The snow is so deep this year in the mountains that the elk have been reduced to eating garlands.

We got our first piece of furniture that wasn't a hand me down on Saturday. For a while there my wife thought she might break 40 before it happened.

Front view

Hanging out on the new couch. We've learned to throw ourselves backwards off this one as well. Thankfully, daddy is always there.
(I miss that uncomplicated view of the world as a safe and welcoming place. For her it is a great game. Arch back and push with the legs and wait for the catch.)
Today I was sitting on the leather couch and heard silence, then some highly satisfied grunting. I turn around, she has climbed up onto the sectional and is climbing the cushions on the back to try and reach the windowsill and look out. The moment I looked at her it was 'baby light speed'; the arms and legs start going with the thought that if she got there fast I wouldn't stop her. Once her arms and legs get longer that theory will probably work. Until then, score one for daddy.

40 more pushups and I get a bottle.

We learned to say 'hat' on Saturday.

An excellent book I am reading on economics and investing. I also suscribe to his email list. I read a fair amount of the financial press and have found John Mauldin's email newsletter and his books some of the most reasoned and credible commentary and analysis. I'm only two chapters in but it has made me reconsider several assumptions I had in place about how the market worked and how I, of course, would come out ahead. :-) What I like best is the reference to numerous additional studies and the measured consideration of opposing points of view. I suggest checking it out.

For lawyers seeking a cause may I suggest....


http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/12/the_digital_per.html

Last week I stayed at the St. Regis hotel in Washington DC. It was my first visit, and the management gave me a questionnaire, asking me things like my birthday, my spouse's name and birthday, my anniversary, and my favorite fruits, drinks, and sweet. The purpose was clear; the hotel wanted to be able to offer me a more personalized service the next time I visited. And it was a purpose I agreed with; I wanted more personalized service. But I was very uneasy about filling out the form.

It wasn't that the information was particularly private. I make no secret of my birthday, or anniversary, or food preferences. Much of that information is even floating around the Web somewhere. Secrecy wasn't the issue.

The issue was control. In the United States, information about a person is owned by the person collects it, not by the person it is about. There are specific exceptions in the law, but they're few and far between. There are no broad data protection laws, as you find in the European Union. There are no Privacy Commissioners, as you find in Canada. Privacy law in the United States is largely about secrecy: if the information is not secret, then there's little you can do to control its dissemination. ....

See link for more.

We've finally managed to make some decisions to furnish our dining room so people coming by for New Years just don't have to come by and take turns sitting on our one couch. We ordered this carpet online (9' x 11')

My wife found this chair with slight damage so they discounted it. It also matches the carpet. .... Can you tell I've been drinking the koolaid? I'm starting to use phrases like... that color would really make the [accessory or furniture item of your choice] pop.

gratitous baby shot

Modern leather couch

Chair to also match the gold in the carpet.

Picked the carpet to match the stones in the fireplace.

One frozen vanilla yoghurt + 1 hungry baby = first brain freeze.

You know if you lived in Vancouver you could see fresh snow on the west coast mountains on a regular basis.

What, mommy wants to go back through the whole Ikea again just in case she missed something? Much longer and my first word is going to be Ponang. We lost Daddy after the second time through. I think he's asleep in the kids section with a stash of cinnamon buns to keep him alive until we come back. Mommy however, just shakes from excitement and talks alot about accessories and repainting the house. Unfortunately, I can't get these straps undone so I can climb on top of a beech veneer bunk bed with matching mass produced carpet, chair and desk, and call for an airlift.

I love the Internet sometimes ... while most of the time. It's affect on business and comparison shopping has been amazing. My wife and I finally agreed on a rug we liked for the front room. That takes some doing since generally I pick something and my wife doesn't like it or she picks something and I can't stand it. The caveat being eventually I see the error of my ways and agree that she was right to pick the item she did ... especially if Vern used it in a room on trading spaces. :-)

So back to the carpet....

Bought from a discount store in Delta with a "25% discount" with taxes in - $1025.

Before phoning back and confirming the order we thought we'd google just in case.

Ordered from Rugs USA, with additional shipping charges to deliver it to my door, brokerage fees and taxes... $560.

That's one of the most profitable web searches I've made.

Reflections

I've been working my way through a pile of papers in my inbox doing a
weekly review.
I ran across a couple quotations I wrote down for reflection.

Still, authorities must finally be judged by the same criterion that
applies to everyone else: what is the quality of their thought and what
is the validity of their conclusions?
The Plan of New York, Lewis Mumford (225)

In other words, by attempting to be practical and hard-boiled, Mr.
Adams, so far from helping the practical administrator has made his task
more difficult. The time for compromise is not when one is thinking
about a problem; for by hauling down ones flag to the enemy as soon as
one as surveyed the field and counted his forces, one lacks the power
not merely to reinforce ones friends in their attack, but to win over
such of the enemy as may have sympathies in the other camp ... the
regional plan with its genius for premature compromise, give these
people no effective aid.
The Plan of New York, Lewis Mumford (239)

Lewis Mumford

Went in for an interview and accepted a job offer last Friday on the RCMP Lower Mainland Effective Policing Team doing writing, research, policy work and public consultation. I expect to start in January. Going to really miss the people I work with now but need to know if I like doing policy or if I should just be happy playing with my computers.

Pretty in pink.

Open the door, close the door. Open the door, close the door. Shut the door all the way...wait for daddy to come open it again. Open the door, close the door, open the...

Still waiting...

Killing time...

Waiting to be picked up after waking up from her nap.

and auditioning for a role as the christmas tree in a Charlie Brown Christmas...

Total time to wrestle her into the mittens - 5 minutes. Total time they remained on - less than a minute. Free will can really be a pain sometimes. :-)

Watching grandpa have his new bed delivered for the suite.

Snow on the mountains on wednesday.

A little something from Grandpa at her birthday party to decorate her room.

It's been a rough week and a bit. Baby pushing through molars, with a cold and fever followed by a middle ear infection. I was sick and my daughter kept waking screaming every couple hours when she would sleep. Lots of tylenol, and lots of bleary days at work.

and then the whole world just tilted....

Things to do, places to go, people to see...

A Guide to merry-making at the Christmas banquet table

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like kissing your sister under the mistletoe or buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, let’s have some standards, even if it is Christmas.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, (or, in Mike E.'s case: get up from under the table), you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Beginners Guides: USB Memory Drive Projects - PCStats.com
Encryption, Firefox browser, word processing, arcade games and yes even an operating system can be run off your USB hard drive... if you know how! - Version 1.0.0

Lunch with mom

At the consignment store where we were killing time waiting for the sushi prior to heading to Port Moody to join my wife on her lunch break.

All toasty and ready for a winter outing.

The baby work release program is really taking off...

MSNBC - The Tech-Support Generation: "The Tech-Support Generation
Millions of young Americans will head home next week to give thanks, eat turkey and fix their parents computers"

Working on our reading. She gets up in the morning and goes right to the books and starts going through them and talking to the pages.

Where did a year go?

And for the correct answer to the question "Who's your daddy?" let's go to the lady in purple and blue.

Be very,very quiet...

We had to use a tongue supressor to help her roll that back in. I think she sprained it.

The view on a sunny wednesday.

Some time together on a Saturday morning.

Family

I love this photo.

Preparing for the celebration

The cake :-)

Tasting cake for the first time

American Rescue Team Survival Magazine Article - American Rescue
Don't duck and cover in an earthquake...?

Baby in background

Went browsing for home furnishing and furniture on Thursday afternoon. Home Sense, Scan Designs and then Ikea. This picture shot while I sat in the car while my wife powered on through another sofa store. Ikea is like an endurance test. Picked up a table for the office for my wife and decided the sectional offered at Ikea just was not comfortable enought to spend a bunch of money on. It would have been a quick and reasonable affordable solution. Put a sofa bed inside one of the sections and a curtain to divide off the family room when guests visit and we would have been set. It means more fabric swatches and discussions of microfibre in my future.

Started setting up the new office on Wednesday night. Nice to have a set place but certainly a pain moving things twice.

All bundled up to deal with the cold and crisp sunny day. I think the look means "This is so going in my book."

After the drop off in Surrey made the long drive out to UBC for a colleagues going away lunch at Sage bistro. I was impressed with myself for managing to navigate the deep reaches of Surrey and still end up where I needed to be with no wrong turns.