Masthead header

Spring takes on a whole new meaning when you have a dog.

For the past few days, when Humphrey bonks me in the forehead (or better yet, right smack dab on the mouth) with his cold wet nose to tell me it is time to go out at 5:30 a.m., I gladly hop out of bed to walk him.  Ok, not gladly, but with far fewer ‘sigghhhhs’ and ‘arggghhhs’ than before. 

You see, dogs don’t get as cold as we do.  At least not as quickly, anyway.  But first thing in the morning, they also haven’t been sleeping all snuggled up in their duvet, long separated from the cool pre-dawn air.  But I have.  And I’m very happy there.  And because I know that the chill in our bedroom is nothing compared to the -20 degree air outside, it makes getting up that much harder.  Especially when it involves layering and parka, mitten, hat, and scarf-wearing just to stay ‘sort of’ warm.  It sucks. 

So needless to say, the warmer temperatures of late are making me very happy.  Not only have our morning walks together have become quite pleasant, with Humphrey taking full advantage of not being rushed immediately back inside, but he is also giving us more reason to be out enjoying the fresh air after a long cold winter.  I’m already looking forward to our camping and hiking adventures this summer.   

Humphrey scopes out his first bridge

 

What a ham!

 

 

March 29, 2006 - 8:55 am

Kris - Aw…he’s so cute. What a little scruffball. He’s going to love camping!

March 29, 2006 - 9:43 am

Shannen - He is a scruffball. The very definition of a mutt, and exactly what we wanted. And now that he’s not pooping 18 times a day…we couldn’t be happier. 😉

tick, tock, tick, tock…

Do you hear that Dan?  It’s the sound of your twenties slipping away……………………

 1996 Kimberly Ski Trip Derek Jon Dan.jpg

scenes from a mall.jpg

  Monkey1.jpg

(L)

March 27, 2006 - 3:46 pm

dan - These pics are in chronological order, and is it just me or am I getting stranger looking? I shudder to think of what’s in store as I embark upon my fourth decade …

March 27, 2006 - 9:01 pm

Jen - I think the monkeys in the last pic aren’t helping.
They are strange also.
3 more days!

Where’s the apostrophe?

Taken from a daily investment newsletter I receive from Canaccord Capital

Tim Hortons.gif
For those who don’t know, the doughnut chain founded by the late Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman naturally started out its existence as Tim Horton’s. But the apostrophe was lost to the language legislation in the Province of Quebec: See, unless a business name is simply a personal name, in Quebec the signage has to be translated into French. Well, Tim Horton’s Doughnuts would have to become Les doughnuts de Tim Horton. Rather than producing entirely new signage for the Quebec market, Tim Horton’s became Tim Hortons from coast to coast. Note that exceptions to Quebec’s sign laws
have been granted. McDonald’s, for example, was able to keep the apostrophe on their signs because the apostrophe is a part of their trademark. McDonald’s was thus able to let the Anglicism stand. De McDonald, anyone?
An online petition to return Tim Hortons’ apostrophe can be found at: www.petitionspot.com/petitions/timhorton

Arrested Development not dead?

cast

Completely unsubstantiated rumour: Showtime has picked up the show for 2 years at ~12 episodes a year.

Here’s hoping …

Arrested Development website at fox.com

March 28, 2006 - 2:29 pm

dan - My hopes have been crushed!

Oh well. Better to die a quiet, noble death than come back in Hurwitz-less, “the new Becky”, zombie-like form.

And a feature film would be a terrible idea. Remember the Kids in the Hall movie? Egads.

No stock for you

Just got a call from our broker – we did not get Tim Horton’s stock in the IPO. Not a surprise, but a bit disappointing. It starts trading tomorrow on the TSX and NYSE, both under the ticker THI.

We own some Wendy’s stock, who will remain the majority owner of Tim’s even after tomorrow’s listing. Wendy’s was cheap about a year ago, and we (along with everyone in Canada except Kris) are frequent customers, so bought at US$32. It’s up above US$60 right now heading into the spinoff.

Had we got some at CAD$27 per share, I probably would have set a sell at $33 or so, with the expectation that the furor would die down and we could re-buy them at a lower price in a few months.

Let’s see if that theory proves out …

March 23, 2006 - 3:24 pm

Kris - Hey…I didn’t say I DON’T go to Timmy’s, I just have a slight preference for Starbuck’s. I’m not a big Starbuck’s junkie or anything…I’m not about to link Starbucks.com to my blog or anything lame like that. Just a West Coast gal paying homage to my West Coast roots with a West Coast business that is unfortunately ridiculously overpriced. Just like everything else on the West Coast.

March 24, 2006 - 10:03 am

dan - It’s weird that Starbucks can charge such a premium for their joe. We are weekly visitors there too 🙂

As of 10am, THI trading at $35, up 30% … 😐