Buying a new car…the search is kinda sorta starting

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Probably not a very sexy topic at first – more political than anything but I’m so disappointed with US car manufacturers that I had to set it all out. And if part of their argument is “no one wants electric cars” then I wanted to add a voice to that side that says “yes we do!”

We’re starting to put money aside to help with the purchase of a new car. Don’t get me wrong, we’re hoping our current car lasts as long as possible but we know it’s got to be replaced eventually.

Which means of course I’m paying more and more attention to cars and especially anything that comes up in the news. And it seems that US car manufacturers are starting to fight against environmental regulations, arguing that the California standards are too high, that no one wants electric cars, and so on and now Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (perhaps increasingly mis-named) is reversing rules that would have required improved fuel efficiency and thus led to reduced oil consumption and reduced carbon dioxide pollution.

I guess I should be pleased though, knocking out the traditional US car brands definitely narrows down the vehicle I’m willing to look at. I’m keeping Teslas in the mix though the ability to afford one remains a dream 😉

The benefits of electric cars go well beyond saving money on gas to helping reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and improving the environment for everyone. In Ontario some cars are still eligible for rebates including full battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

Here are a few resources for electric cars in Ontario:

Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Plug ‘N Drive

Do you have an electric car? Which kind? Would you recommend it?

We are all hockey people

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 They talked about the crash at school today.

Q: But I didn’t hear much from the teachers because the kids were talking.

So I did my best with the story. As best I can with a sensitive 7-year-old.

From the Red Deer News online: http://rdnewsnow.com/article/578615/rdpsd-students-show-support-humboldt-jersey-day-thursday

(Mid-way through trying to explain why the hockey team was on the bus and where they were going and so on)

Q: But how did they get to the game?

Me: Dude – they didn’t go to the game. They couldn’t.

Q: But the ones who were still there? Oh wait. They all couldn’t right? They were either dead or really really hurt.

*** Silence ***

Q: There was something about leaving a stick outside?

Me: Some people are leaving them outside the door to show a sign that we’re thinking about them and their friends and family.

Q: We have two sticks. Can we leave one at each door?

Later I remembered we have a side door. So my player’s stick (you know, the non-goalie stick) went out there. #putyoursticksout #humboldtstrong

C is for March

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I seem to have run out of steam a little in March. No reading to speak of – although I did catch up on my newspapers and magazines (mostly The Atlantic). I had a trial subscription to Texture that was going to expire at the end of March so I did a fair bit of poking around on there and then concluded I wasn’t going to miss it when the trial was over so that was good to know.

There was lego of course! The Curiosity Rover 🙂 it fits nicely with my Saturn V rocket.

Oh and Chicago too:

mostly sorted…

And I finished up a cross-stitch that I have to put some final touches on and then send out to a good friend’s daughter to remind her that there is always an adventure to be had:

adventure awaits

And if I really want to stretch it, I got a hair cut 😉

less hair; more grey

Q fell asleep while waiting…

B is for Beer

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So like I said in the Main B post I went outside my comfort zone and bought a new beer: a limited edition release barrel aged kriek from Big Rock brewery. Which is basically a cherry sour beer. I shared the first bottle with our friend who was kind enough to make a pit-stop that day to pick them up.

enjoyed at the Hotel Cavell

An amazing colour. A wonderful smell. Not something I could drink. So one of the bottles made it to our best friends and another to our piano teacher. Which leaves the fourth. Which randomly ended up having the same number as our house. I’m holding on to that one!

Then there was a pint (another barrel aged) and the Big Sleep before our dinner out at the Fifth.

at the bar hop bar on Peter Street

And the new-to-me brewery Muddy York – an old nickname for Toronto.  And yes, while they have a few IPAs (my favourite style), they also make porters, lagers, and stouts and more!

The website lists 19 current beers (and 5 retired ones!) although not all the current ones are available right now. In any event, they list:

  • 6 pale ales
  • 3 IPAs
  • 2 lagers
  • 2 porters
  • 1 amber ale
  • 1 bitter
  • 1 double IPA
  • 1 hefeweizen
  • 1 hoppy wheat
  • 1 stout

I’ve had two IPAs, a bitter, the hefeweizen (which is one of my new favourites!), a pale ale and a lager. And one smoked beer they don’t currently list on the website (drinking something that tastes like smoke is a little weird for me). I’m likely only to have a taste of the porters and stouts, or maybe I’ll head to the brewery for tastes of them. But I’d love to work my way through them all. Hmmmm I wonder if they do flights in the bar! I’m trying to do low carb now for a bit again so it’ll all have to wait.

February – B

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Well, the alphabet continues 🙂

No movies were watched actually, for the very good reason that I have a HUGE winter Olympics obsession.

from the CBC

We’re pretty multi-cultural in our house – well, mostly within Europe in any event. While Q and I were born in Canada, Toby and his dad were born in Great Britain, my mother-in-law is from Denmark, my maternal grandmother was born in Poland and my maternal grandfather was born in Latvia. Heck, there was even a Maltese skier this time! Also, that’s a HECK of a lot of red and white (and some purple and some blue):

There was some reading though: Bellweather Rhapsody (mostly thanks to reading a months’ old NYT book review Dear Match Book article) and also the Big Sleep – the first Philip Marlowe book by Raymond Chandler; which would have been a great movie to try and watch but such was not to be.  And a translation of Beowulf (which I wrote about a bit here).

And of course, there was some LEGO: Buckingham Palace, and Berlin and the Brick Bank! Lots more pictures will be posted here: [insert February LEGO post] but first I have to take them!

And beer! First, trying something completely new and out of my comfort zone, I bought four bottles of a barrel aged kriek beer from Big Rock brewery. And was introduced to another Brewery closer to home: Muddy York Brewing. You can read more about the beer part here.