2009 in review

Apparently I haven't written a blog entry in over a year! Where does the time go?

This year was a little more muted than the previous year, especially with regards to fancy vacations. No vacations this year, just a few trips to Toronto, Oakville, Sauble Beach, The Bruce Peninsula, Niagara Falls, Orilla and the such. Casino Rama was a mainstay of 2009. I Lost my prescription sunglasses in the depths of Lake Muskoka, took a ride on the Maid of the Mist for the first time, finally. Reacquainted myself with the MS Chi-Cheemaun. Have been involved in a relationship for a full year. Won re-election for a 3 year term on my condo board, had the first Corporate Christmas party at the luxurious Delta Armouries' Middlesex Suite and didn't even get kicked out. I Determined my sleep-number is 100, lost my last remaining grand parent, renegotiated a mortgage for the first time, had another financially unsuccessful Boozefest, made some new friends, reacquainted with some old, ramped up my alcohol consumption, spent too much money upgraded my iPhone and bought a new laptop.

All and all though a relatively normal year despite the crippling recession.

Vegas!

Haven't written anything in this thing lately..

Just got back from Vegas (technically this morning at 3am).. Went straight back to work.. Needed a little more time to return to reality. This trip to Vegas, my 4th, I spent the most money -- but also had the best time. Mind you I could have had the same time at half the price, ie if I just stuck to the penny slots instead of marching into the Wynn poker room and sitting for hours. Half of our group stayed at Bally's and the other half at the Wynn which caused some logistics issues due to the $9 cab ride distance they are apart from each other. I caused a few scene's; one involving dropping a glass in front of a casino entrance, one where a taxi wouldn't break a $100 (which was my only means of covering the trip), and another in front of the Wynn's nightclub entrance. Apparently I can't drink scotch on the rocks from Noon until past midnight... Who knew?

Highlights of the trip include: Dinner and patio action at the Rio's 50th floor restaurant and outdoor patio, the Wynn's amazing views of the surrounding area (especially from the 60th floor), Jet nightclub, and 2 other situations which may be events, activities, incidents, arrests, rendezvous, clubs, trips, shows, and/or occasions that fall under the 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' cliche.

Most exciting vacation ever!

Change

The winds of change are blowing through my neck of the woods, which are historically sheltered. I've always tried to avoid change, but this time may be different, has to be different. . .

Civic Long Weekend Yachting Weekend

I headed out to Point Edward this Civic holiday weekend for what has become a yearly yachting adventure (see previous posts, search word yacht). These trips are always the highlight of my summer, as I'm extremely fond of yachts, the lake, swimming, captaining, drinking, water, etc.. This year we ran into the captain's brother who rendezvoused with his sailboat at the wreck of the Sweetheart, just out from the Bluewater bridge. They were offering Scotch -- so I jumped in the water and swam over.. The scotch was 12 year Chivas Regal, which in my opinion is the best blended scotch.. (I derived this point of view from a close friend who is a scotch (neat) drinker, as well as it was the best scotch I've ever had to this point).

Iphone!

I got an iPhone! I was the first person in line at the Galleria Rogers store. (Mind you, it's not a real Rogers store, which may have explained the lack of line when I got there at 6am). I didn't see a sole until 7:30 or 8:00am, and then the 3rd person came towards 9am.. They open at 9:30! Problems abound with the activation. They even demanded a DEPOSIT, which was a little embarrassing in the store. I later found out their credit bureau system was down -- which made me only slightly more agreeable. It's embarrasing when you're first in line in a store for an iPhone and they demand a DEPOSIT when you've been a Rogers customer for 10 years! A letter will address this issue later.. Also they gave me a 200$ credit limit on my cell phone account.. I've never heard of credit limits on cell phone accounts, and when I complained they raised it to $300.. I'm ever-more furious.. (See previous posts entitled "I hate Rogers").

Condo Board Director!

My 12th step in taking over the world is complete. I've been elected as a director of my Condominium board!

Unfortunely the position that was available was SECRETARY (rather than Treasurer or President). I was aiming for Prez, but would have settled on Treasurer.. Either of those positions better suit my experience and lifestyle...

I refuse to take minutes!

Geocaching

I've been interested in geocaching for several years, and I finally bought a GPS (as a toy) for my new-to-me car. So I loaded up all the geocaches in and around London and set out to find some of them. I've only visited about 14 of them, finding only 9.. In my defense, many of these jaunts were in the waning light of day, or dark.

The Dawn of a New Era?

I purchased a used car. It's an 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora. I saw a picture of it on Kijiji and liked what I saw, went and test drove it, dragged my mechanic out to test drive it 2 days later, and purchased it that night. Hopefully it doesn't cost me a fortune in upkeep. I'm not used to actually paying for maintenance!

The End of an Era

My 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier (Bumpy McRoughride), has met the end of its usable life. A freak run in with a pot hole on Waterloo St & Central Ave here in London ON was the catalyst.

A champaign toast was had by a few friends at an impromptu ceremony celebrating its life. It will be missed, even though I had a love-hate relationship with it. I loved how little it cost/needed to be maintained, and I hated how it looked/drove. But it was nearly as good of an investment as you can get with an automobile.

I had my TD Visa auto club tow it to my mechanic (as it was too dangerous to drive), and then off to its final resting place at the scrap metal yard... .

Cruises are great!

I've said to others and myself over and over since the end of the cruise to Cozumel that "I'm done with resorts". Certainly that's not necessarily the case, but the cruise was so much up my alley that I can't see returning to a resort unless someone else set up the trip.

I'm a little biased in that I love boats, booze, food, water, wave crashing, 5-star hotels, pomp, nautical protocol... But still!

People asked me my favorite activity on the cruise, but I don't actually know what that was. There's like 5 things tied for favorite -- one of which was the excursion, off-road Jeep Rhino driving and snorkeling that we did in Cozumel. I think that the next cruise I take I may be disappointed in, as this cruise was aboard the Navigator of the Seas, by Royal Caribbean. I could only go up to RC's larger ships, and I think there's just 1 that is noticeably larger...