Well, the good news is that they can't find anything wrong with my car.
The bad news is that that they can't find anything wrong with my car.
There's obviously SOMETHING wrong with my car but it was a classic case of "won't act up for the mechanic". I got out of there with just a half hour labour bill but my back seat isn't installed (just in case it happens again, it will make for easier access). Now I'm driving with baited breath. Uggh!
~Heidi
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
It just stopped
As you can see I haven't blogged in a week. Life is going well. Nothing too exciting to report. The weather has been cool and rainy which is fine after the extreme heat we had two weeks ago. I was at the SSWA III.v Retreat last weekend and I had a great time. It was very relaxed. I didn't get a ton accomplished but I'm inspired to keep working on my albums and not "stuck" any more.
Today though, today I have stuff to blog about :( First off the sun is out. That's the good news. It's really nice outside...almost too nice. It's pretty warm out there.
The bad news is that I went out at lunch and my car stopped driving. I was coming out of the Tim Horton's drive thru and all of a sudden when I hit the gas nothing happened. It was the same feeling as when accidently put the car in neutral instead of drive (I have an automatic). I stopped (in the middle of a mostly empty parking lot), put the car in park and back in drive but nothing happened. I turned it off and turned it back on and when I did, the engine turned over but then nothing. I couldn't even shift it then.
My first call was to my ex-mechanic dad who talked to me and decided that he didn't know what it could be. The second call was to BCAA (AAA) which is roadside assistance. I signed up in April because my car is seven years old now and even though it hasn't given me trouble yet, you just never know. Plus with all the travelling I do to the States, I didn't want to get stuck down there. I also got their travel insurance mostly for my Texas trip but also because again, I'm down in Washington all the time.
Anyways, BCAA sent out a tow truck. He took an hour to arrive though so I just sat in the sun and read until he arrived. He looked under my hood and then under the car. Banged on it a few times and decided that it *might* be the fuel pump but a shop would have to determine that. We towed it to a mechanic that is right behind my office (very convenient) and one that Dad had suggested when we first talked.
So, now I am sitting here waiting for the mechanic to call. He's going to diagnose it and then call me with an estimate. At that point I'll probably call the shop Dad normally uses for a comparison. Either way I'm out way more $$ then I have available for this. Wish me luck!
~Heidi
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
MySpace vs. Facebook: It's a race!
LOL So, my profiles on MySpace and Facebook are racing each other. Currently I have 99 "friends" on MySpace and 94 on Facebook. The difference is that the Facebook ones are all people I actually know. Which do you think will hit 100 first?
BTW if anyone wants to be my "friend" my super secret email is agent713 at hotmail.com You can search me that way.
~Heidi
BTW if anyone wants to be my "friend" my super secret email is agent713 at hotmail.com You can search me that way.
~Heidi
It's raining
You have no idea how happy that makes me. I am not a summer person. Oh, I enjoy the season as much as the next person. Late nights, warm days, fun stuff to do and more out door adventures but it was getting so smoggy here and with the record breaking temperatures (38.9oC last Wednesday) the rain is welcome. We need it to wash the air and the ground. Plus it just smells so good!
~Heidi...obviously a BC girl...
~Heidi...obviously a BC girl...
Monday, July 16, 2007
Seattle: boxty and oysters
We had the BEST time on Saturday!!! Meredith and I drove down to Seattle to meet up with Diane
2 who was in town from Hawaii for the day. We had SO much fun walking around and eating our way through downtown Seattle
We met up at the original Starbucks on Pike Street (note that this was the second Starbucks that Mere and I had that day) Even though this was my first time meeting Diane and Starbucks was fairly busy, we recognized each other immediately and hugged like old friends. It was great :)
The Pike Place Market was busy and hot so we walked along the waterfront for awhile. When we realized that we were kind of headed no where we turned and went up the hill. I fell in love with the man hole covers there. They are maps of the waterfront and downtown!!!
When we got to Pioneer Square we met a very friendly gentleman who gave us his take on Seattle. We talked to him for probably 15 minutes. Unfortunately we didn't get his name or a picture. We hoped we would run in to him again but of course we didn't. We were considering taking the Underground Tour and he encouraged us to do so. He also suggested Elliot's for dinner. More on that later.
We bought our tickets for the tour but we had an hour and a half before it started so we went for lunch at Fado. I didn't realize until just now when I googled it but apparently it's a bit of a chain. We liked it because the logo is very close to the tatto that Diana in MD just got :)
The menu had something called "boxty" listed a few times. Our waitress was MIA until Mere went and called her over but we did manage to see on the menu that boxty is basically an Irish potato pancake. (it took me awhile to see that though :P) Anyways, I decided to have it and it was pretty good. Definitely something different. Our section of the pub was kind of "dungeonish". Very Harry Potter LOL
From lunch we headed back
to Pioneer Square and joined our tour group. It started with a talk on the history of Seattle. Very interesting stuff. I realized that I know basically nothing about who founded the city or how it was formed. We were sitting on the back bench though and giggling a bit and we got some nasty looks until we settled down. Ooops! LOL 
The tour itself was cool. You can read the website for more information. I think my favourite part was the "sky lights". The picture above is taken with the lights off and no flash so it shows how much light is let through these squares (left). Our tour guide "Jerome" is the one in the ball cap with the coffee.
We decided that if you've been to Seattle a few times and are looking for something interesting to do (and don't have any small children or people who have problems walking on rough ground, or for that matter people who are claustrophobic (Mere didn't enjoy it all that much for that reason)) then take this tour. It's not a "must do" on your first trip to the city but it is a fun attraction.
From there we wandered through some of the shops, posed with the pig statues and made our way back to Pike's Place. Note the "flying fish" in the picture below :)
We also had a drink at The Fishermans
's Restaurant & Bar.
Later in the evening, as per our "friend's" suggestion, we hit Elliot's Oyster House. It was one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in a LONG time. We had SO much fun. When we arrived it was pretty busy so we had a seat at the oyster bar which was impressive in itself. There were over over two dozen different kinds!
We had asked for "first available" seating and were lucky enough to be seated outside on the deck. Our waitress was incredible. She put up with our giggling and oyster ignorance (well, mine and Mere's Diane's a bit more of a pro). She walked us through our first raw oysters (as shown above) and waited until AFTER we had chewed and swallowed to tell us that "raw means they're alive because a dead oyster is a bad oyster". Mere was NOT impressed to hear that LOL
I was brave and went with oysters as my entree. I can't find a description of them but they were COOKED (LOL) and topped with bread crumbs and blue cheese. They were good and I ate most of them but after awhile it became too much. Looking back I should have had something more to go with them. Salad or something but it was an adventure. I also wish I had taken a picture of them but it's okay.
With the dessert menu we got a kick out of all the accent's (ague and a grave) and the "circumflex" (that's the hat like one) The waitress came back for our selection and we had to confess that we hadn't actually read it yet because we were trying to come up with the names of the accents. LOL It was good though because she explained the dessert that we ended up going with and she made it sound SO much better then the words on the menu. It tasted delicious too.
It's kind of hard to explain the easy camradrie we expeirenced that night but it was awesome. So relaxed and so much fun. Good food, good conversation, great friends. What more can you ask for? How about that Diane lived closer :wub:
~Heidi
2 who was in town from Hawaii for the day. We had SO much fun walking around and eating our way through downtown SeattleWe met up at the original Starbucks on Pike Street (note that this was the second Starbucks that Mere and I had that day) Even though this was my first time meeting Diane and Starbucks was fairly busy, we recognized each other immediately and hugged like old friends. It was great :)
The Pike Place Market was busy and hot so we walked along the waterfront for awhile. When we realized that we were kind of headed no where we turned and went up the hill. I fell in love with the man hole covers there. They are maps of the waterfront and downtown!!!
When we got to Pioneer Square we met a very friendly gentleman who gave us his take on Seattle. We talked to him for probably 15 minutes. Unfortunately we didn't get his name or a picture. We hoped we would run in to him again but of course we didn't. We were considering taking the Underground Tour and he encouraged us to do so. He also suggested Elliot's for dinner. More on that later.
We bought our tickets for the tour but we had an hour and a half before it started so we went for lunch at Fado. I didn't realize until just now when I googled it but apparently it's a bit of a chain. We liked it because the logo is very close to the tatto that Diana in MD just got :)
The menu had something called "boxty" listed a few times. Our waitress was MIA until Mere went and called her over but we did manage to see on the menu that boxty is basically an Irish potato pancake. (it took me awhile to see that though :P) Anyways, I decided to have it and it was pretty good. Definitely something different. Our section of the pub was kind of "dungeonish". Very Harry Potter LOLFrom lunch we headed back
to Pioneer Square and joined our tour group. It started with a talk on the history of Seattle. Very interesting stuff. I realized that I know basically nothing about who founded the city or how it was formed. We were sitting on the back bench though and giggling a bit and we got some nasty looks until we settled down. Ooops! LOL 
The tour itself was cool. You can read the website for more information. I think my favourite part was the "sky lights". The picture above is taken with the lights off and no flash so it shows how much light is let through these squares (left). Our tour guide "Jerome" is the one in the ball cap with the coffee.We decided that if you've been to Seattle a few times and are looking for something interesting to do (and don't have any small children or people who have problems walking on rough ground, or for that matter people who are claustrophobic (Mere didn't enjoy it all that much for that reason)) then take this tour. It's not a "must do" on your first trip to the city but it is a fun attraction.
From there we wandered through some of the shops, posed with the pig statues and made our way back to Pike's Place. Note the "flying fish" in the picture below :)
We also had a drink at The Fishermans
's Restaurant & Bar.Later in the evening, as per our "friend's" suggestion, we hit Elliot's Oyster House. It was one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in a LONG time. We had SO much fun. When we arrived it was pretty busy so we had a seat at the oyster bar which was impressive in itself. There were over over two dozen different kinds!
We had asked for "first available" seating and were lucky enough to be seated outside on the deck. Our waitress was incredible. She put up with our giggling and oyster ignorance (well, mine and Mere's Diane's a bit more of a pro). She walked us through our first raw oysters (as shown above) and waited until AFTER we had chewed and swallowed to tell us that "raw means they're alive because a dead oyster is a bad oyster". Mere was NOT impressed to hear that LOL
I was brave and went with oysters as my entree. I can't find a description of them but they were COOKED (LOL) and topped with bread crumbs and blue cheese. They were good and I ate most of them but after awhile it became too much. Looking back I should have had something more to go with them. Salad or something but it was an adventure. I also wish I had taken a picture of them but it's okay.
With the dessert menu we got a kick out of all the accent's (ague and a grave) and the "circumflex" (that's the hat like one) The waitress came back for our selection and we had to confess that we hadn't actually read it yet because we were trying to come up with the names of the accents. LOL It was good though because she explained the dessert that we ended up going with and she made it sound SO much better then the words on the menu. It tasted delicious too.
It's kind of hard to explain the easy camradrie we expeirenced that night but it was awesome. So relaxed and so much fun. Good food, good conversation, great friends. What more can you ask for? How about that Diane lived closer :wub:
~Heidi
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Concert in the Park
Tonight Mom, Dad and I went to a concert in the park. The group that performed is called "Pipers Down" and they are described as "Pipers Down takes you through a great 'Scottish' pub walk with a few countries added" Lots of fun Scottish and Irish flavoured stuff along with some "Canadiana" thrown in for good measure. I first saw them at the Agri-fair a few years back and I really wanted Dad to see them. The show was only an hour long and we all really enjoyed it.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Memories brought on by heat
I worked in the dark all day. No, the power wasn't out. We just didn’t bother using it. The Weather Network listed the temperature at 36oC. By keeping all the blinds closed, the over head lights off and fans blowing throughout the office we managed to keep it closer to about 20. Working in the dark was different though. I still had plenty of light and of course my computer monitor was illuminated.
The extreme heat brought back interesting memories. Today around lunch time my boss pulled out some old promotional videos and we viewed them together. The videos hadn't been stored very well so the tape had faded to that weird red colour. It took me right back to stifling hot portables watching school approved reel-to-reel videos on "educational" subjects.
The heat also reminds me of the summer of 1996. My parents went on a trip and Aaron and I stayed with friends. I babysat Aaron and one other boy during the day and the parents were home in the evening. I had strict instructions on when to open which windows and which blinds at what part of the day in order to keep the townhouse as cool as possible. I know it was the summer of 1996 because I spent most of the time in the basement watching the Atlanta Olympics on tv.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was so hot that I just came home and slept. I didn't have any energy to do anything else. I was okay with that though. Today (Wednesday) I stopped at home briefly before heading downtown for our wrap up dinner for the Berrybeat Festival. All done until next year :)
~Heidi
The extreme heat brought back interesting memories. Today around lunch time my boss pulled out some old promotional videos and we viewed them together. The videos hadn't been stored very well so the tape had faded to that weird red colour. It took me right back to stifling hot portables watching school approved reel-to-reel videos on "educational" subjects.
The heat also reminds me of the summer of 1996. My parents went on a trip and Aaron and I stayed with friends. I babysat Aaron and one other boy during the day and the parents were home in the evening. I had strict instructions on when to open which windows and which blinds at what part of the day in order to keep the townhouse as cool as possible. I know it was the summer of 1996 because I spent most of the time in the basement watching the Atlanta Olympics on tv.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was so hot that I just came home and slept. I didn't have any energy to do anything else. I was okay with that though. Today (Wednesday) I stopped at home briefly before heading downtown for our wrap up dinner for the Berrybeat Festival. All done until next year :)
~Heidi
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Berrybeat Festival
Wow. What a weekend. It was non-stop! This weekend was the 26th Annual Berrybeat Festival downtown. I used to attend the festival when I was a kid, (in fact you'll note that it started the year I was born) and for the past five or six years I've participated in the organizing committee. My role there is to take minutes and provide input as necessary. I also help with set up and volunteer in the information centre during the actual festival.
Thursday was set up. We had lots of volunteers so it went quickly and smoothly. Probably the best set up we've ever had.
Friday my boss and I filed all. day. In fact we filed for most of last work. It's boring, dusty work but we got a LOT done. I basically went straight from work to the Festival. It had started at noon that day so it was in full swing by the time I got there. I manned the info centre for about an hour and then moved over to the main stage where I worked the merchandise table for the headliner Chris Janz. I've known about Chris but this was my first time seeing him perform. It was a great show. Chris' wife Feather is battling cancer and in the middle of his set he had a local hair dresser come up and shave his head!!! It was amazing. I know people often shave their head for charity or in support of someone who is under going treatement but this was the first time I had actually witnessed it. It was very moving. I do have pictures but I haven't downloaded them yet. Hopefully they turned out well.
During Chris' set Mom, Dad and Grandpa came down to say "hi". Grandpa and Aunty Liz went home on Saturday so it was the last time I got to see him. I made Mom take a quick picture of us because I hadn't gotten one yet!
The festival finished at nine and after hanging out with a few of the other volunteers and reviewing the day, I headed home and, after a nice shower went straight to bed. It should be noted that from my house to the festival site is about three blocks. It was so nice to just be able to walk there!
Saturday I was back at the info centre by 9:30ish. I got my pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream (a tradition!) and settled in to answer questions, give directions and act as a contact point for security and first aid. Our only first aid excitement was an adorable little girl who tripped and skinned her elbow. Security was basic stuff like don't ride your bike through the crowds. Around 3pm we had some excitement though. There are two large "airships". Helium ballons that are shaped like berries (a raspberry and a blueberry) and are about six feet in diameter. The raspberry had been losing helium but before we could take it down, it CAME down. The wind was blowing and it caught the balloon and sent it UNDER the power lines effectively cutting power to the whole downtown core. They had it restored in under an hour but in the meantime it was quiet with no sound coming from the main stage. The crowds thinned out some but most of the vendors were able to keep going without power so it wasn't too bad.
The festival wrapped up at 6pm on Saturday and we immediately started "undecorating". Somehow there were way less people around to help with clean up then there had been with set up but even still we managed to finish up in a fairly timely manner.
By all accounts it was a successful festival. I'm looking forward to next year already!
~Heidi
Thursday was set up. We had lots of volunteers so it went quickly and smoothly. Probably the best set up we've ever had.
Friday my boss and I filed all. day. In fact we filed for most of last work. It's boring, dusty work but we got a LOT done. I basically went straight from work to the Festival. It had started at noon that day so it was in full swing by the time I got there. I manned the info centre for about an hour and then moved over to the main stage where I worked the merchandise table for the headliner Chris Janz. I've known about Chris but this was my first time seeing him perform. It was a great show. Chris' wife Feather is battling cancer and in the middle of his set he had a local hair dresser come up and shave his head!!! It was amazing. I know people often shave their head for charity or in support of someone who is under going treatement but this was the first time I had actually witnessed it. It was very moving. I do have pictures but I haven't downloaded them yet. Hopefully they turned out well.
During Chris' set Mom, Dad and Grandpa came down to say "hi". Grandpa and Aunty Liz went home on Saturday so it was the last time I got to see him. I made Mom take a quick picture of us because I hadn't gotten one yet!
The festival finished at nine and after hanging out with a few of the other volunteers and reviewing the day, I headed home and, after a nice shower went straight to bed. It should be noted that from my house to the festival site is about three blocks. It was so nice to just be able to walk there!
Saturday I was back at the info centre by 9:30ish. I got my pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream (a tradition!) and settled in to answer questions, give directions and act as a contact point for security and first aid. Our only first aid excitement was an adorable little girl who tripped and skinned her elbow. Security was basic stuff like don't ride your bike through the crowds. Around 3pm we had some excitement though. There are two large "airships". Helium ballons that are shaped like berries (a raspberry and a blueberry) and are about six feet in diameter. The raspberry had been losing helium but before we could take it down, it CAME down. The wind was blowing and it caught the balloon and sent it UNDER the power lines effectively cutting power to the whole downtown core. They had it restored in under an hour but in the meantime it was quiet with no sound coming from the main stage. The crowds thinned out some but most of the vendors were able to keep going without power so it wasn't too bad.
The festival wrapped up at 6pm on Saturday and we immediately started "undecorating". Somehow there were way less people around to help with clean up then there had been with set up but even still we managed to finish up in a fairly timely manner.
By all accounts it was a successful festival. I'm looking forward to next year already!
~Heidi
Thursday, July 05, 2007
I promised you an update
I wish it was more exciting...or that I had pictures. Let's see. Monday I had a quiet morning at home and then Mom, Aunty Liz and Grandpa picked me up and we went out to visit Mom's cousin Marianne. She has a cabin not too far from where I work. We hung out there for awhile, visited and had lunch and then came back to Mom & Dad's at about five. We hung out there and played a game of Scrabble. I left at nine, picked up Seth (who had spent the weekend with Robert) and that was it.
Tuesday was back to work and I went and had dinner at Mom & Dad's. Mere got back from Arizona on Monday so we went out for drinks and a walk around the lake late on Tuesday.
Wednesday (today) was work again. I'm not sure if it was the heat or what to blame it on but I was SO tired all day. I came home and napped for about two hours before going to work. Of course now I'm not really tired so I'm catching up on blogging and watching "A Capital Fourth of July" on PBS. Dierks should be on in a bit. I'll go to bed after that ;)
Happy Independance Day to my US friends :)
~Heidi
Tuesday was back to work and I went and had dinner at Mom & Dad's. Mere got back from Arizona on Monday so we went out for drinks and a walk around the lake late on Tuesday.
Wednesday (today) was work again. I'm not sure if it was the heat or what to blame it on but I was SO tired all day. I came home and napped for about two hours before going to work. Of course now I'm not really tired so I'm catching up on blogging and watching "A Capital Fourth of July" on PBS. Dierks should be on in a bit. I'll go to bed after that ;)
Happy Independance Day to my US friends :)
~Heidi
Monday, July 02, 2007
Happy Birthday Canada!
Canada Day. We missed the parade for the first time in a long time because we were at church. Afterwards, oh I haven't blogged this yet. My mom's dad and sister arrived on Saturday evening. They're here visiting for a week. After church we had lunch and then went for a walk around the lake. My camera batteries were dead which made me mad. I haven't seen Grandpa in two years and when I do and I'm in a beautiful park FULL of photo opportunities, I can't take any. :( Anyway, we had a nice walk but the u.l.t.r.a. slow pace was getting to me so I went home when we got back...or at least I intended to go home. Instead I went and hung out at Jenna's for a little while and THEN I went home...well, actually I didn't get home then either LOL 
I called Amanda and joined their group for watching the fireworks. It was a lot of fun. It made for a late night but I can add another place to "where I've been to see Canada Day fireworks".
Happy 140th Birthday Canada :)
~Heidi
PS Today I'm enjoying the stat holiday. Mom is supposed to call when they decide what's going on today. As soon as I get dressed I may head over there but I'm not in a huge hurry. I'll let you know what we decide to do.
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