Shopping Time

The first time we checked out the cribs at Toy'r'us, we had our share of sticker-shock: $300??? Most of the cribs were more expensive then our own bed!

Then, we went to IKEA, which was equally disappointing. The cheapest crib was $120, but it was flimsy. In fact, none of their cribs looked sturdy enough to our liking.

Yesterday, I turned to Craigslist and Kijiji. There were a few cribs available, but with Daniel out of town, I didn't want to embark in buying -- I can't carry a 60 lbs. crib home! (60 lbs. is minimum; I"ve seen package of a new crib listed at 90 lbs., effectively squashed any possibility of shipping one from the States.)

On the bright side, I have seen a few Quinny Zapp strollers on Craigslist and Kijiji sold at as low as $110, bringing the total cost of the travel closer to $300. Maybe I can finally persuade Daniel to let me buy it...

Daniel IM-ed me he planned to go to Delaware today with his coworkers because there's no sales tax (even on tobacco) -- one coworker was in the market for a camcorder, and another wanted cheap smoke. I "assigned" him the task of buying a playard, figuring it's not too expensive (from the website, eyeing a USD $59 one which goes for $99 in Canada) yet still portable. Although Daniel is usually very insusceptible to buying things on impulse and/or peer pressure, I wonder if he'll start to consider buying a camcorder after shopping with his coworkers...

Home Alone This Week

Last Tuesday
Daniel: We're sending our testing team to NJ next week. I may have to tag along.
Cindy: What for?
Daniel: Just as a liason. The testers haven't met with the customer before.

Last Thursday
Daniel: We (him and a dev) are trying to talk our way out of next week's trip. We'd be more productive and useful in TO than in NJ.
Cindy: So when will you know for sure?
Daniel: Tomorrow.

Last Friday
Daniel: I'm not going to NJ, it's final.
Cindy: Cool.

Monday
Daniel: I'm going to NJ tomorrow after all.
Cindy: WTF?
Daniel: Miscommunication -- apparently the customer was expecting us (him and the dev) today, and they weren't happy that we aren't there.

Tuesday (en route to airport)
<Daniel's cell phone rang, answered>
Daniel: [The dev] is called back to TO office -- and he has already checked in!
Cindy: Great...
Daniel: What a complete waste of money... rescheduling and canceling flights and hotel reservations!
Cindy: May as well give the money to you as bonus eh? ;)
Daniel: On the other hand, that means I have the rental car all for myself...
Cindy: Shopping time! ;)

Hello Caden!

DD & OB are back in TO for the first time since OB was pregnant, and they brought their 8-month-old son Caden with them! Unlike many babies, Caden was showing no fear of strangers, even letting Jit carry him at first sight! We all took turns carrying him, and he didn't seem to mind a bit.

After dinner, DD & OB let us "test drive" their stroller with Caden in it. Having a baby in the infant seat/carrier (an 18 lbs. one to beat) felt so different! I particularly like their stroller (Quinny Zapp), since it is very compact when folded up. However, the Maxi-Cosi Mico car seat (which fits the Zapp) is more expensive than the stroller itself!

Metallica on Guitar Hero World Tour and Guns N' Roses on Rock Band 2

Apparently Metallica's new album will be available as downloadable content on Guitar Hero World Tour on the album's release day. And at least one Guns N' Roses song is reportedly on Rock Band 2.

Unfortunately for me, Guitar Hero World Tour is released about 10 days before my baby's due date.

Thanks ah jai, I can completely write off 2008 Christmas season's big game releases...

WALL-E is Good

Finally watched WALL-E tonight.  As always, I'm amazed at Pixar's ability to create emotional attachments to seemingly lifeless (or otherwise mundane) things.  This time, it's robots with vocabulary worse than a 3-year-old.  They managed to make WALL-E look (and behave) like a grade 8 boy whenever he's around EVE (Daniel: more like grade 6) -- you know, the fixation on holding her hand, and didn't take in a single word she was saying even when they were in grave danger.

I can understand why some people may be disappointed; both dialogues and actions were sparse, and it's much easier to love a toy/fish/bug/superhero/car than a dirty robot.  Personally, I prefer WALL-E over The Incredibles (which I have watched at least three times) or The Bug's Life, and maybe a bit above Cars.  Something about me being a geek and robots/gadgets, I suppose. :)

Smoking Hot POT

In case you don't follow (Toronto) stocks, one of the hottest stocks on TSX for 2008 was definitely Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (TSE:POT).

The stock has been volatile. After hitting its 52-week high of $246, I took my chance to join the party by buying at $204 on July 8. It has since hovered between $210 and $225, sometimes within a single day. I joked with Daniel that I may as well start day-trading Potash.

If it hits $240 again in the short term, I'm definitely selling it and buy when it drops back down again.

Back to Blogging, Sort Of

A highlight of things which happened since my last post, which may (or may not) hindered my ability/desire to blog:

• Attended wedding on June 28, then woke up at 5:00am the next morning for a camping trip in Killbear during the Canada Day long weekend.
• A semi-surprise trip to Montreal for my birthday, leaving Toronto for Ottawa on Friday, only to have our car broken into and both of our work laptops stolen overnight. No Montreal.
  
• To make up for the lost trip, Daniel bought "me" Rock Band for Wii (with his three Future Shop gift cards) on Sunday. Many nights usually meant for surfing and/or blogging has been wasted on Rock Band since.
  
• Back at work, another laptop with the same spec (due for upgrade starting in two months) was issued, only (a) it has a broken case, (b) the battery is so dead that the laptop cannot even recognize its existence, and (c) has Vista installed on it instead of XP.
• Unfamiliar with Vista (and thanks to the annoying-as-hell UAC), setting up the environment took two days.
  
• After a few days of wrestling with Vista (and struggling to get work done on it, since it doesn't have enough memory to even run the application I'm working on), IT decided to let me have XP back on Friday.
• The rest of Friday was spent setting up the environment yet again.
• In addition, delivered a build to testing team on Friday afternoon.
• Weekend was spent on drumming and guitar (Rock Band) again.
  
• Another build scheduled for delivery this week, but I am on training full day today and tomorrow. Frantically tried (and failed) to finish my work yesterday and the day before.