A tasty, full bodied, little French table wine I found in the Vintage section of the LCBO. Under $10 a bottle while supplies last. (going to get some for my wine cellar me thinks)

Here is the LCBO blurb on it.

719286  DOMAINE DE L'AMEILLAUD  2002   $  9.95
	Vin de Pays de Vaucluse  (D)  750 mL (S.C.E.A. de l'Ameillaud)
Usually a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 20% Carignan, this is a consistent summertime favourite with Vintages customers. Robert Parker Jr. recognizes this as "a high quality estate located in the village of Cairanne".
Food match: grilled vegetables, grilled veal chops.

And more data...

2002 Vin de Pays de VaucluseThe fruit is from 40-60 year old vines, vinification is done in massive concrete tanks & there's not an oak barrel to be found on the estate.

And....

Along the banks of the Aygues and the

Ouvèze the soils are richer,the water table

higher,and the vines,as a consequence,

more vigorous.Wines from those areas,

though they ’re mostly made from the same

varieties and grown in the same climate,are

classified as Vin de Pays de Vaucluse.The

ones from the best growers represent great

value.

 Who buys the Rolex watches, Porsche's, Yacht's and Alligator shoes? According to this book, not who you would expect. The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D. takes an in-depth look at who the typical Millionaire in America really is and how they got that way. This book contains lots of survey results, tons of charts and graphs and a very focused look at the lifestyles of the rich and not so famous millionaires, their families, and occupations, spending and investing habits.

"It would seem the key factor to accumulating wealth is frugality, living below your means and knowledge in investing your surplus income. The Lifestyle of a typical American Millionaire (Jonny Lucas) is hard work, discipline, sacrifice, thrift, and sound investment habits. Why are so few people in America affluent? Even most households with six-figure annual incomes are not affluent. These people have a different orientation than does Jonny. They believe in spending tomorrow's cash today. They are debt-prone and are on earn-and-consume treadmills. To many of them, those who do not display abundant material possessions are not successful. To them, nondisplay-oriented people like Jonny are their inferiors."  ~The Millionaire Next Door~

I found this book to be very interesting and informative. The information was admittedly a bit of a suprise. It certainly makes me think a lot more about my own purchasing habits almost as much as it makes me wonder about the outward appearances of others who I always thought to be "wealthy". An easy/fun read that will inspire some interesting conversation around home for sure.

This 717 page biography leaves no stone unturned and gives a complete rendition of the life and times of Benjamin Franklin. It includes numerous references from Franklin himself. Both from his published articles and personal letters. I am fascinated at the amount of correspondence he sent over the course of his life. Here is a guy who would have loved MSN Messenger. After finishing this book I almost feel like I knew the man personally. I even shed a tear when he died. Prior to reading this Bio I though Franklin was just a crazy guy who flew a kite in a thunderstorm and invented the light bulb. Funny how cartoons watched as a child can shape ones perception of one of the greatest figures in American History. I really enjoyed this book, even if a bit long. I found his life very inspirational. Here are a few "quotes" from old Ben....

"You would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."

"Well done is better than well said."

"There are no gains without pains"

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

and in closing Franklin wrote this epitaph at the precocious age of twenty-two.

"The Body of B. Franklin, Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, its contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be wholly lost, for it will, as he believed, appear once more, in a new and more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the author."

If you would like access to the photos and family related content on my weblog send me your user id and an email and I will let ya in :)  rick@availablenics.com

 

is the story of Julian Mantle, a superstar lawyer whose out-of-balance lifestyle leads him to an almost fatal heart attach in a packed courtroom. His physical collapse brings on a spiritual crisis that forces him to confront the condition of his life and seek answers to life's most important questions.

I found this book to be an easy read with lots of tools/exercises for self-improvement. There were numerous  parallels to the Tony Robbins book I just finished coupled with some new techniques on how to apply the changes discussed. I found the relationship between the 2 lawyers adequately served the authors purpose in providing a vehicle to present the key concepts. I do think Sharma could have spent a little more time developing the principal characters and exploring their relationship within the context of the subject matter. This would have provided the reader with a better foundation for establishing commonality with the characters. 

A sample from the book - 'Julian had one final thought to share on the subject of time. "Perhaps most importantly, John, stop acting like you have five hundred years to live. When Jane brought that little hourglass to me she offered some advice that I will never forget."   "What did she say?"  "She told me that the best time to plant a tree was forty years ago. The second best time is today. Don't waste even one minute of your day. Develop a deathbed mentality."

And in closing

'Happiness is a journey, not a destination.'

If you are looking for answers you may find some in this book. Worth the read.

 

 

After watching several episodes of "A cooks tour" on the food network I felt like I was missing somthing. You could tell that in some cases we were not hearing everything that was going on in Tony's head. This inspired me to read this book. Tony is a but smoking, booze chugging, gruff, mealy, tell it like it is, no BS kind of chef/writer who will put almost anything in his mouth. The story as per the title is about his quest to find the perfect meal. His travels take him to some very interesting places (Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, San Sebastian, Pailin and Fez just to name a few) where he dines on some delicious sounding and sometimes very bizarre cuisine. I very much enjoyed his writing style and his Macavellian sense of humour. Here is a sample from the beginning of the book where he is deciding to attend a pig slaughter in Portugal.

"Understand this about me - and about most chefs, I'm guessing: For my entire professional career, I've been like Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part II, ordering up death over the phone, or with a nod or a glance. When I want meat, I make a call, or I give my Sous-chef, my butcher, or my charcutier a look and they make the call. On the other end of the line, my version of Rocco, Al Neary, or Lucca Brazzi either does the job himself or calls somebody else who gets the thing done. Sooner or later, on a farm in rural Pennsylvania, or as far away as Scotland - something dies. Every time I have picked up the phone or ticked off an item on my order sheet, I have basically caused a living thing to die. What arrives in my kitchen, however is not the bleeding, still-warm body of my victim, eyes open, giving me an accusatory look that says, 'Why me, Tony? Why me?' I don't have to see that part... I had never, until I arrived on a farm in northern Portugal, had to look my victim in the face - much less watched at close range - as he was slaughtered, disemboweled, and broken down into constituent parts. It was only fair, I figured, that I should have to watch as the blade went in. I'd been vocal, to say the least, in my advocacy of meat, animal fat, and offal. I'd said some very unkind things about vegetarians. Let me find out what we're all talking about, I thought. I would learn - really learn - where food actually comes from." - Tony Bourdain

If you like cooking and you like to travel then you should like this book. A fun read that can make you a little peckish at times.

 

 

 

As I sit here contemplating what to write about this book I can't help but think about my state of mind. 10 days ago I found myself saturated in worry about copious issues surrounding my life. A state of stormy turmoil which drove my desire for change and directed me into my basement where in a dusty old box filled with books from past days I found some answers.

Have you ever wondered why you do the things you do? What factors are involved in formulating the questions you ask yourself on a daily basis? Why your beliefs, convictions and values are yours and not necessarily mine? Who you are? Are you "happy"? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you may want to give this book a few hours of your time. Filled with inspiring quotations from a plethora of great minds of history. Tony enlightens us on our true potential and asks us to take a deep look at ourselves, examine our motives, and then guides us on a journey of self discovery, constantly empowering us along the way on how to avoid Pain and find pleasure during our existence here on earth.

"Nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters, Pain and Pleasure... they govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it."  - Jeremy Bentham

 

 I paid around 2000 bucks for my PC. I pay about $50 a month for my internet connection. I have paid for all the software I run on my computer. The computer is in my house and sits in my office. Last summer a house guest download Kazaw onto my pc. He was looking for some Albanian folk music for a wedding and ever since that date my system performance has been poor at best. In May of this year I downloaded a copy of Ad-aware. (spyware removal software) Which fixed the problems I was having. Since I installed it I have executed the program system scan 39 times. I have removed 739 pieces of spyware in all. I can't express in words how this makes me feel. It baffles me to think that my random wanderings online are considered so valuable. I also find it unsettling that my keystroke information among other things has been collected by someone. Could you imagine someone reading your snail mail? Listening in on your phone calls? Taking pictures of you while you drop your kids off at school? Rooting through your trash? I know I can continue to remove this intrusive violation of my privacy but the satisfaction in that is short lived at best. What would make me feel much better is Photographs of the perpetrators personal life, tape recordings of their personal phone calls and survellance of their movements. Then they could walk a mile in my footware. I wonder if their anonimity was taken away, their privacy exploited for my personal gain and their information shared with whom ever I wished would upset them?

by Lowell Thing, Site Editor

In general, spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. Internet advertising (adware) has been criticized for occasionally including code that tracks a user's personal information and passes it on to third parties without the user's authorization or knowledge. This practice has been dubbed spyware and has prompted an outcry from computer security and privacy advocates, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Noted privacy software expert Steve Gibson of Gibson Research explains: "Spyware is any software (that) employs a user's Internet connection in the background (the so-called 'backchannel') without their knowledge or explicit permission. Silent background use of an Internet 'backchannel' connection must be preceded by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by the receipt of explicit, informed consent for such use. Any software communicating across the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and rightfully termed: Spyware."

a very good read about the subject.

The Trouble With Spyware
&
Advertising-Supported Software  

Excerpt - Software License (dis)Agreement
Some aspects of spyware activity are legally questionable. While software installing a spyware module should disclose this fact to the user and offer the option of refusing, any such disclosure is often buried in a long and densely-worded License Agreement, slipped in among page after page of mind-numbing legal jargon on such topics as copyright, distribution, disassembly, reverse-engineering, government and restricted rights, disclaimer of fitness for a particular purpose, and similar topics of little relevance to the average user². Additionally, the actual spyware notice is often written in such a roundabout, flowery and disingenuous manner that a reasonable user would have no reason to take special interest in it³. To most users, a phrase such as "may include software that will occasionally notify you of important news" is NOT equivalent to "will place a stealthy Trojan Horse on your system that you can't get rid of, which will collect information about you and send it to us, and allow us to bother you with targeted advertisements all day". Once the spyware has been "disclosed" and the spyware company can argue that the user has "agreed" with it by continuing beyond the License Agreement, it is much more immune from potential lawsuits from users who accepted the license and installed the software,  blissfully unaware of the spy that would now be living on their computers. Some spyware companies do not mention the spyware at all, often pointing the finger at the company whose software utilizes it for not disclosing it. (How convenient!)

One of my favorite memories as a boy growing up in Peterborough, ON was playing in the rain water on my street after a big thunder storm. There was a low point in the road just in front of my house and as soon as the storm grates would clog with debris it would start to flood. The water would never cause any serious damage rarely exceeding 30 inches in depth but was just deep enough to be a spectacular, big, dirty, wadding pool. I remember how much fun it was to try and navigate the water with our bikes. It was like driving a seadoo before seadoo's existed.

All those memories came rushing back this past week as I watched my hometown try and bail out from some of the worst flooding ever. I can just imagine the basement of my old house filling up with water like so many others in the city. It's amazing that no one was hurt. My in-laws own a small restaurant in the downtown core and spent the better part of 2 days cleaning the mud out after the 24 inches of water had receded. It was neat seeing my old hometown on the news even if was covered in water.

 

 

 

I can't help but notice my neighbor runs the air conditioner with their windows open all summer. They drive 2 cars and always put out 5 or more bags of trash each garbage day. I guess they have short memories. As we come up on the anniversary of the great blackout of 2003 I thought it appropriate to post something on the subject prior to that date (August 14 ,2003) I did some research on compact fluorescent light bulbs on another blog of mine a while back and came across some interesting information regarding energy consumption. With Ontario about to fire up more Nuclear reactors isn't it time we all tried to do something other than consume.. Want to make a difference? Its as easy as changing a light bulb.

Every little bit helps. Replacing just ONE 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent in every Canadian household (more than 12 million of them) would save up to $73 million a year in energy costs. It would also reduce GHG emissions by almost 400,000 tonnes —the equivalent of taking more than 66,000 cars off the road.

Images taken by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite show light coverage in the northeastern United States on a normal night, Wednesday, left, and during the massive power blackout on Thursday. It is estimated about 50 million Americans and Canadians were affected by the power outage

The One-Tonne challenge asks you to reduce your annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by one tonne.

How? Use less energy. Conserve water and resources. Reduce waste.

Fewer emissions means protecting our climate and having cleaner air and healthier communities for all Canadians. And saving energy puts more money in your pocket.

Use more-efficient light bulbsThe amount of electricity needed to light a Canadian home results in almost one third of a tonne of GHGs each year. By replacing five of the most used standard bulbs in your home with ENERGY STAR®-qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs, you can reduce your GHGs and save about $30 each year

Government of Canada

On December 17, 2002, the Government of Canada announced its ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In the Speech from the Throne, on February 2, 2004, the Government of Canada reiterated its commitment:

... we will engage Canadians directly. Our One Tonne Challenge aims to raise awareness and provide Canadians with information on how their individual consumption choices contribute to the emissions that drive climate change. The objective – the challenge – is to reduce emissions by 1,000 kilograms per person, per year. Because environmental stewardship must be everybody's responsibility."

I took the challenge...My GHG Emissions Report

Based on your answers, your annual GHG emissions are estimated at:
 2.15  Tonnes (2154 kg).
If everyone in your household contributed equally that would mean your total emissions would be 8.6 tonnes.
Excellent results! Your emissions are well below the national average. You'd make an ideal One-Tonne Challenge ambassador! Spread the word and let your neighbors, friends and family know how they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions! On average, each Canadian produces over 5 tonnes of GHG emissions per year.

Saturday night our Neighborhood had it's 2nd annual street party. (well 2nd in 4 years) We had a great trunout and tons to eat and drink. I never realized how many kids are on our 2 streets. I guess its because you just don't see them all together very often. They all enjoyed the pool immensely and swam until 10 pm. The Scooter came in handy for trips back and forth to the houses located far away from the festivities.

 

Friday was my wife’s annual work picnic. It was held at The Docks in Toronto. The weather was acceptable, cloudy with sunny breaks was the forecast and it could not have been more accurate. In fact there were 3 sunny breaks if I recall correctly.

Enough said about the weather. The booze was cold (and free, thanks) and there was a lot to do. We played mini-golf, Beach Volley ball,

Jousting which was a huge hit.

 Ping-Pong, Billiards, Paint Ball target practice, an arcade, a swimming pool and of course the

 "Scream'n Demon Giant Swing Ride"

of which only the bravest, most courageous souls dared attempt. After a full afternoon of activities hunger took over. A buffet style dinner was served and plenty to eat was had by all. Sausages, hamburgers, salads, chicken breast and lots of deserts were the menu faire. With a full belly and 2 very tired children we headed for home.

It's official. while pondering my career options I came across this. It looked good and took but a moment of my time. Thanks Robin.

Reverend Richard Geoffrey MacCormack is available to preform the following services for a small fee.

Reverend

Richard Geoffrey MacCormack

has been ordained this Friday the 9th of July 2004 07:00:17 AM

To perform marriages within any US state, following the rules laid out by the state in which    you wish to perform said marriage. • To perform funerals, baptisms, last rites or any other sort of legal ceremony or ritual you    wish to perform, except circumcision. • To start a church of your own, be it a bricks and mortar building or on the internet. • To absolve others of their sins as you have been absolved of yours.

I returned my empties last weekend. I don't drink a lot so I never seem to have very many to take back when I do. On the upside this usually means I'm through the return your empties section of the beer store in about 5 seconds. Not the case this trip however as I found myself behind a guy with 2 clear trash bags of empty cans. Needless to say it was going to take several minutes for my turn to come up. and yes I was tempted to just give my 18 empty bottles and 4 empty cans to the guy in front but he had just a tad to much spring in his step walking jogging to the entrance so he and his two bags of cans could be in front of me. I decided "screw him" and I began to scan my surroundings as I settled in for the wait. The brewer’s retail has changed quite a bit since I was a teenager. They now sell Hats and shirts, coolie cups, salt and pepper shakers, playing cards and a host of other crap that you could find in a Walmart minus your favorite obscure beer logo of course. There is also a host of flashy marketing propaganda trying to get you to...buy beer. Duh. One sign did catch my eye though it was a blurb about beer history. I whipped out my digital camera and tried to get a pic of the thing but the lighting was crap and I could only get the bottom few sentences. Due to the poor picture ill translate.

In Pharaoh's Egypt, beer was often used as a form of currency. Tax debts were paid with jugs of beer and the king's labourers were paid with beer. A saying existed: "Happy is the man whose mouth is filled with beer."

Sometimes life is just that simple. Cheers!

 

 

I finally sat through an entire soccer game. Well almost, I dozed off for about 2 minutes and missed the only goal. From what I did see Portugal looked like the better team. They had more shots on net. They had the ball more of the time. They had the better players. But in the end Greece won the game. 4 shots on net. 1 goal. game over. My neighbor (from France) commented "what a great game" afterwards. I smiled and agreed thinking to myself I would sooner watch my daughter play.  I took these pics off my TV Just for fun. Congratz Greece.

One sunny Sunday I decided to go for a walk down the street. It was a warm summer day with a mild breeze blowing from the south east. The birds were singing and the roses were in full bloom. As I enjoyed my stroll a complete stranger approached me, pulled out a gun and shot me in the leg. I dropped to the ground like a stone writhing in pain. I looked down to see my blood gushing from the gaping hole in my thigh. I couldn't help but wonder what did I do to the stranger to cause them to want to do this to me? As I looked up to ask the question, the stranger vanished in a puff of smoke. Nothing left but the echo of his laughter ringing in my ears and my misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A "denial-of-service" attack is characterized by an explicit attempt by attackers to prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service.

I am a Cogeco Cable customer. For the last 7 days my weblog has been inaccessible by me.  I've always felt it’s easy to provide good service when everything is working well. It's when something goes wrong that a company's metal is tested. Cogeco responded to my problem by informing me it's not there problem. I can understand that what happened was out of there control but you would think that they could at least pretend to care. Thanks for the great service Cogeco! Your #1 in my book.

..................../´¯/)
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................./..../
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........./'/.../..../......./¨¯\
.......('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
........\.................'.../
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When I was younger I always fancied myself as a nighthawk. As a teenager I use to pick dew worms for pocket cash which also entailed starting work at midnight and finishing at dawn. In my twenties I could party all night or play tradewars online until 5am and still get up and go to work for 7.

This year I turned the big 40 and I must say I am no longer a night person. Not that I can't stay up all night but more often than not I find dreamland is a place I visit earlier than ever. This took some getting use to as I always felt like I was missing something, or wasting time on sleep. After more than 20 years of staying up late I now found myself unaware of what happens at 3am in the world of Rick.

While missing being a product of the night I have discovered a great replacement. Mornings. I now love to get up with the sun (and I now can get up with the sun) pour myself a hot cup of coffee and listen to the birds. No matter what problems the previous day held in store for me the morning brings a fresh sense of renewal. Anything is possible in the clean, new, morning.  GOOD MORNING WORLD 

On a shopping trip to "Walmart" my wife came home with a Lexmark Z705 printer. Not that we needed a printer but it came with a digital camera (ViviCam 3632) and a new inkjet cartridge for $150 bucks. I have grown to love the digital camera, not because its the best one on the market ( 2 megapixels) but because it lets me capture life's little moments. I now use it all the time, carry it where ever I go and am posting photos to my blog at an ever accelerating rate thanks in part to PhotoShop. I love the fact that I can take pics all the time and never spend a dime on film or processing. If I take a bad shot (like that ever happens) I just delete it in the camera. Blogs should come with digital cameras they seem to go together like peanut butter and jam, blogIcandy. I think the only thing nicer than reading about yourself or someone you know is seeing a picture of yourself or someone you know. So the next time you see me be sure to smile cause you just may end up digitized and online.

 

 

I setup a weblog for a friend of mine who is getting married in October and he asked me about a countdown clock for his blog. after a relentless search I found this really easy to install one here. I've put it on my header "Shopping days till Xmas"

 

When looking at the plants in my garden I always wonder how much bigger they will be next year. In the winter I always try to remember what they looked like. With this in mind I've decided to take some pictures and keep them on my weblog for reference. Every year I try and add somthing new, this year I planted 4 new perenials which will not flower until next season if they live that long. I have been watering with a water/Miracle Grow  mixture once a week and it is helping a lot. Some of the plants have allready flowered and I didin't take a picture of them others wont bloom until later in the season  so I will add them at that time. I've forgotten the names of some of them so If you reconize any of  the nameless flowers please do not hesitate to chime in.

 I attended another of my daughters soccer games on the weekend. Soccer in Oakville is a big thing. I think Oakville has been named the unofficial soccer capital of Canada. Every Saturday they have 24 teams of 5 year olds on the field. Here is my commentary of the game.

"The Teal Tigers striker Victoria got close to scoring in the third minute of extra time when her low shot was fumbled by the opposing goalkeeper onto the post, but Victoria was unable to get to her own rebound.

But the match could have gone the other way too, with the blue team's shot hitting the Teal Tigers crossbar and The blue team's rocket bouncing off the post of the Tigers goal deep into second period of extra time."

Today I took my daughter over to call on her friend and we went for Ice Cream. What perfect weather for the last day of school. Not to hot, not to cold, just right. I passed on the icecream cause....well just because

Another Father's day has come and gone but for me this one will always be remembered as the berry best Fathers day ever. After doing the breakfast thing we decided to see if Strawberry season had started yet. As it turned out the answer was a resounding yes! It just started yesterday.  I quickly took stock of my canning jar supply and researched several strawberry jam recipes, then we loaded up the truck and headed out to SpringRidge farm for some fresh berries. 35 pounds of fresh berries as it turned out. It seemed my jam recipe calculations were a bit off. The picking was fantastic as the season had just started and we were picking virgin bushes. I remember last time we went it took over an hour to fill a basket as oppose to this years 15 minutes. The enormity of our berry purchase hit home hard as I began to wash and hull the fruit which took several hours. I felt like a prep chef in a pastry shop after the first hour and had to break for dinner in the middle of the job. I had chosen 3 different canning recipes to try out:

Strawberry Banana Jam - 7 cups prepared strawberries, 2 cups prepared bananas, 1 medium seedless orange, 3 cups granulated sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice. (These recipies are for canning so you will need to sterilize the jars and process. makes about 5 half pint jars 250 ml) Hull and halve strawberries; measure 7 cups. Mash bananas: mesure 2 cups. Quarter unpeeled orange: chop finely in food processor or by hand. In a large saucepan, combine strawberries, orange and banana. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil gently for 10 minutes. Maintaining fruit mixturre at a boil and stirring constantly, slowly add sugar and lemon juuice. Boil hard, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until mixture reaches gel stage. (about 15 minutes). Remover from heat and skim off foam. Ladle jam into a hot sterilixed jar to within 1/4 inch of top rim (head space) and process.

Plantation Strawberry Banana Jam - Prepare recipe as for strawberry banana jam, but decrease bananas to 1 cup and add 1 can (14oz/398 ml) of crushed pineapple, well drained, to orange strawberry and banana mixture.

Old-fashioned Strawberry Jam - 6 cups prepared strawberries, 4 tart apples (macs or grannies) peeled, cored and quartered, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 4 cups granulated sugar. Hull and halve strawberries. Measure 6 cups. Combine strawberries, apples and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Add sugar to boiling fruit, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved,, Boil gently, stirring frequently to avoid scorching or until mixture reaches gel stage (about 45 minutes) Remove from heat. Can jam in hot sterilized jars and process.

. I was so comfortable with the jam recipe procedure by the end of the night I also invented my own recipe which I will call

Father Rick’s (because of fathers day) Strawberry Jam. - 8 cups hulled and halved strawberries, 1/4 cup pinapple, 1/4 cup grapefruit segments, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 4 cups of sugar, 1 package of Certo crystals. in a large saucepan. Bring fruit mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Add sugar and certo to boiling fruit, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved,, Boil gently, stirring frequently to avoid scorching or until mixture reaches gel stage (about 45 minutes) Remove from heat. Can jam in hot sterilized jars and process.

 After the 5^th batch of spread it became really apparent that we were going to have left over berries, lots of left over berries, so I pulled out the Tupperware containers and proceeded to bestow some little red devils upon my many neighbors. By 11pm I had had enough and placed the 20 or so pounds left in the fridge for the night. You would think I’d learn after my carrot fiasco. I now have a Two Four of Strawberry Jam, an early start on my Christmas shopping and some serious berry freezing ahead of me. Check out the pics.

Well it's come and gone and the 2nd annual fishing trip is over. This years event was attended by Myself, Scott, Roger, Ford, Jack, Victoria, Kathleen and Sammy. Scott had the big catch this year with a largemouth bass off the end of the dock on the first night. The kids had a blast and hauled in over 100 sunfish, rock bass and perch. Jack also caught 2 catfish and a bunch of crayfish. We also caught a snapping turtle on the last night. Ford landed the biggest perch on the second morning. A great time was had by all and I'm already looking forward to the 3rd annual fishing trip next year. Check out the pictures. Thanks to everyone for coming and I hope to see you all next year.

Well were almost there. only 7 more days until the 2nd annual fishing adventure starts. I've began gathering the gear & putting it in a pile in the basement. It's easy to find, right where I dropped it last year :) It's looking like were going to have an expanded group this year which should make for more merriment. Here is a link to the post from January which shows directions and pics. My brother Bryan thought the event was this weekend and took it off work. My wife got very flustered about the logistics of the event last week. I've invited some friends & neighbors this year and so have my brothers. They keep asking me "when is that again?" It's funny how you can plan something 6 months in advance and it still can be a last minute event for people. LOL

Here are the directions again

Directions

• Take Highway 401 to county road 30
• Take county road 30 north to county road 29
• Turn right (east) and follow to the first road on right leading to the river
• Stay to the left, past the fork in the road to Percy Boom Haven
• 90 minutes from Toronto
• 2 1\2 hours from Hamilton

and a link to the web site.

We will be arriving  Thursday around Lunch time & I will have my celll phone with me. See you on the river.

Happy Birthday Mom

xoxo

I have been an OpenSRS Domain name reseller since 2000 and over the years have seen the rise and fall and rebirth of the .com industry, During that time I have witnessed numerous domain registration scams, most of which seem to fade away over time. There is one however that is able to reinvent itself over and over again. This company preys on the non-technical domain name owner and I have spoken with numerous customers that have fallen victim to this pariah. OpenSRS has developed some reseller tools that help me manage my customers domain name renewals. I can easily look into the future and see which names are going to expire within 90, 60, & 30 days, send out a renewal email to notify my customer and show them where to go to renew the domain. This company begins the deception a full 3 months before I send my customer their first renewal notice. What they do is Mine the whois database, obtaining my customers critical information and use the info to create a renewal letter that is mailed to my customer informing them that "their records show the domain in question is going to expire (in 6 months no less) and to avoid disruption of service the customer needs to mail them a check. The customer is also duped into signing a transfer request form and mailing the whole thing back with a check. The company makes the mail look like an official government document. My customers that do this are completely oblivious as to what they have done. I wish OpenSRS would implement the tools to help me thwart this activity. by simply giving me the ability to see my renewals 6 months before they come due. A default-locking feature would also be the icing on the cake for stopping these guys. Unfortunately when I call I am told to do it myself :( The company that does this is now called Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. operating under the domain Namejuice.com but the scam originates from DROC (domain registry of Canada) here is a discussion form excerpt regarding this company.

Some Companies will do anything....

Posted: Apr 27 2004, 03:01 PM

 to get your business....I'm talking about Spam fraud. I don't know how many of you encounter such things, but you get a HELL of a lot more once you register a DNS.

Take this e-mail I just got, for instance:

-------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "OpenSRS Transfers" <transfers@opensrs.org>
To: <cyber@planethalflife.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 4:00 PM
Subject: Transfer Request away has been received for the domain lintbox.com


> A request has been received to transfer the domain lintbox.com
> away from the Registrar Tucows. This request was entered at 26-Apr-2004 14:53:58
> by Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc. dba NameJuice.com
>
> If this is a valid request and you wish to approve this transfer,
> please visit the following url and follow the instructions:https://rr-n1-tor.opensrs.net/transfers/index.cgi?away=1
>
> You will need to enter the following information to complete the
> transfer:
>
> Domain Name: lintbox.com
> Password: **********
>
> If you do not wish to approve this transfer, you must visit the URL
> above, and use the Domain Name and Password shown to Decline it.
> Accepting this transfer will change the registrar of record for your
> domain from Tucows, to Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc. dba NameJuice.com.If you are receiving this
> email, you should have initiated, or at least been aware of this
> request already. If this is the first time that you've heard of this,
> do not accept the transfer until you are satisfied that the request is
> legitimate.
>
> The transfer request will be automatically rejected within 5
> business days if you don't accept the request.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Team Lunarpages and Team Tucows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you get this one Dalp?

Anyway, no, I never requested a Transfer.

Looking at their homesite, namejuice.com, it's safe to say that this was an act out of desperation. Still, it's pretty low.

If one weren't careful enough, this could damage businesses. It's the Nigerian Registrar Scam.

 

I hope someone is listening at TUCOWS and helps the reseller stop this practice with some new tools.