and it definitely lived up to the hype. Pictures are below, I am also gonna try to post a video that i took on my camera so hopefully that works. Anyways it ended today with the girl getting back into her rocket and blasting off with some help from the elephant. It was quite a sight and extremely well done - email me if you want more pictures/videos.
The elephant had maybe 15 puppetteers controlling it's feet, ears, head, trunk, etc. it was surprisingly realistic except FAR too large... check it out





i'm going to add more tomorrow because i'm too tired today.
talk later
dan

No more Post-Dated posts

Okay enough with the post-dated posts.

i don't know why the rss feed isn't working, ben thanks for the suggestion but i haven't seen any difference. I'm using google.ca/ig as an rss/atom reader, and it generally works but doesnt seem to be for this particular blog. hopefully it'll sort itself out.

first couple days of the commute are done and have gone pretty well all told. now i think i know when the trains (are scheduled to) come so I don't waste commuting time waiting.

not much to report, just settling into work nicely having made some headway on my first assignment today.

planning on heading out to this Canadian bar on saturday, apparently they show hockey playoffs there so that should be good. way to go oil and good luck to calgary!

talk later
dan

First Week of work and a new apartment!

April 30 2006

Hello all,

First week of work was successful. Everyone here has been great to really make me feel comfortable, which is nice. I didn't get much done in the way of technical work this week, really just getting myself ready to be productive by setting up access to all of the intranet systems, etc, etc. I did have my first organizational meeting in which I've been informed of my first project. It involves oil extraction, unfortunately. But then, I am in the Oil & Gas department so what did I expect really. Basically it involves looking at wind loading on both stationary oil platforms and on these floating mobile extraction units. But enough about that.

Today I moved into my apartment in Wimbledon. I didn't end up taking the place I was talking about earlier, because of hidden fees amounting to ~ £200 which is unaffordable for me at the moment. But the backup plan is working out nicely. It's very nice, all new and clean. I'm sharing with 1 other, Rachel, who's the owner. She's super friendly and has been a big help. It'll take about an hour to get to work (from door to door) taking transit and hopefully less time on a bike, but that remains to be seen.

Seeing as it's a long weekend and everyone has Monday off, I'm going out with Ed and a bunch of his people tonight. I met Ed when he was in Kingston for a summer, he now lives in Balham which is somewhat near Wimbledon. I think we're heading into the big city so that should be fun - first time on the tube.

-Dan

Apr 22/06

Hi all

After an unsuccessful day yesterday in the flatsearch I think I have found a winner today. Went and saw 5 places in and about Wimbledon and Southfields and have pretty much settled on a nice room in a 2 bed flat, sharing with a nice couple. The clinchers were cost, location, a backyard ('garden' here) and I had an immediate rapport with Anthony and Katherine. So I just let them know that I'm interested and they are going to confirm with me tomorrow. If that doesn't work out I have a pretty decent backup plan but it's a bunch harder to get to/from using trains and underground. The problem is, there are pros and cons with each place.

Whatever. I hope I can get this issue squared away before too much longer one way or the other.

I'm tired today from lots of walking so just relaxing in front of the tv. they have all of the same shows here but everyone is different and they are also English. For example, on tonight is their version of Who wants to be a Millionaire, Dancing with the Stars, The Apprentice, Deal or no Deal, among others. No Lost or hockey playoffs (at least on free hotel tv).

Anyhow, I think I'll sleep in tomorrow. Start work on Monday and hopefully I can get this blog up and running.

Hope all is well

Dan

Apr 20/06

Pet Peeve #2: All the doors in this country open the wrong way. Pull out? Gimme a break. It's one of those things that you wouldn't notice unless you get it wrong. Every time.

Today I went out looking for potential places to live. I took the train into Wimbledon, about 15km away, less than 20 minutes by train. I'm pretty impressed with their train system here, they are quick and apparently run at all hours. I suppose they've had some time to perfect the system. Anyways Wimbledon is quite a bit bigger than Epsom, with lots to do. Easy transit links (underground right there) but far enough away from the city to have relatively inexpensive rents. This is definitely a place I can live. That said, every place I called had already been let - these ads are printed in a daily newspaper and they're all taken by noon? I guess the early bird gets the worm so tomorrow I'm going to take a more aggresive route, let my fingers do the walking and try to arrange some viewings.

Been in and out of cycle shops all week, today I picked up some free maps showing recommended cycle routes for the south of london all the way to Epsom. My London AZ doesn't go all the way to Epsom so it was nice to get some better bearings and a better feel for distances.

Not much to report today really. Hope all is well with you all.

cheers, dan

9pm Apr 19/06

Hi All,

Just got back from the city, and, as promised, I got thoroughly lost. That is, for about 10 minutes until I broke down and bought a London AZ, and let me tell you, the best 4.95 lbs (I haven't found the pound symbol yet so bear with me) I've spent yet. I walked around for most of the afternoon and saw the sights around downtown London. Starting with my first view of the Thames, en route to Buckingham Palace. I thought I was in Canada again when I saw the Canada geese,



I mean, if they're everywhere, aren't they just geese? From here I wandered towards downtown and stumbled upon the IMechE and had to take a picture. As it turns out, it's just down the street from Big Ben, which once again confirmed that I wasn't still in Canada, after all. Around the corner are Westminster Abbey, and 10 Downing.





From 10 Downing it's just a short walk to Trafalger Square with the monument to Lord Nelson, which I'm sure is beautiful.




Across the river is the London Eye, a glorified ferris wheel really. I didn't go up because I'd prefer a nicer day to do this.

This next shot may come as a bit of a shock to most of you, it certainly did to me. And we thought we had it bad in Canada, that's the price per litre in lbs.



There's actually quite a stir around here about gas prices, the news talks about the 5lb gallon like it's the first horseman of the apocolypse. Anyways, I'm glad I'm not paying for it. Speaking of which, I decided at the last minute to not take my Canada bike across, opting rather to build up a single speed here. I was most likely going to do this anyhow, so I figured it's probably not worth the cost/hassle to take my current bike with me. In my travels today I happened upon a bike shop and went in to gauge costs. The proprieter tried to convince me that it would be cheaper to buy a new singlespeed, but dude, If I can't build a barebones bike for 400lbs there's something wrong with me. I really need to find a place like Weedy's neighbour (Ivan's? Igor's? his name eludes me at the moment) to get a used frame. This endeavor will likely begin once I find a place to live and get settled there. Updates to follow.

This takes me into Clapham, a borough in the southwest where Seb calls home. It's getting lateish so I decide to give him a call to see if he's home from work, nope, he's got a deadline and is having some technical problems. So I get back on the train to Epsom. Holy geez. I guess 6ish isn't the most comforatable time to try to get out of London. The train is rammajammed but clears out by the time I get to my stop.

Dinnertime so I'm looking for a place for a bite. Hello, what's this? You Guelph boys will appreciate this one. How can a place named The Albion be bad? 3.99 for dinner and a pint, this is a place I'll be visiting again.



Anyways, long day so I'm off to bed. Didn't get to look for flats today because I was busy being a tourist - hopefully I'll be able to view some before the end of the week.

that's it for now

ps a few things.
1) i can't understand why they use the units they do, they like miles per litre apparently.
2) almost used to the left-hand driving (as a pedestrian) but I'm still looking both ways before crossing the street.
3) pubs are good
4) contrary to popular belief, everyday items are not much more expensive here than at home. bottles of water for 50p ($1), for example. Rent costs and gas are where they get ya though.
5) without web access it kind of feels like i'm talking to myself here. for you gamblers out there, bets on how long I can keep these novellas up??

cheers
-dan