What I didn't do yesterday...

I forgot to call my dad to wish him a Happy Birthday! I'm such a bad daughter.




It's not like it was an important birthday or anything...he only turned 65.


My hard drive is out of commission at the moment (nothing serious; I just need to relocate the power bar it used to be plugged into), so I didn't have access to old pictures of my dad. However, I think I may have done one better by locating and pulling out this (plus, of course, now having digitally preserved it*):



This is my dad's lasting contribution to my autograph book, signed about 25 years ago in 1986. I got an autograph book in 1986 shortly before heading off to Choir Camp in Berwick, N.S.,** and got my family members to sign it. I may post more of these in the future -- some are pretty funny.

So my dad is now 65. He will be retiring at the end of the summer, and my parents have decided to move to Ottawa. They are looking at buying a condo in the same building as my aunt, right near U of O. This is a bit crazy for me to get my head around. It will be fun having my parents back in the same city as me; however, it will be strange not having my parents in Toronto, which is where I am used to them being. Toronto has been "home" for me for many years, and that is going to change. Robert and Judy will be staying in Toronto (despite mine and Jerome's numerous entreaties to move to Ottawa), and I still have many friends who live in Toronto, but without a bedroom to call my own when I get there, it's just not going to be the same.


* This is also my submission for the Shutterbug Challenge for today.

** My brother's ex-wife also attended that same Choir Camp in 1986. I can't remember how we actually discovered this, but sure enough, there she is in a corner of the group photo we took. She wasn't in my cabin, but it's entirely possible I spoke to her at some point (there was maybe only 100 kids there). Crazy!

They don't call us The True North for nothing...

I love The Weather Network:

Winter storm watch for: City of Ottawa
Issued at 10:00 AM EST FRIDAY 7 MARCH 2008

..WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO GIVE HEAVY SNOW SATURDAY.. THIS IS AN ALERT TO THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
A STORM IS CURRENTLY OVER ALABAMA AND WILL PUSH NORTHWARD TODAY GIVING SIGNIFICANT SNOW TO MOST OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO. IT APPEARS THAT THE SNOW WILL COME IN TWO DOSES. THE FIRST ROUND WILL BEGIN AS EARLY AS THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO AND NIAGARA THEN LATER TODAY IN EASTERN ONTARIO. WE MAY HAVE A BRIEF REPRIEVE OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING WHERE SNOW MAY BECOME LIGHT AND MORE INTERMITTENT. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IS THEN EXPECTED IN THE SECOND ROUND BEGINNING MIDDAY SATURDAY IN THE SOUTHWEST AND IN THE AFTERNOON OVER EASTERN ONTARIO. KEEP IN MIND THAT THE SNOWFALL DURATION WILL BE ABOUT 36 HOURS BUT THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. SNOWFALL WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FROM LONG POINT TO THE NIAGARA PENINSULA DUE TO SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 15 TO 20 CENTIMETRES WITH THE FIRST DOSE. THESE AREAS WILL LIKELY BE UPGRADED TO A WINTER STORM WARNING DUE TO ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL AND BLOWING SNOW AS THE SECOND ROUND APPROACHES. STORM TOTALS MAY BE 20 TO 30 CENTIMETRES ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM LONG POINT TO THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE THEN TO PETAWAWA. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR 30 TO 50 CENTIMETRES OF SNOW OVER THE NIAGARA PENINSULA AND PARTS OF EASTERN ONTARIO. AREAS WEST OF THE LONG POINT TO PETAWAWA LINE SHOULD SEE BETWEEN 10 TO 20 CENTIMETRES WITH LESSER AMOUNTS NEAR LAKE HURON AND GEORGIAN BAY. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS TO 70 KM/H ARE POSSIBLE. ON SATURDAY STRONG WINDS COMBINED WITH FRESH SNOW WILL CAUSE BLOWING SNOW TO LOWER VISIBILITIES AND CREATE DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS FROM HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ARE POSSIBLE SO TRAVELLERS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO CHANGE THEIR PLANS ACCORDINGLY. TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL DEPEND ON THE TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM AND THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE TO CONVERT TO SNOW. THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE EXACT TRACK OF THIS STORM. ENVIRONMENT CANADA WILL CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION AND ISSUE SNOWFALL OR WINTER STORM WARNINGS AS REQUIRED WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WINTER STORM WARNINGS ARE ISSUED WHEN SNOWFALL OF 25 CENTIMETRES IS EXPECTED IN 24 HOURS OR LESS..OR WHEN SNOWFALL COMBINED WITH BLOWING SNOW CREATES SIGNIFICANT AND POSSIBLY DANGEROUS WEATHER RELATED HAZARDS.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST PUBLIC FORECASTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.


I suspect, in fact, that the groundhog never even made it out of his hole this past Groundhog Day - and March looks more and more like a lion, than any lamb! Though of course, any comparison to Hell is somewhat misguided, no? (It's warm in Hell, from what I hear.)


Anyway, I suspect this crazy weather is just a ploy to amuse my father, who, as I'm sure most of you know by now, is weather-obsessed. The Weather Gods are just trying to greet him in style, as he returns sometime this weekend from an idyllic, sunshine-filled two-week vacation in the Caribbean with my mother.

Welcome home, folks! Hope you enjoy being holed up in Detroit!*

* I shouldn't even joke about being stuck in the Detroit airport. We almost had to spend the night in Detroit two years ago, whilst en route to Japan, when our connecting flight out of Ottawa was delayed. Thankfully, they held the plane for us in Detroit. Close call.

It's his party, and he'll cry if he wants to

Today is my dad's 62nd birthday.*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

While I admire my Dad for many things, not least of which is his penchant for Star Trek and a myriad of other stellar (pun intended) and not-so-watchable sci-fi shows, the most noteworthy aspect of his personality is his ability to stay calm as a cucumber and happy as a clam in the face of clear and present danger**:




* But who's counting, right? Hey, only 38 more years till your centennial! heehee :)

** With thanks to my mom (Photoshop is her best friend, but I won't tell you which part has been 'Shopped in), from whom I stole this photo without her consent. What's she going to do? Sue me? Her daughter is a lawyer, true, so I guess it's always possible.

Lordy, lordy...look who's, uh, sixty-one!

It couldn't possibly be the Chicken Man!*

Yes, while I wasn't there myself to witness this event, I have been advised and do verily believe that 61 years ago today, this man, who we like to call either "Pierre" or "Dad", was born. Let me repeat that: 61 years ago today.

I did a quick Wikipedia search and have learned that February 5th is the 36th day in the Gregorian calendar. OK, I could have figured that one out on my own by counting from January 1, but it sounds really cool anyway. I also learned, amongst other things:

February 5th is Constitution Day in Mexico. Also on this day, Pakistan observes the public holiday called Kashmir Day. The national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, was born on this day in 1804 (so a bit older than my dad). Also born on this day were Sanjo, a former Emperor of Japan, in 976, writer William S. Burroughs in 1914, and, in 1934, the most important Canadian ever, Don Cherry!!! As if that wasn't enough, February 5th is also the feast day of Saint Agatha of Sicily, the patron saint of firework makers and glass blowers (cool! partay!!!), and also of Saint Bertolf, whoever he was.

For political junkies, in 1963, Diefenbaker's minority government was defeated on this day over its nuclear weapons policy (that was a good thing, for sure). For sports fans, Gordie Howe played his last all-star NHL game on this day in 1980. For music junkies, Joni Mitchell was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on this day in 1981. For monarchists, on February 5th, 1811, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent after his father George III was declared insane. He later (the Prince, not the King) became George IV (and I guess Victoria's father?).

Finally, since my dad likes weather information, the coldest day in the province of Quebec in recorded history happened on this day in 1923 in Doucet (I'm not even sure where that is), when the temperature dipped to -54.4 degrees Celsius. I don't know if that's including windchill or not.

Anyway, Dad, have a good one!


* Yes, I grew up with a chicken coop in our backyard. I hated having to go collect the eggs - invariably, the nastiest hen of all would be sitting on 'em, and she would snap at me. No, I did not grow up on a farm. We lived about 30 minutes outside Halifax, N.S., in dear old Cole Harbour, and we had a large yard with a lot of woods around us, and one year, after a neighbour gave my brother and I baby chicks for Easter (what kind of a present is that???), my dad decided to get a whole brood of 'em. Yikes. It was kinda cool.

A lesson in genetics

Tomorrow's Mother's Day, but this post is about my dad. Sorry.

I often putter around the spare bedroom and kitchen, pretending to do this and that, while Randal is sitting in the living room watching a movie or something on television. I turn down numerous offers to sit and watch with him, on the pretext I am busy doing something else. But even I have had to admit to myself on more than one occasion that I really am watching more television from the kitchen or even sometimes through the little window between our living room and kitchen than I am actually cleaning the spare room (or whatever). However, actually settling down and watching TV with Randal would be admitting that I am not, in fact, engaged in the activity in which I am pretending to be.

Well, this evening as the same pattern unfolded, it suddenly hit me: I'm turning into my father. At my parents' house, there is a half-wall between the kitchen and family room. I cannot count how many times I have been sitting watching something on TV when, all of a sudden, I become aware of a presence behind me. This almost invariably turns out to be my dad, who has walked into the kitchen, ostensibly to get a drink or on some such other pretext, and then remain there, transfixed, standing by the kitchen table, watching the TV. I ask him to join me, and almost always the response is, "No, no, I'm busy doing _______."* I have known him to watch almost the entirety of some TV shows and movies from this position.

The funniest occurrence of this behaviour was a few years ago, when I stumbled across Desperado on TV. I am not particularly an Antonio Banderas fan, but I had seen the movie earlier that year on video and thought it was quite good. The film had just started, so I decided to watch it. Two minutes later, Dad walks in to the kitchen to get a drink, and asks what I am watching. When I tell him, he actually scoffs at my taste in film! I continue watching. About 15 minutes later, I notice he is still there. I invite him to join me. "No, I've got to go to bed."** This exchange happens again at the 25-minute mark, and again at the 35-minute. Finally, at the 40-minute mark, Dad comes silently into the family room and sits down on the couch next to me. To seal the deal, I ask him if he wants me to make popcorn. He says yes, of course.

Anyway, there's worse things I could turn into (a glow-worm, for example) and worse habits I could pick up (though not from either of my parents, since they are nothing short of perfect, of course) ...

And now, back to cleaning my room. Just going to check out what Randal's watching first, though ;)

* Though I have to say, nothing gets a father to agree to watch television or a movie with you - even if it's a movie he's seen 12 times - faster than combining the offer with the temptation of a fresh bowl of popcorn. A sneaky let's-have-some-father-and-daughter-bonding-time tactic to which I will admit to doing...fairly frequently. (Confession: One of the last times I was home, I watched a whole hour-long episode of Babylon 5, which I think is a terrible show, and some other lame sci-fi show (and I do like sci-fi) with my dad simply because, well, I was in the mood to hang with him.)

** Anyone who is related to me will be laughing at this point, since that is a common line of my father's which is usually followed by his staying up watching TV or playing a computer game for the next few hours - he says he's working, but we all know that the sound effects in MS-Word sound nothing like what it sounds like when you shoot a phasar in his favourite Star Trek video game!

The Big Kahuna Turns 6-0

My dad (pictured here with his mother) is 60 years old today.
Happy birthday!!!

Blast from the past...

Today I went on a "field trip" at work - went to visit the Health Sciences Library with a few other librarians. It is on a different campus from the rest of the U of O.

The best part of the whole trip, however, was walking through the Health Sciences Building on our way to the library: the walls were lined with photos of graduating classes. We stopped to look at some old ones, then I said, almost joking, "Hey, I should see if my parents are up here!" They met at U of O Medical School and both graduated in 1972 (they married in 1971, though I note that despite my mother's declaration that she graduated under her married name, her maiden name is actually hyphenated to the married one).

And we found them, on the wall on the way to the library (it's like they knew where their daughter would end up someday):



It was pretty cool. I was told that my dad looks like a total hipster (he probably was at the time, and he still is, though in different, unexpected ways) - especially with his way-cool long sideburns - and that my mom also looked cool with her glasses and long, long hair. Plus, what I already knew and shall likely never escape: that I look like my mom - hi Mom! love you! ;) - though I pointed out that I have my dad's nose (at least, a more delicate, girly version thereof).

I don't know if this was the same building they would have actually attended Med School at; I think it is a "newer" building (though not in the true sense of the term "new", judging from the bright orange carpeting throughout the library).