Wednesday night we went house hunting and had one quite strange experience. We were driving through this somewhat shady lookin’ street looking for the house with all sorts of people on porches glaring at us in the beautiful Lexus SUV that our agent drives. When we find the house it looks like hell. All the brick was repatched recently and really badly and the mortar was already falling out in places. Stephanie knocks and unlocks the lock-box and opens the door.
As she opens the door we hear this crazy eerie noise. Like a person moaning. Like “Ahhhheeeiieeeiiieeeee”. We’re all surprised and Stephanie shouts out “UMMMM Hellooo? Helloooo?”.
This is when all of a sudden this little pink slipper appears on the top step of the stairs up in front of us and this old woman that looks like something from THE RING comes CLIMBING down the stairs!
Cold sunk in eyes a scarf over her head and BLACK lips! Her hands were all knotted and lumpy and her skin was pale. She was literally CLIMBING down the stairs just like something out of a scary movie. Using the floor above as a hand hold! Scary as hell!
Stephanie, says in her cheery voice “Hi we have a showing!” and offers her card. The ring woman just waves her hand and babbles something at us and continues down the stairs towards us. We all removed our shoes and walked swiftly in to the kitchen away from the slowly advancing ghost lady. We figured the kitchen was safe I guess.
Then we find out that the wailing sound was some “music” on playing on a stereo in the kitchen it was really strange, it would be quiet for a few seconds and then there would be another “Ahheeeeeieiiieeeeeiee” then go quiet again… I suppose it could have been some kind of prayer or something. I don’t know. The stove had some toxic lookin’ shit bubbling away on it and the whole house had a slightly unpleasant smell.
By this time ring lady had made it to the couch and sat down just staring at us with those sunk in eyes… those eyes so cold… I think she tried to smile at us a few times but truthfully I couldn’t even look in her direction.
The house was in pretty bad shape and it was dirty. Almost everything looked as if it had been slightly broken and not fixed. Lots of little touch-ups were needed just to bring it up to acceptable in my mind. We didn’t make it upstairs OR downstairs. Just to the kitchen and had a look out the back window.
We were in the house for all of about 3 minutes and when we left the owners were clearly sitting in their car across the street. They didn’t even wait for us to pull away to get out of their car and return home.
We jumped in the car and took off pretty quick. It’s a little bit of a shame cause the house looked cute on the outside and had a huge garage. The neighborhood wasn’t all that great though.
We’ve started house hunting. It’s fun so far. But scary to think that we’ll be spending so much money.
One thing about house hunting though is that you never know what you’re going to come across. Even when you see the little thumbnails on the MLS listings. They never do justice to what you actually get when you enter the house (whether good or bad).
Last night we went out with our agent Stephanie Cluett and her protégé Jessica to see eight houses. Some houses that we saw last night were really cute but not us. Some were downright horrible.
With this first experience I have some advice for those trying to sell their home:
Clean up.
When I enter your house I should not WANT to keep my shoes on. I would like to show the respect that your house deserves and not want to dirty up your beautiful home. But if the floor is disgusting I will dirty the place up because you clearly don’t respect your house. So why should I? There is an exception with vacant houses. But I shouldn’t be afraid to catch some kind of communicable disease from waling around in my socks. This brings me to my next point.
Go out.
Last night there was two houses we visited where the owners were home. This just makes an awkward situation for everyone. We’re scrutinizing the building you live in and it feels rude to point out flaws in your home right in front of you. Both of said homes were filthy and our agent actually stepped in something that she “didn’t want to touch” to get off her foot. Worst of all DON’T LEAVE GRANDMA HOME and go out! Especially if she doesn’t speak English. (Check back tomorrow for more details on this).
Don’t sit in your car.
Similar to above. We know it’s you.
Make sure your agent is truthful.
Some of the listings we see stretch the truth a little and some downright lie. A garage fits a car and has a door that works. A dilapidated shed that’s falling down is not a garage!
Turn on the lights and the climate control.
If it’s hot outside make it cold inside. If it’s cold outside make it hot inside. Turning on all the lights will make your house appear nicer to the potential buyers more light is better.
That’s all I have for now. I might think of more later and add them in. Or this poor blog may just go stagnant again.
This image just came to me via a friend via blogTO.com and frankly it’s just confusing… Did the ticket officer think the owner of this bike/scooter deserved a break and thought a nice refreshing alcohol filled chocolate or two might take the edge off? Did someone walking by think that the rider was having a bad enough day and should get a small pick-me up?
More importantly that’s booze and a motorized vehicle. Naughty naughty!
I’ve seen a few of these automatic Mario things before made with a hack of Super Mario World. Some of them were pretty amazing but recently a few have popped up that have been absolutely mind blowing.
This first one is the bast I’ve seen so far and I’ve watched it quite a few times. I think it takes at least two watches to really appreciate how it’s done and how the music goes along. It involves one level for each member of the band which is pretty impressive.
The levels start with Mario having a little momentum and then no buttons are pressed at all. Using bouncy blocks, power-ups, Yoshi, and various enemies to create the notes of the song.
This next one isn’t as interesting to me cause I think the music sucks. But it’s really high paced and the stitching of the three and four levels together works really well.
I’d never have the time or patience to do something like this. But it sure is cool to see someone putting my favorite old games to use. It’s also served to pump me up even more for this:
Right now (as of 4:10pm) I’m on a plane to Santa Clara Cuba! We’re heading there with my Mother and Father to celebrate my Mother’s birthday!
We’re headed to The Royal Hideaway Ensenachos. A resort that has been said to be one of the most luxurious in Cuba that sits on it’s own island with a private beach that has also been noted as one of the nicest in the country!
I’m excited! There will be a full post when I return!
With the arrival of November there’s a heavy thought on my mind. It’s time to put the bike away.
On Friday November 6th I rode my bike up to Caledon to get ready to store for the winter. It was a cold night and I was sad. The old girl rode well all the way to Caledon and about a block from my parents house when the timing started to get funky. I was frozen with the temperature hitting a low of 4 degrees Celsius and the night air whipping through me there was even a tiny bit of what I thought might have been snow. I forgot how dark Caledon’s roads can get and just how uneven they are when trying to take my normal route of Heart Lake road in the pitch black. It became pretty scary with my dim headlight only illuminating about 10 feet ahead of me. Luckily I had a Lexus behind me with some really bright headlights for a little while. I turned on Old Base Line and headed to Highway 10 to continue up the mountain hoping for more light on a more busy road. About halfway up the hill my left shoulder started to cramp from the cold and my hands really started to hurt. The whole ride was plagued by various cramps and twinges due to the biting cold. By the time I got to my destination I was a shivering wreck.
Saturday I washed her. Every nook and cranny I could get to got cleaned and I changed her oil. It was needed. She was filthy from construction near my apartment and her oil was disgusting enough to make me feel quite ashamed.
Saturday and Sunday I took her out for some quick rides once to warm her up for the oil change and once to fill up with gas and add fuel stabilizer. The timing was off both times and she ran like crap. I’m unhappy to have put the bike away with problems that aren’t fixed. Luckily there’s a shop down the road from my parents place and I have plans to get it in there as soon as possible in the spring to get the problems sorted out.
I’d never really ridden in to the night before and I have to say that I did enjoy it. I’m glad I got off the major highways before dark though. The country roads are great to ride at night. Although I’d like a little better headlight next time.
Despite the freezing cold and the aches that still plague my back from that ride up to Caledon three days ago I have to say that there’s still not many places I’d rather be than on my bike.
Guess I’ll have to wait for next spring to get that feeling back that I love so much.
October 31st is my favorite day of the year to party. I’m not a super wild partyer anymore but if there is ever a day that I’m willing to party like a rock star it’s Halloween.
Last year some friends and I went to the Steam Whistle party and had a blast so there was no doubt on where we’d be going this year. This year they threw two parties one Friday and one Saturday. We secured our tickets within minutes of them going on sale and we were happy to hear that we did because the sold out in less than 18 hours!
I had decided long enough ago that I wanted to be Alan from the movie The Hangover so I was able to grow quite a substantial beard! I searched high and low for an affordable Baby Bjorn even thinking about trying to borrow one from some couples that I know that have recently given birth (Hi baby Oliver and baby Lucas!) But then I found a Snugly brand one at walmart on sale for just $20! Much better than the $150 that Baby Bjorns are! Then all I had to do was go to Urban Outfitters to buy the T-shirt worn by Alan and a baby in a blue onesie and I was set to go. White pants and all!
The party was awesome with some really great costumes. I didn’t have much trouble with people being idiots with the baby except one jerk dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow who kept trying to break it’s neck whenever he saw me. But I put a stop to that after the 2nd time pretty quickly. Who the hell dresses like Jack Sparrow anymore anyway! It’s so overdone! The Joker too. Just lame! Anyway we danced and laughed and I got pulled up on stage by the DJ to show off my costume and I got told I had a great costume a lot so the night was pretty awesome.
My girlfriend dressed as a Flapper Girl and I must say she looked very sexy and was definitely the best flapper there. Jenn was Alphabet Soup (red dress with letters all over and a spoon), Chris and some friends of his were a synchronized swimming team and looked quite ridiculous in their swimming caps and gold one piece suits, Matt was a doctor and Gillian was a Greek goddess.
Duke Video has assembled a preview for thier upcoming DVD of coverage of the Isle of Man TT race. This video is not to be missed! All in slow motion one can see just how much strain the riders and bikes face as they hit the asphalt coming to a landing off some of the bumps. Watch the tires and shocks compress and the incredible balance. Some of those airs look pretty sketchy and almost look like they’d cause a wreck. These are things you don’t see in real time.
On June 27th 2008 I spent what little savings I had at the time on something that I had drempt about since I was a small boy. I bought my first motorcycle.
I found her on craigslist and she was exactly what I wanted, a red 1973 CB360T. She was in decent shape considering she was 35 years-old at the time and she had just a few scratches and just two minor dents on her tank. She came with only the right side original red side-cover but included an extra tank and a matching extra (right side again) side-cover. She has minimal rusting of the headers and very little rust at all on her frame. Most of the chrome is pitted though and will need to be replaced eventually. I call her… Penelope. (Click the pics to enlarge)
She came with an inspection from a shop in Toronto in the area of the beaches (I’ll leave their name out of this post) and said that all that was required was a new battery and a front tire. Not living in the beaches and not wanting to ride the bike across town illegally or get it towed that far I decided to take the bike to a shop closer to my work and home for an inspection. I’m so glad I did this as within minutes Tom at Cyclewerx had pointed out a major safety concern in the fact that the throttle cables were incredibly sticky and needed replacing. Tom ordered in the new tire I needed and I acquired the push and pull cables online. Tom installed them and I was ready to go!
One thing that’s great about old bikes is you never really know what’s going to happen next with them.
A week later I was riding home from work and took a small detour in order to get some more riding time in when the poor girl just stopped firing. Luckily I happened to be right next to a friends house and was able to push it in to his driveway before nightfall. After a bunch of hair pulling and waiting for morning light it turned out to be a lose wire from the stator and I was able to ride her home the next day.
One thing I love about my bike is there’s always something that I can do. I’m slowly trying to give it the cafe racer treatment. I’m always looking for the next part. I’ve put quite some time in to it and I’ve learned a lot from working with it either trying to update, upgrade, or just plain FIX it.
This work includes but is not limited to:
Clubman handlebars add a more aggressive riding stance
New solid state signal blinker to enable the use of LED and low draw blinkers
Stubby turn signals for the front (and soon the back I think)
New aftermarket stator which improved power generation by over 33%. This was a necessity as the old one was grounded out and wasn’t producing enough power to keep my battery charged unless I was at high RPM’s (a very difficult thing to do in the city)
New combination regulator/rectifier also helping in electrical power production
New clutch cable because my old one snapped at Yonge and Bloor one night a few weeks ago
I have high hopes for this bike and I don’t expect to sell it. If I get another bike (which I would like to someday) it will simply become my project bike. One thing that is definitely standing in the way of my progress is the lack of a garage for me to work in. This winter I plan to find a couple of left hand side covers and acquire some new mufflers for it as right now I’m currently running a stock CB360t muffler on the left side and a muffler from a CB350 on the right side because the original had a hole the size of my fist in it and was causing all sorts of issues with the way the bike was running. I’d also like to get a seat with a cowl made up to finish off the streamlined look. But that might have to wait till I get another bike as my girlfriend really likes to ride on the back.
