Nice lazy afternoon

Don't you just love lazy Sunday afternoons?

The sun is shining, the weather is not to hot, not to cold, but just right!

Here I have my laundry nicely done and nothing much to do (except vacuum...which will wait another day). So here I am just strecteched out on my futon watching television enjoying a nice quiet afternoon.

What am I doing this evening?

I might take the Sunday Sun with me to a local park to quietly read. Or I might go out and see a local Sunday night baseball game in one of the local town parks as well. I haven't decided which I will do. I guess I could do both.

"Hey Mike!" "Nice Tux"

From: The Art of the Rant: The MIB

Ever wanted to see me in a tux?

Check out this picture:

Photo courtesy of Bill Arends

Messin around with my camera

I let my camera spend the day with me yesterday. Here is what resulted in interesting pictures that I noticed throughout my adventures.

The Canadian flags of the Aurora Shopping Centre in the morning sun.

The Canadian flags at the Aurora Shopping Centre, another look.

The Canadian flags at Aurora Shopping Centre with the wind finally picking up.

York Lanes Shopping Centre at York University in the morning sun.

The trees in the spring morning sunshine in the Commons of York University.

Toronto in Bloom? :)

2006 Census of Canada

2006 Census of Canada

I had a bright yellow envelope in my mailbox today. THE CENSUS HAS ARRIVED!

I was worried that because I was living in my new apartment that my existance might go uncounted. I was also worried that if I failed to receive a census and, thus, did not fill one out, I might end up IN THE SLAMMER!

It was nerve racking. I didn't want to screw it up because the form looked very similar to the income tax form. It is well known how that the taxman always forces those to be paid. So I wanted to make sure I was counted properly or I might face the wrath of the Census man who will make sure I am counted either the easy way or the hard way. I hate to imagine what the hard way is! It sends shivers down my spine.

But fear not, I filled out the form and mailed at the local post office right away. It is in the hands of Canada Post now. Wait, the way Canada Post has lost and/or missedplaced packages that my employer sends out I should be concerned that I might not be counted and may have to face the wrath of the census man. OH THE HORRORS!

How can you afford to be a student?

I was talking with my sister on the phone the other day wondering why she hasn't returned home from university.

She noted that she still had exams and was going to be in university until May tenth.

"What?" I asked.

She said, yuppers at her university the exams go into May.

I remember fondly my days at the University of Ottawa where the exams were over by the end of April and I could move home by May first at the very latest. Apparently that is no longer the case at university.

I thought about it a little more lately and noted that my sister is losing important employment time. She is basically losing ten days from her summer employment and the associated loss in wages. These wages usually go towards paying tuition, books and just plain living through the school year.

It seems her university doesn't understand that their students need to work four months during the summer in order to be able to afford to continue their studies.

Its a shame really because not everyone is rich enough to sit on the beach in Maui during the summer months while not attending university. Gee...maybe most students might like to actually have some money in their pockets instead of drumming up their student debt like drunken sailors. hmmmm...novel idea ya think?

The weather...what else is a Canadian going to discuss?

It reached a high of twenty-five degrees celcius today in Toronto. I might note that it is only May fifth and it is already reaching a high of twenty-five degrees. I can hardly wait for to see what the temperatures are going to be like in the summer. (Sarcasm alert!...the previous sentence was chalk full of sarcasm...this has been a sarcasm alert for all those with no sense of humour).

Not helping matters is that my new apartment, which I moved into at the beginning of March, suffers from immense amounts of daytime heating. So when I get home from a long day of work I walk into a warm apartment. That is not an issue in March when you want a nice warm apartment in order to escape the freezer like conditions outside. But in the summer months I look forward to cool places, not hot places! So when I return home now it is a little too warm for my liking. I can only imagine in the middle of July when the temperature outside is thirty degrees. In my apartment it will probably be closer to a sizzling forty degrees celcius. Well at least I will be able cook my dinner without turning on the stove. So I guess there are pluses to having high amounts of daytime heating.

Useless fact of the day

Empire State Building: Official Internet Site

Useless fact of the day...the Empire State Building is 75 years old today and will shine white lights tonight. Why white light? The lights were shining white 75 years ago tonight on opening night on New York City's most popular tower.

The second useless fact of the day. Betty Lou Oliver, an elevator operator, survived a 75 floor plunge in her elevator after a plane crashed into Empire State Building. The elevator plunge holds the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest elevator plunge with someone on board actually surviving. More on this plunge here.